NCJ Number
95162
Date Published
1979
Length
127 pages
Annotation
A case study of the response of Wisconsin lawyers to consumer protection laws calls attention to how often lawyers act with little or no knowledge of the applicable laws, how they play conciliatory rather than adversarial roles, and how their self-interest influences their decisions about whether to take a case and the tactics to pursue in the cases they accept.
Abstract
The study examines the impact of Wisconsin law on the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act. About 100 lawyers in 5 Wisconsin counties were interviewed, as were representatives of the State's 10 largest law firms, the legal services programs in Milwaukee and Madison, Wisconsin Judicare, and all the group legal services registered with the State bar. In addition, a questionnaire concerning experiences with the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act was sent to all lawyers attending a seminar which dealt with the statute. Those surveyed responded predictably to the social and economic structures in which the practice of law is embedded. Liberal reforms, such as consumer protection laws, often create individual rights without providing the means to implement those rights. However, it is unreasonable to blame lawyers, who rarely see consumer cases involving more than a few hundred dollars, for not mastering a complicated and extensive body of consumer law and continuing to update such expertise. It is no wonder that lawyers choose conciliatory strategies, which require no knowledge of consumer law, over adversarial tactics. Ten tables and approximately 150 references are included.