Thought Provoking and Entertaining Law Books

"Thought provoking and entertaining law books. These are not dry case books or turgid academic tomes. These books are accessible to a thoughtful lay audience. Crafted by some of the finest legal writers and minds of the past century. I might be getting a bit heavy toward the end of the list when I get to the jurisprudes, but I've tried to err toward the publication of lectures, which tend to be lighter in tone and more accessible."

1. Selling the People's Cadillac: The Edsel and Corporate Responsibility by Jan G. Deutsch. "The greatest law book ever written. Professor Deutsch boldly goes where no man has gone before or since. A man obviously not of this earth. Astonishing."
2. Swindling and Selling by Arthur Allen Leff. "The second greatest law book ever written. The greatest book on sales ever written."
3. The Miner's Canary: Enlisting Race, Resisting Power, Transforming Democracy by Lani Guinier and Gerald Torres. "The third greatest law book ever written. And a shout out to my homie GT."
4. Sex and Reason by Richard A. Posner. "The fourth greatest law book ever written. Finally, a law book with real world practical applications pertaining to a subject everyone enjoys."
5. Torture and the Law of Proof: Europe and England in the Ancien Regime by John H. Langbein. "The fifth greatest law book ever written. A brilliant book. Regrettably the issues are still relevent today."
6. Art in the Courtroom by Vilis R. Inde. "An excellent book by a good friend and law school classmate. An entertaining and learned analysis of several legal cases involving famous artists. Vilis is now an artist and gallery owner in Marfa, Texas."
7. The Little Green Book of Golf Law by John H. Minan. "A fun book that allows you get in touch with your inner regulatory lawyer. A wonderful concept well executed."
8. Minnesota Rag: Corruption, Yellow Journalism, and the Case That Saved Freedom of the Press by Fred W. Friendly. "An engaging read, by broadcast journalism pioneer Fred Friendly, telling the story of the 1931 Supreme Court case Near v. Minnesota. Friendly provides a masterful in-depth look at the exceptional 5-4 decision that was critical in saving freedom of the press in the U.S. during a pivotal period in our history."
9. The Buffalo Creek Disaster: How the survivors of one of the worst disasters in coal-mining history brought suit against the coal company--and won by Gerald M. Stern. "Reads like a thriller. A page turner you won't be able to put down."
10. Death of Contract by Grant Gilmore. "A very readable and engaging lecture on the history and development of contracts in western civilization. Everyone should read this book."
11. Gideon's Trumpet by Anthony Lewis. "A very accessible book telling the story of Gideon v. Wainwright. This case is the reason we all know by heart: 'You have the right to remain silent . . . . ' Anthony Lewis, who was for many years a New York Times columnist, amazingly makes criminal procedure come to life."
12. Woe Unto You, Lawyers! by Fred Rodell. "You may not always agree with the late Professor Rodell, but you will always be entertained by this very readable critique of the law, lawyers, judges and law schools. I think this is what used to be called a jeremiad."
13. How to Ruin Your Life by Ben Stein. "Not technically a law book, but Ben Stein was a former White House Counsel in the Nixon and Ford administrations. Since then he has been a recovering lawyer, with relapses caused by teaching at several law schools. Anyway, this is my list. My goal in life has long been to become the next Ben Stein. A very smart and very funny man."
14. The Common Law by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.. "The most famous book by the most famous Supreme Court Justice in US history."
15. The Nature of the Judicial Process by Benjamin N. Cardozo. "A thoughtful book from one the greatest of legal minds in our history. Cardozo was never elevated to the Supreme Court, and the country is probably poorer for it."
16. The Morality of Consent by Alexander M. Bickel. "Simply brilliant."
17. Make No Law: The Sullivan Case and the First Amendment by Anthony Lewis. "Another engaging and accessible classic by Anthony Lewis on one of the most important cases in civil rights and first amendment law. Fascinating."
18. Economic analysis of law: Some realism about nominalism by Arthur Allen Leff. "More brilliance from the late Professor Leff."
19. Path of the Law by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.. "Another gem from Holmes."
20. The Growth of the Law by Benjamin N. Cardozo. "From a bygone day when lawyers and judges wrote clearly and succinctly. Stylistically, we'd all be better off following Cardozo than Brandeis."
21. The Economics of Justice by Richard A. Posner. "A classic."
22. Law, Pragmatism, and Democracy by Richard A. Posner. "No one in law publishes more prodigiously or at such consistently high quality. A brilliant thinker and intellectual explorer."
23. Overcoming Law by Richard A. Posner. "Another dazzling performance by Posner.”
24. Public Intellectuals: A Study of Decline by Richard A. Posner. "An astonishing social critique. Brilliant."
25. Law's Empire by Ronald Dworkin. "This and the following three books on the list are in many ways discussions between the authors. All are classics."
26. The Morality of Law by Lon L. Fuller. "Lon takes up the side of the old school. No answers, but great questions."
27. The Concept of Law by H. L. A. Hart. "Probably THE most famous book of jurisprudence."
28. Law, Liberty, and Morality by H. L. A. Hart. "Useful in thinking of many of the issues facing our country today."
29. How to Do Things with Words by J. L. Austin. "The liguistic basis of contract in the guise of speech act theory."
30. Just Gaming by Jean-Francois Lyotard and Jean-Loup Thebaud. "Lyotard and Thebaud use language games to examine the problem of justice. Engagingly structured as an extended Platonic dialogue. A post-modernist classic."
31. The Rise and Fall of Freedom of Contract by P. S. Atiyah. "Probably the weightiest tome of the list, but a very important work on how the wheels of commerce are greased by the law of contract."
32. An Introduction to the Philosophy of Law by Roscoe Pound. "A classic from the 1920s."
33. The Paper Chase by John Jay Osborn, Jr. "I didn't recognize any of my law school experience in this book, but then again, I didn't go to Hahvahd in the late 1960s (or any other time). Nonetheless, an entertaining read. Also a movie and TV show. Read these types of books with a grain of salt. I recall a lawyer in Los Angeles comparing legal practice with the TV show LA Law, 'The law is more interesting, but there is a lot less sex.'"
34. One L: The Turbulent True Story of a First Year at Harvard Law School by Scott Turow. "Yet another account of the first year at HLS, this time set in the mid 1970s. Like The Paper Chase, this book is entertaining but appears just a bit overwrought to give it some drama. Yes, the first year of any law school is about being brainwashed. Then you just pick up the pieces and move on. For the most part, law school is boring and tedious. Beer and sex were helpful diversions."
35. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. "Deep down, every lawyer wants to believe they could be Atticus Finch. I would have settled for believing I could be Gregory Peck. Oh well, 0 for two."
36. Thurgood Marshall: American Revolutionary by Juan Williams. "One can quibble about Justice Marshall's impact and legacy as the first black Justice on the US Supreme Court, but there is no such argument about his civil rights work on behalf of the NAACP. Marshall was clearly one of the most brilliant trial and appellate lawyers of the 20th century. Juan Williams pens a very readable and sensitive portrait of a fascinating lawyer and jurist."
37. Can America Survive? The Rage of the Left, the Truth, and What to Do About It by Ben Stein. "I couldn't resist another book by Ben Stein."
38. A History of American Law by Lawrence M. Friedman. "The best and most readable history of american law. Friedman effortless distills concepts and events into elegant and intelligent prose."
39. The Lost Lawyer: Failing Ideals of the Legal Profession by Anthony Kronman. "Professor Kronman writes a timely and cogent book about the decline of the law as a profession. Regrettably the law is now primarily a business, and has lost much of the humanity it formerly held."
40. Ages of American Law by Grant Gilmore. "A witty and erudite intellectual history of American law."

I liked Legal Bases: Baseball and the Law by Robert Abrams very much. A good read for the Post Season...

I read recently Arthur and George by Julian Barnes, relating the Edalji case, where a solicitor was accused of killing animals, and asked eventually Arthur Conan Doyle to help him

In French, En Cas de Malheur by Georges Simenon is the story of a prominent lawyer falling in love with one of his clients. The film version featured Jean Gabin and Brigitte Bardot.

veryveryip,

If you are interested in baseball and the law, you might also look at Creating the National Pastime by G. Edward White. White is a constitutional scholar and law professor, so his history of baseball contains a lot of detail about and thoughtful analysis of the legal issues that have affected the game.

dpbrewster and I share some tastes, and not others.
First, please note that Benjamin Cardozo did serve on the US Supreme Court, following his service as Associate and Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals (what would be known in most other states as the state supreme court).
I was a student of Jan Deutsch (at Yale Law) as he was finishing the People's Cadillac book. Whether it is the greatest law book ever, I don't know, but it is a knockout. As is anything by Arthur Leff (notably including his article "Law And", the definitive work on interdisciplinarity in law). I would probably place Grant Gilmore's Ages of American Law higher than his Death of Contract, at least for a general audience. And as long as we are praising Yale Law authors, let me add Robert Cover's essays to the top of the list. For those interested in doctor-patient issues, Jay Katz's Silent World of Doctor and Patient is sterling. I could continue--and perhaps will at a later point.

The recommended works by Holmes and Cardozo are of course classics, but I think are more of historical interest than great contemporary relevance for most readers. Cardozo was considered daring in his day, but would not be today, and his highly distinctive and idiosyncratic style is not for all tastes.

I am decidedly less enamored of Richard Posner's work than is dpbrewster. The good judge is certainly prolific--he publishes faster than I read--and he tends to make his points quite emphatically. I am less impressed with the quality of much of his work, which sometimes seems slapdash, insufficiently considered, and limited in its consideration of (or respect for) alternative points of view. Too much sounds like the work of a judge issuing decrees, without much felt responsibility for justifying his conclusions in a way that holds up to critical scrutiny.

I'll return at some point with some additional recommendations and evaluations.
--The Wise Bard (a law professor)

Professor Weisbard:

Thank you for the interesting comments and additions -- I certainly look forward to your additional recommendations. I can't believe I had Cardozo NOT serving on the Supreme Court. Don't know what I was thinking. Thank you for pointing out that greivous error on my part. He didn't serve long on the court. I guess I did have a lot of Yale Professors on the list. I wasn't smart enough to go there.

DPB

Girls lean back everywhere by Edward De Grazia was an interesting look at obscenity laws ... possibly a bit dated now.

While not strictly LAW books, some entertaining short stories by John Mortimer detail the accomplishments of Horace Rumpole, a Barrister in the London criminal courts and his career defending the weak and criminally inclined. These are wryly amusing, while Rumpole himself says that he does not let his knowledge of the Law get in the way of achieving Justice. One of the more interesting aspects is how little use the Police are. He usually investigates the crime and it's motives himself, along with his occasional private-Eye 'F.I.G.' Newton. The stories are rounded out by the relationship with his wife Hilda, whom he refers to as 'She Who Must Be Obeyed'. Good for Chuckles, and written with that dry British Wit so rare on this side of the Pond. Check it out.

Leo McKern was just splendid as Rumpole in the British TV series made from the stories. Sadly, both McKern and Mortimer are now no longer with us.

I once took a London "Legal Walks" tour; we peeked in the window of Mortimer's law office.

I can see why the law and baseball appears on this list. But what about that most law-filled sport, cricket? Try Cricket and the Law: The Man in White is Always Right by David Fraser. Cricket matches can last for five days, allowing plenty of time to contemplate such jurisprudential issues as liability for hypotheticals (the LBW law).

Re the law and sports, I recommend (but only if you're a golfer, of course) The Rules of Golf in Plain English, cowritten by Bryan Garner, author of the also recommended Legal Writing in Plain English and Garner's Modern American Usage. I love Rumpole as well (his never-ending machinations to avoid the wrath of She Who Must Be Obeyed still crack me up everytime I think about them). Finally, the book that, probably as much as To Kill a Mockingbird, inspired me to go to law school all those many years ago was Clarence Darrow for the Defense by Irving Stone.

I love the short story "There are 43,200 Seconds in a Day" by Peter Ustinov, part of the Add a Dash of Pity collection of short stories. It's a great read for litigation attorneys and rabbit lovers.

I had a lecturer at university who insisted that if we wanted to get to grips with a really good Private International Law problem, we should read The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett - apparently, it's tailor-made for those interested in that particular area of law! I've never actually read it myself, but it's on my ever-expanding list of 'books to be read'...one day, I will get to it...

Well, I think that lecturer was having you on a bit. I suppose you could read "Falcon" as an extended hypothetical on 'who is actually entitled to the Falcon.' But that would be far afield from Hammet's intentions.

The book is most enjoyable as a thriller/mystery, of course. But beyond that, the two most important ways to view the book are as:

-- a Zen meditation; look especially for the Flitcraft aside from Spade; and

-- as a model of clean, concise writing. Nobody -- not even Hemingway -- can match Hammet for economical exposition.

Falcon is one of two masterpieces from Hammet. The other is Red Harvest.

I don't think he was suggesting that it was Hammett's intention to write about Conflict of Laws - it was just something he threw in as an interesting aside to his lecture. It's similar to the argument that Pride and Prejudice isn't a love story, it's actually an insight into 17th/18th century English land law - that's obviously not what Austen intended, it's just a way of looking at the book from a legal perspective.