Series in Judges
Books in Judges
A Brilliant and Appalling Life
The colourful – and often questionable – life of one of Toronto’s leading criminal lawyers In two separate trials in Toronto courtrooms in the spring of 1962, two men were convicted of two different murders. Their names were Arthur Lucas and Ronald Turpin, and when they were hanged back to back on the gallows at the Don Jail, they entered into history as the last men whom Canada executed. The same criminal lawyer defended both Lucas and Turpin at their dramatic trials. His name was Ross MacKay, just thirty years old and appearing in his first two murder cases. Devastated by the hangings, driven to alcoholism, he endured disbarment, homelessness, and a drug charge of his own before he rallied to become a criminal lawyer of the top rank in both trial and appeal work. MacKay never looked like a man pointed toward a life of endless travail. He was movie-star handsome, intelligent, charming and funny, irresistible to women and a man's man who played cards till the sun came up – often with his clients, many of whom became friends. These attributes weren't always enough to shield him from his own flaws and from the burdens heaped on him by his criminal clients. Yet each time MacKay was knocked flat by events, he rallied. His was a story of redemption and, as told in this compelling book, it is a story that is both shocking and inspirational.
Animal QC: My Preposterous Life
GARY BELL QC appears to be a pillar of the Establishment - one of Britain's leading lawyers, with his own BBC TV show, an entry in Who's Who, and a wife whose family are listed in Burke's Landed Gentry. But beneath the horsehair wig and silk gown is a very unusual barrister indeed - and his life story is astonishing and hilarious. Born to a teenaged cigarette factory worker and a nineteen-year-old miner, he grew up in a condemned slum terrace and then a Nottinghamshire pit village, and left his tough comprehensive without taking any exams. He followed his father down the mine but promptly quit because of his lifelong fear of the dark, and spent the next decade either homeless or working in a strange variety of jobs. Asda shelf-stacker, Pork Farms pie maker, door-to-door rag salesman, fruit machine technician, fireman, lawnmower mechanic, bricklayer, pet food warehouse fork lift truck driver… he's done the lot (and was sacked from most of them for incompetence). Along the way, he managed to rack up a conviction for fraud - he worked out how to fiddle those fruit machines - and was also a notorious football hooligan known as 'Animal' (though not for his fighting prowess, he's a terrible coward. Finally pulling himself together in his mid-twenties, he went to university as a mature student, where he stuck out from his younger, public school-educated contemporaries with his stonewashed jeans, skinhead and moustache. So he 'decided to become upper-middle class', adopting tweeds, received pronunciation, and (strictly for his own amusement) an Old Etonian back story. He got so good at this that he went back to his 'old school' to play in Old Boys' Field Game fixtures, and many actual OEs still swear they were at Eton with him. There's much more to say about Gary Bell - international debating champion, award-winning stand-up comic, Beverly Hills lawyer (he was recruited whilst still a student), chronic bedwetter, private pilot, friend of The Village People, devoted dad - but there isn't the space. Now among the country's top defence barristers - his cases are so complex that the papers are not counted but weighed, and they often weigh ten or fifteen tonnes - his preposterous story reads like a strange dream and redefines the word 'amazing', as well as being extremely funny, very moving, and utterly life-affirming.
But Enough About You
An extraordinary wide-ranging collection of essays with “distinctive wordplay and quirky opinions…Christopher Buckley is good company whether you’re looking for two quick pages and a smile, or want to linger” ( The New York Times Book Review ). Christopher Buckley, like his terrific volume But Enough About You , contains multitudes. Tackling subjects ranging from “How to Teach Your Four-Year-Old to Ski” to “A Short History of the Bug Zapper,” and “The Art of Sacking” to literary friendships with Joseph Heller and Christopher Hitchens, he is at once a humorous storyteller, astute cultural critic, adventurous traveler, and irreverent historian. Reading these essays is the equivalent of being in the company of a tremendously witty and enlightening companion. Praised as “both deeply informed and deeply funny” by The Wall Street Journal , Buckley will have you laughing and reflecting in equal measure. This is a rare combination of big ideas and truly fun writing.
Coal Country Killing(With: Steve Jackson)
A triumphant, uplifting true justice story led by jury trial expert, Richard A. Sprague—the indomitable, nationally renowned prosecutor who engaged in the most intense manhunt investigation in police history. Coal Country Killing : A Culture, A Union, And The Murders That Changed It All , revolves around the cold-blooded 1969 assassination of United Mineworkers of America “reform candidate” Jock Yablonski, and murder of his wife and daughter in their Pennsylvania farmhouse. But driving the story are the extraordinary efforts of a tenacious special prosecutor and his “army” of investigators to bring the gunmen, the union boss who ordered the murders, and his henchmen who saw them carried out, to justice. Initially, three bumbling small-time criminals, dubbed “The Hillbilly Hitmen,” were arrested and charged. But they were the tip of the iceberg as the murders were directed by then-UMWA President “Tough Tony” Boyle as revenge for Yablonski running against him in the bitterly contested 1968 union election and to prevent his corruption from being exposed. Up against the tight-lipped culture of Appalachia coal country, legendary Philadelphia homicide prosecutor Richard A. Sprague, and his investigators, spent nearly nine years doggedly working their way up the ladder of those responsible to the final showdown with Boyle. Written by New York Times bestselling authors—former New York County Assistant District Attorney Robert K. Tanenbaum, a lifelong friend of Sprague’s, and Steve Jackson— Coal Country Killing is a tour de force for those who love justice.
Justice Is Served
“The book is a romp from cover to cover—and, just like a great meal, left me ready for more.” —Karen Shimizu, Executive Editor, Food & Wine When Leslie Karst learned that her offer to cook dinner for Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and her renowned tax law professor husband, Marty, had been accepted, she was thrilled—and terrified. A small-town lawyer who hated her job and had taken up cooking as a way to add a bit of spice to the daily grind of pumping out billable hours, Karst had never before thrown such a high-stakes dinner party. Could she really pull this off? Justice Is Served is Karst’s light-hearted, earnest account of the journey this unexpected challenge launched her on—starting with a trip to Paris for culinary inspiration, and ending with the dinner itself. Along the way, she imparts details of Ginsburg’s transformation from a young Jewish girl from Flatbush, Brooklyn, to one of the most celebrated Supreme Court justices in our nation’s history, and shares recipes for the mouthwatering dishes she came up with as she prepared for the big night. But this memoir isn’t simply a tale of prepping for and cooking dinner for the famous RBG; it’s also about how this event, and all the planning and preparation that went into it, created a new sort of connection between Karst, her partner, and her parents, and also inspired Karst to make life changes that would reverberate far beyond one dinner party. A heartfelt story of simultaneously searching for delicious recipes and purpose in life, Justice Is Served is an inspiring reminder that it’s never too late to discover—and follow—your deepest passion.
Learned Friends
Successfully appealing Evelyn Dick's sensational murder conviction. Defending three men charged with espionage in the wake of Igor Gouzenko's defection. Financing law school on the professional football fields. These are a few examples of the experiences described in Learned Friends , a book that looks at the lives and careers of fifty distinguished Ontario advocates who practised between 1950 and 2000. All were singularly devoted to their calling and shared the characteristics of integrity, diligence, and civility. All proved themselves to be leaders of the bar in their respective communities, and their legacies have shaped the practice of litigation in Ontario. Until now, much of what we have known about these advocates, and others like them, has come to us through an oral tradition. Those who were fortunate enough to know these advocates have told stories of their successes, failures, habits, and idiosyncrasies to the next generation. But as time has passed, the need for a more durable record has become increasingly apparent. This beautifully illustrated book has been published as part of The Advocates' Society's Fortieth Anniversary celebrations, as a permanent tribute to talented advocates who are no longer actively litigating or sitting as judges. It acknowledges the significant contributions of remarkable men and women who, in pleading cases in courtrooms across our province, set the standards of excellence to which the current generation of advocates aspires. In so doing, Learned Friends promotes and records the strong and vibrant tradition of advocacy that has long existed in Ontario.
Ross Mackay, The Saga of a Brilliant Criminal Lawyer
The two murder trials held in Toronto in the spring of 1962 only nineteen days apart made Canadian social and legal history. The accused man in each trial, one a pimp who stabbed to death a fellow pimp, the other a thief who killed a policeman in a shootout, were the last two men to be hanged in Canada. In personal terms, for a Toronto criminal lawyer named Ross Mackay, the trials represented just two more episodes in a tumultuous life story. Mackay was the counsel for the accused in both trials, a mere thirty years old when he lost two clients to the gallows. But the trials were far from the last times that Mackay defended accused murderers in the most horrendous circumstances. It’s the story of Mackay’s dedication to the maxim that every man is entitled to a defence that Jack Batten tells in this book, a story that emerges in all its colour, drama and tragedy, a story of Mackay’s courage and the harsh penalties he paid for the often daring and controversial choices he made in life and in the courtroom.
The Autobiography of an Execution
Near the beginning of The Autobiography of an Execution , David Dow lays his cards on the table. "People think that because I am against the death penalty and don't think people should be executed, that I forgive those people for what they did. Well, it isn't my place to forgive people, and if it were, I probably wouldn't. I'm a judgmental and not very forgiving guy. Just ask my wife." It this spellbinding true crime narrative, Dow takes us inside of prisons, inside the complicated minds of judges, inside execution-administration chambers, into the lives of death row inmates (some shown to be innocent, others not) and even into his own home--where the toll of working on these gnarled and difficult cases is perhaps inevitably paid. He sheds insight onto unexpected phenomena-- how even religious lawyer and justices can evince deep rooted support for putting criminals to death-- and makes palpable the suspense that clings to every word and action when human lives hang in the balance.
The Defense Lawyer(With: Benjamin Wallace)
From a master of true crime comes the story of the criminal lawyer who represented everybody from Manuel Noriega to John Gotti to Bernie Goetz—and won every single case. Known for his sharp mind, sharp suits, and bold courtroom strategies, Bronx-native Barry Slotnick is known as the best criminal lawyer in the US. He calls himself “Liberty’s Last Champion.” Slotnick mediates Bette Midler’s bathhouse contract and represents John Gotti, “The Dapper Don.” He defends “Subway Shooter” Bernie Goetz and negotiates future First Lady Melania Trump’s pre-nup. His unparalleled legal brilliance defines a profession, a city—and an era.
The Undoing Project: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds
“Brilliant. . . . Lewis has given us a spectacular account of two great men who faced up to uncertainty and the limits of human reason.” ―William Easterly, Wall Street Journal Forty years ago, Israeli psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky wrote a series of breathtakingly original papers that invented the field of behavioral economics. One of the greatest partnerships in the history of science, Kahneman and Tversky’s extraordinary friendship incited a revolution in Big Data studies, advanced evidence-based medicine, led to a new approach to government regulation, and made much of Michael Lewis’s own work possible. In The Undoing Project, Lewis shows how their Nobel Prize–winning theory of the mind altered our perception of reality.