Introduction - The government’s lawyer

Summary

Why study government lawyers? The main theme of this book is that government lawyers play a predominant role in both public law litigation and administrative policy-making. Studying the work of government lawyers is therefore essential for the study of litigation as a technique aimed at bringing about social reforms. I also argue that the study of government lawyers enables us to re-evaluate many concepts related to the study of the legal profession at large.

Lawyers in the public sector form a significant portion of the legal profession. Lawyers are involved in every aspect of government work. They have a major impact on legislation, policy-making, implementation, and enforcement. Even more significant is the involvement of government lawyers in litigation. Government lawyers appear on a regular basis before all courts of law, and in many jurisdictions they form the group of lawyers who most frequently take part in high court litigation. Government lawyers and their agency clients have also been shown – by research conducted in various countries – to be the most successful litigants in most judicial forums, including in litigation in the high courts. Accordingly, government lawyers play a major role in shaping public policy through litigation.