The Most Liberal (Entertainment, Civil Rights, Personal Injury) And Conservative (Oil & Gas, M&A, Energy) Lawyers By Practice Area; Law Professors Are The Most Liberal Among 61 Groups

Adam Bonica (Stanford), Adam S. Chilton (Chicago) & Maya Sen (Harvard), The Political Ideologies of American Lawyers:

The ideology of American lawyers has been a persistent source of discussion and debate. Two obstacles, however, have prevented this topic from being systematically studied: the sheer number of attorneys in the United States and the need for a methodology that makes comparing the ideology of specific individuals possible. In this paper, we present a comprehensive mapping of lawyers’ ideologies that has overcome these hurdles. We use a new dataset that links the largest database of political ideology with the largest database of lawyers’ identities to complete the most extensive analysis of the political ideology of American lawyers ever conducted.

Here is the breakdown by practice area:

 

Tax is the 15th most conservative practice area. Law Professors are the most liberal of the 61 groups measured.  (Hat Tip: Rob Anderson).