The Books That Made You Want To Be A Lawyer

Which ones made you take the leap to law school?

In a recent ATL post, Renwei Chung recommended several books that incoming law students should read. That prompted musing about books that I read back in dinosaur days that made me start thinking that I wanted to be a lawyer, and in those days, there weren’t a lot of women lawyers. Remember, I’m going to mention books that I read long before many of you were alive, or maybe even before your parents were alive.

The first, and probably the one that had the most effect on me, was Louis Nizer’s memoir, My Life in Court. Since very few cases actually get to trial any more, Nizer’s book is all the more fascinating for that reason. Published in 1961, it’s a look at trial work, the good, the bad, and the ugly, and the clients that Nizer represented. What’s unusual is that all of the cases Nizer discusses in the book are civil cases. It’s usually criminal cases that rivet a reader’s attention, but in this book, various civil cases, especially libel and defamation cases, are front and center.

Trial work today is very different than in Nizer’s day, but its essence remains the same: telling a story that the jury wants to believe and does believe and its verdict affirms that belief.  Nizer didn’t have PowerPoint, animation, and all the other trial aids that we have today. He did what he needed to do without embellishment. He told a story.

There were several novels that I read that prompted my desire to be a lawyer. The most beloved was To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee. What hasn’t already been said about Atticus Finch, his daughter Scout, and his decision to defend an African-American man accused of rape in the Jim Crow South? If you have never  read the book, do so. If no time for the book, at least watch the movie.

Another novel about the law was the story of two University of Chicago students, Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb, who were convicted of the brutal murder of a young boy, Bobby Franks, in the early 1920s, not far from the U of C campus on Chicago’s South Side. Why did they do it?

This is the story that Meyer Levin sets out to tell in his novel, Compulsion, published in 1956.  Clarence Darrow represented both Leopold and Loeb and kept both of them off Death Row. Both of them pleaded guilty; the second half of the book focuses on their sentencing hearing.  (And for those who think that sentencing hearings have consequences just for the defendants, one has only to look at the successful recall last week of a Bay Area superior court judge booted off the bench for his sentence in a particular case.)

This documentary novel, as one reviewer called it, is riveting. If you don’t want to read the book, or don’t have time, try to find a copy of the movie to watch. Orson Welles (please don’t tell me you don’t know who he was) starred in the movie made in 1959.

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Why would two brilliant students commit such a horrific crime? So many questions arising out of the same or similar conduct today remain unanswered.

Another book — and yes, these were actual physical books, long before digital days — that made me want to be a lawyer was Anatomy of a Murder. Published in 1958 and written by Robert Traver, it’s the story of a defense lawyer who represents an Army lieutenant accused of the murder of an innkeeper who allegedly raped the lieutenant’s wife. The defense? Temporary insanity.

Robert Traver was the pen name for John Voelker, a Michigan judge. Voelker represented the defendant in the case on which the book is based. Again, if you don’t have time to read the book, then at least see the movie. It’s a really terrific film with a superb cast, and Jimmy Stewart as the lead.

Back in dinosaur days, we only had a few television channels, which were the network stations (CBS, NBC, and ABC, Fox didn’t exist), an educational station, and maybe one or two independent stations; that was all. But for those of us who were allowed to watch television, at least a little bit, there were two network shows that I think inspired not just me, but many others of my era to want to be lawyers.

What were they? Perry Mason and The Defenders. I can see dinosaur lawyers nodding in agreement.

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Does Perry Mason really need any explanation?  Maybe for millennials. Based on the prolific Erle Stanley Gardner novels, many of which I read, Perry Mason (aka the star Raymond Burr, a criminal defense lawyer) quietly and methodically eviscerated every murder case that hapless DA Hamilton Burger took to trial. No histrionics, no table pounding, always a gentleman as he carved up witnesses and served them to the prosecution on a platter.  Perry Mason was the model of what I thought a criminal defense lawyer was, long before the days of all the demonstrative and visual aids, long before the days of the internet and social media.

And then The Defenders, no, not the Marvel show on Netflix, but a TV series in the 1960s that followed the lives of a father and son defense team and raised ethical and legal issues that are still controversial today.  I thought and I still think that it showed the profession in a most honorable light.

So, I’m a dinosaur, and yes, these are old books and TV shows. If you want a more current list of books every lawyer should read, here’s one.  I haven’t read most of them, so I’ve work to do.

And you? What books spurred your interest in becoming a lawyer? Please email me and perhaps, with ATL’s editorial approval, we can put together a multi-generational list. And yes, you can include movies and TV shows, even those streaming on services that we dinosaurs couldn’t even imagine growing up. It’s my concession to the 21st century, but far from the only one.


old lady lawyer elderly woman grandmother grandma laptop computerJill Switzer has been an active member of the State Bar of California for more than 40 years. She remembers practicing law in a kinder, gentler time. She’s had a diverse legal career, including stints as a deputy district attorney, a solo practice, and several senior in-house gigs. She now mediates full-time, which gives her the opportunity to see dinosaurs, millennials, and those in-between interact — it’s not always civil. You can reach her by email at oldladylawyer@gmail.com.