Book Reviews

• Old Talk, New Conversations: A Planning Guide for Seniors and Their Families
• Applications in Criminal Analysis
• Law: A Human Process
• Secrets of the Business of Law: Successful Practices for Increasing Your Profits!
• To review a book

Have you made preparations for "growing old" beyond making a will and saving for retirement? These days, much more is needed. Since 1900 the average life expectancy has gone from 45 to 75 years, giving new retirees "20-40 more years of life." In Old Talk, New Conversations, five Wisconsin professionals share their expertise in financial planning, estate and tax planning, long-term care insurance, and housing (living at home or in retirement/senior housing). This excellent planning guide succeeds in providing a basic foundation that is "general and nontechnical."

Professional insight is woven throughout to help answer questions like "How much can I safely spend each year and not run out of money?" and "How can I handle medical and custodial issues for myself and my spouse?" Hogan begins with these questions and the financial planning essentials: a sample balance sheet and a cash flow statement, including helpful parenthetical explanations. She also provides cautionary "notes" and a "Road Map For Heirs." This is a valuable "map" of your personal affairs. In the event of sudden death or incapacity, it makes information about your home, healthcare, advisors, and prearrangements available to your heirs. Herbers discusses estate planning, covering planning for disability, transfers after death, and tax planning. He includes charts and clear explanations of relevant terminology.

Koppel emphasizes that "long-term care insurance is a new financial necessity because retirement is now so often followed by an extended period of disability." He is excellent at navigating practical and financial considerations and suggests you start buying this insurance "after the age of 50." Mensh Brostoff focuses on receiving needed care while living at home and cites that the overwhelming majority of Wisconsinites over age 60 own their homes outright. She describes available services and applies example situations. Furno offers important considerations for choosing a retirement community or senior housing. His "Developing a Personal Needs Chart for Choosing a Retirement Community" is very helpful. As Hannah Rosenthal, of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, states in the Forward, the "keys to enjoying later life" are "understanding and planning."

There is information, and there is intelligence. Any attorney who has prosecuted or defended a complex criminal case knows how easy it is to be swamped by bits of information, and to have difficulty putting these puzzle pieces together into a useful whole. Increasingly, investigators and attorneys are turning to analysts to arrange and evaluate this information. Applications in Criminal Analysis, A Sourcebook is an overview of the types and uses of a criminal analyst in various complex criminal cases. Today, where you have a criminal case involving a "syndicate," a "cartel," or an "enterprise," you may well find a criminal analyst working to convert information into useful intelligence.

Marilyn B. Peterson, a certified criminal analyst, begins the book with interesting historical background on the role of analysts in law enforcement. First developed in the United States around 1920 to combat anarchists and mobsters, the criminal analyst profession expanded in the 1950s, collecting information on the mafia. In the 1960s and 70s, the many criminal analysts evolved into "intelligence units," concentrating on so-called subversive groups ranging from communists to the John Birch Society.

Peterson then provides a brief summary of many of the techniques today's criminal analyst may use. Prosecutors and defense attorneys may find it useful to review these, although none of the summaries provides enough detail to fully understand the techniques. The strength of the book is in Peterson's examples of how an analyst might assist in selected types of complex criminal prosecutions. The book includes analysis applications in sample cases involving organized crime, narcotics, and white-collar crime. Within these chapters are many examples of link analysis diagrams, flowcharts, bank record analysis, and other analytical techniques. Many of these techniques will naturally evolve into trial exhibits, and the book conveys the usefulness of various analyst techniques in trial preparation.

Criminal analysts are available to manage information gathered from multiple sources, such as wiretaps, confidential informants, or ongoing undercover operations. This book, although not in-depth on any one topic, is a good starting point for a prosecutor considering the use of an analyst, or for a defense attorney expecting to face one at trial.

For a short time nearly half a century ago, future Federal Circuit Judge Donald P. Lay was a trial lawyer in Milwaukee. During that short time, he tried several cases and published an article on Wisconsin practice and procedure that is still included today in the Wisconsin Statutes Annotated.

Judge Lay became one of the nation's premier trial lawyers. In 1966 President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed him to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Serving as chief judge from 1981 to 1993, Judge Lay is considered one of the finest circuit judges in our nation's history.

To our good fortune, Judge Lay has authored Law: A Human Process, relating his views and experiences of the law over his long and full career as a lawyer, judge, and scholar. The book is intended for law students and new lawyers; however, it offers important lessons to all attorneys.

"Every lawyer has a different story," Judge Lay writes, and "[s]ome are more interesting than others." Without question, Judge Lay's diverse and extraordinary career provides ample material for a captivating book. The book contains scores of anecdotes from Judge Lay's experience as a trial lawyer and judge to effectively illustrate each point and each piece of advice.

The book deals with the technical difficulties of the profession, such as handling problem cases and difficult witnesses, while also providing thoughts on how to achieve greater satisfaction and fulfillment in the practice of law. Judge Lay also takes on difficult ethical issues that threaten lawyers and the legal profession. These trying circumstances include sensitive dealings with clients, negotiating attorney fees, dealing with difficult judges, and taking on challenging cases. Throughout all of these various subjects, he reminds us that working with and helping other people is what makes the practice of law fun and worthwhile.

While the book is interesting and entertaining, its greatest attribute is its inspirational quality. Judge Lay proclaims, "[t]he practice of law is the greatest and most satisfying profession in the world." He rallies and exhorts readers to aspire to be more than ordinary, and to make more than modest contributions, while acknowledging that the role of the lawyer is not always easy.

"This is particularly true for those who engage in litigation. There can be great stress and disappointment. But it must be balanced against the ongoing satisfaction in helping others. Frustration will override if the lawyer's goal is material gain; satisfaction will be dominant if the lawyer's goal is dedication to others. That is what the profession is all about."

Thus, Judge Lay echoes the advice the Hon. Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. offered a century ago when he said, "[d]on't be content to be a lawyer; be a lawyer in the grand manner."

Judge Lay has been a lawyer "in the grand manner." His book inspires the rest of us to do likewise.

Today's lawyers face competitive pressures from many different directions. Accountants, realtors, title companies, and other industry groups now provide services to clients that historically were provided almost exclusively by attorneys. Clients now can use software programs to draft their own simple wills, leases, and contracts, and can find the answers to many simple legal questions on the Internet. Until recently, many lawyers have psychologically resisted treating their law practice as a business.

Edward Poll challenges lawyers to think more like their competitors and focus on the business of practicing law in his easy-to-read and useful book, Secrets of the Business of Law: Successful Practices for Increasing Your Profits!

This book, a compilation of the best topics and articles that have been culled from Poll's numerous writings on law practice management, is divided into sections on planning, client relations, financial management, law office technology, and office management. Each section is further subdivided into short articles on various topics like "Tips for Improving Your Client Relations," "What Clients Hate!," "33 Tips to Help Lawyers Keep Their Pockets Full," "The Pros & Cons of Fixed Fees," "Ethics & Technology," and "Preparing the Law Firm Business Plan." These short articles provide valuable suggestions and real-world examples for increasing revenue, strategic planning, strengthening client relations, and using technology efficiently and cost-effectively.

Although at times Poll may leave the reader wanting more depth and detail, this book provides an excellent introduction to the concept that the practice of law is not only a profession but also a business. New solo practitioners and associates will find it particularly helpful as they begin the process of building their own law practices. Senior attorneys will benefit, too, from Poll's commonsense advice and simple techniques for improving their firms or practices. Firm or office administrators also may benefit from the opportunity to compare their firm's way of doing business with Poll's advice.

If the reader gains one piece of useful knowledge from Poll that can be incorporated into his or her practice, the return on the investment may be tremendous. One good idea may help obtain that lucrative client, improve productivity, or slash expenses. For this reason, this book is a good value and an excellent investment.

Wisconsin Lawyer