Laith
*Disclaimer: This book was written by a good friend of mine. I purchased my own copy at full price and while I was asked to read the book, this review was not solicited in any way. That said, my star rating is going to be pinned at a 5 regardless of quality- not because I can't bear to be critical of a friend's work but because of the nature of Amazon's recommendation algorithm, so feel free to disregard it. Excepting the rating this review will contain my honest and unfiltered opinion of the book. _____
Every year thousands of would-be lawyers across the country face a rude awakening- they enter law school dreaming of Atticus Finch/Mike Ross and dramatic legal battles only to realize that the overwhelming majority of lawyers will never see the inside of a court room. Something you learn on the first night of law school is that the case books suck to read. Shocking I know, but those massive tomes are crammed with case law and commentary that you are expected to internalize. They're textbooks, and they're just a taster of how minutiae obsessed the legal field can be. Mercifully this is NOT a legal textbook, Matt walks us through the variety of cases and courts that he worked during his time at the State and Federal prosecutors table. Unlike the casebooks, American Justice is in the vein of those much cherished legal dramas; cataloging his time pursuing carjackers, delinquent fathers, and violent fraud rings Matt paints a picture of what it's like to actually fight in court.
Don't get the impression that you need some type of legal training to appreciate this book, this should be broadly understood by most of its readers. In typical litigator fashion the author has boiled away the jargon and left only the most necessary legal terms. Matt clearly subscribes to the economy of words, as he takes great pains to explain any potentially foreign concept in plain English. What remains are a series of very interesting anecdotes of various criminal prosecutions pared down to the juiciest details. If you've ever wondered how a prosecution actually goes down, what a prosecutor actually thinks beyond just legal theory, then this is the candid peek behind the curtain you were looking for.
There is a point buried behind the anecdotes, a consistent criticism of the often-times nonsensical nature of courtroom politics. Matt describes his cases as not only as adversarial between prosecutor and defendant but as a battle between the lawyers and the law itself, highlighting issues he's observed that undercut the pursuit of justice. These are systemic issues that no one lawyer can address on their own ranging from gaps in sentencing guidelines to full blown legal loopholes that can derail an otherwise air-tight case.
It's not without flaws. The prose though coherent and concise reads in the style of a legal brief, without embellishment or characterization. I think that each case anecdote would have benefited had they been presented in a more narrative forward style. My main criticism with the book follows along similar lines, the whole thing is just a bit too brief- the cases themselves, but also the connective tissue that joins them. I felt that this was building towards a point, possibly about legal reform, but I can't say definitively because we never truly get there.
If the worst thing I can say about a book is that it's too short- it must be pretty good. That's the case for American Justice, it's interesting and easy to understand, and brevity isn't all bad because you can read this in 3-4 hours.
PS: Wasn't sure where in the review to include this, but there's humor and personal anecdotes in here. Knowing the author's sense of humor I definitely got a few laughs from the dry wit and occasional interjection. Great Job Matt!
*Disclaimer: This book was written by a good friend of mine. I purchased my own copy at full price and while I was asked to read the book, this review was not solicited in any way. That said, my star rating is going to be pinned at a 5 regardless of quality- not because I can't bear to be critical of a friend's work but because of the nature of Amazon's recommendation algorithm, so feel free to disregard it. Excepting the rating this review will contain my honest and unfiltered opinion of the book. _____
Every year thousands of would-be lawyers across the country face a rude awakening- they enter law school dreaming of Atticus Finch/Mike Ross and dramatic legal battles only to realize that the overwhelming majority of lawyers will never see the inside of a court room. Something you learn on the first night of law school is that the case books suck to read. Shocking I know, but those massive tomes are crammed with case law and commentary that you are expected to internalize. They're textbooks, and they're just a taster of how minutiae obsessed the legal field can be. Mercifully this is NOT a legal textbook, Matt walks us through the variety of cases and courts that he worked during his time at the State and Federal prosecutors table. Unlike the casebooks, American Justice is in the vein of those much cherished legal dramas; cataloging his time pursuing carjackers, delinquent fathers, and violent fraud rings Matt paints a picture of what it's like to actually fight in court.
Don't get the impression that you need some type of legal training to appreciate this book, this should be broadly understood by most of its readers. In typical litigator fashion the author has boiled away the jargon and left only the most necessary legal terms. Matt clearly subscribes to the economy of words, as he takes great pains to explain any potentially foreign concept in plain English. What remains are a series of very interesting anecdotes of various criminal prosecutions pared down to the juiciest details. If you've ever wondered how a prosecution actually goes down, what a prosecutor actually thinks beyond just legal theory, then this is the candid peek behind the curtain you were looking for.
There is a point buried behind the anecdotes, a consistent criticism of the often-times nonsensical nature of courtroom politics. Matt describes his cases as not only as adversarial between prosecutor and defendant but as a battle between the lawyers and the law itself, highlighting issues he's observed that undercut the pursuit of justice. These are systemic issues that no one lawyer can address on their own ranging from gaps in sentencing guidelines to full blown legal loopholes that can derail an otherwise air-tight case.
It's not without flaws. The prose though coherent and concise reads in the style of a legal brief, without embellishment or characterization. I think that each case anecdote would have benefited had they been presented in a more narrative forward style. My main criticism with the book follows along similar lines, the whole thing is just a bit too brief- the cases themselves, but also the connective tissue that joins them. I felt that this was building towards a point, possibly about legal reform, but I can't say definitively because we never truly get there.
If the worst thing I can say about a book is that it's too short- it must be pretty good. That's the case for American Justice, it's interesting and easy to understand, and brevity isn't all bad because you can read this in 3-4 hours.
PS: Wasn't sure where in the review to include this, but there's humor and personal anecdotes in here. Knowing the author's sense of humor I definitely got a few laughs from the dry wit and occasional interjection. Great Job Matt!