Book Reviews
This Month's Featured Selections
Wisconsin Law of
Easements
By Jesse S. Ishikawa
(Madison, WI: State Bar CLE Books, 1999).
185 pgs. $45.
Reviewed by Clarence W. Malick
Some books that begin with definitions never escape tedium, but not
this one. I was fascinated and read through it in a single sitting. Of
course, the seven chapters of actual text total just 73 pages. Still, I
recall being befuddled after studying the topic back in law school. The
subject is not trivial. Mr. Ishikawa has packaged clarity with
interest.
Chapter 1 begins with the author's definition of an easement: "a
nonpossessory interest in land that gives the holder the right to use
land owned by another for a specific use and without profit." The author
then dissects each phrase, contrasts legal constructs which are not
easements, and explicates the concepts of benefit versus burden and
easements appurtenant versus easements in gross.
Chapter 2 explains different ways that easements come into being - by
deed, implication, necessity, prescription, and so on. Chapter 3
summarizes the rules of construction. Chapter 4 contains excellent
drafting tips and refers to examples in the appendices. Chapter 5
discusses amendment and termination of easements. Chapter 6 discusses
enforcement. Chapter 7 discusses how and why to use an owners'
association to manage an easement that serves several owners.
Organized in the manner of CLE books, this six-by-nine inch,
paperbound book contains a six-page table of contents and five-page
index that cite to section numbers. The first appendix reprints
statutes. The other seven appendices are examples of typical easement
documents. They are reproduced on a disk, which installed easily. The
forms opened readily for me in WordPerfect 6.1, but the screen
characters were truncated slightly in Word 97.
Certainly anyone who styles himself or herself a real estate lawyer
should own this book. Those who regularly draft or review utility
easements, condominium declarations, and subdivision covenants ought to
at least read it.
Leaving the Bench: Supreme Court Justices At
the End
By David N. Atkinson
(Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 1999).
248 pgs. $29.95.
Reviewed by Michael B. Brennan
When a justice of the U.S. Supreme Court leaves the bench can be as
controversial as that justice's appointment. Leaving the Bench:
Supreme Court Justices at the End describes when and how justices
left the Court. It also considers the various reasons why justices left
the office, including personal pride, party loyalty, and pensions. The
book describes the physical and mental impairments of various justices
in their last days, and the consequent impact on the Court's work. It
also explores less obvious reasons for departing, including the threat
of impeachment, ambition for another office, dissatisfaction or
weariness with the work, and family pressure. This thin volume offers
glimpses into the deaths, retirements, and resignations of each of the
justices who have left the Court.
The most interesting portions of Leaving the Bench are
anecdotes about the departure of each justice. Chief Justice John
Marshall died in office. In tolling his death, the Liberty Bell cracked,
dramatically symbolizing the end of his contributions to our nation.
Circuit riding duties actually killed certain justices. Justice Stephen
Field held on through declining mental health and a game leg to break
Chief Justice Marshall's longevity record on the Court. The other
justices asked a mentally impaired Justice Joseph McKenna to retire. He
relented eventually, but not before the Court had decided one year
earlier that no case would be decided upon his vote. Even august Justice
Oliver Wendell Holmes was, at the age of 90, urged to resign by his
colleagues. He did so, gracefully and at once.
The book offers more details in the departures of more recent
justices. Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone appeared healthy when he and
his colleagues ascended the bench in April 1946 to deliver opinions.
When it was his turn to deliver his opinions, though, there was silence.
Justice Hugo Black quickly adjourned the Court, and he and Justice
Stanley Reed carried the Chief Justice off of the bench. As Stone lay
muttering incoherently, the Court reconvened quickly to issue the
opinions that had been decided. "No one can cast a dead man's vote; the
day's business could be concluded only while Stone still lived." He died
three hours later. Justice Charles Whittaker left the Court after only
five terms due to a nervous breakdown. His struggles with the issue of
reapportionment in Baker v. Carr allegedly precipitated his
final collapse. Justice William O. Douglas's infamous physical and
mental deterioration are detailed. The rest of the Court, over Justice
Byron White's written protest, would not allow Douglas's vote to decide
any important issue in his last years. Also described are Justice
Thurgood Marshall's final years before retirement, notwithstanding his
oft-repeated refrain of "I have been appointed for a life term, and I
intend to serve it."
The author suggests certain reforms to prevent unseemly departures
from the Court. The Court should be more forthcoming about the justices'
health. Further, it should limit the influence of law clerks; the author
believes their large role in the Court's work harms the institutional
integrity of the Court's decisionmaking by propping up ill justices.
Individual justices also should be sufficiently self-aware to leave the
Court while still in good health.
The strength of Leaving the Bench is not as a polemical
work, however. Amending the Constitution to mandate a retirement age for
the justices - one reform considered in the book - would only further
politicize the Court as an institution. The book's strength is its
historical detail and wealth of information about the justices.
Ultimately, there is nothing other justices can do to remove a
physically or mentally impaired colleague who is not amenable to peer
group pressure and who has remained in office too long.
Such is the price to pay for lifetime tenure, which, along with
salary protection, aims to ensure judicial independence, essential to
the maintenance of judicial review, a guarantor of the continuing
integrity of constitutional freedoms.
Emergency Vehicle Accidents, Prevention &
Reconstruction
By Stephen S. Solomon
(Tucson, AZ: Lawyers & Judges Publishing Co., 1999).
304 pgs. $79.
Reviewed by Dennis Verhaagh
In their practices, personal injury lawyers occasionally and
municipal lawyers frequently encounter accidents involving emergency
vehicles. For the lawyer or engineer investigating such accidents,
Emergency Vehicle Accidents is a good source of case law,
technical insight, vehicle specifications, and industry standards.
The author is an optometrist and consultant on issues of visual
perception. From that perspective, he devotes chapters to perception of
emergency signals, both visual and audible, accident reconstruction, and
case examples. Contributing authors devote chapters to the legalities
involved in police chases, the defense of governmental immunity, and the
responsibilities of emergency medical personnel. The last half of the
book contains appendices setting forth federal specifications for
emergency vehicles. The citations on governmental liability in police
chases are worth the book's price.
Given the nature of emergency vehicles, speed and lookout usually are
principal contributing causes of their accidents. The author provides
the usual skid mark charts to estimate speed. However, photogrammetric
reconstruction and video reenactment are the new tools of the
reconstructionist, and the text would have benefited greatly if a
chapter had been devoted to their uses as visual aids for the jury on
the issue of lookout. Nevertheless, I would recommend the book to any
lawyer for discovery purposes when litigating these cases.
With Intent to Kill
By Nancy Kopp
(New York, NY: Signet/Penguin Group, 1998).
Novel. 384 pgs. $5.59.
Reviewed by Patricia L. Grove
The cover of Nancy Kopp's novel touts the book as "electrifying legal
suspense!" I put this to the test by reading it at Disney World. The
result: a page-turner from beginning to end, with engrossing characters,
snappy dialogue, and intriguing legal drama.
The story unfolds in Oakwood, Wis., a picturesque town where murder
just doesn't happen. Detective Jeff Gardner is summoned to investigate
the brutal slaying of 4-year-old Jeremy Barker, son of Oakwood's most
prominent widower, Tom Barker. Gardner joins forces in his investigation
of the slaying with Liz Stanfeld, Oakwood's attractive assistant
district attorney, herself a prominent resident due, in large part, to a
recent and lucrative divorce settlement.
After her divorce, Stanfeld left Milwaukee's largest law firm, moved
to Oakwood to simplify her life, and joined the D.A.'s Office. With her
considerable trial experience, Stanfeld is tapped by the D.A., who is
seeking to become the next U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of
Wisconsin, and with whom Stanfeld has become romantically involved, to
prosecute this high-profile murder.
Gardner and Stanfeld square off in a comical but trite "cops versus
lawyers" pursuit of whodunit. Initially, Stanfeld is bothered by
Gardner's investigative techniques, and the two are frequently at odds
over who and how to investigate. Kopp's amusing, clever dialogue
breathes life into the characters.
The investigation turns to the usual suspect, a ne'er-do-well whose
glasses were found at the crime scene, and whose alibi leaks. Stanfeld
considers him the prime suspect. Gardner disagrees and their difference
in perspective contributes to animosity between the police and the
D.A.'s Office.
As the novel progresses, a subplot involves the growing personal
interest between Stanfeld and Tom Barker. Kopp handles this relationship
skillfully, with the result that readers care whether their professional
relationship develops into a personal one.
Meanwhile, Gardner continues the investigation by interviewing
virtually every town resident, including children, to uncover a lead.
Two teenage boys, sons of prominent families, become prime suspects.
Oakwood rallies to support the two unlikely young killers, chastising
both the police department and the D.A. for their seemingly politically
incorrect arrests.
Kopp skillfully details the extreme contrast in characters of the two
suspects. One is shy, inarticulate, and clearly in over his head. The
other is self-assured, charismatic, and has an I.Q. of 150. Gardner is
convinced the second suspect is truly evil but his investigation turns
up nothing but accolades for the teen - until Gardner locates a former
teacher. The teacher, of course, has personal baggage that Stanfeld
fears may make him a cross-examiner's dream.
The suspect's family hires a high-powered attorney to square off
against Stanfeld. The legal maneuvering that follows is absorbing,
thanks to the fact that Kopp is an attorney herself. As the tension
mounts to bring the suspects to justice, Stanfeld and Gardner become
allies in pursuit of meeting the burden of proof. Stanfeld comes to
admire Gardner for his tenacity, and Gardner grows to respect Stanfeld
for her legal talents and mental toughness in pursuing an unpopular
conviction in the midst of a hostile community.
Stanfeld and Gardner need a break to find some evidence to crack the
case in this seemingly uphill legal battle. You will have to read the
book to discover how the case and relationships turn out. Kopp has woven
a neat legal thriller that one would expect to unfold on the big
screen.
Wisconsin Insurance Law, 4th Edition
By Arnold P. Anderson
(Madison, WI: APA Publishing, 1998).
941 pgs. $245. To order, (877) 757-2528.
Reviewed by Claude J. Covelli
I have been practicing insurance law in Wisconsin since 1973 and, for
most of my career, I have relied upon Arnold Anderson's prior editions
of Wisconsin Insurance Law as a quick, thorough, and
authoritative reference. The fourth edition of the text is a
comprehensive resource on the broad topic of insurance. The subjects
covered include the construction of insurance contracts, automobile
liability, uninsured and underinsured motorist coverages, general
liability coverages, fire and property coverages, the insurer's duty to
defend, first party and third party bad faith issues, the
responsibilities of insurers and insureds, subrogation, and the
responsibilities of insurance agents.
This book has the advantage of being written by an experienced
Wisconsin insurance litigator. This has enabled Anderson to place new
developments in Wisconsin law in the context of what has gone before.
The law applied in Wisconsin can be found quickly and directly. While
the law of other states is set forth to the extent needed to explain
Wisconsin law, the law of other jurisdictions does not interfere with
the book's primary focus as a Wisconsin reference.
The fourth edition looks different from the third. Although bearing
the same title and red cover, the fourth edition is larger and more
comprehensive. It has a looseleaf rather than a bound-book format. This
will make updating the book easier, as I found the pocket parts for
former editions almost as large as the book itself.
When I first began using the fourth edition, I was concerned that I
might have lost an old friend. However, now that I have used it for
several months and have had an opportunity to consult each chapter in my
day-to-day practice, I have found that the fourth edition kept the best
and improved the rest. The general organization of the book is
unchanged, though some topics are expanded and rearranged within
chapters. Prior experience locating information in past editions serves
me well; I can locate information as quickly and efficiently as I did
with prior editions.
Most important, it is unusual to have an insurance question that
Wisconsin Insurance Law does not address. The book covers
nearly every insurance issue faced in day-to-day practice. The coverage
issues are well-defined and then clearly answered with citation to the
most recent controlling Wisconsin cases. This, coupled with Anderson's
clear, concise, and easy-to-read writing style, makes his book the
definitive source on Wisconsin insurance law. I recommend it to all
practitioners, both experienced and less experienced. I believe
Anderson's Wisconsin Insurance Law should be in everyone's library,
except of course those of my opponents. I still need every advantage I
can get.
Wisconsin
Lawyer
