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    Wisconsin Lawyer
    June 01, 1998

    Wisconsin Lawyer June 1998: Book Reviews

    Book Reviews

    This Month's Featured Selections

    Harvest of Rage: Why Oklahoma City Is Only the Beginning

    By Joel Dyer. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1997. 292 pgs. Hardcover. Retail: $24.

    Reviewed by Brian H. Zygo

    When I heard about the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City, my first reaction was the same as many others; I figured it was the work of foreign terrorists. The notion that this act of terrorism could have been the work of U.S. citizens who subscribed to antigovernment ideology did not occur to me until I was sitting in Austin's typical afternoon traffic gridlock listening to a radio talk show. One of the callers mentioned that it was the second anniversary of the fire at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco. With the arrest of Timothy McVeigh, it became clear that this bombing was an act of protest against the government for its actions in Waco, and the media quickly focused their cameras on the various antigovernment groups scattered all over the country.

    During the months following the bombing, the media was full of stories about antigovernment groups and their leaders. These reports usually depicted the members of the antigovernment groups as poorly educated rural people who liked to play with guns; in other words they really weren't people to be taken seriously. This is an image Joel Dyer attempts to refute in his well-researched and well-written book, Harvest of Rage. Although he interviewed and quoted many of the leaders of the antigovernment movement, this book is not really about them: It is about the people who make up the bulk of the membership in the antigovernment groups, and why they have found the antigovernment messages so appealing.

    According to Dyer, the majority of the rank and file in the antigovernment movement are refugees from the farm crisis that plagued rural America during the 1980s. In the book's first section, Dyer uses suicide statistics, true stories, and interviews with rural Americans and rural psychologists to detail the suffering, despair, and stress that were infecting America's heartland. In addition, this section of the book details how the actions of the Federal Reserve and the consolidation of large agricultural companies were major factors in causing the foreclosure of successful family farms.

    During the late 1970s, many farmers listened to the experts who told them they had to get big or get out, so they took out loans to increase their operations. But when the Federal Reserve took a hard line on inflation, the banks called in the loans and farm foreclosures became a common occurrence. Losing the family farm means losing the family's history and letting down the forefathers who planted that first crop, so it's understandable that many of the farmers who lost their farms were desperate for help and ideas that would get their farms back. The government provided no hope on this front, but antigovernment groups held meetings detailing ways to use everything from the Magna Carta to strict interpretations of the U.S. Constitution to the Uniform Commercial Code in getting the farms back and getting damages from the bankers and officials believed to be responsible for the foreclosures.

    The picture Dyer paints of the farm crisis is convincing enough to get almost anyone mad at the government for its role in this tragedy. But this does not mean that Dyer supports the antigovernment groups. Dyer does an excellent job detailing many of the basic conspiracy and religious theories that underlie the ideology of many antigovernment groups, but he also points out that there are many variations on these theories and disagreements among the groups. Unfortunately, groups with differing theories and methods are putting aside their differences and forming alliances when it comes to recruiting and broadcasting their antigovernment messages.

    In the discussion of these conspiracy theories, Dyer reveals the many fallacies contained in them. However, Dyer also points out that the theories contain grains of truth upon which the rest of the theory is built, and the grains of truth in these theories often are parts of the root causes of the economic hardships that have driven many rural Americans to seek help and hope from antigovernment groups.

    In the end, Dyer paints a bleak picture - his visits with members of various antigovernment groups have led him to believe that many of these rank and file members, once law-abiding and peace-loving farmers, are becoming more and more comfortable with the notion of violence as a proper means for achieving their goals. Dyer believes the government should recognize the economic problems in rural America and take steps to provide an alternative source of help and hope ­ an alternative that steers people clear of the antigovernment recruiters. However, Dyer fears that the government is ignoring what is occurring in these rural communities, and its policies in dealing with antigovernment groups and members are making matters worse. If this situation continues then Dyer believes that many antigovernment groups will stop clogging courts with paper and turn to violent acts, and possibly start carrying out the many death sentences that have been issued by various common law courts.

    Brian H. Zygo, Austin 1997, holds a B.A. in History and Environmental Studies from Baylor University, located in Waco, Texas. He is a staff attorney in Wisconsin Judicare Inc.'s Indian Law Office, Wausau.

    Estate & Elder Law Advisor: The Integrated Practice Tool for Estate & Elder Law Practitioners

    Eagan, MN: Clark Boardman Callaghan, a West Group division, 1997. Package with two disks updated quarterly, $1,495. With added option of Koren, Estate & Personal Finance Planning on CD-ROM, $2,045. To order, call (800) 890-5558.

    Reviewed by Danielle Baerwald

    The Estate and Elder Law Advisor is an electronic research tool that assists navigating through the estate and elder law available on this set of two CD-ROMs. I found this software to be somewhat user-friendly, although it is a little tricky to install and run if you have any background software running, such as a virus or crash protection program. If you do not run Advisor alone you will get an "illegal operation" message from which you cannot recover. Technical support (readily available) advised shutting down all other programs, after which I did not experience any other system freezes.

    Once past the software conflict problem, Advisor runs very well, with many intuitive and familiar features. Advisor provides comprehensive primary and secondary materials including estate and elder case law; state and federal statutes, regulations, and policies; and estate, health, and income planning forms. The forms section is somewhat disappointing. Other estate planning programs or document merge systems create forms more effectively. The only other drawback I found was the discussion of Wisconsin's marital property law. It is better to use the State Bar CLE books for these issues.

    The strength of Advisor is in how easy it is to do research. There basically are two ways to conduct research. An interactive research guide uses an interview format to guide you to the analytical discussion of your topic. From that discussion, you can jump from most citations right to the full text of the case, statute, regulation, and so on, and back again. This seems like a good way to conduct research if you have no idea what you are looking for, but it can be frustrating if you know your topic. Directly searching the resources on these disks is very easy: select the books to search (multiple databases allowed), type in a search request, and view the hits. The number of hits is readily viewed and moving between the hits is easy.

    Overall, this is a very good collective reference source. Although this information could be found elsewhere, having it in one place is convenient. But this convenience comes at a price. The Advisor is not cheap and there are monthly maintenance costs to stay current. The cost of this research tool must be weighed against the amount of use and convenience it will provide to your firm.

    Danielle Baerwald, Marquette 1990, is a solo practitioner in Milwaukee, working primarily in estate planning and probate.

    Promoting the Adoption of Children: What Lawyers Can Do

    Washington, D.C.: ABA Steering Committee on the Unmet Legal Needs of Children, 1997. Booklet. 36 pgs. $5. To order, call (202) 662-1675.

    Reviewed by Theresa L. Schulz

    Promoting the Adoption of Children: What Lawyers Can Do is a special publication of the American Bar Association Steering Committee on the Unmet Legal Needs of Children. This booklet is one of a series of publications aimed at encouraging more lawyers to help children and families on a pro bono basis by suggesting particular projects in which lawyers can become involved. The pamphlet provides guidelines on planning and establishing pro bono projects to address the urgent needs of children caught in today's slow-moving foster care system. First, the pamphlet provides general ideas on recruiting and training volunteer attorneys, staffing the pro bono programs, obtaining clients, seeking funding, and securing malpractice insurance for volunteer attorneys.

    The pamphlet then addresses various substantive roles that lawyers can serve in the adoption process. Each chapter addresses a different role, describes the duties of the attorney in that role, and offers suggestions to pro bono program coordinators about obtaining clients for the pro bono services, and recruiting attorneys to provide the pro bono services. The pamphlet details the following important roles that attorneys can serve: representing prospective adoptive parents, representing biological parents, and representing children. The pamphlet also addresses ways lawyers can positively impact the adoption process through court improvement projects, developing adoption awareness programs, providing training to volunteer attorneys, and establishing adoption benefits for their own employees.

    Theresa L. Schulz, Minnesota 1993, practices employment and adoption law in Wisconsin and Minnesota from her office in Lake Elmo, Minn.

    Tools of the Trade: Practical Legal Writing for the 21st Century

    Jeffrey M. Ellinport. Bethesda, Md: Austin & Winfield, 1997. 248 pgs. Softcover. Retail: $29.95.

    Reviewed by Richard Berkley

    The publisher's cover notes state that this book is designed for use in the classroom, office, or by the independent reader. However, the author states the book aims at a far simpler goal: making newly graduated lawyers immediately productive in a civil practice. Although both are sweeping claims, Ellinport's book is a good effort.

    Ellinport begins Tools of the Trade with an anecdote from his first day as a junior associate. A partner asked him to write a demand letter because a client was owed a great deal of money. At that moment, Ellinport notes, he realized that law school had taught him legal theory, substantive legal knowledge, and how to write an appellate brief or a legal memorandum. But law school had not taught him how to write the bread-and-butter documents of a civil law practice. Thus, a partner told Ellinport he was "useless" for the first few months he worked for the firm. This book is Ellinport's attempt to keep other new associates from being "useless."

    The book's structure is quite simple. It is divided into 12 chapters in which Ellinport attempts to replicate the characteristic documents a lawyer probably would create while handling business for a client. Each chapter contains a brief preface of what stage the representation is at and what documents are necessary. For example, Ellinport's first substantive chapter begins by discussing why clearly written retainer and fee agreements should be sent to a prospective client immediately after the first meeting. Then, the remainder of the chapter contains several sample retainer agreements and assorted fee agreements. Each subsequent chapter follows this general format.

    The book contains chapters on client correspondence, demand letters, notice letters, complaints, answers, discovery documents, motions, praecipes, settlement offers and letters, and client billing letters. Each chapter is preceded by a brief explanation of the principal forms presented in the chapter, and how and why a lawyer would use them. A series of exercises is included to challenge readers to practice creating their own versions of the studied documents.

    Ellinport's book is aimed at junior associates, fledgling solo practitioners, and law students. For them, it will be quite useful. It probably is not useful for seasoned lawyers unless they are switching from some other form of practice into civil practice, or if they have forgotten some of the basics they learned when they first began practicing law.

    Richard Berkley, U.W. 1997, also has an M.A. in Public History from N.Y.U.


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