Letters to a Young LawyerAs defender of both the righteous and the questionable, Alan Dershowitz has become perhaps the most famous and outspoken attorney in the land. Whether or not they agree with his legal tactics, most people would agree that he possesses a powerful and profound sense of justice. In this meditation on his profession, Dershowitz writes about life, law, and the opportunities that young lawyers have to do good and do well at the same time. We live in an age of growing dissatisfaction with law as a career, which ironically comes at a time of unprecedented wealth for many lawyers. Dershowitz addresses this paradox, as well as the uncomfortable reality of working hard for clients who are often without many redeeming qualities. He writes about the lure of money, fame, and power, as well as about the seduction of success. In the process, he conveys some of the "tricks of the trade" that have helped him win cases and become successful at the art and practice of "lawyering." |
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Page v
Alan M. Dershowitz. letters to a young lawyer A Member of the Perseus Books Group New York This book is lovingly dedicated to my departed mentors who Alan Dershowitz.
Alan M. Dershowitz. letters to a young lawyer A Member of the Perseus Books Group New York This book is lovingly dedicated to my departed mentors who Alan Dershowitz.
Page vi
Alan M. Dershowitz. This book is lovingly dedicated to my departed mentors who gave this lawyer needed advice when he ... Dershowitz Hardback edition first published in 2001 by Basic Books, A Member of the Perseus Books Group Paperback ...
Alan M. Dershowitz. This book is lovingly dedicated to my departed mentors who gave this lawyer needed advice when he ... Dershowitz Hardback edition first published in 2001 by Basic Books, A Member of the Perseus Books Group Paperback ...
Page vii
Alan M. Dershowitz. Acknowledgments Introduction xi Part I: Life and Career 1 Pick Your Heroes Carefully 3 2 Live the Passion of Your Times 3 Have a Good Enemies' List 4 Don't Do What You're Best At 5 Don't Have Deathbed Regrets 6 Don't ...
Alan M. Dershowitz. Acknowledgments Introduction xi Part I: Life and Career 1 Pick Your Heroes Carefully 3 2 Live the Passion of Your Times 3 Have a Good Enemies' List 4 Don't Do What You're Best At 5 Don't Have Deathbed Regrets 6 Don't ...
Page ix
Alan M. Dershowitz. This book could not have been written without input from the generations of students who have sought my advice and then told me, years later, whether it was useful. My appreciation to Maura Kelly for typing the ...
Alan M. Dershowitz. This book could not have been written without input from the generations of students who have sought my advice and then told me, years later, whether it was useful. My appreciation to Maura Kelly for typing the ...
Page xv
Alan M. Dershowitz. request for advice about a considerable number of available options, all of which are good. In contrast to my legal practice of defending mostly guilty criminals, where “worser” and “worsthe options are generally ...
Alan M. Dershowitz. request for advice about a considerable number of available options, all of which are good. In contrast to my legal practice of defending mostly guilty criminals, where “worser” and “worsthe options are generally ...
Contents
| 3 | |
| 15 | |
Have a Good Enemies List | 19 |
Dont Do What Youre Best At | 21 |
Dont Have Deathbed Regrets | 25 |
Dont Follow OfftheRack Advice | 29 |
Dont Limit Your Options by Making a Lot of Money | 33 |
Dont Risk What You Dont Have Enough of to Get More of What You Have Plenty Of | 37 |
Winning and Losing | 103 |
Where Can You Learn Advocacy? | 105 |
The Aha Theory | 111 |
Political Justice | 119 |
Arguing in the Supreme Court | 125 |
Who Is Your Client? | 129 |
Losing | 133 |
Dont Underestimate Your Opponent | 135 |
Is There an Absolute Morality? | 41 |
Should Good Lawyers Defend Bad People? | 47 |
Defending Yourself from Legal McCarthyism | 57 |
How to Balance Idealism Realism and Cynicism | 65 |
Your Last Exam | 69 |
SelfDoubts | 73 |
The Perfect Is the Enemy of the Excellent | 77 |
An Honorable Profession? | 79 |
Blowing the Whistle | 83 |
The Good the Bad the Honest and the Dishonest | 87 |
Your Client Is Not Your Friend | 95 |
Stop Whining Start Winning | 99 |
The Prosecutors Blind Spot | 137 |
The Difference Between a Prosecutor and a Defense Attorney | 147 |
Lawyers Moralsand Other Oxymorons | 151 |
Know When to Fightand When to Give In | 161 |
Dealing with Criticism | 163 |
Being a Good Person 33 Can a Good Lawyer Be a Good Person? | 169 |
Can You Pass the Fluoridation Test? | 177 |
Graduating Law Students | 181 |
Graduating University Students | 187 |
Why Be a Good Person? | 193 |
Notes | 201 |
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Popular passages
Page 204 - An advocate, by the sacred duty which he owes his client, knows, in the discharge of that office, but one person in the world, that client and none other. To save that client by all expedient means — to protect that client at all hazards and costs to all others, and among others to himself— is the highest and most unquestioned of his duties...
Page 192 - Let us weigh the gain and the loss in wagering that God is. Let us estimate these two chances. If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing. Wager, then, without hesitation that He is. "That is very fine. Yes, I must wager; but I may perhaps wager too much.
Page 204 - NONE OTHER. To save that client by all expedient means, — to protect that client at all hazards and costs to all others, and among others to himself, — is the highest and most unquestioned of his duties ; and he must not regard the alarm — the suffering — the torment — the destruction — which he may bring upon any other. Nay, separating even the duties of a patriot from those of an advocate, and casting them, if need be, to the wind, he must go on reckless of the consequences, if his...
Page 199 - If I am not for myself, who will be for me? But if I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?
Page 193 - Fisher, to encourage him in his obstinacy ; and said, " the act of parliament is like a sword with two edges ; for if a man answer one way, it will confound his soul, and if he answer another way, it will confound his body.
Page 202 - As a judicial conservative, I believe some court decisions have gone too far in the past in weakening the peace forces as against the criminal forces in our society.
Page 197 - ... men than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they are alive. It is indeed God's very gift to man that he should eat and drink and be happy as he toils. There is one fate for man and beast; as the one dies so the other dies; the same breath is in all of them. All go to one place; all are from the dust, and all return to the dust.
Page 79 - Here are some of the key rules of the justice game: Rule I: Almost all criminal defendants are, in fact, guilty. Rule II: All criminal defense lawyers, prosecutors and judges understand and believe Rule I. Rule III: It is easier to convict guilty defendants by violating the Constitution than by complying with it, and in some cases it is impossible to convict guilty defendants without violating the Constitution. Rule IV: Almost all police lie about whether they violated the Constitution in or der...
Page 79 - Rule IV: Almost all police lie about whether they violated the Constitution in order to convict guilty defendants. Rule V: All prosecutors, judges, and defense attorneys are aware of Rule IV. Rule VI: Many prosecutors implicitly encourage police to lie about whether they violated the Constitution in order to convict guilty defendants. Rule VII: All judges are aware of Rule VI. Rule VIII: Most trial judges pretend to believe police officers who they know are lying. Rule IX: All appellate judges are...