The Young Lawyer's Jungle Book: A Survival Guide
Author: Thane Josef Messinger
List Price: $18.95
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ISBN: 1888960191
Publisher: The Fine Print Pr Ltd
Sales Rank: 79,646
Average Customer Rating: 3.72 out of 5
Customer Reviews
Rating: 2 out of 5
An ugly description of lawyers and law practice.
Mr. Messinger's book proposes that first-year associates can get ahead in the law business by looking right, talking right, and by playing duplicitous games of masks and daggers with their employers and coworkers. In defense of his advice, the author says that he's just describing the world as it is and not as it should be. Aside from the pervasive amoral attitude, the book is not all bad; the author is intelligent, and his generous advice about the basics of legal research, writing, and client relationships is sound. But his foul calculus of manipulation strikes me as a con. In effect, the author excuses the misery of associate life by saying, "Suffer, sublimate your soul, and do what you can to make partner. After that, the money will make up for your lost youth, and you can buy back whatever joy you gave up."As a matter of fact, the author's own life refutes the theme of his book. Mr. Messinger experienced life as an associate at a respected Honolulu law firm first-hand, and is admittedly well-qualified to write about that world. But his reaction to the practice of pinstripe law was to move to a remote tropical island where he lived a decidedly more relaxed life than the one he advocates in his book.
Rating: 5 out of 5
An excellent book, loaded with good information.
I have found this to be an excellent book on the practice of law. After nearly two years in a medium-sized, boutique law firm, I think the situations and advice of the author are on-point. The book is a bit unconventional, but after a few chapters, I found it well-written and really funny, which makes it a lot easier to digest. I recommend this book to all new lawyers. It has information you won't find anywhere else - including stuff nobody ever mentioned to me - and you might pay a hundred bucks to duplicate it, if you could find a "Senior" lawyer who cared enough to tell you everything written in the book. Five stars - a definite "buy."
Rating: 5 out of 5
A helpful book for the new attorney
This book includes solid advice for the new attorney. The problem most new lawyers have is not that they're not smart, but that they don't know what to do, and sometimes even how to behave in a profession setting. I recommend this book to all of our new associates. (Actually, it's quite humorous in parts.) Every one of them has told me that it has helped them in their jobs and in their relationships with senior partners. (One senior partner even told me he was impressed with how much better one associate was behaving. I didn't have the heart to tell him that this book was the reason why.) Strongly recommended. Similar Products
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