Lawyer: A Life Of Counsel And Controversy

by Arthur L. Liman

During nearly half a century of practicing law, Arthur L. Liman represented the very best ideals of his profession. He was renowned both for his brilliance as a corporate lawyer and for his commitment to public service and pro bono work. Vanity Fair called him a "big trouble" lawyer—i.e., the lawyer you call when you're in it.

In this candid memoir, written in the months before his death, Liman discusses his life in the law from the moment Roy Cohn's performance at the McCarthy hearings inspired him to become a lawyer (in order to stand against lawyers like Cohn) to his influential investigation of the Attica prison uprising, through his role as chief counsel in the Iran-Contra hearings, with looks at many fascinating cases, clients, and controversies along the way. Full of lively portraits of the moguls, financiers, politicians and criminals with whom Liman worked, and grounded in his insightful, provocative opinions on the practice of law and on today's legal issues, Lawyer is an absorbing read.

416 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1998

Reviews

[Patrick Ma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Of course “everyone deserves a vigorous defense,” but surely that isn’t the right question…the question is, “Does that person need you, I mean, you specifically?” The single mom about to get evicted, the immigrant about to be deported, the teacher about to be fired, they need you. I suspect ExxonMobil will be just fine without your legal counsel…even as I write this, I suspect I might be a classic “humorless idealistic youth,” so who knows.

Oh, right, the book — uh, a lot of the case descriptions sounded like Quimbee. Peggy Noonan the author is not.

I liked the bits about public service — the prison reform especially. He did the Iran-Contra congressional investigation, and like a good Jimmy Carter democrat, completely lost, completely by the book.

I do admire Liman’s thing about how good legal counsel also means advice to clients about what is right, not just what is right for them. People tend to want to do the right thing, I think.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Will largely appeal to those with a background in corporate litigation. Gets bogged down a bit in detail at times, which limits the book's accessibility to a wider audience. Yet for a reader with the right background, Arthur Liman' s tales will be of great interest.