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Legal Professionalism and the Ethical Challenge for Legal Education: Insights from a Comparative Study of Future Lawyers in Greater China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 December 2020

Richard Wai-Sang Wu ,
Carlos Wing-Hung Lo  and
Ning Liu
Richard Wai-Sang Wu*
Affiliation:
The University of Hong Kong
Carlos Wing-Hung Lo
Affiliation:
The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Email: carlos.lo@cuhk.edu.hk.
Ning Liu
Affiliation:
City University of Hong Kong. Email: ninliu@cityu.edu.hk.
*
Email: richwswu@hku.hk (corresponding author).
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Abstract

This article uses data gathered from a survey that probed the career orientations and values of more than 1,000 law students in Beijing, Hong Kong and Taipei to examine the legal professionalism of future lawyers being trained under different legal education systems in Greater China. Our findings suggest that these future lawyers have a “materialistic” career orientation, although those studying in a system whose legal education goal is to train professional lawyers are more inclined to pursue professional legal ideals, and those trained in a system that emphasizes legal ethics are more likely to pursue public interest issues. On the basis of the findings, we argue that legal education systems in Greater China, while different in their traditions, share the same need to strengthen legal professionalism by according greater emphasis to legal ethics in their respective law school curricula.

摘要

摘要

本文通过一项关于职业生涯取向和价值观的问卷调查，对在大中华地区接受不同法律教育制度培训的未来律师的法律专业素养进行研究。北京，香港和台北的一千多名法学生参与了此项调查。我们的研究结果表明，在以教育目标为培养专业的技术型律师的法律教育体系学习的法学生更倾向于追求专业的法律理想，在以强调法律伦理的法律教育体系学习的法学生更倾向向于公众利益的追求；但在三个不同法律教育体系中的未来律师都同时具有「物质主义」的职业导向。根据调查结果，我们认为，尽管大中华地区的法律教育系统拥有不同的传统，但它们都同样有需要在法学院课程中更重视法律专业道德，以加强未来律师的法律专业素养。

Keywords

career orientationfuture lawyerslegal professionalismlegal ethicsgreater China未来律师法律专业素养法律专业道德大中华区
Type
Research Article
Information
The China Quarterly , Volume 244: Change, Contradiction and the State: Higher Education in Greater China , December 2020 , pp. 1118 - 1139
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Copyright
Copyright © SOAS University of London, 2020

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