The result is always challenging. The natural response would be to bring one's feet together more securely in one world or the other. This short essay is about those who have chosen not to do so, and why that may be a very good thing. If the role of corporate general counsel is perplexing, the meaning of legal professionalism is perhaps even more so. Debate now swirls around this concept, as commentators try to define and justify it.
Professionalism makes one's vocation an aspiration.
While ordinary lawyering can bring success, professionalism evokes praise. The present question then is whether the position of general counsel carries with it an inherently higher set of lawyering values that, when exhibited, merit special acclaim. I believe that it does. But, given the ambiguity of professionalism, this is not an easy proposition to establish. Although the basic principles of lawyer professionalism, such as excellence, integrity, respect for the rule of law, and so on, are all applicable to the general counsel, they are merely a prologue to a deeper exploration of what makes the role of general counsel morally distinct.