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4 out of 4 stars
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I wanted to be an attorney when I was younger. The allure of standing in front of a judge to argue my case was a lot, I’ll admit. I dreamt of doing great things in defense of the law, all while earning a lot of money. Why Trial Attorneys Have Gray Hair by Richard T. Sinrod, Esq., is, to put it mildly, exactly why that dream no longer exists.
The book is a collection of stories in no particular order, each one focusing on one of Sinrod’s more memorable cases. He claims to want to use them as a teaching tool for future attorneys, an argument that does have some merit, but mostly they’re quite anecdotal and fun. Ranging from his cases in criminal defense to cases in tort law, we’re treated to a diverse range of litigation and settlements that pull at the heartstrings.
My personal favourite was the story about the Eagle Scout candidate who was injured at camp, though the story of Walter and the implication about his past was a close second. There were also stories involving matrimonial disputes and car accidents, some of them quite moving while others were sort of bland.
Still, I think it deserves 4 out of 4 stars After all, the book sets out to provide stories from the author’s life that others can learn from, and so it does.
I had a lot of fun with this book. While no story was as exciting as film and television tend to make court litigation seem, each one was interesting in its own way. For example, Sinrod’s case with Ahmed Cortese, a dangerous paranoid schizophrenic, was instructive in when to cut your losses and run. However, Valerie’s story, the very last one of the book, was heartbreaking in too many ways to count.
Sinrod’s tone was also very helpful in keeping my interest. He was friendly and inviting, never using too much jargon that would be confusing to me as a reader. I think this helped a lot while reading, as some of the cases he took were cases I didn’t agree with. However, due to how he presented them, I was still able to enjoy reading about how he handled them and the tricks he used to win.
That so many of these cases came down to how he could evoke a particular response from jurors wasn’t surprising. What surprised me was when Sinrod was able to manipulate even the most mundane of rules to his advantage. It was both brilliant and more than a little terrifying that so many loopholes could be found and used in this way, I think.
The book was also really well-edited, and the language was mostly clean. I think I only found one error in the whole thing, and it was a minor one at best. Given the nature of the book and Sinrod’s occupation, I expected this, but it was still a delight to be able to read about his cases without the distraction that such errors usually provide.
There’s not much else I can say about this. There wasn’t anything I didn’t like, and I really did enjoy myself while reading. I practically sped through the book because of that. It’s why I feel comfortable with my rating, and I do recommend reading it if you’re interested in fun, light stories about trials and court experiences.
Happy reading, everyone!
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Why Trial Attorneys Have Gray Hair
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