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Like many spouses of major media figures, Alan Dershowitz's wife doesn't always
recognize the guy who looks like her husband but says such strange things on television.
She even has a name for that guy: sound-bite Dersh.
Most people know Alan Dershowitz from his cinematic doppelganger, played by Ron Silver, in
the film Reversal of Fortune. They may also know him from his blockbuster book,
CHUTZPAH; or, more likely, from his involvement in the O. J. Simpson case, for which he
signed on to be the appellate counsel, if one became necessary. They may also know that
Dershowitz is a respected professor at Harvard Law School, an opponent of anti-pornography
feminism and a patron of nude beaches. Clearly there are a lot of levels to this
"sound-bite Dersh." But if his book, LETTERS TO A YOUNG LAWYER, is any
indication, Dersh in his own words isn't a whole lot different from Dersh on
"Geraldo."
Like many successful people, Alan Dershowitz is incredibly single-minded. It's curious
that he chooses the Talmud as his touchstone for matters of justice, because unlike the
famously equivocating ancient rabbis, he tends to approach legal matters with the surety
of a true Christian. His basic texts are the U. S. Constitution and the U. S. legal code,
but his faith in them could be no more steadfast if they
came down from Sinai.
The central argument of LETTERS TO A YOUNG LAWYER is simple and clear: In an oppositional
system of justice it is the obligation of the defense counsel to seek what is best for his
client and not necessarily what serves the interest of Justice as he perceives it
--- Justice is bigger than any one person, however well informed that person may be. In
other words, defense lawyers must "zealously" (Dershowitz's word) defend their
client's interests, even if they know their client to be guilty. So, what looks like a
shyster lawyer springing a scumbag client for big money is actually the closest thing
you'll see to perfect justice on earth in action. And the better the lawyer is at using
"technicalities" to overturn a sentence, the more he is achieving in the name of
Justice.
The O. J. case provided the perfect example of how hard this idea is for the public to
swallow. Shows like "LA Law" made it their stock in trade to depict cases
in which defendants, who appeared to be guilty as sin, were set free by clever lawyers who
found ways to exclude the prosecution's evidence. The deep-seated feelings of disgust that
such cases instill in most people is a great source of dramatic tension. Alan Dershowitz
realizes this and uses it to create great public theater, PR, whatever.
What Dershowitz's motives are for stirring up so much trouble is an open question.
Dershowitz would claim that his actions are entirely in the interest of educating the
public about our legal system. His critics would claim that they are in the interest of
making Dershowitz a bigger celebrity. Perhaps they're both correct; therein lies the
beauty of Alan Dershowitz the public figure.
All this is good and well, but what is notably missing from LETTERS TO A YOUNG LAWYER is
any of the pedagogical advice that its title would imply the book is chock full of. With
the exception of a few chapters of pat wisdom like "Don't Limit Your Options by
Making a Lot of Money," Dershowitz seems to see the book as an opportunity to further
his own agenda. Despite his impassioned thoughts on the importance of mentors, he doesn't
end up offering much of any advice to young lawyers that they couldn't have gleaned from
"sound-bite Dersh."
To his credit, Dershowitz does offer an apologia of the book's weaknesses in the
introduction. If a young lawyer took the time to read it before purchasing the book, they
would know that Dershowitz believes that career advice should be "retail" not
"off the rack" (an almost hilariously stereotypical choice of metaphor). What he
proposes to offer instead of career advice is a blueprint for improving the state of the
law as a whole; and as someone versed in the distinction between a zealous defense and
absolute justice must know, the two are hardly the same thing.
--- Reviewed by Fred Kovey
© Copyright 1996-2008, Bookreporter.com. All rights reserved.
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