Modern Law Library

Law professor Kim Wehle is used to helping her students begin to think like lawyers. But the methodology behind making tough decisions as a legal professional can also benefit the general public. It’s why How To Think Like A Lawyer—and Why: A Common-Sense Guide to Everyday Dilemmas was a natural follow-up to her two previous books, How to Read the Constitution—and Why and What You Need to Know Abo...

Hilary J. Allen isn't sorry if you find her new book scary. In fact, she's hoping that Driverless Finance: Fintech's Impact on Financial Stability can spook enough people to create momentum for change. Allen was involved in the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission that was formed by Congress to study the causes behind the 2008 financial crisis. Now she sees the possibility of financial collapse on...

There's plenty of conventional wisdom about what makes a good legal brief or court opinion. Judge Robert E. Bacharach of the Denver-based 10th Circuit Court of Appeals says that when judges socialize, their conversations often devolve into discussions about language and pieces of writing they enjoy or revile. But Bacharach decided he wanted to dive deeper, to see what the science of psycholinguist...

Most of the spotlights are on the U.S. Supreme Court when it comes to legal cases that impact civil rights. But state supreme courts are the final arbiters of what each state's own constitution dictates. They can have enormous influence on Americans' civil rights and daily lives—and there isn't nearly as much scholarship available on them, particularly when it comes to civil rather than criminal c...

In her debut novel, All Her Little Secrets, attorney Wanda M. Morris has written a legal thriller full of corporate intrigue and small-town secrets. Morris takes readers inside Atlanta boardrooms and back into the past of her heroine, Ellice Littlejohn.  What would possess someone to react to the sight of her boss (and longtime married lover) shot to death in his office by closing the door and wal...

In our annual year-in-review episode, Lee Rawles speaks to her ABA Journal colleagues Blair Chavis, Matt Reynolds and Amanda Robert to find out how they spent their free time in 2021. Like many people, we've found it more difficult during the pandemic to read for pleasure, so this year we're also sharing what TV shows, movies and podcasts we would recommend, in addition to our favorite books and a...

Like the legal profession, the practice of medicine in the United States is highly regulated. But it hasn't always been, and the idea that a person has the right to try the medical therapies of their choice has a much longer history. In Choose Your Medicine: Freedom of Therapeutic Choice in America, law professor Lewis A. Grossman introduces readers to a fractious history with some unexpected comb...

Whenever the ABA Journal has conducted a survey to find the best legal movies or the best legal plays, Twelve Angry Men has made the list. The black-and-white 1957 film about a deadlocked jury coming to a consensus in a murder trial has become a classic, one of Henry Fonda's most striking tales. As a play, Twelve Angry Men is performed around the world, in many languages, in theaters large and sma...

Since World War II, more than two million service members have been discharged from U.S. military service with a status other than "honorable discharge." Having a discharge that falls below a certain level can impact a veteran's access to pensions, GI Bill education benefits, health care, insurance or home loans, as well as carrying a stigma. But when a veteran's circumstances are given another lo...

Much has been said about police officers and departments who violate civil rights or enforce the law in discriminatory ways. But not as much attention has been paid to the ways in which the U.S. Supreme Court has enabled police excesses and insulated police from civil or criminal responsibility, says Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the University of California at Berkeley School of Law and author of th...

Hispanics are becoming an increasingly large segment of the U.S. population, and for an enterprising lawyer, serving the legal needs of Spanish-speaking clients seems like a solid business development goal. But running your existing marketing materials through Google Translate and slapping "Se habla español" on your website is not enough, says Liel Levy of Nanato Media. Along with Natalie Fragkoul...

Britney Spears' legal battle over the conservatorship that put her under the control of her father brought international attention to the conservatorship system. But many other rich and famous people have–appropriately or not–also found themselves in the grips of a system that is much more easy to enter than to leave. In Twilight Man: Love and Ruin in the Shadows of Hollywood and the Clark Empire,...

How do you use LinkedIn? Do you see it as a static resume, or is it the equivalent of your morning newspaper? For Marc W. Halpert, LinkedIn is the most effective way lawyers and other professionals can build their brand, display expertise in niche markets, and nurture business relationships. Halpert was so convinced of this that in 2017, he wrote a book on LinkedIn marketing techniques. Enough has...

There’s a business case to be made for hiring attorneys with ADHD, autism, learning disabilities and other neurological differences. Businesses have long touted out-of-the-box thinking, but cookie-cutter hiring practices don’t tend to result in diversity of thought. A legal professional who quite literally thinks differently can be an invaluable part of a team. In her book Great Minds Think Differ...

Joseph D. Kearney and Thomas W. Merrill discuss the shenanigans that ultimately gave the city and the state of Illinois one of its most priceless parcels of land and preserves it for public use.

In anticipation of the 50th anniversary of the Pentagon Papers, First Amendment scholars Lee Bollinger and Geoffrey Stone discuss their book "National Security, Leaks and Freedom of the Press: The Pentagon Papers Fifty Years On"

Host Lee Rawles shares some of her favorite books she's read since this year, and we revisit our 2017 interview with David Grann in anticipation of the upcoming Scorsese film based on his book.

In Vice Patrol: Cops, Courts, and the Struggle Over Urban Gay Life Before Stonewall, author Anna Lvovsky examines the way that queer communities were policed in the 1930s through the 1960s.

An attorney's research for a novel turned into an in-depth look at Long Island labor camps where workers lost their lives.

Brescia and Stern discuss their book, Crisis Lawyering: Effective Legal Advocacy in Emergency Situations, their experiences, and delve into the ethical issues the legal profession should be examining as its members are forced to make hard choices in crisis situations.

Sen. Mazie Hirono's journey to becoming an outspoken opponent to Trump and the GOP is shared in "Heart of Fire."

Can artificial intelligence increase firms' revenue while cutting down on billable hours? The authors of AI for Lawyers say it's possible.

In 'Watergate Girl,' Jill Wine-Banks battles obstruction and the era's sexism to bring Nixon and cronies to justice.

A different kind of wave of coronavirus cases will be coming to courts. Here's what you should know before you take a case.

In Let The Lord Sort Them: The Rise and Fall of the Death Penalty, Maurice Chammah shares how Texas became the country's capital punishment capital.