Understanding Civil Rights Litigation, Second Edition

Understanding Civil Rights Litigation (Second Edition) by Howard M. Wasserman

Being a lawyer is sometimes like being one of the blind men describing an elephant. You have a broad overview of a given area of law, but your case may take you deep into the weeds on particular areas. Connecting the pieces into a whole with the pieces in their proper order and proportion does not come easily.

This book provides a nice map of the territory. It also shows how the pieces connect together. Even though I practice Section 1983 law, I put together a lot of pieces that I hadn't put together previously. To that extent, I recommend it to my fellow practitioners who should be interested in continuing education.

For the layperson, my suspicion is that this book is far too deep in the weeds to be accessible. It is in no way a book for entertainment and it presupposes a knowledge of legal topics.