Nature versus Nurture

A Comparison of Russian Law Graduates Destined for State Service and for Private Practice

Datos Bibliográficos

ID7328396
AutoresKathryn Hendley (0000-0003-0027-9235, autor de correspondencia)
Año2019
Volumen41
Número2
Páginas147-173
Fecha de publicación2019-03-08
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaLaw & Policy (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0265-8240 • E-ISSN: 1467-9930
EditorialWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/lapo.12122
OpenAlexW2921971959
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas5
Referencias citadas53

This article explores the mind‐set of Russian law students on the cusp of graduation. Drawing on a 2016 survey, the analysis finds that, despite having taken different paths to their degrees, the respondents share a confidence in the Russian courts that distinguishes them from Russians without legal education. Within the sample, a natural division is evident between those who plan to go into state service and those who plan to go into private practice. Aspiring state lawyers are more likely to support the policies of the Putin regime, even when they preference politics over the letter of the law. This strongly suggests that the tendency of judges and state lawyers within the criminal justice system to work as a team to ensure convictions is not solely the result of workplace incentives, as had previously been assumed, but is an element of a worldview that these lawyers share that predates their legal education. Aspiring private lawyers, by contrast, are consistently more skeptical of the state. To the extent that they are later coopted by the state, as studies of criminal defense lawyers suggest, such behavior would likely be the result of a desire to endear themselves to investigators and prosecutors in order to ensure further appointments to represent indigent clients

Business · Criminal justice · Economics · Graduation (instrument · Incentive · Political science · Politics · Service (business · Skepticism · State (computer science · Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis · Judicial and Constitutional Studies · Law · Legal Education and Practice Innovations