The GoodWork Project in Law explored how legal professionals respond to current challenges and strive to achieve good work in four subdomains of the law, described below. The project also included a case study of a sudden and unexpected closing of an established law firm. From 1999-2004, a total of 87 professionals between the ages of 35-80 were interviewed in the following threads of the project:
- Cyberlaw: In order to understand how rapid technological changes and particularly the growth of the Internet were influencing law, we interviewed 17 lawyers in the emerging field of Cyberlaw.
- Criminal Justice: In our criminal justice study, we explored possible schisms between personal and professional values. We interviewed 26 Criminal lawyers including defense attorneys, prosecutors, and Federal, Superior, and District Court judges.
- Corporate Law: We interviewed 17 Mergers and Acquisition lawyers. These subjects were practicing in large urban areas and were energetically engaged in a highly specific kind of practice (M&A) where pressures and financial stakes are great.
- Small Town lawyers: For a contrast to our M&A study, we embarked on a study of small town General Practice lawyers. We conducted interviews with 15 small town lawyers. All subjects were graduates of top 10 law schools who elected to practice in communities of under 50,000 inhabitants.
- Case study of Hill & Barlow: When the respected Boston law firm of Hill & Barlow closed at the end of 2001 after a cohort of real estate lawyers announced their departure, we saw an opportunity to examine the issues that seemed to be influencing lawyers all over the country. We interviewed 12 former partners for this case study.
