The full title of this book is Jury Selection Handbook, The Nuts and Bolts of Effective Jury Selection. Here is the book on Amazon. the authors are Ronald H. Clark and Thomas M. O’Toole. Clark was a co-author of the Cross-examination Handbook, which I reviewed here. I agree with this review on Amazon: It was… Continue Reading
Although its subject is not the law, Cal Newport’s book Deep Work, Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World is worth the read for legal professionals. Newport defines Deep Work: Professional activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your cognitive capabilities to their limit. These efforts create new value, improve your… Continue Reading
I enjoyed writing the post on my favorite books of 2016 and am repeating it in 2017. This is my list for the year, in the order that I read them. Note that the books weren’t necessarily released in 2017. I also updated the list throughout the year as a read the books instead of… Continue Reading
Pretty slow on the legal front, so I’m going to do something new and list my favorite books that I read this year. A caveat is that I view books as like ice cream–everyone’s taste is a little different. My favorites probably will not be your favorites. But most of us can agree on what… Continue Reading
You Can’t Teach Vision is John Morgan’s follow up to You Can’t Teach Hungry, which I favorably reviewed here. The sub-title of the book is the Twenty-First Century Law Firm, which Morgan continues to build. It could have been titled ‘what I’ve learned from thirty years in the law business.” The book contains twenty-four short… Continue Reading
Keith Mitnik has a job many trial attorneys would envy. As Senior Trial Counsel for the nation’s largest personal injury firm (Morgan & Morgan), Mitnik gets to try cases that other lawyers work up. Mitnik tries 1-3 cases per month. Don’t Eat the Bruises is Mitnik’s perspective on what works from the plaintiff’s side of… Continue Reading
You know you are a law geek when you get excited reading a book called Typography for Lawyers. Guilty. Matthew Butterick’s book first reviewed on this site in 2011 is now out with a second edition. The first edition has a perfect 5 of 5 customer review rating on Amazon with 100 reviews as of… Continue Reading
Stand Up That Mountain by Jay Erkskine Leutze is the true story of a protracted legal battle to save an area adjoining the Appalachian Trail in North Carolina from development as a gravel mine for the next 100 years. Here is a description of the book: LIVING ALONE IN HIS WOODED MOUNTAIN RETREAT, Jay Leutze gets… Continue Reading
Pam Johnson’s Justice for Ella is a story about a courageous battle against white supremacy in 1959 Mississippi. It’s an irresistible feel good story that would make an entertaining movie. The book’s leading characters are Ella Gaston and Jewell McMahan of Hattiesburg. Ella is black. Jewell is white. While visiting family in Noxubee County, Ella… Continue Reading
Assuming the Risk is legal journalist Michael Orey’s 1999 book about “the mavericks, the lawyers, and the whistle-blowers who beat big tobacco.” Unwittingly, the book is a prequel to Kings of Tort and The Fall of the House of Zeus. The subject of the book is tobacco litigation in Mississippi in the 1980’s and 1990’s.… Continue Reading
Note: the following was originally published in the Capital Area Bar Association Newsletter. The Education of a Lifetime is former University of Mississippi Chancellor Robert Khayat’s memoir. Sprinkled with wisdom and humor, the book is an enjoyable read. Divided into seventy-five short chapters, the book covers Khayat’s childhood in Moss Point, playing football for Ole… Continue Reading
Laurence Leamor’s The Price of Justice covers the more than decade long (and still going) battle in Caperton v. Massey Energy. This is the West Virginia case where a defendant lost a massive judgment in state court and then went out and replaced a state Supreme Court Justice via massive campaign contributions before the… Continue Reading
Maxwell Kennerly, who writes the excellent Litigation & Trial Blog, recently reviewed John Grisham’s The Litigators. Kennerly nails why I enjoy Grisham’s novels: Surprisingly, I liked it, for the same reason I thought Boston Legal was the best of the TV lawyer dramas: Grisham doesn’t try for pure realism and fail, instead he satirizes mass torts (and injury… Continue Reading
Unreliable, inefficient or inoperative altogether. Those are words that longtime trial consultant David Tunno uses to describe the jury system in the United States. Tunno’s book Fixing the Engine of Justice, Diagnosis and Repair of Our Jury System gives his take on the problems and solutions for the jury system. According to Tunno, the major… Continue Reading
All the Justice Money Can Buy is Snigdha Prakash’s book about a Mark Lanier trial in the Vioxx litigation against Merck. I stumbled across the book on Amazon and decided to give it a read. Lanier is a high-profile trial lawyer from Texas who has a very successful record. The book contains a quote that Lanier… Continue Reading
Want to improve your legal writing? If so, you may want to consider reading: Point Made, How to Write Like the Nation’s Top Advocates, by Ross Guberman. The book’s product description on Amazon states in part: With Point Made, legal writing expert Ross Guberman throws a life preserver to attorneys, who are under more pressure… Continue Reading
You Can’t Teach Hungry is John Morgan’s self-described how-to guide for building the multi-million dollar law firm. Morgan is the founder of the Morgan & Morgan personal injury law firm that has developed a national footprint. The firm lists eleven lawyers in its Jackson office, which makes it one of the largest plaintiff firms in the state.… Continue Reading
The newest book devoted exclusively to cross-examination is Cross-Examination Handbook: Persuasion, Strategies & Techniques. Here is the book’s website and here is its Amazon page. Here is the cover and a list of the book’s chapters: 1. Introduction to Book, CD, & Website 2. Purposes of Cross & the Total Trial Approach 3. The… Continue Reading
I recently read Unbillable Hours, by Ian Graham. The book is a memoir by a former associate at mega-firm Latham Watkins’ L.A. office. Here is the book’s description: The story—part memoir, part hard-hitting expose—of a first-year law associate negotiating the arduous path through a system designed to break those who enter it before it makes… Continue Reading
I recently finished reading Typography for Lawyers by Matthew Butterick. The book’s byline describes it as “essential tools for polished & persuasive documents. I agree. // // What is typography? Basically typography is how a document looks. Lawyers and judges think about typography all the time. Ever said: “this brief looks like crap”? If so,… Continue Reading
Rick Friedman On Becoming a Trial Lawyer is a book that every civil plaintiff lawyer and criminal defense lawyer should read. The cover flap provides a good description of the book: Combining nuts-and-bolts practical advice with inspirational insights, he guides us on the journey every trial lawyer must take, from the struggle to gain trial experience to the search for… Continue Reading
I heard about Charles W. Eagles book The Price of Defiance– James Meredith and the Integration of Ole Miss after it was the subject of a panel discussion at the 2010 Mississippi Bar Convention. I’m glad that I did. Here is the description of the book from the inside flap of the cover: When James Meredith enrolled as… Continue Reading
A while back I tried to read Your Witness, Lessons on Cross-Examination and Life from Great Chicago Trial Lawyers, edited by Steven F. Molo and James R. Figliulo. The book is devoted to cross-examination techniques. The average customer review on Amazon is 4 and half stars, which is higher than the average review for The Art of Cross Examination. The… Continue Reading
Winning at Trial by D. Shane Read is a trial practice book published in 2007. Some people have described it as “the best” trial advocacy book. I agree. The book is stunningly good. It is basic enough to be used in law school trial practice classes and deep enough to benefit experienced lawyers. I own at… Continue Reading
