Book Description
May It Please the Court presents the story of one man's rise from a struggling sole practitioner to the senior partner of the largest suburban law firm in the United States. Although this book is an autobiography of attorney Leonard Rivkin, it is much more. Because of its wealth of information and insights into the life of an attorney, the book could have been titled:
So You Want to Be a Lawyer? - since it goes into the real life practice of law as well as the pragmatic ups and downs of a law practice; or
What Law Schools Don't Teach You - since it covers "getting" new clients, how to hold clients, the general marketing of a law office, solid tips on how to run a law office, and many other practical aspects that are rarely, if ever, covered in law school; or even
Lawyers Behind Closed Doors - since it shows how legal strategies evolved in some of the most well-know cases of our generation. The reader goes behind the scenes into the conference room as well as the courtroom and get a look at defense tactics utilized in cases such as Agent Orange (then the largest mass tort case of its time); Franklin Nation Bank (then the country's largest bank failure); Asbestos, and many others. May It Please the Court is a great antidote to current media perceptions of lawyers (Ally McBeal, etc.) and a real-life balance to popular novelists such as John Grisham and Scott Thurow. Every young or would-be lawyer will benefit from reading this book, as will practicing attorneys. And with our society's fascination with legal matters, general audiences will find this a readable, engaging look at the legal world.
Customer Reviews:
Awesome.......2003-06-20
This is a fascinating review of a very interesting life. The "greatest generation" didn't always lead to such incredible success, but in this case Rivkin took his GI money to law school, a one person practice and built it into a big law firm despite incredible odds, some real setbacks and a lot of determination. The inside story on the Agent Orange case was a real eye opener even for another lawyer but would be just as interesting (maybe even more so) for lay people. Highly recommend.
May It Please The Court!.......2000-06-21
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I found Leonard Rivkin's book, "May It Please The Court!" to be very entertaining, interesting, and very easy to read. My trepidation of picking up and reading a book written by a lawyer were totally unfounded.
I expected to be bored by legal mumbo jumbo and boring statistics. It was quite a pleasant surprise to find the book reading more like a novel. My principle purpose was to read the chapters on Agent Orange. Mr.Rivkin's accounting of the "behind the scenes" activities and proceedings truly opened my eyes to many obscure, but highly pertinent details and facts. I have come away with a new attitude toward the subject.
My assessment of this book, and Mr. Rivkin's ability to shed light on Agent Orange where it has not been shown before, gets my "two thumbs up".
Capt Patrick McCrary
Book Description
The fascinating sequel to the bestselling book-and-tape set: actual Supreme Court oral arguments on the constitutional rights of students. This sequel to the bestselling May It Please the Court focuses on Supreme Court cases involving students' and teachers' constitutional rights. In many towns and cities, public schools become the arena in which conflicts that begin in homes, churches, and meeting halls are fought. Issues involving prayer, newspaper and library censorship, political protest, drug testing, illegal aliens, and corporal punishment spill into classrooms and result in lawsuits. This new set of landmark "school rights" cases features narrated tape recordings of sixteen actual oral arguments made before the Supreme Court, together with a hardcover book of transcripts, excerpts from the Court's rulings, and photographs of the students and teachers involved. Featuring nationally known figures, including attorney Kenneth Starr and Justices Thurgood Marshall and Earl Warren, these recordings offer an unrivaled view of the Supreme Court in action and an unparalleled opportunity to explore some of the most explosive constitutional debates of our time.
Includes:
* Four ninety-minute cassettes: Edited, live recordings of the oral arguments and questioning from sixteen cases--including twelve never before published--with narration by Peter Irons identifying the speakers and putting the arguments in context.
* 320-page hardcover book: Transcriptions of the arguments, excerpts from the opinions and the key dissents, and photos of the students who took their cases all the way to the Supreme Court.
Cases include:
Abington School District v. Schempp (school prayer)
Tinker v. Des Moines (wearing black armband in school)
Cleveland Board of Education v. LaFleur (mandatory maternity leave for teachers)*
Milliken v. Bradley (busing for racial balance)*
Goss v. Lopez (due process hearings for suspended students)*
Ingraham v. Wright, School Principal (corporal punishment)*
Plyler v. Doe (barring "illegal alien" students)*
Island Trees Board of Education v. Pico (book censorship in school libraries)*
New Jersey v. T. L. O. (searching student belongings)*
Bethel School District v. Fraser ("vulgar" speech)*
Edwards v. Aguillard (evolution versus creationism in schools)
Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier (censoring high-school newspapers)
Westside Board of Education v. Mergens (religious clubs)*
Lee v. Weisman (school prayer)*
Zobrest v. Catalina Foothills School District (sign-language interpreter)*
Vernonia School District v. Acton (drug testing for athletes)*
*never before published
Customer Reviews:
Satisfaction Guaranteed.......2005-09-25
I received my book in a lengthy time, and it was in excellant condition.
Book Description
This sequel to the best-selling May It Please the Court focuses on key First Amendment cases illustrating the most controversial debates over issues of free speech, freedom of the press, and the right to assemble, including: Barnes v. Glen Theater (nude dancing), New York Times v. United States (the "Pentagon Papers" case), Texas v. Johnson (American flag burning), Brandenburg v. Ohio (hate speech by Klansmen) and Hustler Magazine, Inc. v. Falwell ("emotional distress" for parody advertisement). This paperback book includes transcriptions of oral arguments made before the Supreme Court, twelve of which have never been published. They offer an unrivaled view of the Supreme Court in action that will interest anyone wanting first-hand exposure to American law and history.
Customer Reviews:
Thought provoking and interesting.......2000-09-25
Like it's predecessor, "May it Please The Court", "The First Amendment" contains cassettes with edited oral arguments before the Supreme Court. The highlights of the arguments are held together by commentary from Peter Irons, who also introduces each case with a brief history and a review of the legal questions involved. It also finishes with another short talk by Irons, indicating how the Court ruled and talking a bit about the opinions. The companion book has transcripts of the cassettes, as well as highlights from the opinions in the case.
Whereas the previous book contained 23 cases and one introduction to the court, this one has only 16 cases. Moreover, four cases are in fact repeats from the previous book. The cases in this one are, with the issue involved in parenthesis: R.A.V v. City of St. Paul (cross burning); Texas v. Johnson (flag burning, included in the previous book); Tinker v. Des Moines (Vietnam protest by high school students, also in the previous book); U.S. vs. O'Brien (draft card burning as protest), Abbington v. Schempp (school prayer, included in the previous book); Barnes v. Glen Theater (nude dancing); Branzburg v. Hayes (disclosure of a reporter's sources); Cohen v. California (vulgar speech); Employment Division v. Smith (religious use of peyote); Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeyer (censorship of school papers); Hustler Magazine v. Falwell (suing for emotional distress from a parody); Hurley v. Irish-American Gays, Lesbian and Bisexual Group of Boston (gays marching on St. Patrick's Parade); Miller v. California (obsenity), New York Times v. Sullivan (libel); and New York Times v. United States (prior restraint and the Pentagon Papers, included in the previous book).
One difference in this book from the previous one is also the period represented by the cases. Whereas the 23 cases in "May it Please the Court" were loaded towards the Warren and early Burger period (11 cases were from the Warren Court, 9 from the Burger Court, most in the early 70's, and only 3 from the Rehnquist Court), in this one most cases are much more recent. 8 cases are from the Rehnquist court, only one of which had been included in the previous book; 4 are from the Burger court, with one previously included, and 4 are from the Warren court, only two of which are published here for the first time.
As I said in my review of "May it Please The Court", it is unfortunate that the full opinions are not included in the companion book. In addition to this, whereas in "May it Please the Court" the companion book listed the cases in the same order as they appeared on the cassettes, this is not the case in "The First Amendment" which, while not tragic, is certainly somewhat annoying. There are also a number of careless mistakes that could easily have been corrected. In one case, Irons talks about the "Reagan Administration" for a case argued in 1972 (it was the Nixon administration). In that same case, in the final summary, in the cassette Irons makes a mistake, talks to the recorder operator and they agree to edit it, and he retakes the paragraph from the top; this could easily have been fixed if a bit of care had been given to the check the final product. It is unfortunate that such carelessness, easily corrected, should creep into an otherwise excellent book. It is also unfortunate that there are repeats from the previous book. Although the cases in question are certainly both important and relevant, perhaps they could have been added in addition to new cases. Four cases is the content of one full cassette, so even though the four repeats are spread through the four tapes, it means the book contains only three tapes worth of new cases.
Listening to the arguments is very instructive. It gives us a glimpse into how the Supreme Court works. Listening to tough hypotheticals and skeptical questions from Scalia, Hugo Black, O'Connor, or Rehnquist, and imagining the lawyers squirming under the glares of the justices can be quite an amusing and instructive lesson. Irons does a good job of putting the case in perspective and joining together the segments of arguments selected, even if he does let his personal liberal slant (to which I have no personal objection, it should be said) interfere every now and then. Although I am not a lawyer, I came out knowing a lot more about the constitution and about the Supreme Court than I did when I came in, and I shall listen to the cassettes and the arguments many times in the future. I recommend the book, and I hope the publisher will correct the few mistakes that appear in it when they prepare the next edition.
"May It Please the Court" Works Well in the Classroom.......2000-04-27
I teach political science at local junior colleges. As a result, I am always on the lookout for material that will be both interesting and useful in the classroom.
I recently presented the recording of "Tinker v. Des Moines" (symbolic speech; Vietnam) to one of my classes. The entire class was focused on the voices so well that we discussed specific exchanges after the twenty-odd minute recorded session concluded with a degree of recall I have not often experienced with audio-video material, which can sometimes distract and inform in equal parts. Having a text with a transcript of the tape program, including the narrator's comments, was very helpful in going over and clarifying these exchanges.
The text also contains edited versions of the majority decision written by Justice Fortas, as well as nearly two pages of Justice Black's dissent. The latter is a significant dissent that was subsequently cited in another case, "Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier," which is also included in this volume.
My only complaint is that the material is on cassette and not on compact disk. I find this a minor inconvenience, in that it requires that I remember to "queue up" the cassette prior to beginning the class on those cases, such as "Tinker", that are in the "middle" of a side of a cassette.
But if you're curious to get a "feeling" as to how the Supreme Court "sounds", this book-and-cassettes combination is for you. If you teach this material, save your money and buy it.
Brilliant arguments on tape -- what could be better!!.......1998-10-10
For those unable to wait through the 5-minute spectator line at the Supreme Court, these tapes provide a unique opportunity to participate in some of the most fascinating legal arguments of the last half-century. Creches, student newspapers, prior restraint -- all find their way up through the judicial system for oral argument in front of the nine justices. Advocates from the government, big firms, the ACLU all meet their destiny in a withering crossfire of tough hypotheticals from Brennan and Scalia. A nice change of pace from Raffi tapes for the kids.
Book Description
This unique insider's look at the Supreme Court in session includes live recordings and transcripts of actual landmark cases, including Miranda v. Arizona (the right to remain silent), Roe v. Wade (abortion rights), Bowers v. Hardwick (gay rights), Regents v. Bakke (reverse discrimination), Loving v. Virginia (interracial marriage), United States v. Richard Nixon (Watergate), and many others. Previously only available through a visit to the National Archive in Washington, these tapes bring pivotal moments in American legal history to life.
Customer Reviews:
Listen to School Law Landmark Cases.......2007-01-19
This book and its corresponding tapes are great to read and listen to the actual dialogue of the Supreme Court. I used the Tinker (student expression) and the Abington (Bible reading) cases in my School Law class. These cases enable students to listen to a primary source.
Great Value, Most Educational.......2007-01-11
Great buy. Excellent recording quality. Makes an excellent gift for any attorney or anyone else interested in learning about the workings of the US Supreme Court and its inner workings. Highly recommend.
Great for learning and teaching........2005-09-21
I teach a course at a local community college and use this book as my text. The book is relatively cheap, especially for college books, and very well written. It describes some of our most influential Supreme Court cases in the past half century. The style that it is written in is ideal for learning and keeping the reader interested.
First it gives a short one page synopsis of the case that sets out the basis facts. It then quotes the actual Supreme Court oral argument but edits the transcript to give it a more narrative style. The editting is great for explaining the background legal principle while setting out the facts to make the read more enjoyable. After the editted transcript of the oral argument, a short editted version of the Court's opinion is printed. This opinion is nicely editted so as to keep readers interested, unlike the full text of most of the cases that would scare lawyers away.
In summation, the book is organized very well and suitable for those wanting to learn about history, those wanting to learn legal principles, or even those just wanting a fun read.
Great resource for laymen interested in the Court.......2005-07-11
These recordings are a great resources for anyone intersted in the US supreme court. This is probably doubly true as the nomination and approval process is upon us again. The records reveal much that is lost in a purely written transcript, which is the source of one of my misgivings of the packaging -- the companion book is nothing more than a literal transcription of the tapes. The book could have provided more background, or in-depth analysis, or a copy of the constitution, or the full text of the opinions. Sadly, it provides none of these.
It is remarkable how the personal experiences of the various justices seem to color their opinions. Most interesting is when future Supremes appear before the court as attorneys.
Finally, I find it interesting that the quality of the arguments seems to be independent of the decisions of the courts -- some of the weakest orators yielded winning arguments.
Still, despite these misgivings, this provides a wonderful ear to the wall of the highest court in the land. Perhaps the best thing about these arguments is that they are completely accessible to the layman -- there is little legalisms, just big issues understandable by all, even if they are controversial.
Very Entertaining With A Few Missteps.......2005-03-27
I fully enjoyed this series and own each set. The first series has additional charm because of the nice packaging, which decreased in charm as later sets came out. The plastic display holder and hard cover companion book, including a transcript of each tape, is a nice touch.
The sets does have a liberal slant, though not excessive, which reflects the author. [Justice Marshall gets some play a lot, but then again, his questions often tend to be entertaining.] This doesn't hurt too much, since the commentary is relatively brief, and centers largely on the facts of the case. And, the cases are generally landmark, not leaning one way or the other per se. Anyway, the first tape's "introduction to the Supreme Court" is well done.
I don't find it too troubling that the book doesn't have the whole opinion. The book uses a typical "casebook" approach and prints important excerpts. The book would be much larger if the full opinions were printed. Nor do the excerpt style hurt too much, again it would take much more space to do so. For those interested, Jerry Goldman has a CD-ROM with complete orals of some cases. Also, Oyez.com provides many.
I must, however, note that Irons et. al. provided some sloppy editing, which he admitted to some degree later on. He has the "Reagan Administration" involved in a case before Reagan came to office. He has "Justice Marshall" asking a question in a case before he came to the Court. And, some substantive facts and explanations contain some errors. I'm not sure how some of these things were missed in editing.
Nonetheless, overall, it is a very educational series. It further suggests why we should be able to hear these things on C-SPAN.
Book Description
This unique insider's look at the Supreme Court in session includes live recordings and transcripts of actual landmark cases, including Miranda v. Arizona (the right to remain silent), Roe v. Wade (abortion rights), Bowers v. Hardwick (gay rights), Regents v. Bakke (reverse discrimination), Loving v. Virginia (interracial marriage), United States v. Richard Nixon (Watergate), and many others. Previously only available through a visit to the National Archive in Washington, these tapes bring pivotal moments in American legal history to life.
Customer Reviews:
Truly fascinating glimpse of our judicial system at work.......1999-08-09
These tapes are fascinating! Regardless of how you feel about the issues involved, to hear the arguements made on both sides, and the questions of the justices as they weigh issues in a forum that is protecting our individual rights and our system of government is truly riveting. They make the Supreme Court come alive. And the editors have done a fine job of appropriate commentary to place each case argued in context, and then to further explain what has happened concerning the issue involved since the case was decided. You will want to share the tapes with everyone you know.
Book Description
In Arguments on Abortion, the sequel to the best-selling May It Please the Court, Stephanie Guitton and Peter Irons have selected the eight major cases on reproductive rights, including live tape recordings as well as transcripts of the arguments, excerpts from the final decisions, photographs of the justices who presided over the cases, reading lists, and a chronology of court history on reproductive rights.
Customer Reviews:
Never a Dull Moment..........2001-02-02
You might expect a book full of court transcripts dull; in fact I thought it would be a little dry. But I've been amazed by this book. I picked it up on a sale table in a book store - and came here to see if I could find more in the series - One thing strikes you right away - Supreme Court justices are SMART. The second thing that strikes you is that they have a huge amount of power, but are subject to the same prejudices and personal attachments that affect us all (especially with regards to abortion). You can see them grapple with deeply personal issues. It's fascinating (and sometimes even witty) to read the chronology of court cases before, including and after Roe v Wade. You can clearly see how abortion law has evolved.
The book definitely has a pro-choice slant, so if you're expecting a pro-life diatribe, this isn't your book. The language is clear and easy to read without the kind of legal mumbo-jumbo we're used to hearing in movies. This has been an enriching read, one that makes me feel profoundly human, fallible, and American.
Book Description
On any given day, thousands of cases are pending in the nation's courts. A few are well-known, and many are routine. But in between, great personal dramas play out before breathless juries, who may be the only people ever to hear the case before them. The rows of courtroom pews are empty, except for a mere handful of people—the parties to the case.
Join this personal injury lawyer in his conquests both in and out of the courtroom as he struggles to right the wrongs of an imperfect society and to speak for those who sometimes can't speak for themselves.
Compelling stories involving reckless drivers, random acts of violence, prescription drugs with tragic side-effects, falsified police reports, incorrect autopsy reports and much more will grab your interest and give you an amazing glimpse into the world of our nation's courts.
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- Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts
- Monster Manual: Core Rulebook III (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.0 Fantasy Roleplaying)
- Moses (Caldecott Honor Book)
- National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds: Eastern Region - Revised Edition
- Nothing's Sacred
- On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society
- Pattern Classification (2nd Edition)
- Physical Computing: Sensing and Controlling the Physical World with Computers
- Physik (Septimus Heap, Book 3)
Books Index
Books Home
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Starting Off Right in Law School
Getting to Maybe: How to Excel on Law School Exams
Bridging the Gap Between College and Law School: Strategies for Success
