Robert Brooks explores this phenomenon in his new book, explaining how it has the potential to de-professionalise the law, and how it is a hallmark of what today’s workers have become: increasingly over-qualified and too highly skilled for the demands of the job market. Mr Brooks presents a compelling ethnographic account of these workers through extensive interviews and his own participation and observation.  

Under the radar

Scores of legal professionals have found themselves without work because of the flagging economy of the past four years, and many are filling in the gaps as temporary lawyers.
As a way to widen profit margins, firms have begun to unbundle complex, dynamic legal work into discreet tasks that can be done with less skill and somewhat mindlessly. The task temporary lawyers typically find is document review, which Mr Brooks characterises as tedious and significantly deskilled. As a result, a ‘de-professionalised underclass’ has materialised, and those who end up in these ranks often struggle to get out.
Addressing a subject that has slipped under the radar, the publishers reckon this is an important read for all in the legal profession or in the shape-shifting job market as a whole.

Published by: Temple University Press
Author: Robert Brooks
September 2012 H/B £18.99
ISBN: 9781439902851