The Lawyer's Calling: Christian Faith and Legal Practice
Allegretti, who teaches legal ethics at Creighton University, defines the crisis of the legal profession as a spiritual crisis rather than a crisis of ethics, commercialization, or public relations. His response in this book is an exemplary exercise in professional ethics that goes beyond examination of codes of conduct to rethink "vocation" and "profession" in the context of legal practice. Drawing on formal training and experience in both law and theology, Allegretti uses H. Richard Niebuhr's familiar typology to characterize Christian attitudes toward law and to advocate what Niebuhr described as a "transformative" practice. Allegretti's discussion of covenant, care, and calling--thoroughly informed by Calvin, Luther, and Carol Gilligan--will be of interest not only to lawyers but also to other readers who struggle with a separation between job and calling.Steve Schroeder