Four Trials [Paperback]

John Edwards (Author), John Auchard (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 17, 2004

Raised in a small town by parents employed in the local mills, John Edwards worked in those mills himself -- and then went on to become one of America's most successful and respected attorneys. He built a national reputation representing people whose lives had been shattered by corporate recklessness and grievous medical negligence. In landmark cases, Edwards helped people from all walks of life stand up for themselves against tremendous odds. Four Trials provides an electrifying account of four of his cases as it tells the story of the courageous and unmistakably decent people Edwards was privileged to represent in times of tragedy, great loss, and often great joy. And in a deeply moving account, Four Trials also speaks of the tragedies and joys that Senator Edwards has known in his own life -- and how today life and justice are more precious to him than ever.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In his campaigns for the U.S. Senate (successful) and the Democratic presidential nomination (struggling), Edwards has defiantly celebrated his earlier career as a trial lawyer. Following that instinct, Edwards has chosen to cast his campaign memoir as an account of four of his courtroom experiences. Four Trials is brimming with Clintonian empathy for regular folks, and Edwards is at his best in his endearing portraits of the victims he represented in medical malpractice and personal injury lawsuits. He also displays a keen understanding of the psychology of a jury, which he calls "a microcosm of democracy." Edwards weaves in recollections of his youth as the son of a mill worker, his rise to prominence as a lawyer, his dedicated family life and the death of his son in a car accident. But he mostly sticks to the details of the cases; he omits almost entirely his years in the Senate and his plans for the presidency. Edwards can tell a good yarn, and at times this book works as a courtroom drama. But it suffers from shoddy, platitudinous prose. The book is chiefly of interest for the way it manifests Edwards's strategy to present himself as an advocate for the downtrodden to his new jury, the American electorate.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Presidential hopeful Senator John Edwards has cast himself as a crusading legal eagle in this unabashedly self-serving recollection of four of his most memorable trials. Rather than outline his own political agenda or strategy, Edwards delves into his past, positioning himself as a people's advocate. Setting aside initial reservations about being manipulated by yet another egocentric politician cynically attempting to sell himself to the American public, readers may find the details of these cases--two medical malpractice suits, a wrongful death suit, and a corporate negligence suit--compelling in and of themselves. Interwoven with fragments of Edwards' personal life, these courtroom dramas seek to humanize a marginal presidential candidate. Recommended if interest in Edwards' campaign merits purchase--but beware of an early exit from the race. Margaret Flanagan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (August 17, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743272048
• ISBN-13: 978-0743272049
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (67 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,065,171 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

69 of 72 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This Guy Is Running For President?, November 13, 2003

By 

a vet "a vet" (Johnson City, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Four Trials (Hardcover)

I have to admit that I expected the regular political junk from this book, but this guy really can write. It's not a "morning in america " kind of thing -- there's no boring politics. It's just a plain old good roaring read. More like Baldacci or other legal thrillers than "man from hope" self-serving junk. I'm not so sure about this guy's politics (I'm a republican myself) but it doesn't matter.

If you expect an overview of the Clean Air act or something, you can forget it. The stories in this book really hooked me. I'm still amazed that they are real.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Courtroom drama is riveting, November 23, 2004

By 

Woody White "woody white" (Wilmington, NC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Four Trials (Hardcover)

Full disclosure - I am a Republican trial attorney who supports tort reform. And I served briefly in the NC State Senate this year which means as I am sure you would discern, I have some strongly held positions relative to the types of cases that Edwards writes about in this book - suffice it to say that I am certain that he and I would disagree on the issue of tort reform!

But I have also tried many cases in North Carolina Courts and was overwhelmed with the drama of these particular cases. I will leave the debate over malpractice caps, liabilty reform, collateral source rules, etc. to another forum and write solely about the merits of this book. It is an impressive display of a practitioner who is at the top of his game. I have had many trials that were as important to me and my clients as these were to Edwards' and his. Indeed, I would submit that every trial attorney has "war stories' that they think are worthy of a book. What distingusihes our cases from his are the complexity and the depth of his successes. These are not easy cases and as a 31 year old (in the 1st one), he was not handed these victories. When starting out as a trial attorney, one has nothing but his character and work ethic and it is evident to me at least, that Edwards is tops in both these categories. I know about those moments in testimony when a witness says the magic words that either make your case or break it; it is a hair-raising experience when your heart is beating out of your chest, you have 1 preemptory challenge left, and you just passed a "ringer" juror for the other side (or so you think). These things are not theatrics, but happen in EVERY case and are critical to our system of justice. How you prepare for them is what wins you the case or causes you to lose it. Edwards recounts his experiences with fervor and dignity. Like him, I believe our system is a work of art and serves the minority when it should - as long as we have hard-working lawyers not fearful to make a stand and do what they think is right. I am not suggesting that suing OBGYN's for a living is as noble as he might think. My experiences are more on the criminal side when the defendant is indigent, with no family support and who has been virtually forgotten by society. Winning (or losing) these cases has not made me a millionaire. But they have taught me similar lessons as Edwards and in that regard, I can identify with his experiences in the courthouse.

It used to be that the Courthouse was the central part of our small towns. Drive around any North Carolina town today with a population of less than 15,000 and you cannot miss the symbolism - circular drives, intersections that all end in front of the courthouse. Their beautiful rooms were the center of life as our country was forming itself into a nation of laws - they became the cultural center of small town North Carolina. And you can feel the magic of the courtroom within these pages of Edwards book.

I do not support him for President and never would. I am a Republican and do not agree with a lot that he advocates on the national stage. In fact, he is out of the mainstream of most North Carolinians with regards to his political leanings. But do I admire him? Yes. He is a gifted man who sees things in people and in his work that few others even come close to glimpsing. Notwithstanding his politics, he reminds me to look a little closer in the eyes of those folks yearning to be defended, to be helped. He is a good man and it shows in his work ethic as an attorney who cared deeply for his clients.

32 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Four Trials, March 21, 2004

By 

Dan Whipkey (Omaha, NE) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Four Trials (Hardcover)

If you are looking for a candidate's standard election year political manifesto you won't find it here. What you will find is a can't put down page-turner. Sen. Edwards makes no political pronouncements or promises in this book. He has simply written deeply moving accounts of four notable cases he litigated before he became a national political figure. This book rivals anything John Grisham has to offer and what makes these stories so compelling is that they are about real events and real people. Interwoven throughout the book, Edwards gives us glimpses of his own personal story; his blue-collar upbringing, his rise from a young unpolished attorney to a highly successful trial lawyer, and sadly, the tragic death of his own teenage son. The reader will also discover much about the ins-and-outs of our legal system. If you think of personal injury lawsuits as frivolous pursuits by ambulance chasing lawyers this book may just change your mind. Each of the four cases is about deceit and truth, tragedy and triumph, and each is heartbreaking as well as heartwarming. It is encouraging to find that in the end, at least in these cases, righteousness and justice prevails.