The Rise and Fall of the WASP and Jewish Law Firms

The A-Religious Identity of the Large Law Firm The large law firm emerged as a distinctive unit of law practice around the turn of the twentieth century.8 The literature on large law firms describes six unique organizational characteristics of the new entity: a hierarchical structure based on two distinct types of attorneys, partners and associates;9 close working relationships among partners and associates emphasizing teamwork as opposed to individual work product,10 development of recruitment procedures based on a carefully prescribed path of excellence,11 followed by systematic training of associates;12 a probation period for associates, followed by promotion to partnership for some and an "up or out" policy for those not promoted;13 specialization of individual attorneys' expertise and departmentalization of work within the firm based on groupings of individual attorneys;14 and utilization of technology.15 The omission of religion as an explicit formal organizing theme of the new entity is by no means a coincidence. 23 Importantly, Larson argued that the legitimacy of professionalism was not based on class and property but on the achievement of socially recognized expertise and on the creation of a systematic body of knowledge: the image of formal training and meritocratic standards was a desirable asset, lending high public credibility to the claims of expertise and professionalism.24 The legitimacy of both the professional project and, more specifically, the new entity's claim for professional status depended on avoiding irrelevant considerations such as attorneys' religious affiliations or cultural backgrounds.\n As both explicit racial discrimination and exclusionary culture are in decline, the case for creating black law firms is less appealing.256 Moreover, to the extent that implicit racial discrimination is still a reality at some firms, Wilkins argues that the most effective measures of combating such discrimination lay in promoting equality within firms, not by resorting to black-only firms.257 A similar argument applies when assessing the decline of both WASP and Jewish firms.