Legal Profession Books

Happy Hour Is for Amateurs: A Lost Decade in the World's Worst Profession

Philadelphia Lawyer

Amazon Price: $16.29 List Price: $23.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: William Morrow Amazon Marketplace: 48 new & used starting at $11.74

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 51 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

White Collar Blues 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

This book really spoke to me. I've worked in cube farms and white collar corporate offices since I was 17, 95% of the time wishing that I was anywhere else. The author put what I was thinking and feeling into words much more clear then I could have and really made me think about my career choices, and gave me a lot of laughs on the way.

Much like his blog, there were moments where it was long winded - but I thought it was more then funny enough to make up for it and still be one of my favorite books this year.

Editorial Review:

For some people, happy hour is never enough

This is a book about escape. It's also about laughing gas. And bourbon and dope and sex and mushrooms and every other vice millions of us indulge in to forget our jobs, the office, and the stifling, corporate caricatures we're forced to become for paychecks. This is a book about a decade lost in a senseless career no one likes and all the ridiculous things I did to run from it. In the end, it's probably your story as much as mine. We're everywhere. We just can't say it out loud.

How to Start and Build a Law Practice

Jay Foonberg

List Price: $39.95 By: American Bar Association Amazon Marketplace: 9 new & used starting at $27.01

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 34 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Invaluable 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I am an attorney specializing in family law and criminal defense. My partner has 35 years of experience, so I wasn't exactly starting or building a law practice, but this book has been invaluable to me. An older attorney let me borrow his first edition copy of the book after I had been practicing for a couple months. What an eye-opener! There were so many suggestions for ways to be more efficient and practical that I quickly applied them and started saving a lot of time and making more money. I bought this edition of the book and use it on a daily basis, from using form letters to deciding whether or not to take certain cases. I would recommend this book for any new attorney, regardless of where he or she works.

Very smart and very practical 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This "how to" book is a practical guide to starting a law practice. Mr. Foonberg's book contains a wealth of practical suggestions organized in short chapters. While one could sit down and read the book front to back, as I did, it also is a an excellent refrence book, that I can see refering to as questions come along.
Probably the most important thing I got out of the book is the feeling that I COULD start my own law practice. This book helped me to feel that starting a practice was a reasonable option.

Editorial Review:

A Classic ABA Bestseller, you'll find 128 chapters packed with techniques for getting started, finding clients and the right location, setting fees, managing your office, maintaining an ethical responsible practice, mazimizing availabe resources.

Guerrilla Tactics For Getting The Legal Job Of Your Dreams: Regardless of Your Grades, Your School, or Your Work Experience!

Kimm Alayne Walton

List Price: $24.95 By: Harcourt Legal & Professional Publications, Inc. Amazon Marketplace: 38 new & used starting at $0.78

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 42 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Antidote for what ails the new job seeker 4 out of 5 stars.
2 of 3 people found this review helpful.

When I was getting out of law school (decent law school and top 1/3 of class) 10 years ago, I was demoralized. I had figured out how little new associates REALLY were making in Chicago based on the advertisements and anecdotally based on friends who had jobs, while looking at my student loan bills. I was tired from working full time and going to law school at night. I was demoralized by the fact that everyone kept stressing that all we learned in law school was not going to help us, now our REAL educations were going to begin. How TOUGH the job market was. Demoralized by how little I knew about really being a lawyer.

This book was exactly the attitude adjustment I needed. Nothing sells like enthusiasm. And unless you can convince your prospect of your enthusiasm for the job, and your desire to get it no matter what, you are at a real disadvantage.

Look, if you are a top 10 Harvard grad, no problems. If you are a middle of the road student from a middle of the road school--everyone knows it and beats you down. Your ego takes a hit and your spirit is low. This book picks you up, dusts you off, and gets your mind where it needs to be to maximize your chances at every job interview!

I have a news flash for those who don't like the "SALES" message or the "canned" response to questions. Life is sales. Success in life is success in sales, in one form or another. What girl are you going to talk to at a bar--the girl who smiles and is dressed nicely, or the one who sits in the corner and snarls at anyone who comes too close? What guy are you going to talk to? The well dress guy who is laughing and telling a joke--or the guy who looks like he is a real dud, cluded in negativity?

Only those who are in an artificial academic environment can possibly object to raising a prospects spirits, teaching them to maximize the value of what they get for what they have to offer. And news flash--some people give sincere, off the cuff answers to questions that really stink! The author's suggestions on how to answer questions you haven't thought about a good answer for PREVENTS an off the cuff stupid comment that can otherwise torpedo an interview.

This author turned me around 180 degrees, and with her book, I got a job in 2 months, and now operate my own law firm. The hot shot nay sayers can go to heck--this book WORKS! Sure, there is some hyperbole! But it was an important book for me to read. I just suggested it to a grad who is looking for a job!

Editorial Review:

Packed with hundreds of proven strategies that work time and again.

Business: Its Legal, Ethical, and Global Environment

Marianne M. Jennings

Amazon Price: $166.36 List Price: $207.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: South-Western College/West Amazon Marketplace: 35 new & used starting at $144.00

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Overall, I recommend it. 4 out of 5 stars.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful.

This book was assigned to one of my MBA classes. The book itself was a good source of reference not only for my business law class but also to other two classes. The book's language is simple and easy to understand. The only flaw I found about this this book was that some cases were complex and I had to refer to actual law books and regulations. Overall, I recommend this book.

Editorial Review:

Offering the best preparation for future managers, BUSINESS: ITS LEGAL, ETHICAL, & GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT, 8e, teaches you how to understand and apply legal and ethical concepts to real business. Going further than simply introducing you to the legal environment, this text offers the most comprehensive and integrated approach to exploring the intersection of law, business strategy, and ethics. It provides thorough coverage of relevant legal issues in the context of practical business examples--and includes almost 300 real-world applications! Almost every page illustrates the clear relevance of chapter concepts to issues you will face in the real world. Intriguing cases and critical-thinking exercises motivate you to apply law and ethics to real business scenarios.

The Curmudgeon's Guide to Practicing Law

Mark Herrmann

Amazon Price: $23.07 List Price: $34.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: American Bar Association Amazon Marketplace: 34 new & used starting at $19.04

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 14 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Helpful but overpriced 3 out of 5 stars.
3 of 5 people found this review helpful.

This book has some genuinely helpful tidbits on legal practice, but take a look at the price and realize that it is a mere 135 pages long (disregard the 200 pages listed above) and bear in mind that each page is basically the size of a large index card. If you are expecting something the size of a textbook, you are in for an unpleasant surprise. I think this would be an excellent purchase if it were priced in the $6-$7 range.

Every Young Lawyer (and some old lawyers!) Should Read This Book!!! 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

The Curmudgeon's Guide is a no nonsense book about the realities of being a practicing attorney. The book pulls no punches in telling it like it is for an associate starting out in a big firm. Law School's do not prepare their students for the real world, this book will uncover the truths that all will need to discover at some point (learn it the easy way or the hard way...but you will learn it!).

I am not a lawyer, but did spend many years working in the legal industry. As an expert in legal marketing and business development, I have worked closely with associates and partners and have seen first hand all the examples that Mark Herrmann exposes in the book.

The chapter on working with your legal secretary is worth the whole price of the book (It is expensive, but if you take the advice in the book to heart, you will profit more that the $35 you spend on the book).

The only area the book comes up short is in the last chapter on developing and growing a practice. While everything the author says is 100% correct, he does not go far enough. Large firms today have marketing and business development departments with wonderful staffs. Herrmann does not address the importance of working closely with these team members and treating them with the respect they deserve. A good relationship with the marketing and biz dev staff can make building a lawyer's reputation a whole lot easier!!!

I will be recommending this book in my presentations and speeches to law firms around the country.

Editorial Review:

This collection of essays written by The Curmudgeon, offers practical, honest and you need to know this advice for surviving and thriving in a law firm. The book covers the basics of law practice and law firm etiquette, from doing effective research and writing to dressing for success, dealing with staff and clients and building a law practice. Concise, humorous and full of valuable (albeit curmudgeonly) insight, this is a must-read for every newly minted law school graduate or new lawyer.

The End of Lawyers?: Rethinking the Nature of Legal Services

Richard Susskind OBE

Amazon Price: $41.96 List Price: $50.00 Not yet published By: Oxford University Press, USA

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Editorial Review:

The End of Lawyers? is the much-anticipated sequel to Richard Susskind's legal best-seller of 1996, The Future of Law. Ten years on, and half-way towards the twenty-year vision he set out, Susskind takes stock of progress, introduces vital new emerging technologies, and envisages even more radical change to the legal world than before.
This is a world in which, at least in part, legal services are commoditized, IT renders conventional legal advice redundant, clients and lawyers are collaborators under the one virtual roof, disputes are dominated by technology if not avoided in the first place, and online systems and services compete with lawyers in providing access to the law and to justice. For the conservative legal adviser, the message is bleak. For the progressive lawyer, an exciting new legal market emerges.
This book continues the author's focus on the effect of advances in information technology upon the law and legal practice, providing fresh perspectives and analysis of anticipated developments in the decade to come. In particular, he aims to explore the extent to which the role of the traditional lawyer can be sustained, in the face of the challenging trends in the legal marketplace and the new techniques and technologies for the delivery of legal services.

The Art of Cross-Examination

Francis L. Wellman

Amazon Price: $8.80 List Price: $11.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Touchstone Amazon Marketplace: 51 new & used starting at $2.45

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 26 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

I give it to every one of my new associates 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

As soon as they're hired, each of my new associates always recieves this book as a gift.

The reason for this is twofold. On the one hand this book, dating from more than a century ago, imparts the kindly sensibilities the practice of law once had (and really, should still have).

On the other hand, this book is masterful in its treatment of the process of cross examining witnesses.

Second in significance only to the selection of a jury, the process of cross examination is key to winning jury trials. This is because admissions tendered by the opposing party can eliminate disputed issues or focus attention on credibility problems.

Though Wellman often goes into great detail in explaining his examples, it's been my experience that new attorneys to the field cannot help but benefit from such complete treatments.

In this way, Wellman leads by example both in relation to his gentility and his prowess.

Editorial Review:

1903. With the cross-examinations of important witnesses in some celebrated cases. Wellman, one of the great nineteenth-century trial lawyers, made his reputation in the musty New York courtrooms of the 1880s and 1890s as assistant corporation counsel and assistant district attorney. In this volume he draws upon his own experiences and the brilliant achievements of other noted lawyers to explain and exemplify the principles of questioning. He quotes extensively from many memorable cases, utilizing them to illustrate both the manner and matter of cross-examination. He takes up the handling of the perjured witness and the expert, he underscores the importance of sequence, and he offers many insights into the psychology of the witness; showing that knowing when to elicit information, and when not to, is critical to the artistry of the advocate.

The Lawyer's Career Change Handbook: More Than 300 Things You Can Do With a Law Degree, Updated and Revised

Hindi Greenberg

Amazon Price: $11.20 List Price: $14.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: HarperCollins Amazon Marketplace: 58 new & used starting at $4.73

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Total reviews: 14 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

There Are More Than One Million Lawyers in America

A law degree is not necessarily a ticket to succes, wealth and happiness. Perhaps it's dissatisfaction with the hours, the firm, or the work itself, but every year, more and more lawyers want out. Now there's a real-world primer that can help virtually anyone in this position. Wheather you're merely considering a change or firmly committed to one, The Lawyer's Career Change Handbook provides all the tools and information you need. A surprising number of lawyers in this country have discovered that a law degree is not necessarily a ticket to wealth, success and happiness, and now they want out.

Hindi Greenberg -- founder and president of Lawyers in Transition -- has written an indispensable quidebook for those in that position. Chock full of helpful advice, exercises, listings of resources and real-life stories, The Lawyer's Career Change Handbook provides all the tools needed to help the unsatisfied many who are either considering a new career or actively pursuing one.

This one-of-a-kind volume can help legal professionals identify, target, and get new jobs that best suit their abilities, background, personality and interests, while offering them ways to cope with the inevitable stress of changing fields. And those who wish to remain in the law world will discover invaluable methods for creating more satisfaction in their current fields, for exploring other areas of the law that they may not have previously considered, and for determining if a solo or small practice is the right way to go.

What Can You Do With a Law Degree?: A Lawyer's Guide to Career Alternatives Inside, Outside and Around the Law

Deborah Arron

Amazon Price: $43.10 List Price: $43.10 Usually ships in 7 to 11 days By: Topeka Bindery Amazon Marketplace: 2 new & used starting at $43.10

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 37 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Do you know: how to tell if you're better suited to the law or to some other field? how to determine when to make the big break? how to analyze and overcome your barriers to change? how to transfer your legal skills to other professions? how to implement an effective job-finding campaign? You must be able to answer these five questions if you want to develop a satisfying, long-lasting career, in or beyond the law. Here's the best resource to help you. Whether you're a veteran practitioner or a new law grad, this expanded 4th edition of Deborah Arron's career guide for lawyers will challenge and provoke you, while preparing you to move into any of the following fields: ADR, Arts & Entertainment, Bar Association Management, Business, Communications, Consulting, Counseling, Education, Entrepreneurial Ventures, Environmental, Ethics, Foundations & Nonprofits, Government, Healthcare, Information Science, International, Labor Unions, Law Enforcement, Lobbying & Public Affairs, Private Law Practice, Real Estate, Sports, Technology and the Judiciary. The 4th edition includes more than 700 job and career suggestions, web addresses for over 1,000 resources, extensive self-assessment exercises, profiles of law school graduates who moved into popular fields and a new test to determine the right fit for you within the practice of law. With more than 50,000 copies of Arron's law career classic in print, you'll understand why the book has received rave views from critics, career counselors, lawyers and law students alike.