ABSTRACT
United States pictures of the lawyer differ even more strikingly from French portraits in their dark tints. In Franee, avocate—often former Bdtonniers—do most of the writing about avocats, and express more celebratory views of the profession. Avocats have been writing about their profession at least since Antoine Loisel's Dialogue of Avocats of 1602. Unlike avocats, moreover, barristers and solicitors were too closely linked with judges and the legal system in general to duck the complaints of law reformers, who were glad to paint opponents of change as greedy lawyers. With the arrival of the twentieth century and the passing of the formative period of French legal ethics, the number of avocats began to creep upward, litigation stagnated, and calls for reform began. The outlook of avocats has been marked by their history, by their professional functions, and by interaction with other legal professions.
