Books
Our catalog of all books of all genres and formats.
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Wasby’s rich study of visiting judges on the federal courts of appeals tracks an understudied but common practice
In the first systematic examination of the role and impact of visiting judges, Borrowed Judges analyzes the U.S. courts of appeals’ use of judges who visit from other circuits and in-circuit district judges, along with the courts’ own senior judges. It shows the considerable variation in the extent to which these judges are used and their role in writing the law of the circuit. It also shows whether their presence affects courts in rehearing cases en banc and whether the U.S. Supreme Court grants review. The study draws on insightful interviews with judges, their statements both public and within the court, and empirical data gathered by the author. “This fascinating work provides…
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Wester’s book Land Divided By Law explores environmental history of Yakama Indians in Pacific Northwest
Wester’s environmental history of Yakama and Euro-American cultural interactions during the 19th and early 20th century explores the role of law in both curtailing and promoting rights to subsistence resources within a market economy. Her study, using original source files, case histories, and contemporary writings, particularly describes how the struggle to assert treaty rights both sprang from and impacted the daily lives of the Yakama people. The study is now widely available in this new paperback (and digital) edition, adding a 2014 foreword by Harry N. Scheiber, professor of law and history at Berkeley. This book, he writes, “is a masterful study of the complex, extended series of confrontations between…
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Norris’ Liberal Opinions shares the life of a judge and lawyer who made a difference
Author of the controversial but prescient judicial opinion striking down the ban on gays in the military — two decades before the Supreme Court finally recognized such equal rights — Bill Norris made law and waves on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Yet his legal and civic life before and after, though less well known, is equally the measure of the man. This is his autobiography: a reminiscing about a life in the law and politics. “Bill Norris tells his American story — growing up in Turtle Creek, Pennsylvania, then rising to legal, judicial and political heights in post-war California. His zest for life comes off every page as…
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Raskin explores the beauty and function of seashells in a colorful new book
The poet Pablo Neruda kept a box of seashells on his desk for inspiration and was in awe of their beauty. But does that beauty serve a survival function for the mollusk that produced it? Does it help to attract a mate, to capture prey, to ward off predators? If not, does that very beauty defy the principle that ‘Nature does nothing in vain’? In addressing these basic questions, Raskin discusses a controversial answer that many will find intriguing. This little book on seashells, with its many photos, will deepen your appreciation of their beauty — and invite you to consider nature in a light you may never have expected.…
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The Process and Pluses of Becoming a Civil Law Notary
Now in a revised and updated 2023-2024 edition: Louisiana civil law notaries enjoy functions, responsibilities, and earning potential unmatched in any other state — and reserved there to attorneys. Louisiana notaries wield the power not just to verify signatures but also to create the legal papers they notarize, including affidavits, donations, powers of attorney, and even wills and trusts. And so much more, with no educational requirement beyond high school … but a state exam that is famously challenging. The entire process to become a notary is difficult, and wrapped in some mystery. This book is helpful if you’re in the beginning stages of becoming a notary public. Or just…
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Lawrence Friedman’s new Frank May Mystery has him confronting Stanford professors and their bad prose
Frank May’s practice leans heavily to estate planning. Murder cases are way out of his line. But when his client, Stanford law professor Peter Prosser, is found murdered at home, Frank becomes deeply entangled in yet another violent death. Prosser had been writing a detective novel; Frank has the only copy of the manuscript, minus the crucial last chapter. Far from a literary masterpiece, the novel features the (thinly disguised) members of the Soames family, the family of Prosser’s ex-wife — and even a pudgy character based on Frank himself. Can this badly-written novel tell us why Prosser died and who killed him? Mysteriously, real-life events start paralleling events in…
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David Crump’s courtroom novel The Plaintiff’s Lawyer takes Robert Herrick into the world of trade secrets and terrorism
An Ayatollah grins at the successful launch of a new Kharramshar missile in the foothills of southern Iran. Downrange, the U.S. Navy’s newest warship tracks and recovers its two stages. In Quantico, Virginia, the FBI takes the missile apart. How did the Iranians produce the key rollover mechanism so that it mimicked an American component made by Nova Aerospace Company? Nova asks Robert Herrick, the famous “Lawyer for the Little Guy,” to find out. It’s way outside his usual practice. And a possible culprit, the shadowy company known as Dravos Corporation, hires a street fighter named Jimmy Coleman to defend it. He’s the head of litigation at the megafirm of…
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Classic memoir of escaping from Georgia chain gang gets digitally remastered™ as new ebook, hardcover & paperback
This classic book tells the harrowing and inspirational story of Robert Elliott Burns’ imprisonment on a chain gang in Georgia in the 1920s, his subsequent escape from the chain gang (twice, no less!), and the public furor that developed. The book was immediately turned into a famous movie and sparked outrage about prison conditions and involuntary servitude that led to major reforms. It is also simply a very interesting read. Originally issued as a six-part serial in the pages of True Detective Mysteries magazine in 1931, and printed by the Vanguard Press the following year, this is an autobiographical account–written while in hiding somewhere on the East Coast–of the author’s…
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Paul Pruitt Sr. has penned a tale of the South and courtroom drama a century ago
They have mules. The past is more stubborn. Aftermath is a story spun from persistent memories of the Civil War and its violent sequels, from Appalachian culture and the often tragic history of the South. Cynthia and J.P. Kinsor, both survivors, each face seemingly impossible challenges. Cynthia, wearing a mysterious past as she lives her struggle, journeys well beyond the realm of conventional behavior. Still, the unlikely couple confronts their troubles with mutual affection. All with the support of colorfulneighbors and friends — who make up a well-developed cast of characters who stand opposed to the violence of night-riding terrorists, the “Whitecappers,” agents of bigotry and hate. The late Paul…
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Bob Reiss brings back two of his bestselling novels, in paperback and eBook formats
1. The Casco Deception Captains Island: 1942 . . . For the sleepy little fishing village in Casco Bay, war was just a distant rumbling. Life went on pretty much as usual while their giant sixteen-inch guns guarded the convoys leaving Portland, Maine. Only Tom Heiden, a young American security officer, was uneasy—they were vulnerable to attack. Nobody seemed ready to listen . . . and then a stranger named Ryker showed up. But John Ryker—who seemed as safe as the man next door—was a killer, an American-born mercenary and Germany’s most valued secret agent. He had served the Reich faithfully and well behind enemy lines in France, Poland, Norway.…