Abstract
Substituting "professional formation" for "professionalism" may also appeal to some of the nine skeptics discussed in Part V who have concluded that a definition of professionalism is either futile or not useful. "Professional formation" avoids the perception that "professionalism" is a hypocritical mask for self-promotion and privilege. Professional formation's multifaceted developmental model that also has an ability to account for differences in the peer culture of different practice settings and avoids the critique that "professionalism" is simplistic and too one-dimensional. Finally, "professional formation" may appeal to skeptics like Morgan who strongly endorse moral formation for all the occupations but are concerned about the exceptionalism that professionalism historically has implied. [Gerald J. Postema] undertakes a philosophical analysis to define a new approach to legal ethics and the "responsible professional."64 He rejects "self-concepts" and the "zealous pursuit of client objectives" because unbridled adherence to these ideals causes the lawyer to suspend "moral assessment" or "moral agency."65 Instead of this confusion and self-deception, professionalism should be defined through moral agency and practical judgment, a view that calls for "reflective capacity" and "coherent unity."66 He explains, Although Wald and [Russell G. Pearce] ground their approach to professionalism in a similar way to other scholars who implicitly define it-by reacting to the rise in incivility in the profession-they take a step further by articulating a relational perspective of self-interest that transforms lawyers from "neutral partisans" to "civic teachers."164 Whereas the autonomous self-interest only commands professional behavior when it furthers the ambitions of the individual, the relational self-interest leads "civic actors to understand their own well-being as connected to those of neighbors, communities, and government ..."165 By acting only as "neutral partisans," Wald and Pearce argue, "lawyers have contributed to the civil malaise, in and outside of the legal profession."166 Instead, as "civic teachers," lawyers have a duty to "model and teach civility" by demonstrating "mutual respect, courtesy, trust, and cooperation;" encouraging sustained public dialogue; and suggesting relational self-interest perspectives 1 A7 when representing clients. In their 2011 article, Wald and Pearce emphasize a "relationally selfinterested professionalism" that "understands clients as attempting to pursue and maximize their selfinterest in relation to others, conducting themselves pursuant to the principles of mutual benefit and mutual respect. It understand lawyers' role ... as facilitators of such relational goals..."168 14. The terms "professionalism" and "ethical professional identity" are used as synonyms in this literature. See Hamilton, Assessing, supra note 13, at 472-73; Hamilton, Defined, supra note 13, at 4; Neil Hamilton & [Verna E. Monson], The Positive Empirical Relationship of Professionalism to Effectiveness in the Practice of Law, 24 Geo. J. Legal Ethics 137,141,143 (2011) (hereinafter Hamilton & Monson, Positive Empirical Relationship). The fifth and last Carnegie Foundation study of medical education uses "professional formation" rather than "professionalism" to emphasize the developmental and multifaceted nature of the construct. SeeMoLLY Cook et al., Educating Physicians: A Call for Reform of Medical School and Residency 108 (2010). "By professional formation, [Carnegie] means 'an ongoing selfreflective process involving habits of thinking, feeling and acting.' These habits of thought, feeling and action ideally develop in ways that allow learners to demonstrate compassionate, communicative, and socially-responsible physician-hood." Id. at 41. Hamilton and Monson also use transformational professionalism, linking lifespan developmental psychologist [Robert Kegan]'s work to Carnegie, and to an assessment methodology that is used in organizational development. SeeWiLLiAM M. Sullivan et al.,Educating Lawyers: Preparation for the Profession of Law 1-20 (2007); see a/soRobert Kegan, In Over Our Heads: The Mental Demands of Modern Life 185 (1998); Verna Monson & Neil W. Hamilton, Entering Law Students' Conceptions of an Ethical Professional Identity and the Role of the Lawyer in Society, 35 J. Legal Prof. 385 (2011); Verna Monson & Neil W. Hamilton, Ethical Professional (Transformation in Law: Early Career Lawyers Make Sense of Professionalism, 8 U. St. Thomas L.J. 129 (2011); Neil W. Hamilton & Verna Monson, Ethical Professional (Trans)Formation: Themes from Interviews About Professionalism with Exemplary Lawyers, 52 Santa Clara L. Rev. 921(2012)(hereinafter Hamilton & Monson, Exemplary Lawyers).