- ISBN13: 9780465016334
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
With wit, humor, and decades of personal experiences from which to draw, Alan Dershowitz dispenses advice on career, law, and life in a book aimed at those just starting out in the legal profession. As defender of both the righteous and the questionable, Alan Dershowitz has become perhaps the most famous and outspoken attorney in the land. Whether or not they agree with his legal tactics, most people would agree that he possesses a powerful and profound sense of justice. In this meditation on his profession, Dershowitz writes about life, law, and the opportunities that young lawyers have to do good and do well at the same time. We live in an age of growing dissatisfaction with law as a career, which ironica… More >>
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5 Comments
This is an excellent book – well written, cogent and persuasive – the perfect launch of the new Art of Mentoring series. Alan M. Dershowitz, an impassioned and outspoken attorney, is keenly aware of the risks and pitfalls of legal practice. He squarely confronts the fact that lawyers often find themselves having to make moral or ethical choices in ambiguous circumstances in which the lesser of two evils is the only possible choice because there is no clear good – and yet, no clearly lesser evil. The book does not pretend to be objective. It is a compilation of advice, great courtroom war stories, practical tips and philosophical conclusions. Dershowitz is a fighter who chose his side long ago and has no intention of deserting it. Some of his more liberal positions will seem wrong-headed or ill-considered to those who disagree. Well, not ill-considered; he is a thoughtful man who takes lawyering seriously. We recommend this book to you whether or not you intend to study or practice law. It is valuable for an audience far broader than only young lawyers, including those who hire them.
This is a fantastic book.
Dershowitz writes about whether there is an absolute morality and whether law is an honourable profession, as well as about self-doubt, failure, regrets and being a good person.
Even if you don’t agree with his politics, a reprinted letter from a former student at Harvard explains it perfectly when he says, “my reasons for (having you as my favourite professor) have more to do with politics.” It has to do with the fact that Dershowitz gives the best advice, which is always fresh and original and with great anecdotes.
-from a first-year law student who loved every page of this book
I’ll keep this short and sweet. Please don’t hold that against me. I LOVED this book. I am starting my first semester of law school soon, and I found this book to be enlightening and inspiring. Dershowitz is a gem among lawyers and of all his books I have read, this is the ONE that I would recommend for all law students.
Happy reading.
When reading the “Introduction” to “Letters to a Young Lawyer” or even by reading it’s title, a potential reader might have the impression that Dershowitz’s book is an inspirational, motivating, and impelling read for lawyers and non-lawyers alike. With emphasis on the word “advice”, he repeatedly provides throughout the beginning with a fair amount overall. Part I of the book does the best job of all in giving a reader ethical guidance and forewarnings about the profession. However, to say the whole book is solely admonition wouldn’t be entirely true.
His tone halfway through turns from lessons to disesteem. Leaving the advice lending role shifts to a bombastic ranting about unjustness in today’s justice system. This sort of shift might not be possible by some other authors, but with Dershowitz’s experience and knowledge about the subject, he achieves it brilliantly. His despondency is borderline excessive for a motivational book but is adequately accompanied by frankness about realities in the profession. It may just be a part of the veracity in his writing that keeps the reader’s attention though.
How many lawyers today will do an about-face and write:
(Pg.80) Here are some of the key rules of the justice game:
I. Most criminal defendants are, in fact, guilty.
II. All criminal defense lawyers, prosecutors and judges understand and believe Rule I.
Many chapters dealing with actual advice would most likely prove to be invaluable. Some theories are even proving to be factual today. Such as the case with Chapter 29 – The Difference Between a Prosecutor and a Defense Attorney. In particular, Dershowitz discusses the flaws of politicization of the justice system which might motivate prosecutors to prosecute an innocent citizen. Was this not just exemplified recently with DA Nifong’s overzealous sortie against the Duke lacrosse team?
Much of the text of the book examines issues of morality of lawyers. To be honest, I hadn’t had much respect for Defense attorneys who represent some of the most contemptible human beings in the world before reading this book. However, as with all of Dershowitz’s books, he obligates a reader to approach his or her preconceived opinion about the topic from a different angle. He contends with disparagers, that in fact, it is necessary and a responsibility of a equal and just society to sufficiently represent anyone in need of legal counsel, whether guilty or innocent.
One of the most vital chapters in the whole book is the first. Chapter One- Pick your Heroes Carefully. He lucidly writes to a reader, that one most discriminate among heroes and idols thoughtfully in order to as he puts it; “Learn to live with disappointments and still emulate those characteristics of your role models that warrant emulation.”
Surprisingly this book has few imperfections. Although in some part’s Dershowitz strays away from authentic “advice” to actual animosity about topics ranging from the 2000 Presidential election, the Supreme Court, to capital punishment. Nevertheless it is not as to the extend of a vast majority of books published these days which are solely about an author’s political persuasion.
In writing about the oxymoronic “Lawyer’s Morals” he never discusses what follows if a Defense Attorney actually “proves” a guilty defendant innocent, which considering his record, he would be quite knowledgeable about.
To dispel any myth of “strong language”, there is especially nothing wrong with hearing a “damn” or “hell” in educational book which is minuscule in comparison to any 50 Cent song you might hear in your child`s iPod. If you’re a reader offended by weensy curse words, the legal profession might not be up your alley in the first place.
This book is a gift not only to its intended audience, young lawyers, but to every citizen of the United States. It is the work of an iconoclast, which will come as no surprise to anyone familiar with its author, Alan Dershowitz. The author pulls no puches in his description of the flaws of our justice system in action through our courts. He covers both tort and criminal cases. The prose is clear and not laden with the deplored “legalese” that has entangled so many who attempt to understand the issues addressed.
Threading itself throughout the book is the theme of moral dilemmas that lawyers, defense and prosecutor alike, as well as the judge, face in the execution of their duties and responsibilities. The complexities and nuances of making ethical decisions in carrying out one’s legal role are explored in depth with grace and intellect. It is neither pugnacious nor polemical, which Dershowitz, rightly or wrongly, is so often accused of. I suspect that those characteristics are at least partly true of his temperament. This, however, is inevitable in one who challenges the system, asks the hard questions that others do not dare to raise, and risks pointing to the elephant in the room that many fail to recognize, much less comment upon.
The nature of truth and justice are thoroughly analyzed from the perspective of the defense and the prosecutor. Particular emphasis is placed on the role fo the defense lawyer who is committed to pursuing the best interests of his or her client, even when he or she knows that a successful strategy may place a guilty defendant back on the streets. The analysis is fascinating and thought provoking, as is the entire book.
The book culminates with a consideration of morality and right conduct irrespective of one’s profession or roles in life and, hence, has universal applicability.
Hugh Rosen, D.S.W., author of “Silent Battlefields: A Novel” (Philadelphia, Pa)