Standard Of Review: In 'Al-Tounsi,' A Non-Lawyer Analyzes The Supreme Court

This new novel is an enjoyable, well-written exploration of the personalities behind the Supreme Court.

Al Tounsi by Anton PiatigorskyThe one near-universal feature in the many legal novels I have reviewed for Above the Law is that the author is almost always a lawyer. Given how complicated the profession is, non-lawyers usually steer clear. Writer Anton Piatigorsky was clearly unfazed by this trend, as he attempts the rare legal book by a non-lawyer (and a Canadian to boot!) in his new novel Al-Tounsi.

Al-Tounsi depicts a fictional Supreme Court as it decides a case brought by Majid Al-Tounsi, an Egyptian national held prisoner by the United States without the right to habeas corpus (essentially a fictional version of the real-life 2008 Supreme Court case Boumediene v. Bush). Instead of a traditional narrative, the novel consists of several vignettes, each depicting the personal lives of a Supreme Court justice or someone connected to a justice as the Court considers Al-Tounsi’s appeal. For example, conservative Justice Rodney Sykes has an emotional crisis due to the death of his late wife’s cat, and begins to rethink the way he judges cases. Liberal Justice Gideon Rosen vociferously believes that the Court should grant certiorari in the Al-Tounsi case and dreams of writing an opinion that will go down with the likes of Brown v. Board of Education, even though his wife wants him to retire from the Court. Conservative justice Killian Quinn, a thinly veiled allusion to the late Justice Antonin Scalia, is having an affair that might be exposed. Justice Sarah Kolmann, a thinly veiled allusion to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, is devastated at the news that her beloved husband has a terminal illness. And Judge Manny Arroyo is nominated by the President to fill an open seat on the Court, but he is hiding the fact that he had an affair with one of his clerks, who happens to be the daughter of Justice Sykes.

Due to its unique vignette format, there is no main character in Al-Tounsi, and each chapter is told from the perspective of a different character (although some characters are the focus of multiple chapters). As a result, because the plot is relatively simple Piatigorsky does a terrific job of character development. Piatigorsky’s best chapter is a New Year’s Eve celebration between Justices Quinn, Kolmann, and their respective spouses. Justice Kolmann has recently received the news about her husband’s health, which puts a damper on her evening. But Kolmann and Quinn are good friends (similar to the real-life friendship between Justices Ginsburg and Scalia) and end up having a spirited debate about the role of personhood in law, including the Ten Commandments. The two also make fun of Arroyo behind his back, even though Arroyo and Quinn are ideologically aligned. The scene is a great encapsulation of a high-brow debate among friends that reveals what drives Justices Quinn and Kolmann’s jurisprudence.

The chapters told from the perspective of Justice Rosen, who is obsessed with leaving a legacy and is terrified of being an anonymous justice, are equally compelling. Justice Rosen’s anxiety escalates after his wife requests that he resign after the next presidential election (curiously, Al-Tounsi takes place in the lead-up to the 2008 election instead of in 2017), as she is loathe to watch her husband grow old on while on the bench. Piatigorsky excels at illustrating Justice Rosen’s struggle between what he believes is right for the country, his family, and his own ego.

On the other hand, the Judge Arroyo chapter is very long and occasionally veers into melodrama, as the judge initially lies to the President about his affair and then has to deal with the fallout once it comes to light. This chapter could definitely have been trimmed.

I did not realize that Piatigorsky is not an attorney until well into reading the novel, which shows how much work the author did to make the book realistic. He expertly weaves in complicated legal concepts and even case law, which is very impressive for a non-lawyer. Piatigorsky even includes an excerpt from the ultimate fictional Al-Tounsi opinion. I appreciate that Piatigorsky went out of his way to include little touches of realism, such as using the correct font for a Supreme Court decision; some of the legal shows I review could learn from his example.

While Al-Tounsi is not a novel for fans of plot-heavy legal thrillers, it is an enjoyable, well-written exploration of the personalities behind the Supreme Court. And who doesn’t want to read a period piece set in the far-off time period before 2008?

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(Disclosure: I received a review copy of this book)

Al-Tounsi [Amazon (affiliate link)]


Harry Graff is a litigation associate at a firm, but he spends days wishing that he was writing about film, television, literature, and pop culture instead of writing briefs. If there is a law-related movie, television show, book, or any other form of media that you would like Harry Graff to discuss, he can be reached at harrygraff19@gmail.com. Be sure to follow Harry Graff on Twitter at @harrygraff19.

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