Professional Lawyer Research Articles

Правовая культура как учебная дисциплина

The relevance of the article lies in the need to improve the legal culture in each individual area of training for undergraduate students. It is assumed that the study of legal culture helps to increase the level of legal consciousness of the future specialist, enriches his vocabulary with special terminology, makes his language as a student and graduate more understandable for a professional lawyer in any field, and gives him confidence and education as an individual. Knowledge in the academic discipline «Legal culture» is acquired by students for life and will help him even in everyday situations: when contacting banking organizations, interaction with state and municipal bodies and institutions. The development of the legal culture of an individual contributes to the strengthening of the entire society, leads to an understanding of the essence of the situation from the inside and teaches non-standard constructive reactions to behavior within the legal field.

Missing the Wood for the Trees: How Indian Legal Education Fails to Deliver the Professional Lawyer?

In this work, we compare the Indian and American legal education systems, to argue that the former lacks the toolkit to impart professionalism among its graduates. ‘Professionalism’ in American literature means the internalization of legal skills along with values of public service. The formation of these cognitive attributes through law school and formative years is known as ‘professional identity formation’. We refer to the American discourse of professionalism and argue that Indian legal education should switch to the American Bar Association output-based model, thereby creating a clear goal but flexible pathways, allowing for faculty-led innovation in courses, curricula and pedagogy. We also underline other aspects of Indian legal education like faculty shortages and barriers between academia and profession as causative factors preventing the growth of professionalism in law graduates, which may eventually disadvantage them in the global workplace. We call for reform and discourse of the basic attitudes of the Bar Council of India and the legal educators.

DISTRIBUTION OF OFFENSIVE INFORMATION CONCERNING MEDICAL WORKERS ON INTERNET

The aim of the study – to analyze the spread of offensive information about medicalworkers on the Internet and to determine the fundamental rights of protection of a medicalworker in case of conflict situations.Conclusion. Thus, protecting yourself and your reputation in the era of rapidly developingvirtual worlds is quite possible, and there are already many positive examples in courtdecisions. However, there are several important factors to consider before going to courtand, if necessary, seek the help of a professional lawyer.

Тарихтағы тұлғатану мәселесін зерттеудің әдіснамалық негізі (Сейдәзім Қадырбаевтың мысалында)

The methodological problems of the study of personality (personalistics) are one of the traditional and most fundamental problems in historical science. In the conditions of modern global civilization, it not only does not lose its significance, but, on the contrary, acquires special relevance and urgency. In this regard, the article highlights and characterizes the methodological approaches to the study of personality. The authors consider the methodological basis, specifics and scope of the biographical research method and characterize the main features of biographical research, their significance, advantages and limitations of using the biographical genre for historical knowledge. The article discusses the biography, social and political activities of one of the representatives of the Kazakh intelligentsia, a people's teacher and a professional lawyer, the author of the constitution, a prominent figure in the Alash Orda national movement in the early twentieth century — Kadyrbaev Seidazim.

Prawo do nieodpłatnej pomocy prawnej w świetle konstytucyjnej zasady równości

The aim of the article is to analyze the solutions enabling the use of legal aid in the light of the principle of equality under the Art. 32 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland. There is an inconsistency between the aid at the judicial and pre-court stage. Theoretically, both forms of legal aid are aimed at people in a difficult financial situation. In practice, aid at the pre-court stage can be provided to both poor and very wealthy people, as the assessment of the inability to bear the costs of paid legal aid is based only on the subjective belief of these people. On the other hand, the grounds for obtaining legal aid at the judicial stage must be clearly demonstrated by the person applying for the appointment of a professional lawyer.

The establishment of the institutional framework of comparative law in the socialist Czechoslovakia and Hungary

AbstractThe paper deals with the institutional framework and development of comparative law during the socialist period in Czechoslovakia and Hungary. The history of comparative law in Hungary is longer than in the Czech Lands and later in Czechoslovakia, but its post-war socialist development was very similar. Viktor Knapp and Imre Szabó played the crucial role in the process of forming socialist comparative law. They had law diplomas from the interwar Charles University in Prague, and they sympathised with the left wing of political life. After WWII they both joined the communist movement. Later, they belonged to the communist professional lawyer establishment and played an important role in the personal and institutional changes of the 1950s. Their professional careers were also very similar – they had positions in the state administration and in the educational sphere. Knapp and Szabó managed the institutes of state and law of the Czechoslovak and Hungarian academies of sciences from the 1950s onwards. These institutes played a dominant role in the organisation of comparative research before 1989. Their classical legal education, strong professional skills, knowledge of Western languages, and good connections inside the communist regime helped them to establish the professional centres of comparative law under the communist regimes.

INTEGRATIVE SEMANTIC MAP AS AN ILLUSTRATIVE AND SCHEMATIC BASIS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A PROFESSIONALLY SIGNIFICANT ENGLISH-LANGUAGE THESAURUS OF THE THEMATIC FIELD “LAW”

The authors of the article consider integrative semantic mapping as an illustrative and schematic basis for the law students’ development of a professionally oriented English-language thesaurus of the topical field “Law”. The aim of the research is to study further development of professional and communicative English-language competence which allows ensuring the implementation of pragmatic and professional communicative tasks in simulated situations of entering into legal relationship by the students.
 Methodology. The methodological framework for the research is the cognitive and generalizing methods, such as the theoretical analysis of research works in linguodidactics, pedagogy, cognitive linguistics, and the prognostic methods. The research material was an educational and methodological complex on the discipline “Legal English”, used as part of the Bachelor’s degree program 40.03.01 “Jurisprudence”.
 Results. The paper analyzes an algorithm for the development of abilities and skills of linguo-cognitive processing of professionally significative highly legal English texts of a static nature (for intermediate and upper-intermediate students), and English-language videos of a dynamic nature of the genre “courtroom drama” (for advanced and proficient students) using integrative semantic maps. Analyzing their application features allows us to emphasize their main function, which consists in optimizing the development of information about the law enforcement and legal proceedings in English-speaking countries, necessary for the effective intercultural communication of future practitioners in various branches of law.
 Conclusion. Forming and developing the English-language thesaurus of a professional lawyer is one of important areas of modern linguodidactics. It has been proved that the optimization of this process has become possible thanks to the use of new learning technologies, in particular, integrative semantic mapping as a tool for verbalization of acquired knowledge, which allows consciously applying cognitively mastered information, competently verbalizing it in intercultural professional communication, preventing and eliminating possible communication failures.

ЗАРУБІЖНИЙ ДОСВІД УПРОВАДЖЕННЯ МЕДІАЦІЇ В НОТАРІАЛЬНУ ДІЯЛЬНІСТЬ

The article is devoted to the study of foreign experience in the implementation of mediation in notarial activities. The concepts of “mediation” and “mediator” in the national legislation are analyzed and the problem of the lack of a unified approach to endowing representatives of different professions with the powers of a mediator is singled out. It is noted that, as a general rule, the opinion of scholars is focused on the expediency of empowering lawyers, judges and notaries to conduct mediation. Emphasis is placed on the relevance of studying foreign experience, due to changes in the legislation on notaries, according to which notaries have the right to mediate, provided they undergo basic training as a mediator. The positions of the Council of Notaries of the European Union and the European Commission on the effectiveness of justice have been taken into account, according to which, by their legal nature, notary representatives can play a crucial role in the mediation procedure. It has been established that with the trust of the public, they can use their legal knowledge and hearing skills in the dispute resolution process. It is determined that the peculiarities of the introduction of mediation by a professional lawyer in different countries depend on the legal status, education and other requirements for representatives of the legal professions. The experience of Austria, Germany, Spain, France, Belgium, Georgia, Poland and other countries is analyzed. It is concluded that the introduction of mediation into the national legal system by a notary is a positive step, as he is a qualified, impartial, neutral and independent lawyer. It is emphasized that the participation of a notary as a mediator in the settlement of a conflict (dispute) ensures the legality of the procedure, its voluntariness, the reliability of explanations and other information that the parties receive in the process of joint decision-making. There is a tendency to lack a single clear approach to the regulation of the powers of a notary mediator and the procedure for notarial mediation. The most optimal options for the development of notarial mediation are proposed, related to the authority to conduct mediation, develop and certify an agreement based on the results of mediation.

ПОГЛЯДИ ІЛЛІ ШРАГА НА СИСТЕМУ ПРАВОСУДДЯ В УКРАЇНСЬКИХ ЗЕМЛЯХ ПІСЛЯ СУДОВОЇ РЕФОРМИ 1864р

The article examines the views of the famous Ukrainian lawyer, public and socio-political figure Ilya Shrag on the justice system in Ukrainian lands after the Judicial Reform of 1864. It is noted that by the middle of the 19th century,radical changes were observed in the social and political life of the Russian Empire. The central government announced a series of reforms, including peasant, military, urban, zemstvo, and judicial reforms. It is claimed that such a need has been ripe for a long time and it has repeatedly become the subject of discussion in the highest echelons of the imperial power. Among the proposed reforms, the Judicial Reform of 1864 was the most consistent and complete. It must be stated that the relevance of the transformation of the judicial system was clearly visible in the conditions of social and political life, since the current justice system did not correspond to the peculiarities of the life of that time. The current system was not perfect, and this was repeatedly proven by judicial practice. In addition, insufficient legal qualifications of judges and bribery were observed, courts decided cases by considering only written investigation materials. It is emphasized that the analysis of the functioning of judicial institutions on the territory of Ukrainian lands occupies an important place in the creative heritage of I. Shrag. It is noted that the scientist's legal profession allowed him to investigate in detail the peculiarities of the functioning of judicial institutions, taking into account those socio-political and legal factors that significantly influenced, and often determined, the principles of the functioning of judicial institutions. It is noted that as a professional lawyer with extensive practical experience, the researcher followed in detail the functioning of the courts after their reformation during the reign of Tsar Alexander II. It is claimed that, based on the application of comparative analysis, the scientist was able to trace the peculiarities of the functioning of judicial institutions after the Judicial Reform of 1864 and up to the period of counter-reforms in the judicial sphere proclaimed by the autocracy at the end of the 19th century.

Impact of Digitalization on Legal Regulation: formation of new legal practices

Objective: The objective of the research is to examine the impact of digital technologies introduced into law on the formation of new legal practices.Method: The authors used a mixed methodological strategy. The main research method is the dialectical method. Regulatory documents of Russia and foreign countries were chosen as the information basis for the research.Results: The article examines the Russian and international experience of organizing legal activities using innovative digital technologies that allow organizing the effective work of a lawyer in legal support of economic and other regulated activities, preparing for the adoption of regulatory legal acts, optimizing legal proceedings. The authors assess the possibilities and prospects of using intelligent digital systems in the practice of a professional lawyer, law-making, the use of artificial intelligence in the field of justice, as well as the risks that such use may carry.Conclusions: The terms of preparation of regulatory legal acts are reduced in digital content, their quality is improved, the procedural form and other types of law enforcement are optimized. However, the total and uncontrolled use of digital technologies in law can lead to a violation of human rights. The purpose of the author of the presented article was to study the innovations used in modern jurisprudence, to determine their capabilities and limitations in use. Authors conclude that the use of digital technologies in law-making and law enforcement should be based on strict observance of basic human and civil rights

Impact of Digitalization on Legal Regulation: formation of new legal practices

Objective: The objective of the research is to examine the impact of digital technologies introduced into law on the formation of new legal practices. Method: The authors used a mixed methodological strategy. The main research method is the dialectical method. Regulatory documents of Russia and foreign countries were chosen as the information basis for the research. Results : The article examines the Russian and international experience of organizing legal activities using innovative digital technologies that allow organizing the effective work of a lawyer in legal support of economic and other regulated activities, preparing for the adoption of regulatory legal acts, optimizing legal proceedings. The authors assess the possibilities and prospects of using intelligent digital systems in the practice of a professional lawyer, law-making, the use of artificial intelligence in the field of justice, as well as the risks that such use may carry. Conclusions: The terms of preparation of regulatory legal acts are reduced in digital content, their quality is improved, the procedural form and other types of law enforcement are optimized. However, the total and uncontrolled use of digital technologies in law can lead to a violation of human rights. The purpose of the author of the presented article was to study the innovations used in modern jurisprudence, to determine their capabilities and limitations in use. Authors conclude that the use of digital technologies in law-making and law enforcement should be based on strict observance of basic human and civil rights

Reform of Higher Legal Education: Global Issues

The main vector of higher legal education development is determined by the general direction of the domestic higher school to join the all-European and world educational space, national and international standards harmonization of higher education in the context of the Bologna process. On the other hand, the rapid development of information technologies has led to the global computerization of society. The result of this phenomenon in the education field is a stable environment formation of developed data processing, information systems modular construction (combination of different architectural types within a single complex). As a result, knowledge building process for skills formation of professional competence is gradually changing the form of its realization. The wellknown learning goals of higher school revealed in such elements as knowledge, understanding and forms of their acquisition are changing. It is no coincidence that the problem for most universities is the fact that education is still more focused on knowledge and skills, rather than on personality development, consciousness formation and self-awareness of a specialist. Unfortunately, such changes do not always have a positive educational trajectory. It should be recognized that educational institutions are no longer the major educational source. Those basic learning goals, the achievement of which is the task of higher school, do not receive appropriate positive reflection in society. High level of knowledge with no skills of its application is the main factor of professional deformation of a graduating student of higher educational institution. This problem is clearly visible in the higher legal education sphere. In recent times, there has been a clear trend toward the transition from qualification to the competence-based model of the specialist. The emphasis in professional training is shifting to socio-personal and general professional competencies. Open statistical sources of the State Employment Service show that among the total number of unemployed persons with higher education who could not find the first job, persons with higher legal education occupy one of the leading places (26%). In early 2019, the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine together with the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine proposed a draft Concept of the Legal Education Reform for public discussion. Among the main problems were a mismatch between the content of legal education and training quality in legal schools with the modern requirements of the labour market and the challenges facing the modern democratic society, global trends in development and tasks of employees' professional activities in various fields. The abovementioned requires a change in the educational paradigm, one of the components of which, in our opinion, should be the transition to educational goals of a different qualitative type in the cognitive sphere, including the formation of applied professional legal skills, critical thinking development and so on. Unfortunately, there is not enough scientific research in this area of narrow thematic nature. No significant attention is paid to the pedagogical problems of lawyers' model formation with their readiness for social interaction. It is important to emphasize that among legal scholars there is no interest in the development and formation of legal pedagogy as a direction in pedagogy of higher education, the subject of which is the didactic peculiarities of the professional competence formation of lawyers. Part of the attention is paid to the professional competence formation among students of higher educational institutions in the legal field by scholars of pedagogical science, in particular, the theory and methods of training and education (according to the fields and educational level). The problem to be solved is the mismatch between the content of legal education and training quality in legal schools with the modern requirements of the labour market and the challenges facing the modern democratic society, global trends in development and tasks of employees' professional activities in various fields, this is due to the insufficient level of theoretical knowledge and practical skills among a significant part of graduating students of law schools, as well as a lack of attention to the formation of a holistic world view among applicants for legal education with an understanding of the social mission, values and importance of legal profession to approve the rule of law in the modern democratic society. The abovementioned requires the updating of educational processes modernization issue in the direction of competency-oriented training formation and professional lawyer education in the light of his/her dialogue and discussion, and language-intensive professional activities. In particular, it is important to develop an approach to the professional training of a future lawyer, which involves the creation of a professional competence formation model of the lawyer, which is based on the organic unity of theoretical, practical, psychophysical training that will provide the professional socialization level engaging a wide range of scholars in the field of pedagogy and law.

Information and communication technologies as a means to increase the professional skills of law students

Problem definition. Modern legal activities are inextricably linked with ICT, and therefore information culture as acomponent of professional legal consciousness of a law student is no less relevant, since new generation of legalprofessionals must efficiently apply the acquired knowledge, influence development of democratic, rule-of-law state andcivil society.ICT contributes to formation of a unified European educational space and professional growth of future lawyers. Inaddition, accelerating the pace of information creation and dissemination allows a law student to expand their intellectualpotential. After all, a lawyer faces processing of large amounts of legal information in the professional activity, which isassociated with various legal facts, offenses and their overcoming, various legal relations and law and order. To resolvequickly legal situations, a lawyer has to use ICT aiming at assistance in systematization and provision of quick access tolegal information. Accordingly, it is today important to teach a law student not only basic legal knowledge, but also theability to respond quickly and find solutions to various legal situations. Analysis of the last researches and publications. The issue of professional skills formation in law students usingICT has not been elaborated in scientific literature. However, some authors are close to the topic we have chosen bydisclosing such issues as: ICT use in education and legal in particular. Such researchers include: B. Hershunskyi,R. Hurevych, V. Zelinska, M. Kademiia, М. Kozer, V. Lusha, N. Lohinova, S. Netiosova, N. Rusina, І. Savchenko,О. Fedorchuk, М. Sherman, S. Shyika, О. Shmyrov et al. Article objective. Elaboration of ICT importance as a tool for learning the law through establishment of stages oflaw student’s professional skills formation. Article’s main body. Professionalism is formed primarily through education, therefore a professional lawyer is aself-establishment in the field of law through knowledge and skills. The literature analysis showed that the importance ofinformation and communication technologies as a law knowledge tool can be revealed by establishing the stages of formationof professional skills of law student, in particular: 1) preparation, receipt, collection and exchange of legal informationduring learning; 2) expanding the range of cognitive activity; 3) formation of legal knowledge, their preservation;4) formation of legal thinking in a law student; 5) formation of moral and legal ideals of the future lawyer; 6) emergenceof research and practical skills.It is revealed that the emergence of research and practical skills is evidence of information and legal competence,which is the basis of professional skills of the future lawyer. Legal competency means a set of professional knowledge related to legal information, a variety of application software skills and information skills to use the ICT to solve differentprofessional problems. Conclusions and prospects for the development. It is proved that the ICT in the preparation of law students helpsto increase the professional capacity of a young specialist to perform future legal activities and leads to enrichment ofpedagogical and organizational activity of higher educational institutions with the following opportunities: extension ofthe information component of the professional skills of the law student, which is possible through the computer use andis manifested in the following: timeliness in obtaining complete and reliable information, minimizing time when seekinglegal information; ability to process significant volumes of legal information, ability to use different types of legalinformation source, ability to create their own databases of legal information; improvement of practical skills throughmodeling of different legal situations or their computer visualization, which may arise in professional activity; expansionof orientation skills, which is the speed of responding to changes and additions in the current legislation, ability to finduseful legal information in the short term; improvement of analytical skills through continuous monitoring of legalinformation and speeding up the transfer of legal experience.

Role and place of legal education in the professional activities of investigators

The article notes that since 2015, the number of opponents has increased, who from time to time question the feasibility of the existence of departmental universities in the system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The most active discussions took place around obtaining legal education in departmental universities. Regulations, draft concepts and laws, opinions of scientists on the priority of granting the right to higher legal education are covered: only to higher educational institutions of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine or also to higher educational institutions with specific training conditions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. It is noted that the issue of the need to obtain higher legal education in the specialty 081 "Law" for investigators is acute. High quality of legal education is one of the integral signs of competence of such persons, and when this quality is combined with the formation of professional skills on the basis of higher education with specific conditions of legal education, you can get a high-quality professional lawyer who can act even in extreme conditions and make legally correct decisions. This is especially true of police investigators, who, when making procedural decisions, must know a number of branches of law, in particular: criminal, criminal procedural, administrative, civil, etc. In the case of the specifics of the activity, there is often a need for knowledge of banking, housing, finance, tax, labor and other branches of law. At the same time, the task of the future investigator is not only to get acquainted with the content of legal norms, but also to be able to apply them in different legal situations, while professionally responding to legal conflicts that often arise, as well as apply the case law of the Supreme Court of Ukraine. human rights. This cannot be achieved in six months on the basis of the primary training center and the Police Academy. Based on the analysis of the investigator's competencies and consideration of his functional re-sponsibilities, the need for legal education for representatives of pre-trial investigation bodies is substan-tiated.

The role of legal clinics in the training of professional lawyers

The article considers the main stages of development of the "legal clinical movement" of Ukraine, analyzes the legal regulation of legal clinics, reveals the importance of the legal clinic as the main tool for practical training of future lawyers. Higher education institutions can and should help future lawyers to acquire the necessary practical skills. This, in turn, seems almost impossible without the functioning of legal clinics in law schools. As for the legal status, the legal clinic is not a legal entity. It can have its own stamps and forms with its own name, as a structural unit. A legal clinic can use the property of the higher education institution on the basis of which it was established. In most Ukrainian universities, the legal clinic is organized in the form of legal advice, which has the right to provide free legal aid to the poor. The work in the clinic is carried out by senior students, who are usually involved on a competitive basis. The legal clinic has the right to provide free legal aid. It should be remembered that for the provision of free legal aid there are centers of free legal aid, and legal clinics should take on only those cases that are of interest to students in terms of education, because it is the educational function is basic in the clinical movement. in a legal clinic, it is valuable for students because it helps future lawyers to form a high level of legal awareness and legal culture, promotes the acquisition of professional legal skills, and, making informed decisions in accordance with applicable law, to solve client problems. The legal clinic helps students to develop such necessary skills as the ability to think critically, sociability, the ability to establish justice, high moral and volitional qualities. The legal clinic is practically the basis for the future. After all, during counseling, students learn all the qualities using a professional lawyer.

Analogical Methods in Legal Informatics

The law occurs in a dual mode: a basic mode and an expert mode. In the basic mode, people predominantly experience the law in a situational and not a textual way. The people on the street move according to the consuetudinary law. In the expert mode, the law goes up textually to the professional lawyer. It becomes mostly about argumentation in professional language rather than natural language. Digitalisation encompasses both these modes. The extent to which digitalisation is visible is another issue. We argue that analogical thinking continues to be important in law and that this must be considered in legal informatics.

Conduct Yourselves Accordingly: Amending Bar Character and Fitness Questions to Promote Lawyer Well-Being

A number of states have modified the questions on the Character and Fitness portion of their application for bar admission addressing an applicant’s substance use and mental health disorders. While some have eliminated the questions altogether, others continue to pose questions which authors and ABA members David Jaffe and Janet Stearns argue are overly broad and unnecessarily invasive. This article has been published in Vol. 26, no. 2 of the Center for Professional Responsibility’s magazine, The Professional Lawyer. Read the Jaffe and Stearns article, Conduct Yourselves Accordingly: Amending Bar Character and Fitness Questions To Promote Lawyer Well-Being, available here.

THE PROBLEMS OF ROBOTISATION OF LEGAL PROFESSION

This paper is devoted to the analysis of the legal activity digitalization problems. In the course of the study of the stated problems, the authors come to the conclusion that today the thesis about the complete replacement of lawyers by robots and the disappearance of the legal profession is unreasonable and premature.According to the authors of the paper, it is impossible to completely trust artificial intelligence to solve legal issues. Currently, a robot can replace a lawyer only in execution of programmable routine tasks, such as drawing up a simple template contracts, claims, search for court practice materials, analytical information, transfer documents to the court, etc. But at the same time, artificial intelligence cannot compete with the human in the issues of a comprehensive analysis of a particular problem; in giving an assessment of the fairness and honesty of the person who has applied. The field of law cannot be translated into a programming language due to the variety of terms, categories and differences in their interpretation by sectors; law has no clear boundaries and framework. High-quality professional legal activity is possible only with the participation of a professional lawyer with experience in this field. It is difficult to imagine a robot that is performing functions of a representative in court or a robot-scientist (lawyer). Artificial intelligence today can perform almost any routine mechanical work with much greater productivity, and the activities of a lawyer are aimed primarily at solving more complex intellectual problems

Lawyers, mental illness, admission and misconduct

ABSTRACTSince 2004 in Australia, there has been a significant amount of interest in the issues of lawyers and mental illness. As a result there is now a substantial body of literature that examines legal education and its links to lawyer distress. In the profession, there has been a growing awareness of lawyer mental illness and the growth of professional development and lawyer support. Less attention, however has been paid to the links between mental illness and misconduct and the ways in which mental illness is treated in disciplinary proceedings. This article seeks to address this gap by examining cases of disciplinary misconduct over the past 10 years in which mental illness is raised as a causal or a contributing factor. We have found that the law relating to mental illness and misconduct is still developing. Our analysis finds that courts and tribunals are, overall, sensitive to lawyer mental illness and that they are achieving an appropriate balance between the rights of the lawyer and protecting those of the public and the reputation of the legal profession. The paper will draw out the principles currently being used by the courts to assess the effects and implications of a lawyer’s mental illness on claims of misconduct.

In Dependence: The Paradox of Professional Independence and Taking Seriously the Vulnerabilities of Lawyers in Large Corporate Law Firms

In this paper, and drawing on the work of Martha Fineman and others, we deploy a vulnerability lens as an heuristic device to push against the concept of professional lawyer independence as enshrined in statute and promoted by legal services regulators. Using interviews with 53 senior partners and others from 20 elite law firms, we show how the meaning and practice of independence are profoundly mediated by the contexts, relationships and interactions of corporate lawyers’ everyday working lives. Vulnerable to competition from other firms, the demands of clients, the shift over time from ‘trusted advisor’ to ‘service provider’, regulatory requirements, pressures to make profit and so on, these corporate lawyers appeared prone to developing and normalising potentially risky and irresponsible practices. We therefore argue that a debate about corporate legal regulation is better based upon a richly theorised concept of inter-dependence which takes seriously the causes and effects of practitioner vulnerabilities in particular circumstances.