Table Of Content7080_AdvGga.advn:_ 10/22/08 2:15 PM Page 1
z
LAW Praisefor LETTERS TO A YOUNG LAWYER
t
“Dershowitzdoesanoftenflavorfuljobof lettingneophytesknowwhatthey’rein
for.” —THE WASHINGTON POST i
A
l
a
“Quintessential Dershowitz: fast-thinking, fast-talking, and unapologetically n w
opinionated.” —KIRKUS REVIEWS D
e
Asdefenderof therighteousandthenot-so-righteous,AlanDershowitzhasbecome
r
perhapsthemostrenownedandoutspokenattorneyintheland.Adedicatedcham- s
o
pionof civillibertyandtheruleof law,hehasearnedtherespectof admirersand
h
criticsalikeforthewayhehaschosentolivehislifeandpursueatrulyunparalleled
o
careerasteacher,lawyer,author,andscholar.InLetterstoaYoungLawyer,heeloquent-
ly distills the wealth of his experiences and the passion of his beliefs into essays w h
aboutlife,law,andwhatitmeanstobeagoodlawyerandagoodperson. }
i
t
“Trenchant…
ALANDERSHOWITZistheFelixFrankfurterProfessorof LawatHarvardLaw z
School,aswellasacolumnist,lecturer,bookreviewer,andprolificauthor.Hisbooks s
} thought-provoking…
includeSupremeInjustice,SexualMcCarthyism,ReasonableDoubts,Chutzpah,and,most
L L e t t e r s
recently,RightsfromWrongs.HelivesinCambridge,Massachusetts. e manages to avoid the
t
t r
e
r cliché-ridden paeans t o a
PraiseforALAN DERSHOWITZ: s
t
o to the majesty of the e
“Thenation’smostperipateticcivillibertieslawyerandoneof itsmostdistinguished a Yo u n g
defendersof individualrights.” —NEWSWEEK Y
profession that
o
u L a w ye r
“Theiconoclastandself-appointedscourgeof thecriminaljusticesystem.”—LIFE n decorate most works
g D
L
“[An] impassioned civil libertarian [who has] put up the best defense for a a in the genre.”
w
Dickensianlineupof suspects.” —FORTUNE y
e
r THE WEEKLY STANDARD
“The country’s most articulate and uncompromising protector of criminal {
n
defendants.” —ESQUIRE {
US$14.95/$17.50CAN
a
COVER DESIGN: RICK PRACHER ISBN978-0-465-01633-4
51495
l
AMemberof thePerseusBooksGroup
A
www.basicbooks.com
9 780465 016334
0465016332-FM-OSX.qxd 2/1/05 11:04 AM Page i
letters to a
young lawyer
0465016332-FM-OSX.qxd 2/1/05 11:04 AM Page ii
0465016332-FM-OSX.qxd 2/1/05 11:04 AM Page iii
The Art of Mentoring from Basic Books
Letters to a Young Lawyer
Alan Dershowitz
Letters to a Young Contrarian
Christopher Hitchens
Letters to a Young Golfer
Bob Duval
Letters to a Young Conservative
Dinesh D’Souza
Letters to a Young Activist
Todd Gitlin
Letters to a Young Therapist
Mary Pipher
Letters to a Young Chef
Daniel Boulud
Letters to a Young Gymnast
Nadia Comaneci
Letters to a Young Catholic
George Weigel
Letters to a Young Actor
Robert Brustein
0465016332-FM-OSX.qxd 2/1/05 11:04 AM Page iv
Also by Alan Dershowitz
Rights from Wrongs: A Secular Theory of the Origins of Rights
America on Trial: Inside the Legal Battles that Transformed our Nation
The Case for Israel
America Declares Independence
Shouting Fire: Civil Liberties in a Turbulent Age
Why Terrorism Works:
Understanding the Threat, Responding to the Challenge
Supreme Injustice: How the High Court Hijacked Election 2000
The Genesis of Justice: 10 Stories of Biblical Injustice That Led
to the 10 Commandments and Modern Law
Just Revenge: A Novel
Sexual McCarthyism: Clinton, Starr, and the
Emerging Constitutional Crisis
The Vanishing American Jew:
In Search of Jewish Identity for the Next Century
Reasonable Doubts:
The Criminal Justice System and the O.J. Simpson Case
The Abuse Excuse: And Other Cop-Outs,
Sob Stories, and Evasions of Responsibility
The Advocate’s Devil: A Novel
Contrary to Popular Opinion
Chutzpah
Taking Liberties:
A Decade of Hard Cases, Bad Laws, and Bum Raps
Reversal of Fortune: Inside the Von Bulow Case
The Best Defense
Criminal Law: Theory and Practice
(with Joseph Goldstein and Richard D. Schwartz)
Psychoanalysis, Psychiatry, and Law
(with Jay Katz and Joseph Goldstein)
0465016332-FM-OSX.qxd 2/1/05 11:04 AM Page v
Alan Dershowitz
letters to a
young lawyer
A Member of the Perseus Books Group
New York
0465016332-FM-OSX.qxd 2/1/05 11:04 AM Page vi
This book is lovingly dedicated to
my departed mentors who gave this lawyer
needed advice when he was young:
Judge David Bazelon
Professor Alexander Bickel
Justice William Brennan
Leonard Boudin
Bernard Fischman
Justice Arthur Goldberg
Professor Joseph Goldstein
Professor Telford Taylor
Lewis Weinstein
Copyright © 2001 by Alan Dershowitz
Hardback edition first published in 2001 by Basic Books,
A Member of the Perseus Books Group
Paperback edition first published in 2005 by Basic Books
All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part
of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without
written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in
critical articles and reviews. For information, address Basic Books,
387 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10016–8810.
Designed by Rick Pracher
A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the Library of
Congress.
ISBN 0-465-01631-6(hc); ISBN 0-465-01633-2 (pbk)
05 06 07 08 / 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
0465016332-FM-OSX.qxd 2/1/05 11:04 AM Page vii
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction xi
Part I: Life and Career
1 Pick Your Heroes Carefully 3
2 Live the Passion of Your Times 15
3 Have a Good Enemies’ List 19
4 Don’t Do What You’re Best At 21
5 Don’t Have Deathbed Regrets 25
6 Don’t Follow “Off-the-Rack” Advice 29
7 Don’t Limit Your Options by Making a Lot of Money 33
8 Don’t Risk What You Don’t Have Enough of
to Get More of What You Have Plenty Of 37
9 Is There an Absolute Morality? 41
10 Should Good Lawyers Defend Bad People? 47
11 Defending Yourself from Legal McCarthyism 57
12 How to Balance Idealism, Realism and Cynicism 65
13 Your Last Exam 69
14 Self-Doubts 73
vii
0465016332-FM-OSX.qxd 2/1/05 11:04 AM Page viii
Contents
15 The Perfect Is the Enemy of the Excellent 77
16 An Honorable Profession? 79
17 Blowing the Whistle 83
18 The Good, the Bad, the Honest and the Dishonest 87
19 Your Client Is Not Your Friend 95
20 Stop Whining, Start Winning 99
Part II: Winning and Losing
21 Where Can You Learn Advocacy? 105
22 Winning Before a Jury: The “Aha” Theory 111
23 Winning Before a Judge: Political Justice 119
24 Arguing in the Supreme Court 125
25 Who Is Your Client? 129
26 Losing 133
27 Don’t Underestimate Your Opponent 135
28 The Prosecutor’s Blind Spot 137
29 The Difference Between a Prosecutor and
a Defense Attorney 147
30 Lawyers’ Morals—and Other Oxymorons 151
31 Know When to Fight—and When to Give In 161
32 Dealing with Criticism 163
Part III: Being a Good Person
33 Can a Good Lawyer Be a Good Person? 169
34 Can You Pass the “Fluoridation” Test? 177
35 Graduating Law Students 181
36 Graduating University Students 187
37 Why Be a Good Person? 193
Notes 201
viii
0465016332-FM-OSX.qxd 2/1/05 11:04 AM Page ix
Acknowledgments
This book could not have been written without input from
the generations of students who have sought my advice
and then told me, years later, whether it was useful.
My appreciation to Maura Kelly for typing the man-
uscript, to Peggy Burlet for organizing the effort, to my
agent Helen Reiss for persuading me to undertake it, to
John Donatich for suggesting the idea, to those who al-
lowed me to borrow from previously published works, to
the nice people at Basic Books who facilitated the copy-
editing and other important aspects of publication.
Finally, a word of love and appreciation to my family
for reviewing the manuscript and for all the free advice
they give me all the time.
ix
