Martin has succeeded in providing a primer filled with tongue-in-cheek humor and wry observations about the law, the people who practice it, and those who need legal services. How to Hire an Honest Lawyer provides plenty of material for the novice basher to use when he or she feels out of place at the next cocktail or dinner party. After all, when everyone else is trading horror stories about divorce, bankruptcy, and the schemes of the attorneys hired to save their collective hides, a hapless non-litigant needs to hold up one end of the conversation.
But How to Hire an Honest Lawyer... and other Oxymorons is not a simple joke book. Throughout every chapter Martin gives judicious advice. Among his quips and razor-wit descriptions of attorneys, paralegals and legal secretaries, are cogent suggestions for evaluating lawyers, determining the seriousness of cases, and coping with the long process of litigation. The author may take great pleasure in poking fun at the whole judicial system, but he clearly respects the law. Readers will gain important insights and perspectives while laughing through this hilarious guide to the vagaries of choosing the elusive "honest attorney."
