Worth A Read Yes
Length 216
Quick Review Everything from definitions to quotes to government makeup to what the bar actually is.
There was a period of time in high school when I wanted to go to law school. The lawyers I talked with warned me away from it because they assumed I watched law dramas on TV and wanted the courtroom thing, which couldn’t be further from the truth. I didn’t even start watching law dramas until about two years ago. I liked the law because I knew it would be constant learning and researching, and I could advocate for people and women and become a judge or become an advocate or lobbyist. Vibeke Norgaard Martin hammers home the point that being a lawyer is not about being in court in 101 Things I Learned in Law School.
If you’ve ever read a book that has anything to do with law or the judiciary system, most of this is not new information. Martin does break down a lot of complicated and sometimes confusing concepts, terms, ideas, and workings of the law, government, and even courtroom in his 101 Things I Learned in Law School, and he particularly focuses on the US but does speak to British and global law.
Martin wants to make it clear that lawyers are people with prejudices, blind spots, limitations, skills, and specialties. Lawyers have areas of expertise, so consulting a corporate law attorney will not help you in divorce court. They do not know everything. Lawyers are known for having a good hold on words and manipulating language – which is a huge part of why the law has always spoken to me – but there is a difference between honesty and truth. This fact transcends law.
For every thing learned there is a little drawing on the opposing page to demonstrate, in a usually humorous fashion, what Martin is describing. There is a sense of humor to the entire book. Even in the quotes chosen have levity, humor, and drive home the point being a lawyer is a way of thinking and it is not infallible: “There is no doubt that if there were a super-Supreme Court, a substantial proportion of our reversals of state courts would also be reversed. We are not final because we are infallible, but we are infallible only because we are final.” Robert H. Jackson. Martin goes through some of the most important cases tried in courts, and cases people should know about but probably don’t.
101 Things I Learned in Law School talks about history, language, law, thinking, and more. It is a quick and easy book to peruse, but it’s filled with information and a lesson. I highly suggest it to anyone with a curiosity for law or wants to look smart and worldly by putting it on their coffee table. Either way, I suggest it.
Memorable Quotes
“Honesty and truthfulness are different things.”
“In practice, the exceptions to the rule are the rule.”
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Title: 101 Things I Learned in Law School
Author: Vibeke Norgaard Martin
With: Matthew Frederick
Publisher: Three Rivers Press (Penguin Random House)
Copyright: 2019
ISBN: 9781524762025
