Almost everyone in the United States is familiar with criticisms of lawyers and their handling-or mishandling-of the civil justice system. The relationship between the American public and lawyers is vital, yet often misunderstood. What are we to make of the paradox of increasing dependence on attorneys and criticism of them to the point of disrespect? More importantly, do they really deserve this condemnation?

In "Judging the Lawyers: A Jury-Box View of the Case Against American Lawyers," author Ted Preston discusses the realities of lawyers' practices and their vast benefits to society to make his point that critical but balanced assessment of attorneys and the civil justice system is essential. Using a trial format that balances both sides of the argument, "Judging the Lawyers" is a vehicle for exploring the case for and against lawyers and for examining the causes of the tensions between the bar and the public.

Preston invites you to stand in the position of a juror and gives you the opportunity to actively think through each issue. "Judging the Lawyers" can help you better understand lawyers and their operation of our civil justice system.

The writer has been deprived of his license to practice law in three states. The basis for these court orders was a confidential complaint made by the writer about the misconduct of a United States District Judge. The complaints included evidence, which pointed to the judge's financial ties to litigators with matters in his court. Nevertheless, the judge's misconduct was overlooked by supervising judges. The writer reviews the court order which drove him from the practice of law. "The point of all this," he concludes, "was to banish me from the legal profession, not to find the truth since bringing truth into the light of day would have been uncomfortable for" the judge. From the book: "Any professional regulatory authority empowered to deprive its members of their reputation and their ability to earn an income should be subject to the highest standards of objectivity and fairness. In the legal community, the opposite is the norm. The rules which govern the behavior of lawyers are explicitly intended to overlook complaints about the venal and self-interested behavior of the most powerful members of the profession. The judges make the rules and see to their own insulation from criticism, oversight and transparency in their dealings with persons interested in judicial outcomes. The judges take pains to block any examination of their off-the-books income streams. Those who are so incautious as to rely on the prescribed complaint rules and who come forward, confidentially, to object to obvious instances of be-robed venality are themselves subjected to the severest sanction." Consideration of salary increases for the judges should be put on hold, the writer asserts. Why? Better rules than the "bogus revised" ones are needed immediately. "In writing their own ethics rules, the judges have given themselves impunity to accept bribes." The writer offers prescriptive comments, including the text of a "Best Practices Declaration," which should be binding upon any who seek a position on the bench, local state or federal.

The demand for new and increased legal services brought about by the process of European integration, closer relations among Member States, and changes in the way services are delivered under the influence of new technologies have called for adjustments in legislation and regulations and given rise to a significant alteration in the role of lawyers and the legal profession in general. Lingering 'old' rules - which tend to safeguard the interests of the profession rather than those of individuals, whether users or consumers - are clearly on the reform docket. This book shows how the necessary openness of the legal profession at the European level may be achieved. With a depth and synthesis not attempted by previous scholars, the author examines in turn the relevant EU legislation and case law and the laws of each of the 27 Member States affecting the practice of law. Exposing the problems that arise in a European and comparative context, he examines such contentious issues as the following: - certification and recognition systems; - competition rules; - consumer protection; - cross-border trade in services; - 'crystallization' of sectoral interests; - inadequate intervention by public authorities; - fee scales and remuneration; - formation of professional companies; - quality of service; - advertising; - professional conduct; and - professional liability and insurance. Focusing on the differences in and the common aspects of the profession as regulated in all the jurisdictions encompassed by the EU, this inquiry and research offers well-thought-out solutions consonant with current trends and puts forward proposals consistent with Community law obligations. The book makes a major contribution to the definition of the as-yet unachieved figure of the 'European lawyer,' and will be of great interest to students and teachers of European law and European integration, as well as to lawyers engaged in cross-border practice in Europe.

In Two Volumes. Volume II: William Cushing, Oliver Ellsworth And John Marshall.

Great poker players are master tacticians. Not only do they calculate odds with lightning speed and astonishing precision, but they also cunningly anticipate and manipulate the actions of their adversaries. In short, they boast skills that every lawyer can envy. This highly entertaining work might best be summed up as "better lawyering through poker." Steven Lubet shows exactly how the tactics of the poker table can be adapted to litigation, negotiation, and virtually every aspect of law practice. In a series of engaging and informative lessons, Lubet describes concepts like "betting for value," "slow playing," and "reverse bluffing," and explains how they can be used by lawyers to win their cases. The best card players, like the best lawyers, have a knack for getting their adversaries to react exactly as they want, and that talent separates the winners from the losers. Lawyers' Poker is an irresistible guide to successful lawyering and an enjoyable read for anyone with an interest in law. No poker knowledge required.

Workers' Compensation Law provides an in-depth look at the day-to-day practice of this field in addition to addressing theoretical aspects that form a critical foundation for this branch of law. It explains activities from drafting petitions, presenting cases to an administrative law judge, and bringing an appeal. Workers' Compensation Law profiles professionals who are intimately involved in a workers compensation case including attorneys, paralegals, administrative law judges, chiropractors, medical doctors, and more. It balances theory and practice, provides ethical discussions, and explores the use of private investigators and various discovery devices in order to examine claims. Content throughout is reinforced with excerpted cases, brief interviews, a variety of exhibits, and practical real-life examples. An appendix provides a wide variety of Workers Compensation forms, petitions, and medical reports.

Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone!

The Renegade Lawyer satirizes today's legal profession, putting a smile on your face or leaving you laughing out loud. Rather than collecting stories of widows leaving their fortunes to their cats or stupid cases from the 1800s, this book tackles such topics as how majoring in political science is pointless, how the way the law is taught (the Socratic method) would have Socrates turning over in his grave, how to lose friends by constantly arguing and nitpicking (important legal skills), how court decisions result from what the judge had for breakfast, and how stress becomes a lawyer's constant companion. The book offers advice based on actual experiences, such as don't wear short pants to a luncheon with your law school dean or slippers in your law firm partner's office. One chapter teaches you how to write rejection letters to law firms before they reject you while another chapter suggests movies to watch to overcome law school burnout. To test your legal acumen after each chapter, there are short quizzes with wacky questions. Is true romance possible for a law student or lawyer? Can you really lose 20 pounds your first semester of law school eating nothing but Mint Milano cookies? Is a law firm more like Ancient Rome, the Dark Ages, or the Klingon Empire? How can the rule No Horses in the Park mean that a pony can be in the park but a zebra can't? Is double-billing evil? The book starts by asking whether a lawyer can smile and continues with an overall jocular tone. As the subtitle suggests, the Renegade Lawyer makes a nice gift of legal humor for prospective law students, lawyers, or other people who simply enjoy seeing the legal profession lampooned.

Civil rights lawyer Solomon S. Seay, Jr. chronicles both heartening and heartbreaking episodes of his first-hand struggle to achieve the actualization of civil rights. Tempered with wit and told with endearing humility, Seay’s memoir Jim Crow and Me: Stories from My Life as a Civil Rights Lawyer gives one pause for both cultural and personal reflection. With an eloquence befitting one of Alabama’s most celebrated attorneys, Seay manages to not only relay his personal struggles with much fervor and introspection, but to acknowledge, in each brief piece, the greater societal struggle in which his story is necessarily framed. Jim Crow and Me is more than just a memoir of one man’s battle against injustice—it is an accessible testament to the precarious battle against civil injustice that continues even today.

United States Circuit Justice For The Ninth And Tenth Circuits, And Associate Justice Of The Supreme Court Of The United States.

There is no more powerful, detested, misunderstood African American in our public life than Clarence Thomas. "Supreme Discomfort: The Divided Soul of Clarence Thomas" is a haunting portrait of an isolated and complex man, savagely reviled by much of the black community, not entirely comfortable in white society, internally wounded by his passage from a broken family and rural poverty in Georgia, to elite educational institutions, to the pinnacle of judicial power. His staunchly conservative positions on crime, abortion, and, especially, affirmative action have exposed him to charges of heartlessness and hypocrisy, in that he is himself the product of a broken home who manifestly benefited from racially conscious admissions policies.
"Supreme Discomfort" is a superbly researched and reported work that features testimony from friends and foes alike who have never spoken in public about Thomas before--including a candid conversation with his fellow justice and ideological ally, Antonin Scalia. It offers a long-overdue window into a man who straddles two different worlds and is uneasy in both--and whose divided personality and conservative political philosophy will deeply influence American life for years to come.

Judge Mac Swinford was one of the longest-serving federal judges in United States history. During his lengthy tenure in the Kentucky courts, he came to know and appreciate the deep complexity of the law, understanding that it could be solid and fluid, broad and narrow, kind and harsh, changeless yet always evolving. In this service to the state and to the law, he felt that it was often his fellow lawyers who touched and educated him most. Kentucky Lawyer presents the most humorous, enlightening, and poignant moments of a remarkable fifty-year career. Judge Swinford offers a unique Kentucky history, recounting instances of the drama and romance of the Kentucky bar. In "A Kentucky Ghost Story," he takes readers to the banks of Crooked Creek in Harrison County, where the spirit of a wrongfully accused man still affects judicial decisions. "Cost of Love" recalls a trial in Carlisle County in which a scorned lover files suit against her ex-fianc? for breach of promise, claiming ten thousand dollars for a broken heart. Remembering some of Kentucky's most revered and respected jurists, Judge Swinford relates American culture in its most intimate and significant sense, through the acts and expressions of local leaders in the everyday affairs of life. His stories of humble commitment highlight the lives of men such as Henry Clay, Lieutenant Governor Rodes K. Myers, and Senator Joe C.S. Blackburn, who championed unpopular cases and stood on the forefront of government and community affairs. Kentucky Lawyer pays tribute to some of Kentucky's "truly great men," with the hope that legend will preserve them for us in memory. Now back in print, this classic book illuminates the varied work and world of the twentieth-century lawyer with elegance and humor.

"Superbly well written . . . a wonderfully informative guide to the Supreme Court both past and present."--David J. Garrow, "American History""" Jeffrey Rosen recounts the history of the Supreme Court through the personal and philosophical rivalries that have transformed the law--and by extension, our lives. With studies of four crucial conflicts--Chief Justice John Marshall and President Thomas Jefferson; post-Civil War justices John Marshall Harlan and Oliver Wendell Holmes; liberal icons Hugo Black and William O. Douglas; and conservative stalwarts William H. Rehnquist and Antonin Scalia--Rosen brings vividly to life the perennial rivalry between those justices guided by strong ideology and those who cared more about the court as an institution, forging coalitions and adjusting to new realities. He ends with a revealing conversation with Chief Justice John Roberts, who is attempting to change the court in unexpected ways. The stakes, he shows, are nothing less than the future of American jurisprudence.

During his three terms as State's Attorney Dr. Olsen prosecuted many criminals, and he was elected president of the State's Attorney's Association. He was later elected president of the Alabama Federal Bar Association, President of the Arizona Federal Bar Association, and national secretary of the Association of Federal Investigators.

As Attorney-Advisor General with the U. S. Air Force Dr. Olsen was named the Civil Servant of the Year at Ellsworth AFB. He was instrumental in closing a road that ran through a nuclear warhead storage area so civilians would be unable to access it. The north half of Ellsworth AFB is located in Mead County. One of the Missile Control centers is located next to his grandfather's ranch where Dr. Olsen was born in the log cabin. Dr. Olsen invited the Mead County Commissioners to meet at the Officers Club on the base. In turn, Dr. Olsen, General Neeley, the Aerospace Division Commander, Col. Cordingly, the Staff Judge Advocate, and Col. Petrul, the Base Commander were invited to a steak fry at a cabin in the woods owned by the State Senator from Mead County.

After the Shuttle Challenger explosion, Dr. Olsen reviewed the contract for the Solid Rocket Booster, and found that the contract specifications for the "O" rings required that they perform normally at temperatures down to 40 degrees below zero. It therefore appears that either the "O" rings were not manufactured in accordance with the contract specifications, or there was sabotage.

While conducting and supervising investigations at the Johnson Space Center, Dr. Olsen was involved in a shooting at his motel. There were no injuries, but Dr. Olsen's rental car had 3 or 4 bullet holes.

Just before the start of a Federal criminal trial of a lady accused of stealing gold salvaged from surplus rocket engines, a key witness was found murdered. The U. S. Attorney refused to get involved, saying that murder was a state offense. Dr. Olsen could not convince him that he could charge her with tampering with a federal witness.

This book is designed to help young lawyers make the transition from student to legal professional. The book outlines a strategic plan for peak performance in the legal profession. Helpful insight is provided from lawyers, judges, doctors, professors, peak performance coaches and world leaders on how to be an effective, productive and peak performing lawyer. In particular, this book will help the novice lawyer master the art of time management. The principles discussed can be applied to nearly every area of practice to get results and consistently perform at a higher level.

This is a biography of the early years of a somewhat successful legal career. It lacks the aphrodisiac of star quality, but what it provides is closer to common ground, and in that sense more valuable. Within these pages I have portrayed my sometimes painful, sometimes exhilarating coming of age as a trial lawyer in post mid-century Nashville, Tennessee.

There is plenty of drama, much ridiculousness, and most of all an abiding sense of humanity, created by the collision of an earnest, young lawyer on the lower rungs of the American System of Justice with the system itself. The comedy, tragedy, carelessness, and sometimes good lawyering chronicled here have been experienced from time immemorial by fledgling lawyers, whose energy and idealism temporarily overcomes the cynicism that so often dominates our legal system.

If these stories seem to validate our system of justice, this old lawyer's judgment of that system will have been accurately conveyed. The stories tend to demonstrate that a system which ultimately rests upon the judgment of twelve people, while far from perfect, is superior to anything else the world has managed to devise for resolving society's disputes. Even an awkward young lawyer, battered as he sometimes was by the system, perceived that basic truth and carried it with him for the rest of his professional life.

A compilation of Washington, DC, attorney Jacob Stein's essays about lawyers, judges, clients, literature, and popular culture. The essays in this volume have previously appeared in Washington Lawyer, American Scholar, the Times Literary Supplement, and Wilson Quarterly.

From the Author:
One of these days a tired lawyer, in retreat from the quickly running statute of limitations, and hiding out in a bookstore as I have done, will discover this book. And it may just happen that one or two of the remarks that follow will remind the tired counselor that the ungrateful client, the unresponsive judge, the damnation of deadlines are all common to those of us who must extract a living from the contention of others.

About the Author:
Jacob A. Stein has been a trial lawyer for more than 55 years. Mr. Stein received an LL.B. in 1948 from George Washington University. His practice includes a wide variety of civil and criminal litigation, particularly the prosecution of personal injury claims. His books include: Legal Spectator & More (2003); The Law of Law Firms (1994); Closing Argument, The Art and the Law (1969); Trial Handbook for Maryland Lawyers (1972-2001); District of Columbia Tort Casefinder (1977 & 1983 supp.); Personal Injury Damages (2nd ed. 1991); Damages and Recovery, A Survey of the Law of Damages (1972).

He is senior editor of Litigation magazine. He is adjunct professor at Georgetown U. Law School, where he teaches an advanced course in the Federal Rules of Evidence. He also has participated in many continuing education programs and has taught in the Harvard Law School trial practice course from 1974 through 1983.

He is past president of the District of Columbia Bar and of the Bar Association of the District of Columbia. He served as chairman of the Local Rules Committee of the U. S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Mr. Stein is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers.

Complete Table of Contents and links to past articles at LegalSpectatorAndMore.com

Jim Simons presents a stirring vision of radical politics and movement law in Austin beginning in the late sixties. We see how historic cases played out within the context of complex personal issues which engender healing and celebration.
Susan Bright, poet, author of 18 books including Breathing Under Water, The Layers of Our Seeing and House of the Mother.
It's a wonderful read, a great outing for the imagination and an invigorating trip back into yesteryear. I took inspiration and frequently experienced deep gratitude for the author's setting all this down so fully and bravely. I laughed. I cried. As they say. But the book's not a downer; it's inspiring, a clear-eyed, tough-minded account, full of life and determination to prevail.
Greg Olds, former editor, The Texas Observer; publisher, the Westlake Picayune; and contributor to countless publications in Texas and elsewhere.

The "Ball Four" of the legal profession, "The Legal Lampoon" is a practical, must-read humorous guide to the legal profession for any person considering a career in the legal field or wanting to hire an attorney. Richard Icci, a lawyer with more than twenty years experience, addresses and debunks many of the popularly held beliefs and myths about attorneys and their roles, and details how our American system of justice works. Icci covers such topics as: Types of lawyers Law school experiences Client billings and the mystery of billable hours Myths of great salaries And much more Written from the perspective of an experienced civil and appellate litigator, "The Legal Lampoon" satirizes every system related to the practice of law, including legal education and the courtroom process. Down-to-earth and hilarious, "The Legal Lampoon" is everything you ever wanted to know about the legal profession but didn't think to ask.

Jose Francisco Torres was born and raised "up the river" above Trinidad, Colorado and his life spanned from the cowboy days of the late 1800s to the technological era of the late 1900s. Despite the security of his home in the rural Spanish community, there was something lacking: opportunity and respect for his people from the outside world. Early on, he conceived the notion that this was wrong, that he and his people deserved better and, as a child, he felt prompted to do something about it. The question became what and how? Discrimination was everywhere and he had neither money nor support to assist him. But with faith and determination, and to the dismay of his parents, he set out to prove it could be done. Refused entry into law school because of his background, he refused to be stopped by the rejection. This chronicle of the hardships, gains, setbacks and wins in the life of this man details what he felt and what he accomplished in his lifelong battle against prejudice and for equality. In the process, he lost his first love, battled a deadly disease, crossed with the Ku Klux Klan, gained a law degree, defended the poor and disadvantaged, married his Crusita and reared three children, took on the political establishment, joined every civic good cause that came his way, and became the Honorable J. Frank Torres, "the only honest judge we ever had " Lois Gerber Franke was born and reared on an eastern Colorado ranch where she learned to ride, rope and shoot. She graduated from the University of Colorado and has completed studies from other institutions. After college she lived and worked at jobs in San Francisco and Washington, D.C. She married Paul, an engineer, and lived at Grand Lake, Colorado where she learned trout fishing. The family then moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico where she did city planning before settling into a career of teaching high school English and Journalism and coaching the table tennis team. Lois has three grown children and is a compulsive reader who likes horses, dogs, puns, cribbage, lilacs and rainy days. This book springs from her friendship with an intrepid and unforgettable neighbor.