Within this volume so far, the term ‘profession’ or ‘professional’ has already been used on many occasions. The fact that this volume, and the research supporting it, focuses on ‘the legal profession’ arguably makes this profusion of use inevitable. However, the conceptualization of, and sense of belonging to, a profession has important connotations which impact upon the perceptions of those within it, including the focus group participants in this study.

One of the key themes emerging within the focus groups was around professional formation and development, in other words the process of becoming a legal professional and working as part of the legal profession. More specifically, discussions during the focus groups explored how participants viewed the training and support they were provided with during their academic and vocational legal education and training, with participants talking about the extent of their preparedness for legal practice. The differences arising between different roles and sectors or specialities within law were also considered. At the heart of this process of professional formation and development is the notion of professional identity. In other words, the ways in which individuals interpret their role as a lawyer (Field et al, 2013). This identity will not only draw upon an individual's own personal values, beliefs and motivations, but will also be shaped by their experiences within legal education, training and practice and their perceptions of how others see their professional role (Hall et al, 2010). For example, a lawyer who chooses to specialize in criminal defence work may have a strong personal commitment to pursuing truth and justice, while also taking an adversarial and combative approach to representing their client, based on their observations of the norms of courtroom behaviour (for further examples, see Bergman Blix and Wettergren, 2018).

This sense of professional identity is arguably becoming more important as the notion of being a legal professional is increasingly understood as going beyond compliance with the core ethical standards imposed by regulators (eg the SRA's Code of Conduct for solicitors in England and Wales). The idea of being a professional is now commonly viewed as requiring lawyers to display a range of ‘professional’ behaviours and characteristics (Hamilton, 2008).