Philip Corboy and the Construction of the Plaintiffs' Personal Injury Bar

Drawing on the career of Philip Corboy, this article examines the construction of the plaintiffs' personal injury bar in the second half of the 20th century. Through a relational biography based on Mr. Corboy's career, we look at the development of this subprofession in the context of the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Law & social inquiry 2005-04, Vol.30 (2), p.269-304
Main Authors: Parikh, Sara, Garth, Bryant
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attorneys
Bar associations
Careers
Corboy, Philip
Cultural Capital
Ideology
Law schools
Lawyers
Legal practice
Personal injury damages
Plaintiffs
Plaintiffs attorneys
Political Factors
Politics
Professions
Questioning
Social capital
Social law
Sociocultural Factors
Torts
Trials
Twentieth Century
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Summary:Drawing on the career of Philip Corboy, this article examines the construction of the plaintiffs' personal injury bar in the second half of the 20th century. Through a relational biography based on Mr. Corboy's career, we look at the development of this subprofession in the context of the socio-political environment within which Mr. Corboy and his peers operated, the social capital they possessed, and the particular strategies they used as they worked to establish both a professional and market niche. This analysis shows how and why Mr. Corboy and his peers constructed a thriving subprofession that is characterised by a unique blend of working-class ideology, trial craft, professional bar leadership, Democratic politics, local philanthropy, and a market referral system-all of which reinforce the dominance and prestige of its own elite.
ISSN:0897-6546
1747-4469
1545-696X
DOI:10.1111/j.1747-4469.2005.tb01013.x