The Curmudgeon's Guide to Practicing Law (Paperback)

by Mark Herrmann (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
This collection of essays written by The Curmudgeon, offers practical, honest and you need to know this advice for surviving and thriving in a law firm. The book covers the basics of law practice and law firm etiquette, from doing effective research and writing to dressing for success, dealing with staff and clients and building a law practice. Concise, humorous and full of valuable (albeit curmudgeonly) insight, this is a must-read for every newly minted law school graduate or new lawyer.

From the Back Cover
The Curmudgeon has been practicing law for just a little too long, and he may be too jaded for his own good. Beneath his crusty exterior, however, lies a fount of wisdom. The Curmudgeon knows everything about the legal profession, and he's willing to share his keen observations from the corner office. He offers practical and honest, if blunt, advice for surviving and thriving in a law firm. He tells you what you need to know about billing, managing your assistant, drafting internal memos, dealing with clients and building your law practice. Read the Curmudgeon and find out what drives law partners crazy, what will impress them and what ten mistakes you should avoid. Concise, humorous and full of valuable (but curmudgeonly) insight, this is a must-read for every lawyer and law student. "The Curmudgeon cuts to the chase about how to practice law successfully. . . .Instructive, insightful, ... and just plain fun!"

-- Gary Garfield, General Counsel, Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire, LLC.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: American Bar Association (March 25, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590316762
• ISBN-13: 978-1590316764
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #77,759 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Succinct, valuable insights for any young law student or lawyer, April 12, 2007

By	Bart Motes (Miami, Florida) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Mark Herrmann has provided an extraordinary gift to the legal community. The Curmudgeon's guide is well written and precise in its well-informed commentary. The author, a partner at Jones Day, has a sense of humor and a gift for succinct, valuable insights, the likes of which professors and senior lawyers rarely divulge. To read this book is to stumble on such secrets of the temple as to refashion the mind of a young law student or lawyer. To give but one example, I had wondered, during my summer, why, when I had provided my partner with some useful and succinct legal analysis and fact finding, I was rewarded with a terse "Good work," and a lot more work and why, when I had rushed through a job and provided him with a rambling memo, I would not hear from him for a week. Now I know. Feedback on assignments is so scarce in law firms, it is difficult to parse the code that your superiors traffic in. Curmudgeon resolved my confusion immediately: he notes that when he gets good product from associates, he rewards them with more and better work. When he doesn't, he simply ignores them. Work is the life blood of a lawyer, and the better quality work you can get assigned, the better your work experience and your career will be. Curmudgeon's guide resolves so many questions before they are asked, it really should be a bible for anyone starting their legal career. I am certain that the great lack that this book meets is the result of a lack of time and not malicious intent on the part of our would be mentors, but it doesn't undercut the extraordinary generosity of this tough love book. The tone may be grumpy, but an avuncular grumpiness that is very welcome. Please read this concise tome of invaluable wisdom. Or don't. My own career is not established, so I can ill-afford the informed competition that the reader of this book would present. But if you do read it, you'll find it useful, fun, and too damn short.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Practical, To-the-Point, Real-World Advice, February 11, 2007

By	Marissa Bracke "Can-Do-Ologist & Perpetual Cu... (Ossian, Indiana (United States)) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The Curmudgeon gives the kind of advice that a new attorney would (or, at least, should) want to receive from someone who's been successful in the field for a long time. One of the most helpful chapters involves the "real world" approach to writing briefs or memos--and it's not the way you're taught in law school. The Curmudgeon does not pretend that Law Review or Moot Court mean much in his world, and instead focuses on the core traits a new attorney is expected to perfect to be useful to his or her colleagues and clients. Another helpful chapter is written from the legal assistant's point of view. This is a rarely addressed area that new attorneys are usually left to tackle all by themselves, but the attorney-assistant dynamic is vital, and the "Listen up kid, I'll tell it like it is" approach that The Curmudgeon takes to addressing it is realistic, practical, and helpful.

Reading this book felt like having a conversation with a mentor of whom I wasn't afraid to ask any question, and who wasn't afraid to tell me exactly what he thought. It felt like a glimpse into the mind of a senior partner. Of course, no opinion in the legal world is unanimous, and the advice in this book is no different. But following the advice of The Curmudgeon is certainly a great way to get off on the right foot, and you can always tailor the advice he gives to best fit the office in which you wind up working.

(Actually, an excerpt from this book was discussed at my firm's orientation meeting, and it was suggested that we read the book as a good jumping-off point to start adjusting from law school to real-world.)

The book is a fast read, but it's one that can be read many times over, with new points being caught during each read.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book should be passed out at EVERY first associate orientation!, February 2, 2007

By	Kharabella "Kharabella" (Somewhere in the midwest . . .) - See all my reviews

This book is fairly expensive, especially for being so small. (Almost pocket sized, and only 135 pages.) But it is work the money. With a hint of humor, Herrmann the Curmudgeon gives great advice, and very succintly. It cannot be retierated about how much his advice is on point. I plan to recommend the book to all the new attorneys that I know.