Commissioned by the US Department of Justice, this is the first comprehensive national study of the US civil justice system. Kritzer examines the background, experiences, day-to-day activities, and outlook of civil lawyers, and argues that lawyers' behaviour must be understood in part as a form of brokerage, or mediation, between the client and the legal system. He suggests that brokers and professional lawyers fulfil complementary, rather than alternative, roles, and recommends that lawyers' monopoly on advocacy in civil litigation be restricted.