Book Reviews
This Month's Featured Selections
Advising Older Clients and Their
Families,Vol. II
By Betsy Abramson and 24 other authors.
$165 or $125 if you own Vol. I. 618 pgs.
(Madison, WI: State Bar CLE Books and Elder Law Section,
1998).
Order It
Online Now!
Reviewed by Sara Buscher
State Bar CLE Books and the Elder Law Section have copublished the
second volume of Advising Older Clients and Their Families for
Wisconsin practitioners. It contains helpful tips from individuals who
are practitioners. The coverage is current and appropriate. The first
volume, issued last year, covered the growing demand for elder law
services, practice building advice, management issues, and ethics. Its
substantive sections covered topics that naturally extend existing
practices into areas serving older clients. The second volume includes
topics more typically identified with elder law.
The first of the second volume's three parts, entitled "Public and
Private Health Care Financing," covers Medicare, Medicaid, veteran's
health-care benefits, and employer-sponsored plans, Medigap policies,
and long-term care insurance. Medicare is being revamped to encourage
enrollment in Medicare HMOs. Some of these changes already are surfacing
in news reports about the incorrect denial of home health-care visits.
Advocacy within managed care organizations and through insurance
regulators is going to be a new and developing practice area. The
Medicaid chapter is a ready reference that gives a clear picture of
Wisconsin's medical assistance program. It can save countless hours of
research.
The book's second part, "Estate Planning, Advance Directives, and
Guardianship," provides extremely useful and practical planning
guidance. The chapter on estate planning provides solutions to commonly
encountered problems and issues: integrating estate tax, Medicaid
planning, and Wisconsin's marital property and probate laws. The
relationships between trusts, powers of attorney, and guardianship also
are explored.
The chapter on health-care decision-making deals with patient
self-determination, refusal of medical treatment, and consent issues for
incapacitated persons. Federal and Wisconsin constitutional issues and
cases are discussed. So are the practical issues, such as whether it is
wise to use both a Living Will and a Power of Attorney for Health
Care.
The guardianship chapter provides useful checklists and forms. It
covers topics that are hard to ferret out of current statutes, including
which procedure to use, terminating or modifying a guardianship,
transferring venue when a ward moves, and emergency guardianships. The
roles and duties of attorneys when representing the petitioner, the
ward's best interests as a guardian ad litem, or as advocacy counsel for
the ward also are discussed.
The final section, "Long-Term Care," provides information about
Wisconsin's public assistance for community care, the Community Options
Program (COP) and MA Waiver programs. These programs are the only ones
that pay for residential care outside of nursing homes, such as care in
dementia facilities. The regulatory requirements to be met by those
facilities are covered in another chapter, followed by a final chapter
on litigation to enforce patient rights.
Each topic has a well-written outline that is heavily footnoted to
sources of the law. Spotting issues and finding answers to questions in
unfamiliar territory is easy. It is liberally sprinkled with practice
tips. The book is well indexed, has a useful table of contents, helpful
appendices, bibliographies and glossaries. It even contains a list of
elder law Internet sites.
Sara Buscher, U.W. 1994 and a C.P.A.
since 1978, is a member of the State Bar of Wisconsin's Elder Law
Section Board and a frequent contributor to its newsletter. Her practice
emphasizes service to Alzheimer's families.
Guilty By Reason Of Insanity: A Psychiatrist
Explores the Minds of Killers
By Dorothy Otnow Lewis,
M.D.
(New York, NY: Ballantine Publishing Group, 1998).
304 pgs. Retail: $25.
Reviewed by Timothy J. McAllister
Dr. Jonathan Pincus said, "I've never seen so many neurologically
impaired kids together in one place at one time," about Connecticut's
Long Lane juvenile detention facility after investigating the residents
for Dr. Dorothy Otnow Lewis, the author of Guilty By Reason Of
Insanity: A Psychiatrist Explores the Minds of Killers. The book is
a case-study-based narrative written in a manner akin to beach
literature, yet contains some gems of insight.
The cycle of physical and psychological abuse that occurs in
dysfunctional families is self-perpetuating in that these abused
individuals often grow into even more abusive adults who treat others in
the only manner in which they were taught. Dr. Lewis comments that many
of the death row inmates she studied were generations in the making.
Dr. Lewis believes that the families of children who commit murder
often have something to hide. Prenatal damage and physical abuse coupled
with emotional trauma and psychological impairment create individuals
incapable of relating to the world around them in a "sane" manner. These
individuals react violently to the world, expressing the torture of
their lives. They are not deterred by stiff penalties (such as death
sentences) because they are unable to comprehend them.
Research by Dr. Lewis indicates that the offenders' medical files
should be investigated as part of the detective work in a criminal
proceeding. Frequent hospital visits and psychiatric symptoms are
indicators of neurologic damage, and a resulting somatic insanity. The
differences in the definition of "insanity" between the legal and
psychological professions is discussed. Concepts such as "guilty but
insane" are purported to be oxymorons since an insane person is by
psychological definition not capable of understanding and functioning in
reality.
Of particular interest is Dr. Lewis's unabashed statements regarding
why some offenders in death sentence states are executed and others are
not - it is wholly dependent on the quality and motivation of the
client's lawyers.
Devoid of any charts, photographs, or diagrams, Guilty By Reason
Of Insanity is a well-written book that deserves the short time it
requires to read. It will not be cited in legal case proceedings, but it
may enlighten those involved in them.
Timothy J. McAllister, U.W.-Oshkosh
1997 Master of Public Administration, is employed by the Department of
Corrections at the Wisconsin Resource Center.
Successful Client Newsletters: The
Complete Guide to Creating Powerful Newsletters
By Milton Zwicker
(Chicago, IL: ABA Law Practice Management Section, 1998).
116 pgs. Retail: $44.95.
Reviewed by Douglas O. Smith
Lawyers communicate for a living.Yet, their newsletters have the
reputation for being boring. Many firms are shocked to learn that most
clients and prospective clients never even look at the newsletters they
receive. Short of hiring a professional, reading this concise,
step-by-step guide and putting its ideas into practice is the best way
to guarantee that your firm's newsletter gets read and tells readers
what you really want them to know.
Unlike many law practice management publications, Successful
Client Newsletters skips the war stories and keeps examples to a
minimum. Instead, it forces lawyers to do first things first - think
about the clients and what they want from a newsletter. Part I,
"Planning Your Newsletter," will help readers to identify goals and
objectives for the newsletter and then to make smart decisions about
content and format. The result is a sophisticated marketing plan. Part
II, "Writing Your Newsletter," focuses on key style ideas, provides an
excellent checklist for editing, and has important guidance on writing
headlines that work. Part III, "Designing Your Newsletter," deals with
the nuts and bolts of publishing, including electronic newsletters, and
it will help ensure that the newsletter's look is first class. There
also is a comprehensive list of books, magazines, software, and Web
sites to help with the process. The approach is complete, concise, and
professional - just like a newsletter should be.
The author, Milton Zwicker, is a Canadian lawyer whose direct and
forceful writing should be modeled (and not just in newsletters). Every
paragraph gets right to the point and has something of value. Our firm
will be revamping its newsletter as a result of the ideas and
suggestions here, and it will become a more effective marketing tool as
a result.
Anyone responsible for a client newsletter who reads this book should
come away with lots of improvements that can be put into practice
immediately. That's the test of whether or not a book like this merits a
reader's time and attention, and this one does.
Douglas O. Smith, Marquette 1983, is
a principal and shareholder of General Counsel S.C., Brookfield. The
firm serves as independent general counsel for small business and
provides contract legal services to in-house law departments.
What Makes Juries Listen Today
By Sonya Hamlin
(Little Falls, NJ: Glasser LegalWorks, 1998).
772 pgs. Retail: $85.
Reviewed by Robert J. Kasieta
This book is worthwhile, but flawed. The author fills 300 largely
tedious pages before giving the reader the most helpful information.
Early chapters deal with changes in U.S. demographics that translate
into changes on jury venires. Another section focuses on what to wear at
trial. Much of that information is important to trial lawyers but the
author weakens the message by stating and restating the obvious.
When the author describes effective communication skills before the
jury, from voir dire through closing, the book is at its best. There are
welcome reminders about the importance of the jury in the courtroom.
More importantly, there also are specific pointers on how to impress
upon the jury that you remember their importance. These sections of the
book would have been helped by the more liberal use of examples.
Sometimes, war stories clarify concepts.
What Makes Juries Listen Today is suitable for trial
attorneys at all levels of skill and experience. Most seasoned attorneys
likely will find parts of the book to be superficial, but inexperienced
trial counsel should learn a great deal from it. It is not an easy book
to read from cover to cover: Blocks of repetitive text should have been
edited from the final version. But in small doses it makes an
informative read.
Especially worthwhile is Hamlin's description of voir dire. She
creatively shows the reader what it feels like to be in the jury box for
the first time and how counsel can lessen feelings of apprehension and
confusion that most jurors experience. There is a power differential
that exists between trial attorneys and the jury. The former are
comfortable in the courtroom and in control of the proceedings
(especially when lawyers, not the trial judge, question the jury in voir
dire). Jurors are in a strange place with strange people. They might
have seen television trials, but otherwise they have no experience with
which to compare jury duty. Hamlin systematically analyzes the effect
that counsel's words and acts have on the jury during voir dire. For
example, if one stands to address the jury during voir dire he or she is
exercising more power than the attorney who remains seated. The most
powerful, authoritative position is standing behind a podium. During
voir dire, compassion and understanding are more important than power,
and so, a seated position is often indicated. Hamlin carefully critiques
different approaches to voir dire and identifies the strengths and
weaknesses of each.
One of this reader's pet peeves with the book was the total absence
of any reference to the author's credentials anywhere in the book.
Nowhere in the forward or preface is there any resume of the author, nor
is there an afterword. This problem was exacerbated by the rarity of any
citation to authority in the book. One was left wondering whether the
author was a psychologist from a college campus who had primarily read
about courtroom activity or a seasoned trial attorney who took special
interest in legal education. There were some indications in the book of
the author's prominence. For example, she writes of consulting with the
media for the O.J. Simpson trials and describes having been present for
at least part of the Timothy McVeigh trial and jury selection. But
essentially, the reader was left to take the book on faith alone -
something trial lawyers are not very good at.
The mystery of Hamlin's credentials was solved when an advertisement
for this book arrived in the mail. It announced that Hamlin is the
president of her own company in New York, that she trains trial lawyers,
and has two Emmy awards for her television work.
Robert J. Kasieta is the founder of
the Kasieta Legal Group LLC. He has 15 years' experience as a trial
attorney in a wide range of civil matters.
Democracy at Dawn: Notes from Poland
and Points East
By Frederick Quinn
(Texas A&M University Press, 1998).
250 pgs. Retail: $29.95.
Reviewed by Lawrence G. Albrecht
What exactly do we mean by the "rule of law"? How is a democratic
state established? Following the demise of the Soviet Union and the
resultant political upheavals in Central and Eastern Europe and in the
satellite states of Asia, these fundamental problems confront the newly
formed legal cultures throughout the region. The emerging democracies in
these newly independent states must accommodate deeply divided,
antagonistic, and often autonomous, economic, religious, ethnic and
cultural interests that share few common institutions. In these
countries, an open society may denote a freely segregated society. How
to accommodate and integrate fractious, competing interests into a
credible legal system remains the quest.
To experience these cultures and their vibrant, detail-remembered
histories is endlessly fascinating. Frederick Quinn's travel notes
record dozens of encounters, from Warsaw to Kazakhstan, with individuals
and nascent constituencies dedicated to building legal cultures. His
purpose is to report and analyze the complex array of institutional
difficulties these countries face in the transformation from command
economies in repressive states, where law was an instrument of control
and terror, to open societies supported by positive law and enforceable
commercial and human rights.
Quinn is a legal historian who holds a Ph.D. in history and has
served as a career Foreign Service officer. His academic expertise and
travel experiences have served him well in his reporting and contextual
analysis. It is impossible to approach or understand the disparate
political and economic realities in this region without a historian's
perspective on the competing ancient mythologies vying for current power
and control. Traveling with colleagues from the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) as head of a rule of law
program, Quinn participated in drafting constitutions, organized legal
seminars on the paramount need for an independent judiciary, and talked
endlessly with everyone he encountered regarding their deep-rooted fears
and their shaky hopes that the rule of law will bring true stability and
prosperity.
Although his work lacks a detailed overriding thesis or theme, his
experiences introduce and illustrate both the hopefulness and the
complexity inherent in the legal transformation process. Long after the
constitutional scholars, omniscient Chicago School economists, and other
pundits on arcane legal topics have had their say, history's deep
divisions will continue to exert antidemocratic pressures that undermine
the due process and equal protection foundation of the rule of law.
As Quinn reports, issues of state security and protection of free
markets predominate the legal agenda. While human rights requires
genuflection by all, enforcement of positive rights lags far behind as a
priority - which is understandable given the historical absence of
independent judiciaries and the inherent civil law limitations on
judicial power. Perhaps our own common law legal history presaged this
unfolding of events in Eastern Europe and Central Asia since common law
protection of economic rights developed and preceded judicial
enforcement of civil rights by nearly a century, until "activist" judges
exercised increased powers of constitutional and statutory
interpretation and policy analysis.
Legal education reforms underway in these new legal cultures will
prepare skilled private attorneys to handle individual rights cases and
creatively expand the domain of human rights law in an orderly manner.
(And, inevitably, defense attorneys will learn how suitable for
transplanting are our doctrines of absolute or qualified immunity and
other high procedural barriers that frustrate state accountability to
its citizenry.) Quinn, however, remains hopeful that by building
constitutional systems of law that reflect the contextual convergence
and blending of civil law and common law traditions, enforced by
independent judiciaries, these countries will accommodate competing
interests and build democratic societies in which individual rights, and
the market rights of corporations and other business associations, are
both pronounced and enforced. And, as he concludes, these heroic efforts
against the powerful experience of history deserve our active
professional support.
Lawrence G. Albrecht, Valparaiso
1973, is a shareholder at First, Blondis, Albrecht, Bangert &
Novotnak S.C., Milwaukee. He taught at the University of Bucharest
School of Law in 1997 and consulted at several law schools in Romania
and Bulgaria on behalf of the ABA Central and Eastern European
Law
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