What's on the Shelf?

Lawyer’s true-crime book explores how he defended a neurodivergent client charged with murder

Updated: In 1997, in the small town of Ringgold in northwest Georgia, a reclusive man was accused of keeping his wife captive in his home and murdering her. A local politician-turned-defense attorney took on the case.

May 13, 2024 4:00 PM CDT

Lawyer’s new book traces today’s true-crime fascination to salacious 1800s murder trial

The case of Polly Bodine is the subject of Alex Hortis’ new book, The Witch of New York. But a whodunnit is only part of the story that Hortis, the associate university counsel at the University of Maryland Baltimore, sets out to tell. The book’s subtitle shares the rest: “The cursed birth of tabloid justice.”

May 2, 2024 2:16 PM CDT

More lawyers—and clients—want to learn about sustainable development practices

As many industries develop sustainable development practices, lawyers can play a role too. In a book released by ABA Publishing, Sustainability Essentials: A Leadership Guide for Lawyers, John Dernbach, with co-authors Irma Russell and Matthew Bogoshian, provide digestible how-to tips for proactively infusing a sustainable development framework into legal work.

Apr 1, 2024 1:20 AM CDT

Retired Justice Stephen Breyer discusses new book in interview with ABA Journal

Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer makes his case in Reading the Constitution: Why I Chose Pragmatism, Not Textualism, scheduled for release on Tuesday. After 40-plus years as a judge, Breyer’s book is a logical capstone. “For better or for worse, it might be helpful to put down my approach how I go about interpreting difficult phrases, the Constitution or statutes.”

Mar 25, 2024 8:23 AM CDT

‘There are obstacles, and it’s not you,’ says co-editor of collection of essays focused on female lawyers

In Her Story: The Resilient Woman Lawyer’s Guide to Conquering Obstacles, three women co-edited a compilation of first-person essays written by women sharing their thoughts, challenges and experiences in the legal field. One of the co-editors, a former president of the National Conference of Women’s Bar Associations, spoke with the ABA Journal.

Mar 8, 2024 1:39 PM CST

Needless complexity in the courts and 50 ways to reduce it

Just before stepping down as a judge on the Connecticut Superior Court, Thomas G. Moukawsher published The Common Flaw: Needless Complexity in the Courts and 50 Ways to Reduce It. Moukawsher admits his guide “gets pretty far down in the weeds.” But there’s good reason. It is the weeds, he says, “that are choking the litigation-centered humanity out of courts—with snarled complaints, tangled motion practice, choking discovery, smothering trials and stultifying legal rulings.”

Dec 1, 2023 1:10 AM CST

Long-lost trial transcript answers many questions about ‘Shoeless’ Joe Jackson and baseball’s ‘Black Sox Scandal’

In Joe Jackson, Plaintiff, vs. Chicago American League Baseball Club, Defendant—Never-Before-Seen Trial Transcript, its editors promise that the unearthed testimony settles many persistent questions in baseball’s “who killed Kennedy.”

Oct 18, 2023 8:13 AM CDT

New book explores how qualified immunity protects police in brutality and wrongful death cases

High-profile cases like the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor by police have led to further growth of the Black Lives Matter movement, calls for defunding the police, police reform and greater police accountability. In her new book, Shielded: How the Police Became Untouchable, Joanna Schwartz, a professor at the UCLA School of Law and an expert in qualified immunity, tells the stories of people who have been wrongly harmed or killed by police.

Oct 1, 2023 2:20 AM CDT

How collegiality can influence judicial decisions

When dissenting from an ideological foe, judges from federal courts of appeal use an estimated 8.3 fewer negative emotional words if the author of the majority opinion works in the same building. Apparently, it can be uncomfortable riding on an elevator with someone whose opinion you have called “plainly wrong.”

Aug 1, 2023 1:30 AM CDT

New book details Justice Antonin Scalia’s early life

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who died in office in 2016, remains a revered figure among conservatives for his pugnaciousness, quick wit and his commitment to deciding cases based on “textualist” readings of statutes and an “originalist” interpretation of the Constitution. But Scalia’s combativeness also was polarizing.

Jun 1, 2023 1:10 AM CDT

Senator’s book argues dark money controls the country and courts

In The Scheme: How the Right Wing Used Dark Money to Capture the Supreme Court, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse examines the influence corporate interests and right-wing billionaires have had on the judicial system and American democracy.

Feb 1, 2023 1:20 AM CST

The Constitution Gets Strict Scrutiny: New books offer fresh takes on America’s founding text

The U.S. Supreme Court handed down some monumental and controversial decisions this session on issues ranging from abortion access to gun control, sparking renewed public debate and interest in our constitutional and civil rights. Two new books offer an engaging layperson’s primer on the Constitution’s most important aspects—from the preamble to the Bill of Rights to the 14th Amendment.

Aug 1, 2022 1:10 AM CDT

New book explores the spread and hazards of ‘bad speech’ on the internet and its risk to democracy

In their upcoming book, Social Media, Freedom of Speech and the Future of Our Democracy, two of America’s leading First Amendment scholars tap a high-profile cast of contributors to explore whether there is anything we can—or should—do about the proliferation of problematic speech online.

Jun 1, 2022 1:20 AM CDT

Lawyer’s true-crime book explores how he defended a neurodivergent client charged with murder

Lawyer’s new book traces today’s true-crime fascination to salacious 1800s murder trial

More lawyers—and clients—want to learn about sustainable development practices

Retired Justice Stephen Breyer discusses new book in interview with ABA Journal

‘There are obstacles, and it’s not you,’ says co-editor of collection of essays focused on female lawyers

Needless complexity in the courts and 50 ways to reduce it

Long-lost trial transcript answers many questions about ‘Shoeless’ Joe Jackson and baseball’s ‘Black Sox Scandal’

New book explores how qualified immunity protects police in brutality and wrongful death cases

How collegiality can influence judicial decisions

New book details Justice Antonin Scalia’s early life

Senator’s book argues dark money controls the country and courts

The Constitution Gets Strict Scrutiny: New books offer fresh takes on America’s founding text

New book explores the spread and hazards of ‘bad speech’ on the internet and its risk to democracy

Topics: Career & Practice

LegalZoom announces app in ChatGPT to help users launch businesses

Your Voice

Silent Struggles: Chronic illness, law firm culture and the need for psychological safety

Podcasts

Techshow Attendees Assemble: A preview of this year's show