Memoirs and case studies of fraud schemes and consumer
protection from an insider who helped to found New York City's
first consumer watchdog agency, "Counsel for the Deceived" is a
funny, candid account of fraud and institutional paralysis written
by a then-newby lawyer, the city's Consumer Advocate. Philip Schrag
was appointed by former Miss America Bess Myerson to defend
consumer rights. In six case histories, reading more like a
true-crime novel than an academic study, he documents the schemes
of the "commercial underworld" and the inability of courts and
government agencies to respond in time.
Schrag came into office expecting to initiate a new system,
which would at last defend the powerless consumer. Instead, he
discovered how both petty criminals and big corporations are able
to use the law, the courts, and the status quo to delay and blunt
any attacks made upon them. The book tells the fascinating and
amusing story of how Schrag's young lawyers and investigators
became disillusioned by observing the gap between the promise of
the legal system and its actual performance-and how, in reaction,
they invented unprecedented methods of consumer protection, some of
which cause Schrag himself to question their ethical propriety.
Enjoyable as the stories are, their purpose is to raise serious and
basic questions about our legal process and its ability to secure
consumer justice, or even "law and order."
This book is a unique demonstration of a rare ability to report
true crime as it occurs in everyday life. It is a witty and
perceptive analysis of the actual working of our government and our
courts.
The 40th anniversary edition of this classic, acclaimed book
adds thoughtful new material: a Preface by the author and a
Foreword by Marc Galanter of the University of
Wisconsin-Madison.
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