Plea Bargaining’s Triumph

Plea Bargaining’s Triumph
Author: George Fisher
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Total Pages: 424
Release: 2003
Genre: Law
ISBN: 9780804751353
GET BOOK

Though originally an interloper in a system of justice mediated by courtroom battles, plea bargaining now dominates American criminal justice. This book traces the evolution of plea bargaining from its beginnings in the early nineteenth century to its present pervasive role. Through the first three quarters of the nineteenth century, judges showed far less enthusiasm for plea bargaining than did prosecutors. After all, plea bargaining did not assure judges “victory”; judges did not suffer under the workload that prosecutors faced; and judges had principled objections to dickering for justice and to sharing sentencing authority with prosecutors. The revolution in tort law, however, brought on a flood of complex civil cases, which persuaded judges of the wisdom of efficient settlement of criminal cases. Having secured the patronage of both prosecutors and judges, plea bargaining quickly grew to be the dominant institution of American criminal procedure. Indeed, it is difficult to name a single innovation in criminal procedure during the last 150 years that has been incompatible with plea bargaining’s progress and survived.

Lawyers at Work

Lawyers at Work
Author: Clare Cosslett
Publisher: Apress
Total Pages: 291
Release: 2012-12-03
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1430245042
GET BOOK

"With probing questions and articulate answers, Cosslett and her subjects shed light on the challenges of legal practice in the current legal market." BLS Law Notes, 11.16.12 Lawyers at Work reveals what it means and what it takes to be a satisfied, sane, and successful lawyer in today’s tough legal marketplace. Through incisive in-depth interviews, a top legal headhunter gives the 3rd degree to 15 successful lawyers who run the gamut of the legal profession. Practice areas represented in these profiles range from employment discrimination to corporate defense, from federal white collar prosecution to the legal structuring of complex derivative instruments, from antitrust in DC to trusts & estates in Florida, from divorce in New York to international mergers in Paris, from intellectual property in Silicon Valley to creeping expropriation in India, and from entertainment law in Hollywood to welfare rights in the Bronx. Law firm sizes range from one of the biggest in the world with over two thousand lawyers to a one-lawyer general practice. Career levels range from biglaw partners and courtroom superstars to mid-level associates and ex-lawyers. Though many of the interviewees in Lawyers at Work are generic adversaries, the interviewer brings out commonalities in their ways of working, methods of reasoning, and sources of personal motivation. Readers hear from the practitioner’s own unbuttoned lips about their career formation, daily work grind, victories and setbacks, guiding principles, professional rewards, and practical advice for aspiring lawyers.