5 comments about Barman: Ping-Pong, Pathos, and Passing the Bar.

1. I was a little disappointed in this book, after having to skim through a lot of filler to find the good parts. To put it bluntly, Wellen is a nice guy who goes to a pretty good school and eventually passes the bar, but he is not successful portraying himself as entertaining, funny, glamorous, or particularly remarkable. Luckily, however, Barman contains some good information. Wellen is clear and descriptive about how he got a job in a great law firm, what he did to study for the bar, and what it was like working at a law firm while he waited for his test results. Along the way, he also demonstrates a method of interpreting legalese. If you are a prospective law student, this is a good book to check out from the library or read at the bookstore.



2. I started this book at 12:30 AM. I finished it at 6 AM. I NEVER do that. Ever. If you're looking to get a glimpse of law school life, etc. this isn't the really the book for it. But if you want to read a great law-related book, definitely pick this up.



3. Alex Wellen has captured all the madness, urgency and utter panic that envelops the life and times of anyone who is taking the bar. A great storyteller, Alex makes this an interesting, funny, and extremely engaging read. I could not put it down! I cannot remember a book that was this entertaining and enjoyable to me. For anyone who has ever been there, and more importantly, for anyone who never has, this is a great story you don't want to miss!



4. A friend recomended this so I bought it. I loved it! Really intersting and funny. I appreciated the unpolished perspective on a life I am pursuing.



5. Alex Wellen is a very funny fellow. I liked "Barman" because Alex tells his story in an engagingly self-deprecating way, yet his feel-it-now style reveals the dehumanizing intellectual hazing process of trying to pass the bar. I look forward to reading more of this gifted storyteller's work.
   
   John DeDakis
   Author, FAST TRACK

2 comments about Uncommon Sense: The Achievement of Griffin Bell.

1. Excellent writing by someone who obviously lived and played with Bell. Very interesting to a new "Southerner".



2. A well-written account by a Southern journalist who was there of a time in history and one uncommonly gifted lawyer's often underrated pace through it.

4 comments about Getting a Winning Verdict in My Personal Life: A Trial Lawyer Finds His Soul.

1. Gary Gwilliam's story is a compelling tale of self-disclosure and personal growth. The simple sincerity of his friendly voice keeps you turning pages. He's a role model for what's good and right about lawyers: how they can serve; and the compassion that drives them. This book is filled with lessons for everyone, but especially lawyers and their clients. If you need a champion you can find a template of what to look for in this book! Stewart L. Levine, Esq. , author, "Getting to Resolution;" "The Book of Agreement;" co-author "Collaborate 2.0."



2. In sharing his unique story, Gary provides an insightful, inspiring and motivating read. This book perfectly captures the thoughts and feelings that so many trial attorneys have on a daily basis, and it demonstrates just how a dedicated and caring attorney can overcome adversity and personal difficulties to pursue his clients' causes with zeal and passion. The book has left me more inspired and it has strengthened and reaffirmed my commitment to my family, to my clients and to a trial lawyer's work. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It is a must-read for every trial attorney and for anyone who genuinely wants to understand the heart, mind and soul of a trial attorney.



3. Most great trial lawyers bare their client's souls in their quest for
   Victory, but few bare their own in their personal struggle be real. Gary lays
   it all out in the dramatic story of his life - the good, the bad and the
   ugly. His pain throbs as he reaches the bottom, and his joy abounds as he
   learns to live with success and the love of his life. This journey, one
   that few of us have the courage to travel, much less admit, has made him a
   greater champion of the powerless and a better person.



4. I just got this book, and I've enjoyed reading it so far. I like being a voyeur into the life of an attorney, and reading about Gwilliam's experiences is really encouraging and optimistic. I'll post an updated review when I'm done reading the book.

3 comments about Crimes Against Humanity: A Historical Perspective.

1. Ricci's CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY is an essential read for anyone with a relative, friend, or client who suffers from mental retardation. Holding nothing back, Ricci recounts the horrendously inhumane conditions of Belchertown State School in Massachusetts during the 1950s and '60s, his formation of an advocacy group to support the retarded and their families, and a 20-year landmark federal court class-action suit to secure rights and protections for mentally retarded citizens. A work of courage, persistence, and faith.



2. This important work is an unvarnished first-person account of one man's lifelong battle to secure rights for the mentally retarded citizens of Massachusetts. With no holds barred, Ricci chronicles the plight of the mentally retarded in Massachusetts during the second half of the twentieth century. In a style reflective of his unrelenting advocacy, Ricci recounts the painful decision he and his wife made to place their six-year-old son at Belchertown State School in the 1950s, the horrific medieval conditions he discovered and exposed in that institution, his founding of Advocacy Network, that organization's fight against uncaring state bureaucrats, and their hard-won, landmark federal court order to improve the lives of the mentally retarded. Crimes Against Humanity is a must-read for anyone with a social conscience.



3. This important work is an unvarnished first-person account of one man's lifelong battle to secure rights for the mentally retarded citizens of Massachusetts. With no holds barred, Ricci chronicles the plight of the mentally retarded in Massachusetts during the second half of the twentieth century. In a style reflective of his unrelenting advocacy, Ricci recounts the painful decision he and his wife made to place their six-year-old son at Belchertown State School in the 1950s, the horrific medieval conditions he discovered and exposed in that institution, his founding of Advocacy Network, that organization's fight against uncaring state bureaucrats, and their hard-won, landmark federal court order to improve the lives of the mentally retarded. Crimes Against Humanity is a must-read for anyone with a social conscience.

5 comments about American Infidel: Robert G. Ingersoll.

1. Having read extensively over several years every Ingersoll lecture, interview, essay, etc. that I could possibly find, it was truly wonderful to be able to go behind the scenes for a change and get an up close and personal glimpse of Colonel Ingersoll's life from his early childhood all the way to his very last moments at home with his family in New York.
   
   His surprisingly close relationship with his reverend father, from whom Ingersoll obviously inherited much of his deeply held reverence and affection for the institution of family; his many political aspirations that never quite came to fruition (luckily for us!); his uncanny and almost comical ability to lose tens of thousands of dollars in whatever business venture he chose to invest his wealth; the author has filled the book with these and many other personal gems from Ingersoll's life that one cannot get from studying his lectures alone.
   
   I am always overjoyed and at the same time deeply saddened each time I learn something new about this great American, one who did so much to advance the cause of liberty and freedom in our country and yet today garners little or no recognition at all. Do yourself a favor, and take the time to get acquainted with one of the great patriots, orators, freethinkers, and champions of human liberty and freedom!



2. What I realized from this book is that my ancestors, who where were life long Republicans, have no relationship to the Republicans of today. Ingersoll represents the party of Lincoln, Grant, and TR.
   Ingersoll was the leading speaker and agnostic of that day. Although, agnostics of the day were not able to hold office, he was the confident of presidents, introduced by leading ministers, and well respected by the media. How sad that his vision of infidels being more and more accepted has not yet been realized.
   He was a person of great integrity. A genuine Civil War Hero who turned down a Generalship to end the war with his troops. Who knowlingly lost a bid for Governor by speaking the truth about his beliefs.
   Let me also recommend Grant, by Jean Edward Smith, which gives a flavor for the President who preserved the Union for and after Lincoln.



3. If you are interested in his work and thoughts and not very interested in his personal characteristics and when he did what this book is probably not for you. Thoroughly researched though.



4. The best (albeit the ONLY) biography I've ever read on Ingersoll. Anyone with more than just a pssing interest in RGI should read this. Not too long, but long enough to introduce this great man to those of us who will never have the pleasure of meeting him in the flesh.



5. This biography is well researched and well written.It covers Robert Ingersoll's life and the progression of his beliefs from his Christian upbringing, through his role as America's preeminent freethinker / atheist.The book shows Ingersoll's brillance in causing others to think for themselves in matters of religion, and explaining his reasons for challenging the Bible and Judaic-Christian orthodoxy. Ingersoll is also shown to have been an outstanding lawyer,political strategist, husband, father, friend, patriot,benefactor, and citizen. He lived his beliefs.

   The book shows how the theologians of the time attacked him personally, when they could not combat his ideas on the merits. He was a pioneer of atheistic apologetics, and he paved the way for subsequent like minded people to be able to exercise their rights of free speech on topics which, prior to his efforts, would have exposed them to imprisonment for blasphemy. This biography covers the nation's presidential politics from Lincoln through McKinley. I enjoyed the book and will read it again.

No comments about A Lady's Ranch Life in Montana (The Western Frontier Library, 67).

2 comments about Justice Imperiled: The Anti-Nazi Lawyer Max Hirschberg in Weimar Germany (Social History, Popular Culture, and Politics in Germany).

1. Morris writes of a brave man fighting in the last years of Weimar, against an inexorably rising Nazi tide. Hirschberg deserves to be remembered as a conscientious individual who saw the Nazi menace and fought against it with all the legal means he had.
   
   The book takes us into the legal structure of Weimar justice. But it deals just as much with the unrest of Germany after World War 1. From hyperinflation to the bitterness of defeat. Familiar strands to anyone who has read German history. What is distinctive about the book is how it combine these accounts with a detailed look at the legal procedures of a now defunct state.
   
   The only problem with all of Hirschberg's travails is that he ultimately failed. He, and others, made the mistake of trying to combat Hitler under the assumption that the Nazis would obey some laws and conventions. But they did neither.



2. The minute I saw this book reviewed in the New York Law Journal I had to have it. While I'd recommend it to anyone interested in the subject matter, it's only fair to say that you are likely to get more out of it on the first read if you are a lawyer. This book was tailor made for me, I have been interested in German law, procedure and politics during the Weimar period since I was in college (long ago). I'm not an expert, but I have read extensively, including the German codes in effect at the time, and the author's research is meticulous and accurate, including the German legal terminology. If you don't know German, don't worry, because he gives both the German term and its English translation in every instance. He also provides an appendix of abbreviations with the German and English terms. The book is much more than a biography of Hirschberg. Besides an analysis of the legal system in the pre-Hitler period and a detailed discussion of Hirschberg's major political and criminal cases, the author covers the major political events of the time, including the numerous assassinations and clashes between right and left wing groups. This doesn't read like a textbook; it puts the reader right on the scene. See Adolf Hitler in a courtroom, up close, the way he really was. I found it scary. Hirschberg himself is a fascinating figure, one of the greatest trial lawyers of the time and very astute and farsighted. Since this isn't a novel, and it was the first thing we wanted to know at the office, I'll say he got out of Germany and lived a long time after the war. Unlike other lawyers who opposed Hitler in court (e.g., Hans Litten) he had his eye on the ball. While I know something about the period and the subject matter, I found I learned a lot from this book. The author's writing is well reasoned and organized, and very frankly, I couldn't put the book down. If the author had a web site, I'd congratulate him there.

No comments about Arthur J. Goldberg: New Deal Liberal.

No comments about Philadelphia Freedom: Memoir of a Civil Rights Lawyer.

No comments about The Lady and the Law - The Remarkable Life of Fanny Holzmann.