New book on lawyering
October 02, 2004
(Full disclosure: I co-wrote a chapter for this book, but since it was not selected for publication, I have no pecuniary interest in book sales. However, I do think Caldwell is one hell of a stand-up guy).
Could Louis Nizer teach you a thing or two about trial advocacy? Could Andrew Hamilton teach you about appellate arguments? Do you think Alan Isaacman - the man who turned a smut peddler, Larry Flynt, into an icon of the First Amendment - could help you develop strategies necessary to turn a villan into a hero? If so, then there is a great new book for you.
And the Walls Came Tumbling Down : Closing Arguments That Changed the Way We Live--From Protecting Free Speech to Winning Women's Suffrage to Defending the Right to Die is true to its title. The book features argument transcripts from famous trials: You can read for yourself what some of the best lawyers in America argued in court.
Chapter 1 begins with the story of Karen Ann Quinlan, a sick woman who fought for the right to die. Though states regularly kill its citizens, it made it a crime for someone wanting to be free from pain and suffering, to end her own suffering. The book closes with Chapter 8, the story of Carrie Buck, whom the state said was unworthy of having children. Interspersed is the story of the Amistad; John Henry Faulk vs. Senator McCarthy; Susan B. Anthony and the right to vote; John Peter Zenger and the American press vs. the Crown; Larry Flynt vs. millionaire and "moralist" Jerry Falwell; and a woman whose HMO denied her a mone marrow transplant.
Sadly, the good guys featured in this book did not always win. But their lawyers all put on one hell of a fight. By examining the original texts, you can see how.
Why not buy the book? Several people are selling clean, used books on the cheap here.