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Prestige, Networks, and Social Mobility Among Lawyers: A View from California of Woeste's book, Henry Ford's War on Jews and the Legal Battle Against Hate Speech

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 December 2018

Abstract

In Henry Ford's War on Jews and the Legal Battle Against Hate Speech (2012), Victoria Saker Woeste raises provocative questions for students of the legal profession. Aaron Sapiro, an Eastern European, Jewish immigrant to California, rose to international prominence through his corporate specialization in agricultural cooperatives. Our understanding of the social structure of the legal profession, based on studies of the East and Midwest, shows that for most of the twentieth century, the structure of the bar was highly stratified around markers of ethno‐religious status. The trajectory of Sapiro's career does not fit this story. A focus on the West generally or California in particular complicates our understanding of how factors such as ethno‐religious background, social networks, career mobility, and prestige interact.

Type
Review Essay
Copyright
Copyright © American Bar Foundation, 2015 

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