Book reviews - books about lawyers

Back to book reviews >>

Lawtalk: The Unknown Stories Behind Familiar Legal Expressions
Monday, 2 April 2012
James E. Clapp et al

Those of us who like to read John Grisham, watch Suits on television or just about any American thriller may sometimes need a handy dictionary to explain some legal expressions. I have always liked the idea of an ‘ego wall’, where you hang your certificates and photos of you and the local congressman, or you and a film star. In the UK you can have an ego wall with your admission certificate signed by Lord Denning, if you are old like me; and that is all well and good unless you want to download and print your receipt from the SRA.

Read more


You Can’t Read this Book
Thursday, 8 March 2012
Nick Cohen

Lawyers do not figure highly in the estimation of newspaper columnist Nick Cohen. His broadside at censorship in a liberal age paints solicitors, barristers and judges as the lackeys of oligarchs and snake-oil sellers and conspirators in liberal silence when the going gets tough.

Read more


Death of a Circuit
Friday, 10 February 2012
Graeme Williams

Legal reminiscences are sometimes fairly dull but this is a delightful and readable account of the old assizes and quarter sessions system that held sway until 1972. It is written with particular reference to Oxford and the personalities who learnt their trade and practised there.

I was unaware until reading this book that it was a certain Lord Beeching who was behind the abolition of the assize system, one which had done good service for generations. Beeching was the man who rationalised (or butchered - depending on your point of view) the railways.

Read more


Trade Secrets for Marketing Your Business Online
Tuesday, 20 December 2011
Simon Newsham

We must not forget that it is only two decades since the rules governing solicitors and barristers were relaxed allowing for the profession to properly begin marketing themselves. The way that we do business has changed beyond all recognition with the advent of the internet and now numerous self-help books and guides are appearing.

We are continually told and warned 'ignore social media at your peril'.

Read more


The Masters
Thursday, 15 September 2011
CP Snow

Published in 1951, The Masters may not seem the obvious novel to review on these pages - though the narrator, Lewis Eliot is a lawyer who divides his professional life between a practice in London and a fellowship of a Cambridge college. This is, though, a worthwhile or enjoyable read for any lawyer whose firm is going through a difficult or contested managing partner election.

Read more


The Fair Society: the science of human nature and the pursuit of social justice
Tuesday, 9 August 2011
Peter Corning

Can law, with its focus on fair and just outcomes, ever be an effective counterweight to the hard power represented by the apparently more Darwinian forces of greed, power and money? This question is the central focus of Stanford professor Peter Corning’s book The Fair Society: the science of human nature and the pursuit of social justice.

Read more


Winning Legal Business from Medium-Sized Companies
Thursday, 14 July 2011
Dr Silvia Hodges

While many books have been written on the subject of law firm marketing and business development, very few have focussed specifically on the crucial sector that is medium-sized companies.

Silvia Hodges’ Winning Legal Business from Medium-Sized Companies is therefore a welcome addition to the genre and provides invaluable advice for all law firm partners and marketing professionals looking to win more business in this field.

The key strength of this book is its ability to look at the effectiveness of marketing strategies from the client perspective.

Read more


The Art of Managing Professional Services: insights from the leaders of the world’s top firms
Friday, 13 May 2011
Maureen Broderick

The Art of Managing Professional Services joins a growing body of texts that treat professional services firms, most of them current or former partnerships, as businesses with their own peculiar features.

The US-based author, Maureen Broderick, worked in law firms and accountants for 20 years, before setting up as a consultant to professional services firms, and her easy facility with the language and culture of the professional environment is one of the real pluses of the book.

Read more


Legal Marketing: What the client hires from the lawyer
Thursday, 21 April 2011
Francesc Dominguez and Iolanda Guiu

Despite my best efforts to like this guide it failed to impress. Perhaps I’m just not ‘tuned in’ to the authors’ particular style or perhaps it was the opening dedication that turned me off before I had a chance to start.

‘To open-minded lawyers who are consistent with the values of the profession.’

So if you are open-minded and you know what the consistent values of the profession are, you will gain great insight and value from this title.

Well, I failed immediately because I’m not a lawyer, just a humble marketing guy who has worked with the profession for more than 15 years.

Read more


Surrey Executions: A Complete List of those Hanged in the County during the Nineteenth Century
Thursday, 24 March 2011
Martin Baggoley

In Surrey Executions, retired probation officer Martin Baggoley presents well edited information on all the criminals hanged in the county in chronological order.

As well as shining a light in to the lives of victims and felons in these accounts, the book gives a sense of the changing attitudes of the public and policy-makers to capital punishment.

When Surrey County Goal was built in 1799, just off what is now London’s Borough High Street, it was a thoroughly modern facility, replacing execution sites on commons and heaths.

Read more