Friends at the Bar
Nancy writes: “This subject grew out of my own musings as a Quaker lawyer as to whether others felt a tension, as I did, between Quaker testimonies and current American law practice. I was bothered by the manipulation that distorted truth-telling and by the aggressiveness and intimidation practiced by many lawyers, perhaps even unwittingly for some.” Nancy was concerned that a “cooperative and collaborative spirit could be viewed by both clients and other lawyers as a weakness.”
During her year at Pendle Hill, Nancy found that her “cohorts there were extremely helpful” in referring her to other Quaker lawyers. She contacted them and included them in her survey of one hundred Quaker lawyers (attenders and members) and their views regarding the simultaneous practice of law and Friends’ testimonies.
Nancy’s survey questions included:
- gender (35 of the 100 were women and 65 were men)
- age
- length of time as a lawyer and as a Friend
- reasons for becoming a lawyer
- type of practice (solo, small or large firm, government etc.)
- substantive area (civil rights, corporate, wills and estates etc.)
- amount of pro bono work, if any
- the advantages and disadvantages of being a Quaker lawyer
- whether being a Friend influenced the way they practiced law, and
- whether the lawyer experienced any tensions and/or conflicts between the practice of law and Quaker beliefs and testimonies.
Concerning her results, Nancy notes: “One finding that surprised me was that more than a few respondents found negotiation a troubling practice because of the lack of truth-telling inherent in it.” She had expected that, because negotiation “is a less aggressive type of lawyering,” it would have been viewed more positively.
One finding that impressed her was that “the Quaker lawyers did not divide their “personhood” from their ‘lawyerhood’; they appeared to act similarly as a person and as a lawyer.” She wasn’t surprised by this finding, but found it “impressive” nonetheless.
What was it like to do research at Pendle Hill? Nancy found that “[b]eing the Cadbury Scholar during that academic year was a wonderful experience.” She often walked through the woods to the Friends Historical Collection in the library of Swarthmore College and spent the day researching old documents and books. She says that most of her research was completed in 1991-92, although during the years after Pendle Hill and before the publisher’s acceptance, she needed to do a lot of fine tuning, rewriting, and updating of court cases.
Is there interest in a conference?
If there is enough interest, Nancy thinks “it would be wonderful to convene at Pendle Hill a conference of Quaker and other lawyers, judges, law professors, and law students to discuss ideas to make more extensive use of alternative dispute resolution and to improve the legal process.” Are you interested? Let us know, at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it !
Nancy Black Sagafi-nejad’s book Friends at the Bar: A Quaker View of Law, Conflict Resolution, and Legal Reform (SUNY Press, 2011) can be purchased through the Pendle Hill Bookstore for $75 (plus shipping/handling) at ext. 2, 800-742-3150 or 610-566-4507 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .