With Justice for None: Destroying an American Myth [Paperback]

Gerry Spence (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1990

The famed trial lawyer best known for his work in the Karen Silkwood case here provides a penetrating, passionate look at the American justice system. His message is urgent and provocative: American citizens without wealth or power will rarely receive justice.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Passionately eloquent and innovative, trial attorney Spense ( Gunning for Justice , etc.) here argues the evils of the justice system itself and its abuse by monied interests such as corporations, "the most cruel, calculating, and accomplished criminals of all time." Convicted of crime, corporations are spared admission of guilt by buying their way out with payment of fines, he charges, while the poor are punished. The author's bold reforms for more efficient judicial procedures include the drafting of judges in the manner of juries, revision of law school admission criteria, along with curricula stressing clinical studies and designed to produce lawyers with conscience. He also advocates prosecution and jail terms for corporate managers who break the law, confiscation of crime-derived profits and/or punitive damage awards. First serial to New Age Journal.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

Spence, one of America's most famous trial attorneys (he represented Karen Silkwood), takes on the whole legal system--the law schools, the attorneys, the judiciary, and so on--and tells where he believes it is going wrong. Justice is reserved only for those with wealth and power, he says, and most lawyers only care about top-dollar corporate clients, not about ordinary citizens. His ideas for improvement range from idealistic to impractical (such as drafting judges from a pool of trial lawyers). Spence pulls no punches in giving his views, and often becomes bombastic: He appears to consider himself one of the few good lawyers left. Readers will find some good information about the legal system, and more about Spence than they may wish to know. An optional purchase for public and law libraries.
- Sally G. Waters, Stetson Law Lib., St. Petersburg, Fla.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 370 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (October 1, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140133259
• ISBN-13: 978-0140133257
• Product Dimensions: 4.9 x 1 x 7.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #422,531 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Gerry Spence has been a trial attorney for more than five decades and proudly represents "the little people." He has fought and won for the family of Karen Silkwood, defended Randy Weaver at Ruby Ridge, and represented hundreds of others in some of the most notable trials of our time. He is the founder of Trial Lawyer's College, a nonprofit school where, pro bono, he teaches attorneys for the people how to present their cases and win against powerful corporate and government interests. He is the author of fifteen books, including The New York Times bestseller How to Argue and Win Every Time, From Freedom to Slavery, Give Me Liberty, and The Making of a Country Lawyer, and is a nationally known television commentator on the famous trials of our time. He lives in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Truth Hurts, June 12, 2000

By 

Larry B. Lee - See all my reviews

This review is from: With Justice for None: Destroying an American Myth (Paperback)

I have been involved in a civil lawsuit against a multinational megacorporation, and I have seen the truth that Gerry Spence speaks of "from the inside out."

... Too many of our lawyers entered the legal profession because of the perceived "lucrative nature" of law practice rather than from the standpoint of delivering justice for the people.

The quality of advocacy in our free country is very poor because of the focus on "money" and "prestige" rather than "justice."

I highly recommend this book to anyone who desires to understand the truth. Be warned that the truth hurts.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars problems AND solutions, March 13, 2002

By 

Lubug (St. Paul, MN, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: With Justice for None: Destroying an American Myth (Paperback)

I'm a lawyer, and this is my favorite book about the law. There are so many social issue books in the world that spend a great deal of time describing a problem and then just leave you with it. Not so this one. The book has paired chapters -- the problem with judges/some ideas for fixing it, the problem with law schools/some ideas for fixing them. He has obviously spent many years talking and observing and thinking about what really is wrong with our justice system, synthesizing the good ideas that are out there, and adding his own wise solutions.

Yes, Gerry Spence has defended some pretty unpopular people. He probably took the most heat for his defense of Imelda Marcos. And he does not apologize for this. BUT he is a believer in a true system of advocacy, and if more lawyers were like him, he would lose more often at their competent hands.

Spence has made many mistakes in his personal life and hasn't been perfect in his professional life either. (His stories of his days as an insurance lawyer, grabbing every last crumb from people in despair, aren't pretty.) I think the world would be a much better place if everyone were as comfortable confessing the things they've done wrong as he is.

In all, a brilliant lawyer, complex man, and fine writer. Reading this will make you interested in intricacies of the law you never thought you would care about. He will show you why some of these insignificant seeming details have crucial influences on justice in America and the lack thereof.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring, and depressing..., June 27, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: With Justice for None: Destroying an American Myth (Paperback)

A lot has happened to society in general, and the practice of law, in particular, since Spence wrote this book.

On the one hand, inspiring stories of how the system is made to work in spite of its nature are countered with the cold, hard fact that the house usually wins.

On the other hand, the world has changed - dramatically - since Spence wrote this book.

I admire Spence as a writer, and admired Spence as a lawyer until I saw his slipshod defenses of Simpson, and Clinton; the world changed, and Gerry didn't.

His later writings seem to be of a man who is aware that things -the institutional structures of society, including the legal system - are falling apart, and he does not see the relationship between Simpson walking free, and a society that
saw how poorly our interests are protected by our nominal defenders.

From the feeling of helplessness in the face of Evil - thank you, Judge Ito - a lot of people aren't overly concerned
with the fine points of what the practice of Constitional law has become.

They want to be able to sleep at night in peace, and walk the streets without fear.

He displayed an awesome prescience when he said that, today, many people would reject the Bill of Rights out of hand.

That's for openers.