Book Reviews

• Wisconsin Probate System: Forms and Procedures Handbook
• Newsgathering and the Law
• The Altman Weil Pensa Archive on Economics and Financial Management For Law Firms and Corporate Law Departments
• Every Employee's Guide to the Law
• Virtual Justice: The Flawed Prosecution of Crime in America

Wisconsin Probate System: Forms and Procedures Handbook

By William F. Mundt and Michael R. Smith (Madison, WI: State Bar CLE Books, 1996). 750+ pgs. $135. To order, call (800) 728-7788.

Reviewed by Stephanie G. Rapkin

Sometimes I wonder what practitioners would do without State Bar CLE Books. There are many helpful books out there for lawyers written by lawyers that truly assist in understanding the subject matter. But it is only the State Bar CLE books that meet the nut and bolt needs of the busy practitioner. CLE books teach efficiency in the actual practice of law, and Wisconsin Probate System is no exception.

The authors provide the requisite forms and letters for probate for the Wisconsin courts. And, for legal assistants who prepare the documents, the authors have provided guidance on certain items, including what information must be confirmed with the lawyer who is supervising the probate proceeding. About the only thing the book can't do is make the estate accounts balance.

The accompanying document assembly program (sold separately for $395) is still a DOS-based program. It requires at minimum MS-DOS 3.1, 8 MB of hard disk drive space and 4 MB of memory. It uses WordPerfect 5.1 for processing. CLE Books is working on a Windows-based operating system for Windows users.

The benefit to using the document assembly program is that it very quickly and efficiently produces the documents needed for most estates. It does this without retyping everything and by storing all the information on client data that is needed. This in turn frees up secretarial time, which always means more productivity and availability for other matters.

Can attorneys handle an estate without this book? Yes, but why struggle when CLE Books makes it so easy? The book and document assembly program together are the easiest and fastest way to streamline and automate a wills and estates practice.

• Order This Title Online NOW!

Stephanie G. Rapkin, California Western 1982, practices with Crossot & Rapkin, Mequon.

Newsgathering and the Law

By C. Thomas Dienes, Lee Levine and Robert C. Lind (Charlottesville, VA: Michie, 1997). 983 pgs. $105.

Reviewed by Brian W. Blanchard

The bookshelves of many reporters, editors and news directors are crowded with media law guides; hornbooks and journal articles for lawyers on legal issues affecting journalists are no less plentiful. Yet this carefully compiled volume is a welcome new resource for the legally inclined reporter or the attorney whose practice includes media law. It is well edited and appears to be authoritative.

Newsgathering and the Law focuses on law defining the right of news organizations to collect information and the rights of others to keep news organizations from doing so. Many traditional media law topics are mentioned only where they directly affect this newsgathering right. For example, "criminal trespass" has four entries in the index, "defamation" only two. This focus allows the authors to give detailed treatment to such important areas as public access to federal and state government records.

Though organized and written as a conventional legal hornbook by legal academics, the prose is refreshingly clear. Also helpful, the authors have reasonably limited footnotes to citations and small clarifying points.

This book also successfully presents the state of the law as it is, without advancing personal policy preferences that would distract from its reliability as a guide. Even the 15-page introduction describing the newsgathering right strives for a neutral tone. Putting aside the more mundane details of open records laws, media law is by nature highly emotional for most journalists and many lawyers. Who lacks strong feelings about such issues as televised courtroom proceedings? Or a First Amendment-based right for public access to the government's search warrant materials in a criminal investigation still underway? The authors have largely succeeded in resisting the temptation to transform descriptions of the law into calls for reforming the law, calls better suited for other media such as law journal articles or op-ed essays.

One brief lapse arises in discussing reporters' uses of misrepresentations. The authors say it is "not surprising" that "journalists of all stripes have, with some frequency, been less than candid with the persons from whom they seek to gather the news." Which stripes of the Fourth Estate, exactly, would those be? It is not the policy of editors who run modern newsrooms to allow any form of misrepresentation except under the most unusual circumstances, and only then with much thought about what justifies spending the precious coin of credibility. If by "less than candid," the authors mean only that reporters do not tend to tell sources all they know or all they are interested in writing about, that certainly would not be surprising. But that is not a misrepresentation. In making that statement, the authors seem to be excusing some misrepresentation as simply part of the "game" of newsgathering as it is played.

Another shortcoming appears in discussing unauthorized access to computer systems, surely a topic of increasing importance. The discussion is cursory, apparently because legislators and courts have not yet evaluated liability in this area. It is surprising, however, that the authors do not give readers the benefit of their learning on closely related topics in this section. What will happen when those with both press credentials and computer knowledge end up in court for "snooping" in a private email system or other database?

These are small criticisms. The book, well organized and thoughtfully executed, has much to recommend it. It likely will become a mainstay in a fascinating legal field.

Brian W. Blanchard, Northwestern 1989, is an associate with Quarles & Brady in Madison. He was a reporter for the Miami Herald newspaper, 1980-1986.

The Altman Weil Pensa Archive on
Economics and Financial Management For Law Firms and Corporate Law Departments

Susan D. Sjostrom, Editor (Newtown Square, PA: Altman, Weil, Pensa Publications, 1996). $55. To order, call (610) 359-9900.

Reviewed by Robert J. Kasieta

This book is a treasure. It is a compendium of the best articles published by Altman Weil Pensa Inc., a consulting firm specializing in law firm management. Each chapter is a reprint of an article that was included in Altman Weil's monthly newsletter, Report to Legal Management. The book is organized by topics of interest and importance to anyone having law firm management responsibility. Each section contains articles that are as practical as they are wise. Topics include profitability, compensation, billing, finance and accounting, cost control, and miscellaneous issues such as promoting attorneys to partner, owning or leasing space, and personal money management for lawyers.

Each chapter is written by a different author. The articles ring with authenticity because the authors clearly have practical experience. A good example is chapter nine, "Formula-Driven Compensation Systems: Do They Work?" The author, Peter A. Giuliani, does a masterful job of cataloguing the benefits and detriments of objective compensation systems for attorneys. He transcends theoretical concerns by noting that one of the risks of formula systems is that they engender internal competition. Giuliani appropriately and succinctly notes that when there is internal competition at a law firm and clients catch on, they generally move on.

Having a different author for each chapter sometimes is a weakness; chapters often lack coordination and there are large holes in topic areas. For example, the section on cost controls presents the reader with random thoughts about physical plant and operational issues without providing any structured approach to dealing with budgeting or cost reduction. The chapters also quite often are repetitive because they originally were written to be independent newsletters. For example, the section on billing bombards the reader with the identical repeated warnings of shortcomings of hourly billing. We need not be told ad nauseum that hourly billing penalizes the technologically advanced, efficient attorney. Still, this criticism is an inconsequential concern when measured against the book's value.

In the area of law firm management, one frequently hopes that a book might contain the "magic bullet" that will cure all of one's organizational ills. After reading many such books written by management gurus and pop psychologists, one realizes that no such magic bullet exists. Rather, successful management is a composite of many helpful books and articles, effective mentoring, leadership skills, lots of hard work and a good measure of luck. Too many management books compel the reader to commit to reengineering to cure financial and cultural corporate woes. The Archive is wonderful in its lack of doctrine. The reader can accept some of the book's suggestions without having to conduct a firm retreat or undergo a mass spiritual conversion. Most of the chapters, standing alone, provide insightful and practical ways to improve any law firm.

Robert J. Kasieta, Marquette 1983, practices with Bell, Metzner, Gierhart & Moore S.C., Madison.

Every Employee's Guide to the Law

By Lewin G. Joel III (New York, NY: Pantheon Books, 1997). $14. 431 pgs. To order, call (212) 572-2565.

Reviewed by Margaret S. Dewind

Most employees probably think that the balance of power in the workplace is weighted in the employer's favor. This perception may result from workers' ignorance of the variety of laws designed to protect them. In Every Employee's Guide to the Law, Lewin G. Joel III evens the scale by helping employees understand these laws and by suggesting how employees can respond to violations of their rights.

Joel has an ambitious agenda. He promises to sketch a roadmap of the employment relationship, describe employment laws and regulations, offer insights into employer strategies, outline employee options and their risks, and explain how to file a claim. Joel meets these goals.

The book, as promised, is laid out like a roadmap of the employment relationship. The chapters cover hiring, wage and hour laws, benefits, discrimination, privacy rights, employment records, health and safety, discipline and discharge, worker's and unemployment compensation, and (briefly) unions. The law dealing with each area is described, and tables summarize state details and variations. The book presents much useful information, including common discrimination scenarios, OSHA's general working conditions requirements, examples of situations in which worker's compensation is and is not available, and addresses and phone numbers of relevant state agencies. Joel generally is thorough, but the coverage sometimes is uneven. For example, the discussion of the history and mechanisms of the worker's compensation system could have been shortened, while more text should have been devoted to issues raised by the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The main strength of Every Employee's Guide is that the author presents numerous practical strategies. Joel lays out the advantages and disadvantages of different courses of action. For example, while he suggests not answering objectionable interview questions, he explains the risks of not answering. He also offers tips for how to respond to workplace harassment. Though Joel sometimes adopts an adversarial tone, he is sensitive to the difficulties and costs of bringing legal action against an employer. He points out that quitting a job is sometimes the best way to resolve an untenable work situation.

One of Joel's recommendations seems impractical. Joel suggests that employees save every scrap of paper relating to a job and its performance, starting with the job notice and including interview forms, evaluations and termination slips and that they make notes of events and conversations relating to their jobs. Documentation may well be the key to a successful employment claim, but this level of record keeping will seem onerous to most readers.

The weakness of Every Employee's Guide is its organization. Navigation within chapters is tricky. Section headings are neither numbered nor lettered, and determining whether the author has moved to a new topic sometimes is difficult. The tables are hard to find; cross-references to them do not include page numbers. More use of indentation and enumeration would have helped this book, which is otherwise fairly easy to read and very interesting.

Despite its minor flaws, this book will be useful to all workers, not just those with workplace problems or those contemplating legal action. Every Employee's Guide to the Law should have a place on every employee's bookshelf.

Margaret S. Dewind, U.W. 1989, is a freelance legal researcher in Madison.

Virtual Justice: The Flawed Prosecution of Crime in America

By H. Richard Uviller (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1996). 320 pgs. $30. Hardcover. To order, call (800) 987-7323.

Reviewed by Labish Bergovoy

Reading this book was a virtual challenge. I selected this book to review solely by its captivating title: Virtual Justice: The Flawed Prosecution of Crime in America. Perhaps, I thought, it would paint an accurate picture of, and project scholarly and reasoned solutions for, our criminal justice system. Perhaps the author would dramatize a lifelike character, with which many trial attorneys could identify and commiserate the concerns we share. After all, it is almost common knowledge that the prosecution system has flaws.

I began reading every page, hopeful not to miss a single line this law professor wrote. The author introduced his reasoning behind the book and the title. I paused, and then reread the introduction to make sure I did not miss something.

The second time around, I began appreciating the value of my Bar membership. One of the many perks is that I could review this book and I did not have to pay for it. The effort, however, was not without cost - I was obligated to read every page to draft the review.

Readers who already accept the author's theories and beliefs need not buy a book that echoes their ideologies. Others who hold differing views should wait to borrow it from a library if they want to read something that will challenge the asserted benefits of Tagamet^®. The book certainly is well-written and readable. Prof. Uviller presents predictable scenarios which he revisits to propel his position that "the law of evidence - and the Constitution itself" - works against a jury verdict in accord with historical fact; that is, a guilty verdict.

Uviller's assertion that the U.S. Constitution interferes with the very same institution it created is a radically dangerous proposition. Uviller even recommends replacing our justice system with a European model. He even questions whether a police officer's bullet shot into the back of a fleeing teenager constitutes a stop and seizure violating the Fourth Amendment (of course it's not a seizure - most people survive seizures and are able to respond to Miranda warnings). Does this, perhaps, depict the "virtual justice" reflected in the book's title?

Uviller wants the reader to believe the problem and solution are related. His construct suggests that justice could be attained if only we could excise a few basic obstacles. The reason we cannot more swiftly fill our prisons is due, in part, to our constitutional protections.

Why would a law professor suggest the solution to our criminal justice system resides in the demise of the Bill of Rights? The Constitution does not promote injustice. Our democracy and freedom are the fruit of the Constitution and its amendments.

The author is not simply suggesting pruning the tree. His fictional depictions throughout the book are designed to make the reader agree that constitutional safeguards virtually keep our under-armed, struggling police and powerless judges from doing their jobs. He asserts our Constitution burdens our overworked judges with technical motions that might require the suppression of illegally obtained evidence. The author wants readers to believe the reason we have so much crime and recidivism is because crafty defense lawyers are generating and winning so many (suppression) motions, surreptitiously invoking jury nullification by the use of experts and injecting the Constitution into our courtrooms.

Such notions remind me of the judge who informed my client that he would not suppress any evidence in his juvenile case because he did not believe our founding fathers intended the protections of the Fourth Amendment to extend to teenagers engaged in criminal activity. He is virtually correct. The forefathers originally designed our constitutional safeguards to protect only white male landowners over the age of majority. Uviller's remedies ignore our 200 years of Euro-American history. He believes we can become a better, safer America if we duplicate a criminal justice system similar to those enjoyed in Europe.

This book is startling. It is depressing and painful to know that an academician could hold views as seditious as these.

Labish Bergovoy, Marquette 1987, is an assistant state public defender in Kenosha.