From Publishers Weekly
Dershowitz helps inaugurate a new series called the Art of Mentoring with this volume of advice and reflection on practicing law. Several unifying themes run throughout, most prominently the ethical traps for defense attorneys, prosecutors and even judges inherent in the practice of criminal law. Dershowitz alerts a fledgling lawyer to the systemic bias, corner-cutting and outright cheating that he sees permeating the criminal courts. While Dershowitz recognizes the ethical ambiguity that suffuses much of the law, he is more concerned with communicating the moral absolutes he believes in. These include the uncompromising obligation of a defense lawyer to work for the accused's acquittal by all legitimate means. A believer in telling the truth, Dershowitz excoriates deceitful lawyers and hypocritical judges alike. Along with the moral imperatives, the author tells some war stories and settles a few scores, for example, with critics who took him to task for defending O.J. Simpson, and with the Supreme Court, whose decision in the 2000 election case Dershowitz finds dishonest and unprincipled. The young lawyer (to whom these mini-essays are addressed) will perceive how ethically messy and complicated the law can be and how many core issues in our national life the law touches. Even more, the reader will come away with a sense of Dershowitz himself as teacher, tenacious advocate and self-described provocateur. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
Rilke is hot this year--as an advice-giver. His Letters to a Young Poet is the point of reference for Dershowitz's "oral letters," part of a new series called the Art of Mentoring, and for Christopher Hitchens' commentary on contrarianism (see p.271). Having written more than a dozen previous books, Dershowitz is a known quantity; readers tend to be either fans or foes. Those who like him will find plenty of commonsense suggestions here, on heroes and enemies and on morality and wealth. The "young lawyer" of the title is the book's most obvious target reader, but Dershowitz's commentary on his profession will also appeal to those who work with lawyers and even to readers who love legal thrillers. And because attorneys simply face different versions of the challenges most white-collar workers face, much of Dershowitz's advice can be applied in other workplaces as well. Likely to circulate where Dershowitz's other books are popular. Mary Carroll
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Kirkus Reviews
"Quintessential Dershowitz: fast-thinking, fast-talking, and unapologetically opinionated."


Book Description
With wit, humor, and decades of personal experiences from which to draw, Alan Dershowitz dispenses advice on career, law, and life in a book aimed at those just starting out in the legal profession. As 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."


About the Author
Alan Dershowitz, the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, is one of America's foremost legal scholars. His books include the best-selling Supreme Injustice, Sexual McCarthyism, Reasonable Doubts, Chutzpah, Reversal of Fortune, and Rights from Wrongs. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

As defender of both the righteous and the not-so-righteous, Alan Dershowitz has become perhaps the most renowned and outspoken attorney in the land. A dedicated champion of civil liberty and the rule of law, he has earned the respect of admirers and critics alike for the way he has chosen to live his life and pursue a truly unparalleled career as teacher, lawyer, author, and scholar. In Letters to a Young Lawyer, he distills the wealth of his experiences and the passion of his beliefs into essays about life, law, and what it means to be a good lawyer and a good person.

SYNOPSIS

Alan Dershowitz, the renowned, outspoken attorney distills his experiences and his beliefs into 37 essays about life, law, and what it means to be a good lawyer and a good person. He offers insights into various aspects of pursuing a vocation, such as choosing mentors and role models, dealing with critics, finding passion in one's work life, and acting ethically and morally in and out of the courtroom. He also gives practical advice about winning and losing, and presents some "tricks of the trade."

Annotation © Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

FROM THE CRITICS

Book Magazine

Who wants to take advice from a stranger? Given the huge success of self-help and advice books, most Americans, apparently. Influenced by Rainer Maria Rilke's epistolary classic, Letters to a Young Poet, in which Rilke composed a sequence of remarkable letters of counsel to an aspiring writer, Basic Books has initiated a series titled "The Art of Mentoring," in which advice is tailored to specific fields and talents and dispensed by contemporary figures who have made an impression doing what they do best. In its initial season, the series' publishers have contracted outspoken Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz for a book on being a lawyer and political provocateur Christopher Hitchens for a volume on being a contrarian. The advice offered in these two books is similar—be passionate and bold, listen to yourself, stand apart from others—but it's not really the advice that's compelling. Rather, it's learning more about what makes Dershowitz and Hitchens tick. After all, these engaging men have made their careers and earned their reputations by fervently resisting the status quo. Dershowitz organizes his volume as a collection of thirty-six brief letters with clever titles like "Have a Good Enemies List," "Your Client Is Not Your Friend" and "Can a Lawyer Be a Good Person?" One of his central concerns is the destruction of myths about justice: "Absolutely no one ever wants justice. Everyone wants to win. The facade behind which the desire to win is hidden is called justice." Reassuring news for pre-law majors. The line between confidentiality and public duty is also explored. Dershowitz compares lawyers to priests, whose "obligation ofconfidentiality" is even greater. Though a lawyer cannot disclose past crimes his client has committed, he can call the police if his client reveals that he will commit a future crime—something the priest cannot do. As a priest in one of Dershowitz's novels says, "Our job is to save souls, not lives." As former counsel for O.J. Simpson and Leona Helmsley, Dershowitz often feels compelled to defend the ethics of defense attorneys. While he deserves credit for promoting civil rights protection, this book too often reads like an apologia. Further, his ego can irritate. He quotes comments of praise from admirers—a fan letter, a book review and a legal opinion are cited—and is continually telling readers what a great and talented guy he is. While he expresses disappointment upon discovering that most of his former heroes (Clarence Darrow, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Felix Frankfurter) committed ethical violations, Dershowitz himself remains the sole legal figure whose record is spotless. —James Schiff

Publishers Weekly

Dershowitz helps inaugurate a new series called the Art of Mentoring with this volume of advice and reflection on practicing law. Several unifying themes run throughout, most prominently the ethical traps for defense attorneys, prosecutors and even judges inherent in the practice of criminal law. Dershowitz alerts a fledgling lawyer to the systemic bias, corner-cutting and outright cheating that he sees permeating the criminal courts. While Dershowitz recognizes the ethical ambiguity that suffuses much of the law, he is more concerned with communicating the moral absolutes he believes in. These include the uncompromising obligation of a defense lawyer to work for the accused's acquittal by all legitimate means. A believer in telling the truth, Dershowitz excoriates deceitful lawyers and hypocritical judges alike. Along with the moral imperatives, the author tells some war stories and settles a few scores, for example, with critics who took him to task for defending O.J. Simpson, and with the Supreme Court, whose decision in the 2000 election case Dershowitz finds dishonest and unprincipled. The young lawyer (to whom these mini-essays are addressed) will perceive how ethically messy and complicated the law can be and how many core issues in our national life the law touches. Even more, the reader will come away with a sense of Dershowitz himself as teacher, tenacious advocate and self-described provocateur. (Nov.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews