Book Reviews

A Survival Guide to Computer Contracts:
How to Select and Negotiate
for Business Computer Systems

By Jeffrey Monassebian (Great Neck, NY: Application Publishing Inc., 1996). 304 pgs. $24.95. To order, call (800) 275-2606.

Reviewed by
R. Timothy Muth

Acquiring a computer system is a major investment for any business. Information systems are increasingly vital to a company's daily operation. Yet, many computer software development projects fail, and many computer systems do not meet the promises made by the vendor's salespeople.

When problems with a computer system surface, business owners frequently find their contracts offer little protection. Agreements often fail to adequately describe the parties' roles and responsibilities. Many times the agreements use the vendor's form, which provides negligible remedies to the purchaser.

In A Survival Guide to Computer Contracts, attorney Jeffrey Monassebian has written a useful guide to help deal with this problem. The book is written for the business person who may be unfamiliar with both the terminology of the computer industry and the formats of legal documents. Monassebian simplifies both the computer jargon and the legal lingo.

The guide covers most of the major areas involved in computer system acquisition. Monassebian starts with the beginning of the process - determining the organization's needs and finding computer system vendors who can meet them. He correctly stresses the importance of documentation for these initial steps, which businesses often overlook.

The book then discusses whether to purchase: 1) prepackaged software; 2) standard software that is customized for the particular business; or 3) software that is custom-developed, and the considerations involved with each choice. The guide also covers various formats for computer system acquisition including "turn-key" solutions, outsourcing, facilities maintenance, service bureaus and leasing. The book's heart is Monassebian's analysis of typical clauses seen in computer contracts and his explanation of their significance in readily understandable terms.

Monassebian overlooked the conversion of a business's existing computer data for a new system. Data conversion must be both accurate and compatible with the new software. Allocating responsibility for this process is an important step in contracting for a new system, but is not discussed in the book.

The book includes 11 sample agreements covering the basic contracts a purchaser might face in a computer system transaction. The samples are drafted to protect the purchaser's interests. The book also contains samples of a Request for Information and a Request for Proposal, for use in defining system requirements at the beginning of the acquisition process. The sample agreements are available on computer diskette from the publisher.

Although written for the layperson, A Survival Guide to Computer Contracts will be useful for lawyers who do not regularly practice in this area and who need an overview of issues that must be considered in the computer contracting process. Experienced attorneys who practice in computer law will not find in-depth discussions of the fine points of software license agreements and the like, but they will find that the book's easy readability provides a useful checklist.

R. Timothy Muth, Harvard 1986, chairs the computer and technology law practice group at Reinhart, Boerner, Van Deuren, Norris & Rieselbach S.C., Milwaukee.

How to Manage Your Trust Account
Using Quicken (video)

Madison, WI: State Bar of Wisconsin Law Office Videotapes, 1996. 72 minutes. $59.

Reviewed by
Lou Dodulik

If you have a trust account and a computer, why aren't you using a software program to help manage your trust account? The common excuse is lack of time to evaluate software programs, learn the program purchased and implement the software. The State Bar's 72-minute video, How to Manage Your Trust Account Using Quicken, can help.

The video offers practical advice about equipment, the software's basic features and how it can manage your trust account, how to generate reports and how to reconcile your trust account. While the video uses step-by-step examples, it is not a replacement or substitute to the User's Guide, but rather it is an introduction to using Quicken.TM

The video states that Quicken is an inexpensive, general software program available on computer disk or CD-ROM and is written in various languages to match various computer systems. While the software was not written specifically for an attorney's trust account, the task can be accomplished by understanding the various options available. Also, certain ethical and fiduciary duties are involved with trust accounts that the software cannot address.

The video suggests dedicating one computer to the task of managing a trust account and three printers. The dedicated computer allows immediate access and eliminates the possibility of an accidental entry or system breakdown if the computer is part of regular daily operations. The video recommends having a battery backup for the dedicated system, off premises back-up disks for data and a virus detection program. Of the three printers, one dot matrix printer is for trust account checks, another dot matrix printer is for the firm's checks and one laser printer is for reports. The dedicated system is a nice way to use outdated computers.

Regardless of the hardware setup, users must understand the software to make Quicken work. The video runs through various commands on the WindowsTM power bar to help explain the software, which is helpful because one actually sees how and where to access the various commands. The video also explains how to type in commands for users without Windows and states typing may be faster than using a mouse.

The "preference" command allows users to adapt the Quicken software to a specific use. The video shows how to set up a new account with the corresponding sub-accounts, how to save the work, how to print checks and more.

How to Manage Your Trust Account Using Quicken allows the viewer to see how a flexible, inexpensive software program can be adapted to manage a trust account.

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Lou Dodulik, Thomas M. Cooley 1994, practices at Mudroch, Halaska & Weaver S.C. in Elm Grove.

The Kingfish and the Constitution

By Richard C. Cortner (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1996). 216 pgs. $55. To order, call (800) 225-5800.

Reviewed by
Barbara Reinhold

Franklin D. Roosevelt once called him the most dangerous man in the USA. To read Richard C. Cortner's book, you'll come away agreeing with that assessment of Huey "Kingfish" Long - at least regarding the First Amendment.

Long served as Louisiana governor from 1928 until his death in 1935, and in the process changed forever the face of freedom of the press in Louisiana and, quite possibly, the USA. Cortner, a political scientist, chronicles the public life and times of the Kingfish and his battle against the press, focusing on Long's rise to power through his flagrant manipulation of Louisiana government to reward his friends and punish his detractors - among them the Louisiana urban daily press.

In 1930, after a series of critical articles, Long proposed legislation to impose a 15 percent tax on all gross revenues generated by Louisiana newspapers from advertising. He struck again with a bill to empower local DAs to bring suits to enjoin newspapers in their jurisdictions that were "obscene, lewd or lascivious" or "malicious, scandalous or defamatory." Any newspaper found to have violated one of these standards could be permanently enjoined from publishing.

Even by today's standards, these measures would chill freedom of the press in the USA. The effect would have been exponentially so in 1930, when freedom of the press had not yet emerged in the courts as a significant issue. The Louisiana newspaper tax case, Grosjean v. American Press Co., ultimately became one of those cases, which along with Near v. Minnesota, that stands for the proposition that the press, in order to be free as it is meant in the First Amendment, must be unfettered by prior restraint, including economic prior restraint through taxation.

Although the book focuses on one person and his extreme relationship with the media, it also deals with the more general context of government-media relations and their often tenuous balance.

This book is a fascinating read. Unfortunately, it is a scholarly book, with a tiny text typeface, making it unlikely to be found locally. It's worth ordering from the publisher.

Barbara Reinhold, U.W. 1988, is a Columbia County assistant DA, currently on temporary assignment to the Dane County DA's Office.

Private Antitrust Actions: The Structure and Process of Civil Antitrust Litigation

By C. Douglas Floyd and E. Thomas Sullivan (Boston, MA: Little, Brown & Co., 1996). 1,315 pgs. $155.

Reviewed by
Ramon A. Klitzke

The federal government's recent marked reticence to launch broad attacks on antitrust violations has forced impatient lawyers to turn to private litigation. Moreover, the promise of treble damages, joint and several liability, equitable relief, and fees and costs in private antitrust litigation is not without its allure for business competitors struggling against unfair combinations and monopolistic practices.

This comprehensive textbook, Private Antitrust Actions, focuses upon the increasingly important issues of structure and process in private antitrust actions. It does not directly treat the scope of underlying substantive violations. Rather, the authors portray the "dimensions of the playing field" of private federal antitrust litigation.

The chapters are devoted to federal jurisdiction and venue, relationship of federal and state courts, exemptions, governmental immunity, limitations, standing, complex litigation, jury trial and summary judgment, liabilities and remedies, fees and costs, and claim and issue preclusion. The authors review the recent important U.S. Supreme Court decisions that have fundamentally altered the analysis of these subjects. The conduct of all private antitrust litigation has been significantly affected by these cases and this timely textbook should be consulted by specialists in this complex litigation and also by those with a broader litigation practice. Both the plaintiff and defense bars will find this work profitable.

In Private Antitrust Actions, Prof. Floyd and Dean Sullivan create an impressive work that will find its way into law firm and law school libraries alike. While not a casebook, its complete and detailed coverage of every important phase of private federal antitrust litigation is more than suitable for an excellent law school problems seminar.

The necessity for this kind of work to be available to practicing attorneys must be underscored. The work is current, comprehensive and balanced. It treats its topics in a depth that is not available in existing works devoted to the substantive antitrust prohibitions themselves. It fills an important gap in the literature of antitrust law.

The book is very well-organized into logical chapters and chapter sections. Full and complete footnotes support the text. Comprehensive tables of cases and secondary authorities are provided. There is an excellent index.

Ramon A. Klitzke is Professor Emeritus, Marquette University Law School, where he taught antitrust, intellectual property and administrative law.

Reflections of the Dream, 1975-1994:
Twenty Years Celebrating the Life
of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Edited by Clarence G. Williams (Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 1996). 332 pgs. $17.50. To order, call (800) 356-0343

Reviewed by
James J. Casey Jr.

Among the problems facing America, few are intractable as the chasm that separates minorities (particularly Black America) from mainstream America (primarily White America). Three decades since the passage of the landmark civil rights legislation, much has improved in terms of minorities rights and opportunities, but continued inequities exist.

Reflections of the Dream, 1975-1994: Twenty Years of Celebrating the Life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, tackles this quandary through a series of provocative speeches spanning 20 years. Each year MIT holds a symposium celebrating and examining the life and teachings of Dr. King, and editor Clarence G. Williams has selected from the symposia speeches and presentations representative of the years 1975 through 1994, with an open letter to House Speaker Gingrich in 1995 as an appendix. One is struck by how each speech reflects its time. The speeches as a whole recount and document the major factual events in the modern Civil Rights era, beginning with Rosa Parks' refusal to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus in December 1955 so that a white man could sit.

For example, the selections of the 1970s express hope that Dr. King's dreams would be realized. Selections from the 1980s reflect increasing pessimism that the country's conservative shift and election of Republican presidents would lead to retrenchment of economic, political and social rights and opportunities for minorities. President Clinton's election in 1992 led to a reemergence in these speeches of hope that the country would address such problems once again. Most of the Black speakers are decidedly Democrat in political orientation, and one must be concerned about the absence of "conservative" Black speakers in this collection.

Since Dr. King was assassinated in April 1968, much has been written about whether the Black community bears any responsibility for its continuing economic, political and social struggles. None of the authors in this compilation address this topic, and it is a glaring omission. It is an intellectual point of great importance and a major criticism of this collection. It is almost as if Black intellectuals are afraid to criticize their own people for fear of being labeled closet racists or supporters of the "white superstructure." But Black irresponsibility over the past 30 years does not legitimize racism. It calls for greater communication and understanding between the races. And none of the speeches address the simple fact that other minority groups who have been in America a shorter time seem to have done better in that time - another deficiency.

At the 1994 symposium, Coretta Scott King claimed that her husband "saw America not as a melting pot, but as a vibrant mosaic of people of all races, religions and other ethnic groups. We need not surrender our group identities, he felt." This is a point of major importance when understanding race relations. Traditionally, it has been felt that America succeeds because it is a melting pot of people of different races, religions and ethnic identities. Assimilation is the key process here. At best, Dr. King's call would lead to harmony. At worst, maintenance of separate identities - marginally calling themselves "Americans" - will lead to political, economic and social Balkanization of the United States - a disturbing prospect.

This collection is highly desirable reading on civil rights and race relations because it informs the reader and stimulates thought.

James J. Casey Jr., Dayton 1988, is a sponsored program officer in the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs at Northwestern University.

Wisconsin Juvenile Law Handbook

Virginia A. Pomeroy and Gina M. Pruski (Madison, WI: State Bar of Wisconsin CLE Books, 1996). Forms on disk. $115.

Reviewed by
Gregory Posner-Weber

This may be the largest "hand-book" published by the State Bar of Wisconsin. Certainly it is one of the most useful. The skill and enthusiasm of the authors is laudable, as is their effort to address virtually every aspect of practice under revised chapter 48 (the Children's Code) and newly enacted chapter 938 (the Juvenile Justice Code) of the Wisconsin Statutes.

The Wisconsin Juvenile Law Handbook is intended for both the juvenile law specialist and the general practitioner who is thrust into the confusing world of the juvenile court system. While the authors are attorneys for the Office of the State Public Defender, careful writing and editorial review have produced an essentially nonpartisan guide to juvenile court practice. Practice commentary is clearly identified as such; it most often reflects the point of view of adversary counsel.

The handbook begins with a general discussion of the statutory and constitutional rights and responsibilities of the parties involved in the various types of juvenile court litigation. Jurisdiction and venue questions receive detailed analysis, with the following chapters addressing each chronological step in juvenile court proceedings. Recognizing the importance of certain issues in juvenile court litigation, the authors devote individual chapters to waiver of juvenile court jurisdiction in delinquency cases, confidentiality, termination of parental rights and the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act. Each chapter is well-organized and supported by appropriate citation to statute and case law. In situations where the law on a particular matter is unsettled, the authors present cogent and well-reasoned analysis to support their conclusions.

Especially useful are the chapters devoted to juvenile court motion practice and fact-finding hearings. Far too often, practitioners who are unfamiliar with the nuances of juvenile court proceedings simply treat their cases the same way they would treat a criminal prosecution - with predictably disastrous consequences for all concerned. Anyone facing a fully contested juvenile court matter will be inadequately prepared without closely reviewing the handbook.

This book will be a useful addition to the library of the private practitioner, the district attorney, the corporation counsel, the guardian ad litem and the juvenile court judge. There is no question that the recent modification of chapter 48 and the creation of chapter 938 generated a need for a comprehensive practice manual. The handbook is currently the only authoritative source in this field. It merits this distinction, and is likely to retain it for years to come.

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Gregory M. Posner-Weber, Marquette 1987, is an assistant attorney general for the Wisconsin Department of Justice. He concentrates in criminal matters involving children and youth.