The Servant Lawyer - by Robert F Cochran (Paperback)

About the Book

How does everyday law practice relate to Jesus' call to follow him in servanthood? For students considering a career in law as well as for seasoned attorneys, this honest and accessible book from Robert F. Cochran Jr. casts an encouraging vision for how lawyers can love and serve their neighbor in every facet of their work.

Book Synopsis

Most lawyers, from Wall Street to the county seat, spend their days drafting documents, negotiating with other attorneys, trying cases, researching the law, and counseling clients. How does this everyday law practice relate to Jesus' call to follow him in servanthood?

With decades of experience in the law office, courtroom, and classroom, Robert F. Cochran Jr. explores Jesus' call on lawyers to serve both individual clients and the common good. Cochran pulls back the curtain with stories from his own career and from the legal community to address a wide range of challenges posed by law practice, including counseling clients, planning trial tactics, navigating tensions with coworkers, and handling temptations toward cynicism and greed. This honest and accessible book

• shares wisdom from an experienced practitioner and master teacher
• addresses real-world situations and relationships experienced by most lawyers
• charts the way toward a truly Christian practice of everyday law

For students considering a career in law as well as for seasoned attorneys, The Servant Lawyer casts an encouraging vision for how lawyers can love and serve their neighbor in every facet of their work.

Review Quotes

"For an attorney or law student who wants some day-to-day guidance in down-to-earth prose, The Servant Lawyer is the very best resource I've seen, a delightful must-read for nearly everyone in the field. Robert Cochran has done some heavy lifting in the academic and scholarly fields of law and jurisprudence and is esteemed by others in top-notch organizations such as the Christian Legal Society. But here--wow!--he shines, making the work of being a genuinely Christian attorney really practical. Every career area should be so fortunate as to have such a faithful, imaginative, thought-provoking, and truly helpful guide."

--Byron Borger, editor and contributor to Serious Dreams: Big Ideas for the Rest of Your Life and owner of Hearts & Minds Bookstore in Dallastown, Pennsylvania

"Robert Cochran has for many years been a teacher, mentor, and inspiration to lawyers seeking to flourish and live integrated lives in the day-to-day life of our learned profession. It is well known that lawyers play many roles, and in this engaging and inviting book, Cochran challenges 'everyday lawyers' to follow Christ's example and to reflect on and embrace the role of servant."

--Richard W. Garnett, Paul J. Schierl / Fort Howard Corporation Professor of Law and professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame Law School

"Robert Cochran is an accomplished legal scholar with 'in the trenches' legal practice experience. He brings those two perspectives to bear compellingly in The Servant Lawyer. This excellent work speaks in a winsome voice to lawyers, law students, and others in the legal profession who aspire to apply the Christian ethos of vocational service to the rough and tumble reality of everyday law practice. This is one of the most significant contributions to how Christian lawyers should engage their clients, opponents, and those affected by their actions and advice since Tom Shaffer's On Being a Christian and a Lawyer was published in 1981. Cochran relates interesting real-life stories to enable us to apply the theological principles he draws from the Scriptures. This book is a compelling guide, complete with study questions at the end of each chapter, and should be on the desk of every Christian lawyer."

--R. Craig Wood, retired partner, McGuireWoods LLP

About the Author

Robert F. Cochran Jr. is Louis D. Brandeis Professor of Law Emeritus at Pepperdine University and a senior fellow at the Institute of Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia. He is the coauthor or coeditor of ten books, including Agape, Justice, and Law; Law and the Bible; Christian Perspectives on Legal Thought; and Lawyers, Clients, and Moral Responsibility.