Being Bogart: Professional Identity after Michael Clayton
34 Pages Posted: 7 Mar 2011 Last revised: 26 Jan 2021
Date Written: March 4, 2011
Abstract
The best movies are more than entertainment; they also can teach us lessons we need to learn. Movies can offer us both critical insights about how the world really works and also hints of a better future. In this essay I suggest the George Clooney character in "Michael Clayton" performs the first function and the Humphrey Bogart character in the "The Maltese Falcon" the second. Young lawyers might find that “being Bogart” might be the answer to the riddle of how to be a good lawyer in a bad world.
Keywords: popular culture, legal profession, legal ethics, law and society
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