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    Wisconsin Lawyer
    May 01, 1999

    Wisconsin Lawyer May 1999: Book Reviews

    Book Reviews

    This Month's Featured Selections

    Divorce for DummiesDivorce for Dummies

    By John Ventura and Mary Reed
    (Indianapolis, IN: IDG Books Worldwide, 1998).
    354 pgs. $15.99.

    Reviewed by Andrew S. Gollin

    This book's title is not misleading. Divorce for Dummies will be of little value to practitioners, particularly those who focus on family law matters, but attorneys should read and recommend it to clients or potential clients who are thinking about ending their marriage. This excellent resource covers the various stages of a divorce, from recognizing when a marriage is in trouble to separation to arranging visitation times to calculating child support to handling life following the divorce.

    The first section provides preliminary steps readers should take to protect themselves emotionally, legally, physically (protective orders and crisis shelters), and financially. The authors then move on to inform readers how to put the divorce in motion, including the extremely difficult subject of how to tell the children. The next section deals with the more troubling aspects of divorce, including dividing up property, alimony, custody, and child support. The book also includes a section on what readers should look for when hiring a divorce attorney and when an attorney may not be necessary. The final section is an assortment of lists, including Web sites and phone numbers that readers can use for assistance, on how to deal with the common problems that occur after a divorce.

    Attorneys should recommend that their clients or potential clients read this excellent resource before commencing a divorce action. The authors have included answers to almost every question a potential divorce client could have, and its index and short chapters make it easy for readers to find answers to their specific questions.

    Andrew S. Gollin, Marquette 1998, is the law clerk for Presiding Judge Charles P. Dykman, Wisconsin Court of Appeals.

    Law Law Law on the Internet: The Best Legal Web Sites and More

    By Erik J. Heels and Richard P. Klau
    (Chicago: ABA Press, 1998).
    290 pgs. $31.96.

    Reviewed by Richard Berkley

    Erik Heels is best known for creating the "Legal List," an online compendium of legal resources on the Internet, which he "published" in seven editions between 1992 and 1997. This book is a lineal descendant of Erik's earlier online works, but unlike the "Legal List," he published Law Law Law on the Internet as a traditional book. That is unfortunate, since one of the best features of the "Legal List" was that its listing of Web and email list resources was fairly current, a goal that print books fail to reach.

    In its tone and in the innumerable parenthetical comments, humorous and/or informative sidebars and the often skewed humor of its footnotes, Law Law Law on the Internet is a throwback to the "fun" books published between the 1960s and the 1980s by alternative publishing houses. For example, the sidebar on encryption notes that if attorneys used encryption there would be few problems with attorney-client privilege and email.

    The book's organization is quite simple, if not spectacularly effective. It begins with a brief history of the Internet and the major Internet client and server tools, a brief exhortatory section on why lawyers and law firms should be on the Internet, and on what makes a good Web site and good content. The book examines bar association and corporate Web sites, giving Uniform Reference Locators (URLs) and ratings of each site mentioned. The book's remaining five chapters examine federal law sites, law firm sites, full-text law journals (of which there are few), ABA-approved law school sites, and state law sites. Each of these sites is rated for form, content, originality, and utility. A URL is included for each (for example, http://www.wisbar.org).

    Considering the book as a whole, it is most useful for those lawyers who are still Internet neophytes. Despite the rapid growth in Internet usage, ecommerce, and Internet-related litigation since the Bush Administration's privatization of the NSF's Internet "backbone" in 1991, there still are many lawyers who have not used the Internet seriously because they are unconvinced it can offer their practice any value. Law Law Law on the Internet is valuable because it shows these lawyers that there are substantial federal and state law resources available online, that other firms and practitioners believe the Internet provides them a competitive advantage, and provides novice Internet users with some key sites upon which to build an effective and valuable web-browser "bookmark" list.

    Richard Berkley, U.W. 1997, is licensed to practice in New Jersey, New York, and Wisconsin. His primary legal interests are administrative, international, and telecommunications law, and he is a member of the Fitchburg Cable Commission. He is currently writing his doctoral dissertation.

    Robert Kennedy

    Make Gentle the Life of This World: The Vision of Robert Kennedy

    By Maxwell Taylor Kennedy
    (New York, NY: Harcourt Brace, 1998).
    188 pgs. Retail $14.

    Reviewed by Gordon R. Shea

    There are no glamorous Kennedy anecdotes in Make Gentle the Life of This World: The Vision of Robert F. Kennedy. This book makes no pretense of being a biography or memoir. Instead, author Maxwell Taylor Kennedy warns that this collection of RFK's favorite quotations and excerpts from RFK speeches is more akin to "poetry," or a series of "meditations." Yes, the author is a Kennedy, and he is Robert's youngest son, nephew of the liberal senator, brother to the recently retired Congressman, and so on. But Maxwell also has his own life, having used his J.D. to work as a prosecutor before leaving law.

    The gauzy, dream-like cover of Make Gentle initially makes one wonder whether this book will merely pander to the Camelot "myth-'n-martyr" market. Such touches also contravene Ted Kennedy's eulogy, quoted in the book, urging remembrance of RFK as a person, not a saint. But only a cynic could remain unmoved once starting this book. The quotations and accompanying photos are organized into such topics as "Freedom" and "Personal Knowledge"; "The Law and Lawyers" even merit a few pages. Naturally, the quotations concerning tragedy are particularly poignant. In RFK's journals, the anonymous, "He has lived a beautiful life . . . He has scarified the hour/To give service for all time" sits alongside Thucydides' fatalistic musing, "Having done what men could, they suffered what men must."

    Make Gentle is glossy and slim, but, to paraphrase a popular commercial, don't hate it because it's beautiful. As America enters the third decade since the murders of both Martin Luther King Jr. and RFK, when our politics is beset with scandal and partisanship, and when the last Wisconsin State Bar conference focused on quality-of-life issues, most lawyers would do well to sit down with this book some weekend. Take Maxwell Kennedy at his word. Approach Make Gentle the Life of This World as you might a book of simple poetry. It will reward you.

    Gordon R. Shea, Marquette 1998, was a founding editor of Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review, and recently won a writing award from the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers.

    Race and Representation: Affirmative Action

    Edited by Robert Post and Michael Rogin
    (Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 1998).
    424 pgs. $16.

    Reviewed by Angela McKenzie

    This anthology examines the historical and political background of affirmative action. There are very few essays that give a detailed legal analysis of this topic. Instead, each essay helps create an orchestrated discussion about diverse issues within the affirmative action debate.

    Part I of the book houses the majority of the text and arguments. The Bakke and Hopwood decisions are given prominence by being the basis for the first two essays in this part, but they are the least distinctive. The other essays cover a large range of theories: race and representation in the media as a historical reflection of affirmative action, the influence of Christian ideology within affirmative action, and affirmative action as a seed of dissent within the Democratic party. Readers will find most of these texts stimulating, if not absorbing. Part II, however, seems like an unnecessary addition because of the trite conclusions of a few of its essays.

    Generally, each essay is well documented with substantial endnotes. The appendix includes: the SP-1 Resolution entitled "Ensuring Equal Treatment" from the University of California Board of Regents, the American Association of University Professors' Report in reaction to the SP-1 Resolution, Proposition 209, and a brief biography and bibliography of each of the contributors.

    In short, Race is an insightful work that gives the reader varied perspectives on problematic issues within the affirmative action discourse. Due to the complexity of some of the arguments and a slight repetitive feel, this book should not be seen as a light read. Those interested in grasping the historical and political concepts that have evolved since the institution of affirmative action will see this book as informative. Race offers no solutions to this American dilemma, but perhaps that aspect of the debate should be left to the reader.

    Angela McKenzie , U.W. 1999, is a W. Dale Phillips Scholar. She is currently in the Netherlands studying International and European law.

    Sixty Miles

    Sixty Miles from Contentment: Traveling the Nineteenth-Century American Interior

    By M.H. Dunlop
    (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1998).
    288 pgs. $17.50.

    Reviewed by Keith B. Daniels Jr.

    For Midwest residents curious about their regional history, or for anyone looking for insight into the mindset of the nineteenth-century traveler, M.H. Dunlop provides a unique and humorous account of the real and legendary Midwest. This account takes the reader on a tour through the eyes, and based upon the accounts, of visitors who traveled through the Midwestern states from 1810 to 1870. In making this journey through time, the reader is amazed to learn of the similarities that remain in the views of modern travelers to those of their forebears, and to the striking differences that have developed over time.

    The book portrays the wild, wild Midwest, in its frontier heyday, when Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Missouri, and Iowa - a half million miles - were as foreign to the mind of the nineteenth-century traveler as Mars is to us today. For travelers from Europe and the East Coast, the Midwest was the future - a land peopled by a population without decades of tradition, notable landmarks, or a familiar culture. Travelers at that time were used to going to the familiar or to visit an identifiable past, such as American travelers to Europe or English ravelers to Greece. The Midwest, with its transient population and its unexpectedly tedious landscape, was a land without fixture and, as such, was discomforting to the travelers, male and female. The title of the book reflects the common attitude among travelers that comfort was always 60 miles in the distance.

    The book is an interesting and witty description of the culture of the inhabitants of the Midwest and, even more humorously, of the cultural biases that were held by the travelers who attempted to describe their visits to the interior. This is a worthwhile way to visit the interior between 1810 and 1870, when the Midwest was considered to be one of the most interesting and exotic places on Earth.

    Keith B. Daniels Jr. , U.W. 1988, is admitted to practice in Illinois and Wisconsin. He is an associate with Hanson & Peters, Chicago, Ill., practicing in complex insurance coverage matters and employment practices litigation.

    Terrorism and AmericaTerrorism and America: A Commonsense Strategy for a Democratic Society

    By Philip B. Heymann
    (Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 1998).
    176 pgs. $14.

    Reviewed by Katie Browe Murphy

    The bombings at the World Trade Center and American embassies in Tanzania and Kenya demonstrate the vulnerability of the United States to foreign terrorists both at home and abroad. Timothy McVeigh's murder of 169 people in Oklahoma City illustrates that the danger to the United Stated can come from its own citizens.

    The message of Philip Heymann's essay is that we must respond to these events intelligently and dispassionately rather than with the fear and anger that they are designed to create. Specifically, we must use common sense.

    Heyman maintains that, for democratic states, the primary goal in dealing with terrorism is to protect the lives of its citizens while at the same time preserving democratic liberties and the governmental process. Further, he believes that because of the multifaceted nature of this goal and the complexities of terrorism, this goal can be accomplished only by the use of a multidimensional and intricate approach.

    Unfortunately, rather than detailing his commonsense approach at the beginning and then supporting it, Heymann leaves the reader a little lost at points and hurts his argument by failing to provide an overall summary until the last chapter. The strongest aspect of this essay is the use of actual events to illustrate how states have successfully and unsuccessfully reacted to various terrorist acts in the 1990s and the factors that may limit their ability to respond. The Achille Lauro cruise ship hijacking, for example, demonstrates that the assistance of other states in combating international terrorism is essential but hard to come by, because even friendly states have different interests, capabilities, and strategies.

    Heymann also provides a lot of useful information on the complex nature of terrorism, the goals of terrorists, and the variety of objectives states may have in responding to terrorism. Of particular interest is his discussion of the difficulty of intelligence gathering while protecting civil liberties.

    Although it is occasionally difficult to follow, this essay challenges the reader and policy makers to develop reasoned strategies and methods of preventing terrorism without endangering the liberty and unity of the nation.

    Katie Browe Murphy, Marquette 1994, practices corporate and tax law at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Budapest, Hungary.

    Violence in the Workplace: Preventing, Assessing, and Managing Threats at Work

    Edited by Carol W. Wilkinson
    (Rockville, MD: Government Institutes, 1998).
    283 pgs. $69.

    The Gift of Fear: Survival Signals that Protect Us from Violence

    By Gavin de Becker
    (New York, NY: Dell Publishing, 1997).
    420 pgs. $5.59.

    Reviewed by Gregory M. Posner-Weber

    According to the U.S. Department of Justice's National Crime Victimization Survey, each year between 1992 and 1996 more than 2 million U.S. residents were victims of violent crime while at work or on duty. More than half of the violent crime victimizations happened to people who worked for private employers. About 20 percent of violent incidents in the workplace involved armed offenders. And more than 1,000 workplace homicides occurred annually.

    In spite of these alarming statistics, relatively few employers - and very few law firms - have established effective programs to reduce the hazards of workplace violence. I do not know why this is so. I consider it likely that managing partners and supervising attorneys do not fully appreciate the seriousness of the problem, or else they simply hope that the disturbed employee, spouse, or client will pass them by. The high cost of just one violent incident demonstrates the folly of that thinking.

    Violence in the Workplace will give administrators a better understanding of what they can do to minimize the threat and impact of workplace violence. The book is a collection of papers on workplace violence, all written with an eye toward prevention strategies. The book proceeds from two basic assumptions: 1) employers have a moral and legal obligation to provide a safe workplace for employees, clients, and visitors; and 2) effective workplace violence plans need not break a law firm's bank account or disrupt the practice.

    Violence in the Workplace takes the reader through the step-by-step process of developing a comprehensive, cost-effective workplace violence system. First, readers learn to identify various risk factors for workpace violence early in the hiring process. With surprisingly little effort, it is possible for administrators to implement staffing practices, policies, and procedures that will reduce the chance of a potentially dangerous situation. Separate chapters on program development teach administrators how to develop threat assessment teams to prevent and respond to situations arising after an employee is hired, or situations involving other people who come into contact with your firm. Other chapters offer vital information on how to manage immediate threats of workplace violence, and how to deal with the consequences faced by the victims of these acts.

    As I finished typing this paper, CNN reported that a former employee of the Riverside, Calif., Parks and Recreation Department opened fire at the beginning of a city council meeting. Several people were injured.

    Whether you are motivated by statistics or anecdotes, you should buy the book. And you also should buy Gavin de Becker's outstanding bestseller, The Gift of Fear, now available in an updated paperback edition. It is a book about predicting violence to protect personal safety. It also is a tribute to the human spirit.

    Prediction of violence is de Becker's stock-in-trade. His company has developed sophisticated risk assessment tools and threat management plans used by private businesses, celebrities, and governments worldwide. But de Becker firmly believes that, for most of us, our personal solution to violence is deceptively simple - trust your intuition.

    de Becker believes that intuition "is the cornerstone of safety." While he teaches the reader how to apply tested methods of evaluating and predicting the risk in a given situation, he firmly believes that our own "messengers of intuition" - our own physical and emotional responses to the situation - often are the best predictors of risk. The cynical reader is quickly persuaded by de Becker's reasoning, and by the case histories used to illustrate the importance of listening to and respecting your intuition.

    Living in fear is not a reasonable response to violence. Recognizing risk and taking steps to ameliorate it is a decidedly reasonable response. Read in tandem, these books provide a wealth of technical and practical knowledge. Both are highly recommended.

    Gregory M. Posner-Weber , Marquette 1987, is a Wisconsin assistant attorney general currently assigned to the Criminal Appeals Unit of the Wisconsin Department of Justice. He concentrates in matters pertaining to the prosecution of crimes committed against children. The opinions expressed in this review are his own.


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