Book Reviews
This Month's Featured Selections
The
Killing Season: A Summer Inside an LAPD Homicide Division
By Miles Corwin
(New York, NY: Ballantine Publishing Group, 1998).
336 pgs. Paper. Retail: $6.99.
Reviewed by Jason Klimowicz
Miles Corwin, a reporter for the Los Angeles Times, spent
the summer of 1994 shadowing homicide detectives in South-Central Los
Angeles. What results is The Killing Season: A Summer Inside An LAPD
Homicide Division, a book that uses South-Central LA to describe
the battleground that many of America's inner cities have become.
Corwin does a good job describing the work of several homicide
detectives. He follows each murder case beginning with the murder call,
to the detective's investigation at the murder scene, and finally to the
district attorney's decision whether to charge the suspect. The life of
a homicide detective in South-Central can be demanding. Detectives often
must spend up to 48 hours at a stretch working on an investigation. The
individual investigations make for very interesting reading.
However, Corwin is at his best when he describes the anguishing
impact the murders have upon the victims' relatives and friends. Corwin
regularly sat in on therapy sessions held for the relatives and friends
of murder victims at a South-Central counseling center.
He also excels when he describes the lives of the suspects leading up
to the murders. He describes how, by age 10, one suspect often was left
alone by his mother because she spent days away smoking crack. He often
went hungry, having only cereal to eat. Without direction from his
family, he joined a gang by age 14. This inevitably led to a life of
crime, and by age 20 he would receive life without parole for a murder
he committed during a botched robbery.
Corwin's attention to detail is superior, bringing the reader right
to the murder scenes. His contrast of the paradisiacal setting that the
palm and jacaranda trees project to the grim deteriorating apartments
surrounded by the malt liquor billboards in South-Central is surreal. In
another scene, Corwin describes a murder victim's last moments of life.
While paramedics try to save the victim's life, a Monday Night Football
game blares on the television in the background. The victim dies at the
same moment thousands of fans are roaring at a missed game-winning field
goal.
Corwin is not being flippant by describing a football game while a
victim dies. He uses this scene to demonstrate the main theme of his
book. While thousands of people are riveted nationwide by a football
game, an ignored war is raging in the inner city. Corwin states it as "a
quiet genocide that [is] taking place." He reports that more than 400
murders occurred in South-Central alone in 1993, few of which received
any news coverage or attention. He believes that if 400 American
soldiers were killed during a peacekeeping mission, it would be debated
at the highest levels of government and lead to major changes in foreign
policy. However, 400 murders is business as usual in South-Central. He
concludes that a life in South-Central simply seems to have less value
than a life in other parts of Los Angeles.
Unfortunately, I believe Corwin's conclusion is correct. Until the
murders seriously affect the lives of those who vote and hold real
political power in this country, the inner cities will be allowed to
continue to deteriorate and war in America's inner cities will go on -
all but ignored by the general population.
Environmental Statutes, 1998 Edition
Rockville, MD: Government Institutes Inc., 1998.
$208. To order, call (301) 921-2323.
Reviewed by Dennis Verhaagh
Over the last 30 years there has been a proliferation of federal
legislation adding acronyms to the language like a military manual
writer. We now have CAA, OSHA, CERCLA, TOSCA, and RECRA to name the most
significant federal acts. There is no one all-powerful bureaucracy that
is responsible for enforcing all the environmental laws. Therefore,
newcomers must tread lightly until they know the limits of each
agency.
Environmental Statutes, 1998 Edition is a powerful addition
to the library of any lawyer who practices corporate or environmental
law and needs immediate access to the broad scope of federal
environmental legislation. With the CD-ROM that accompanies the text,
one can easily search through the statutes for the enabling legislation,
definitions, the charge to the various federal regulatory agencies, and
other obscure provisions.
However, those who must have a court interpretation or an explanatory
overview may be disappointed. The text is raw statute with no
annotations. Also, even with the CD-ROM, one must be familiar with the
jargon of the environmental arena to know how to frame a search.
Newcomers to environmental law would benefit from a digest or a good law
review article to supplement this edition.
Getting Started: Basics for a Successful Law
Firm
By Arthur G. Greene, Editor
(Chicago, IL: ABA Law Practice Management Section, 1996).
$74.95. To order, call (800) 285-2221.
Reviewed by Robert J. Kasieta
This book provides helpful guidance for lawyers considering founding
a new firm. The book's narrative text is helpful, discussing issues
important to law firm formation; but the book justifies its $74.95
suggested retail price in its appendices. There the reader finds helpful
checklists and forms that are far more significant than anything in the
preceding chapters. A model partnership agreement comes with the book on
a computer disk in ASCII and WordPerfect format for easy modification.
Also included is a comprehensive checklist of details to address before
opening a new office.
Getting Started offers useful suggestions in challenging
areas of law firm formation, like: How do I know whether there is a
sufficient market to justify another law firm in my area? Or, how much
capital do I need to see me through the startup phase of my operation?
It also addresses details of startup such as sources of financing and
organizational formations for the new firm. Anyone contemplating
starting a new firm would do well to browse through this book.
Getting Started missed an opportunity to provide a
significant service to lawyers considering partnership by alerting them
to a pervasive potential pitfall even if everything else in their
planning was superlative. Readers would benefit from more discussion of
shared values and the way in which differences in those values can be
recognized prospectively by lawyers considering partnership. The authors
might have included a checklist of hypothetical scenarios for partners
to discuss to help them recognize differences that might arise so that
they might work out such differences before they ripened into conflict.
That might be the best service the book could provide; because while
most lawyers could locate a form book of partnership agreements and are
savvy enough in financial matters to locate capital sources, many might
not recognize the need to fully explore differences in values that could
destroy the partnership.
Competent lawyers with complimentary practices should in all
instances be able to partner together. What, then, separates those that
succeed from those that merely survive, or worse, fail? It is the
capacity of the firm principals to share a common view in all important
areas, from firm sources of capital to the kind of furniture in offices,
from the choice of computer systems to staff hiring decisions. Absent
deeply held shared values, there is little hope for success for any new
firm made up of partners.
The Lawyer Who Blew Up His
Desk
and Other Tales of Legal MadnessBy Joseph Matthews
(Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press, 1998).
241 pgs. Paper. Retail $11.95.
Reviewed by Peter E. Hans
Such a catchy title. The publisher says there's humor inside. The
author's introduction says that this mosaic of observations illustrates
the personal toll demanded from lawyers engaged in the private practice
of law. This book doesn't contain any jokes, though, and the pace crawls
whenever the author writes about himself.
Fortunately, this book goes beyond the publisher's advertising copy,
and the author goes beyond self-analysis of his reasons for leaving
private practice. Actually, what we have here are wonderful short tales
populated by memorable characters, all of whom have something to do with
the legal system, and not all of whom are disillusioned lawyers. The
result is a mostly entertaining volume worthy of lawyer and nonlawyer
readers.
Joseph Matthews is a former criminal defense lawyer who practiced in
the San Francisco area. This book is based upon his experiences. With
expertly crafted sentences, he has taken people he actually encountered
and turned them into characters: Augie, the prisoner who enjoyed gourmet
meals; Willie, whose desk blew up, giving him yet another excuse; Gabe,
the lawyer who found religion; and so many others remembered weeks after
the cover has been closed.
Don't read this book expecting to laugh; some of the passages are
bleak. Don't expect advice on how to leave the practice of law and what
to do next with your life; the author doesn't offer solutions to the
frustrations caused by the legal system. Read the book to be entertained
by characters so real that you'll recognize some of them as characters
you have met in your own legal career.
This book supports the argument that while intellectual challenges
and earning money are satisfying, the most rewarding aspect of the
practice of law is opportunity to interact with so many different people
over the course of a legal career. So perhaps this book is more tragedy
than humor. Despite the joy that comes from associating with people so
unforgettable that they can become characters remembered forever, the
personal demands of the profession eventually can cause talented and
articulate lawyers to turn to other endeavors.
The Of Counsel Agreement: A Guide for Law
Firm and Practitioner, Second Edition
Harold G. Wren and Beverly J. Glascock
(Chicago, IL: ABA Senior Lawyers Division, 1998).
Retail $84.95.
Reviewed by Lawrence M. Knowles
Time was when the only people who needed to concern themselves about
the designation "Of Counsel" were those nearing retirement. Things are
not so simple anymore, and as law firms struggle to make their
anachronistic forms of organization fit contemporary life and economics,
the vague label "Of Counsel" covers a multitude of essentially ad hoc
arrangements, often with little or no understanding of what the label
means.
The Of Counsel Agreement is a salutary caution to those who
might be tempted to treat "Of Counsel" as the functional equivalent of
"none-of-the-above" on the firm organizational chart. The term does have
meaning and content, outlined in the ABA's Model Code of Professional
Responsibility and refined in several important ethics opinions. The
authors give a helpful and thorough summary of the standards governing
the "Of Counsel" relationship, highlighting troublesome issues and
making practical suggestions for those considering entering into such an
affiliation. Sample forms of agreement are included in the text and on
disk.
Stepping into the kitchen to prepare a meal, the first question you
ask is not likely to be "should I use baking soda today?" The important
planning decisions are at the level of menus and recipes, not discrete
reactive ingredients. For a law firm or practitioner trying to formalize
the more unusual working arrangements presented today, this book is a
bit like starting a menu plan by consulting The Compleat Guide to
Baking Soda.
Nevertheless, baking soda being a rather volatile ingredient, anyone
concocting a new recipe should become acquainted with its properties
before setting its chemical processes in motion. So, too, lawyers who
believe the "Of Counsel" label is the right answer for a relationship
that doesn't seem to fit any of the conventional categories would do
well to consult this guide.
Angle of Impact
By Bonnie MacDougal
(New York, NY: Ballantine Publishing Group, 1998).
Paper. Retail $6.99.
Reviewed by Brenda Lewison
Attorney Dana Svenssen receives a call on her car cell phone from a
corporate client's CEO, who is calling from a helicopter in flight. As
they are talking, the helicopter collides with a small plane. Thus
begins Angle of Impact.
To protect her client, Svenssen points the finger of liability at the
airplane pilot. Of course, she fails to disclose that she is a potential
witness in the case and therefore cannot represent the client. Svenssen
runs the litigation by hiring numerous experts to defend against a
multi-million dollar lawsuit.
Enter the love interest. Svenssen's primary expert not only assists
her in stopping the lawsuit before it really begins, but leads her to
reexamine her personal priorities, including the importance of her
marriage.
The female author/female protagonist murder mystery is enjoying
immense popularity. Attorney-penned legal procedurals, such as this,
also are immensely popular. As a woman lawyer and murder mystery fan, I
expected to like this book. I didn't.
If the protagonist was a man and the "expert" was a woman, we would
all scream sexual harassment, because the power relationships between
the attorney and the expert are so clearly unequal. She controls his
job.
Someone once said that true equality would be when a mediocre woman
could get just as far as a mediocre man. It is unclear to me whether the
author was attempting to make a statement about feminism or equal rights
for women. However, the message I took from this book is that the
beautiful, capable woman attorney protagonist had the power and
authority to engage in conduct that is easily as offensive as any
engaged in by any male employer I have ever encountered. This is not my
idea of feminism.
Mackerel by Moonlight
By William F. Weld
(New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 1998).
238 pgs. Retail: $23.
Reviewed by Malina R.P. Fischer
Touted as a "witty, surprising, first-hand, break-out suspense novel
by one of America's most provocative figures," Mackerel by
Moonlight did not live up to its hype - but it still is a worthy
read. Author William F. Weld, former two-term governor of Massachusetts
and former federal prosecutor, writes about what he knows best: politics
and federal criminal prosecution.
The story centers on Terry Mullaly, a former Brooklyn assistant DA,
who escapes to Boston and is persuaded to run for district attorney
there. Through his campaign to the DA's office, the story behind his
leaving Brooklyn is revealed.
Mullaly admits up front to the reader that he was basically fired
from his job as a federal prosecutor. Although he had obtained some
highly visible convictions (through "overly aggressive" means), he finds
himself unemployed due to his unwitting protection of a few bad cops who
happen to be his hunting buddies. The admitted underclass Irishman lands
on his feet in Boston (naturally), hobnobs with the blue bloods, and
ends up running for public office despite the skeletons in his
closet.
Keeping those skeletons hidden is the driving force behind Mullaly's
run for office, while his campaign manager's goal is to use Mullaly's
Brooklyn experience to get the vote. The obvious conflict due to
Mullaly's failure to come clean keeps the story moving.
While this reader found that Weld's propensity for name-dropping and
excessive use of large words kept the novel from being a real
page-turner, it is an interesting story with an unusual twist. The story
combines all the necessary elements a reader could want in light
reading: money, politics, sex, love, and the quest for power.
Naked Justice
By William Bernhardt
(New York, NY: Ballantine Publishing Group, 1997).
408 pgs. Paper. Retail $6.99.
Reviewed by Laura C. Suess
Ben Kincaid is a solo practitioner who has, until now, handled small
stakes cases in his criminal defense practice. Early into the novel
Naked Justice, the author depicts the type of man and lawyer
Kincaid is: though honest and passionate about his clients, who often
are unable to pay his bills, his law practice is falling apart. What's
more, Kincaid must care for his abandoned, infant nephew. In Naked
Justice, Kincaid's abilities are challenged for the first time to defend
the city mayor in a high-profile case that involves the gruesome triple
murders of the mayor's wife and two young daughters.
Some of the story line is unoriginal in that it closely resembles the
O.J. Simpson murders, including the media circus, the police chase with
live television coverage, and the proffered motive for the murders as a
case of domestic abuse that escalated out of control. In any event, the
mayor knows Kincaid's reputation as a lawyer and wants Kincaid's help.
Kincaid hesitates to represent the mayor because many facts establish
the mayor's guilt: A neighbor saw him leaving the scene of the murder
covered with blood, and it was well known they were unhappily married.
Despite his better judgment, Kincaid eventually agrees to represent the
mayor, and soon after it is apparent the mayor may not be guilty after
all. As Kincaid delves into his investigation, he learns that the police
tampered with evidence, suspects were not interviewed, and others who
dealt with the mayor had their own reasons for wanting him dead. Kincaid
becomes convinced that the mayor is not guilty as he receives death
threats from a stranger and discovers clues that convince him someone
other than the accused is responsible for the triple murders, with a
much more evil motive.
As the trial progresses, Naked Justice draws readers into
the courtroom drama, allowing them to wonder what the outcome of the
trial will be. In a surprise ending, the identity of the murderer and
Kincaid's stalker is revealed. More importantly, one learns that
regardless of the facts in a given case, things are never as they
seem.
Naked Justice addresses realistic problems an attorney faces
while searching for the truth to save his client's life. Though some of
the similarities to the O.J. Simpson case detract from the story, the
author still manages to effectively portray a high-profile murder case
with a suspenseful outcome. The novel contains enough truth and criminal
procedure to spark the interest of an attorney, yet is sufficiently
readable to capture the interest of a nonlawyer.
9 Scorpions
By Paul Levine
(New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 1998).
373 pgs. Hard. Retail $23.
Reviewed by Michael T. Mahoney
A urrent genre of novels involves the U.S. Supreme Court and its
secret inner workings. This book follows Lisa Fremont, Justice Truitt,
and an air crash case, Laubach v. Atlantica Airlines Inc.
With apologies to the feminists among us, Fremont is an American
success story. Assisted by a Machiavellian character, Fremont leaves
stripping behind, graduates at the top of her class from Stanford, and
pursues a Supreme Court clerkship with Justice Truitt. Fremont has to
keep her dancing past and the fact that she is employed by Atlantica
Airlines Inc. secret from the justice and presumably the FBI agent who
did her background check.
Justice Truitt is the junior justice on the court. We follow his
struggle in deciding to hire Fremont - she is gorgeous and he doesn't
feel his spouse will understand the clerk selection process. Fremont's
brains and interpersonal skills overcome her physical attributes and she
is hired. Truitt struggles with his failing marriage, the Court
politics, and Atlantica Airlines.
The parties to the suit are the widow of a passenger and Atlantica.
The case is dismissed via summary judgment and the court has to decide
whether to grant certiorari. The legal procedure in the book is well
written.
The many intricacies of the plot are far reaching and include
homicide, extortion, obstruction of justice, and judicial activism to
the nth degree. The plot devices are overbroad; Levine obviously wants
to keep us all interested, but this also is the novel's only
shortcoming.
Oliver Wendell Holmes' description of the U.S. Supreme Court provides
the title to this work. It also aptly describes the difficulties of the
clerk and justice. The book is worth reading for entertainment value, as
a primer on potential ethical violations, and examples of close
employer/employee relations.
Wisconsin
Lawyer
