Reading Like A Lawyer: Time-Saving Strategies For Reading Law Like An Expert (Paperback)
Review
“The author is an excellent writer and has produced a book suitable for introducing legal writing and reasoning in a variety of settings.” –Bimonthly Review of Law Books
The ability to read law well is a critical, indispensable skill that can make or break the academic career of any aspiring lawyer. Fortunately, the ability to read law well (quickly and accurately) is a skill that can be acquired through knowledge and practice. The sooner the student masters these skills, the greater the rewards. Using seven specific reading strategies, reinforced with hands-on exercises at the end of each chapter, this book shows students how they can read law efficiently, effectively, powerfully, and confidently. Reading Like a Lawyer is divided into 3 parts: * Part I introduces the reader to the fundamentals of legal reasoning upon which law-based reading builds; * Part II introduces the reader to concrete strategies for reading effectively in law school; * and Part III teaches strategies for reading law outside of the law school context.
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Jailhouse Lawyers: Prisoners Defending Prisoners v. the USA (Paperback)
Review
“Mumia Abu-Jamal points out in his latest book, his sixth from Death Row in Pennsylvania, that unfortunately jailhouse lawyers–prisoners who learn the law in the joint and help other prisoners with appeals and legal problems–have a reputation of freeing others while they squat. ‘It’s the bane of jailhouse lawyers. They seem to be able to help everybody but themselves.’ That truth hit home earlier this month when the U.S. Supreme Court refused, without comment, to hear the former Black Panther’s appeal for a new trial based on the prosecution’s consistent exclusion of blacks from his 1982 jury pool. He turns 55 Friday, which means he has officially spent more than half his life in jail. Unless further appeals work, a new Philadelphia jury will eventually be composed, and it will give him life imprisonment or re-institute his death sentence for the 1981 murder of Daniel Faulkner, a white Philadelphia police officer. Then the state of Pennsylvania will try to kill him again.”–Todd S. Burroughs –Whosemedia.com”Mumia Abu-Jamal’s 27 years on Death Row for a murder he did not commit would have turned almost anyone else into an embittered, defeated man. Instead, he has remained what he always was, “the voice of the voiceless,” as he demonstrates yet again in his most recent book . . . Jailhouse Lawyers: Prisoners Defending Prisoners v. the U.S.A. opens a tightly shut door into the operations of the U.S. penal system by chronicling the exploits of dozens of jailhouse lawyers - both men and women - who have fought the injustices the courts and the prisons have dealt them and their fellow prisoners. Their accomplishments, against all odds, have been incredible. Their story is a story never before told.” –J. Patrick O’Connor”Mumia Abu-Jamal’s 27 years on Death Row for a murder he did not commit would have turned almost anyone else into an embittered, defeated man. Instead, he has remained what he always was, “the voice of the voiceless,” as he demonstrates yet again in his most recent book . . . Jailhouse Lawyers: Prisoners Defending Prisoners v. the U.S.A. opens a tightly shut door into the operations of the U.S. penal system by chronicling the exploits of dozens of jailhouse lawyers - both men and women - who have fought the injustices the courts and the prisons have dealt them and their fellow prisoners. Their accomplishments, against all odds, have been incredible. Their story is a story never before told.” –J. Patrick O’Connor
“Expert and well-reasoned commentary on the justice system. . . . His writings are dangerous.”—The Village Voice In Jailhouse Lawyers, award-winning journalist and death-row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal presents the stories and reflections of fellow prisoners-turned-advocates who have learned to use the court system to represent other prisoners—many uneducated or illiterate—and, in some cases, to win their freedom. In Abu-Jamal’s words, “This is the story of law learned, not in the ivory towers of multi-billion-dollar endowed universities [but] in the bowels of the slave-ship, in the dank dungeons of America.” Includes an introduction by Angela Y. Davis. Mumia Abu-Jamal’s books include Live From Death Row and Death Blossoms.
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The Unhappy Lawyer: A Roadmap to Finding Meaningful Work Outside of the Law (Paperback)
“Parker has done an outstanding job of demystifying how any lawyer can make the transition into a new career that offers more potential for success and more importantly, personal satisfaction.”- Don E. Hutcheson, Author, Don’t Waste Your Talent: The 8 Critical Steps to Discovering What You Do Best The Unhappy Lawyer will help you uncover exciting alternative careers with a unique step-by-step program that will make you feel like you have your very own career coach. With chapters containing real letters from lawyers who are desperate to leave the practice of law, tales from lawyers who have shut the door on their legal careers, and powerful exercises, The Unhappy Lawyer provides a witty, no-nonsense roadmap for finding and pursuing engaging work outside of the law. The Unhappy Lawyer will show you, step-by-step, how to: Figure out what you really want from your work and life Discover several career possibilities that excite you Immerse yourself in career possibilities that allow you to use your natural talents And much, much more. The Unhappy Lawyer provides you with the escape route you are seeking. This book helps you ask and answer the hard questions about what you really want from your work and life and will help you successfully pursue your career goals.
About the Author
Monica R. Parker is a career coach who helps lawyers find alternative careers that they enjoy doing. She earned her law degree from Harvard Law School and practiced law for five years before starting her own company. She currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia.
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The Pocket Lawyer for Filmmakers: A Legal Toolkit for Independent Producers (Paperback)
Review
“…provides a readable map through the world of legalese and contract negotiations for any filmmaker interested in doing pretty much all his or her own producing legwork….It’s an excellent, potentially career-saving resource.” - Back Stage”Filmmakers need to do what they can to make sure that they cover all of their legal bases. The problem is that the task seems so huge and overwhelming, that most of us don’t even know where to start. This book does an excellent job of breaking it down for you: what you can do, what you need to do, and what you will need help doing.” - Microfilmmaker Magazine”While reading the book may feel like doing word problem after word problem, there’s no denying you’re smarter on Page 318 than you were on Page 1. It’s an excellent, potentially career-saving resource.” -Sam Thielman, Back Stage Magazine
Book Description
Indispensable, on-the-spot legal advice for filmmakers
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Letters to a Young Lawyer (Art of Mentoring) (Paperback)
From Publishers Weekly
Dershowitz helps inaugurate a new series called the Art of Mentoring with this volume of advice and reflection on practicing law. Several unifying themes run throughout, most prominently the ethical traps for defense attorneys, prosecutors and even judges inherent in the practice of criminal law. Dershowitz alerts a fledgling lawyer to the systemic bias, corner-cutting and outright cheating that he sees permeating the criminal courts. While Dershowitz recognizes the ethical ambiguity that suffuses much of the law, he is more concerned with communicating the moral absolutes he believes in. These include the uncompromising obligation of a defense lawyer to work for the accused’s acquittal by all legitimate means. A believer in telling the truth, Dershowitz excoriates deceitful lawyers and hypocritical judges alike. Along with the moral imperatives, the author tells some war stories and settles a few scores, for example, with critics who took him to task for defending O.J. Simpson, and with the Supreme Court, whose decision in the 2000 election case Dershowitz finds dishonest and unprincipled. The young lawyer (to whom these mini-essays are addressed) will perceive how ethically messy and complicated the law can be and how many core issues in our national life the law touches. Even more, the reader will come away with a sense of Dershowitz himself as teacher, tenacious advocate and self-described provocateur. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
–This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Booklist
Rilke is hot this year–as an advice-giver. His Letters to a Young Poet is the point of reference for Dershowitz’s “oral letters,” part of a new series called the Art of Mentoring, and for Christopher Hitchens’ commentary on contrarianism (see p.271). Having written more than a dozen previous books, Dershowitz is a known quantity; readers tend to be either fans or foes. Those who like him will find plenty of commonsense suggestions here, on heroes and enemies and on morality and wealth. The “young lawyer” of the title is the book’s most obvious target reader, but Dershowitz’s commentary on his profession will also appeal to those who work with lawyers and even to readers who love legal thrillers. And because attorneys simply face different versions of the challenges most white-collar workers face, much of Dershowitz’s advice can be applied in other workplaces as well. Likely to circulate where Dershowitz’s other books are popular. Mary CarrollCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
–This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Stump Your Lawyer: A Quiz to Challenge the Legal Mind (Paperback)
For the lawyers who think they know it all or for those of you who worry that your legal counsel can’t tell a tort from a tart Stump Your Lawyer! is a hilarious tour of the quirks and curiosities of our legal system. This tongue-in-cheek volume offers witty, practical, and thought-provoking challenges for the legally minded. Short case histories, definitions, multiple-choice quizzes, and other formats mock the bar exam approach and probe the reader’s knowledge of obscure statutes, baffling decisions, bizarre legal concepts, and antiquated jargon. Whether you’re studying, practicing, or running from the law, this book will keep you laughing and learning all the way to the courthouse.
About the Author
Howard Zaharoff is an attorney who lives and practices law in Massachusetts.
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The New Yorker Book of Lawyer Cartoons (Paperback)
85 cartoons
From the Inside Flap
85 cartoons
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