Michael S Lief is a senior deputy district attorney in Ventura, California. A former newspaper editor, he was a submarine driver for the U. S. Navy during the Cold War.
H. Mitchell Caldwell is a professor at Pepperdine University School of Law. A former deputy district attorney, he specializes in death-penalty litigation before the California Supreme Court.
Bruce D. Brown Legal Times What makes Ladies and Gentlemen of the
Jury enjoyable, in the end, is the variety of styles in the volume
-- Spence's chatty informality; Darrow's use of the rhetorical
question; Kunstler's blunt spoken tongue; Jackson's awesome
solemnity....The flavor of the times comes through in the voices in
the courtroom.
Don Franzen Los Angeles Times Book Review Lawyers and nonlawyers
will enjoy the passion and eloquence of these counselors;
practitioners of law will find much to learn from them.
Henry G. Miller New York Law Journal As much about history as
advocacy.
James C. Alvord The San Diego Union-Tribune [The] arguments read
like passionate poems, deftly crafted to challenge the mind and
satisfy the soul....Masterful speeches.
Richard Roberts The Indianapolis Star The majesty of the law stands
tall in this presentation of the powerful closing arguments in ten
of the most dramatic and eventful trials of modern
times....Relatively few people were present for their original
delivery. Now anyone can revisit them.
Bruce D. Brown Legal Times What makes Ladies and
Gentlemen of the Jury enjoyable, in the end, is the variety of
styles in the volume -- Spence's chatty informality; Darrow's use
of the rhetorical question; Kunstler's blunt spoken tongue;
Jackson's awesome solemnity....The flavor of the times comes
through in the voices in the courtroom.
Don Franzen Los Angeles Times Book Review Lawyers and
nonlawyers will enjoy the passion and eloquence of these
counselors; practitioners of law will find much to learn from
them.
Henry G. Miller New York Law Journal As much about history
as advocacy.
James C. Alvord The San Diego Union-Tribune [The] arguments
read like passionate poems, deftly crafted to challenge the mind
and satisfy the soul....Masterful speeches.
Richard Roberts The Indianapolis Star The majesty of the law
stands tall in this presentation of the powerful closing arguments
in ten of the most dramatic and eventful trials of modern
times....Relatively few people were present for their original
delivery. Now anyone can revisit them.
The authors have pooled their legal and academic expertise for this unique combination of primary-source material, annotation, and commentary gleaned from the oral summations at ten famous American trials. The ten cases chosen for analysis provide all the ingredients for memorable finales: historical relevance, political importance, social significance, and the popular notoriety of the litigants. Each chapter places the verbatim material into a historical, social, and legal context the reader can understand and appreciate. Included in the selection are excerpts from trials that typified the trauma of their times: the 1971 prosecution of Army Lieutenant William Calley Jr. for the massacre of civilians in the Vietnamese hamlet of My Lai; William Kunstler's spirited defense of the Chicago Seven, accused of conspiracy to disrupt the 1968 Democratic National Convention; the prosecution of the Mississippi segregationist who assassinated Civil Rights leader Medgar Evers; and Clarence Darrow's 1924 defense of Leopold and Loeb, who had confessed to a cold-blooded thrill killing. The book would satisfy those with a general interest in history or political science; law students and legal practicioners could learn useful rhetorical strategies.ÄPhilip Y. Blue, New York State Supreme Court Criminal Branch Law Lib., First Judicial Dist., New York
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