Trial and Error: The Education of a Courtroom Lawyer [Hardcover]

John C. Tucker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 22, 2003 | Series: Illinois

Trial and Error is a legal memoir that gives an unvarnished account of life as one of America's leading trial lawyers; detailing the path from nervous novice to the top of the legal profession. In 1958, John C. Tucker began a legal career that would lead the Chicago Tribune to call him "one of Chicago's finest and most idiosyncratic trial lawyers." Now, in a book reminiscent of Scott Turow's classic One L, Tucker employs painstaking honesty and fascinating detail to illuminate the difficult steps in learning the trial trade and the reality of life as one of the country's leading civil and criminal trial lawyers. Free of the impenetrable language and self-congratulation found in the memoirs of many trial lawyers' memoirs, Tucker skillfully chronicles an extraordinary variety of engrossing cases. From the infamous 1969 trial of the "Chicago Eight" war protesters—including Abbie Hoffman, Tom Hayden and Bobbie Seale, heard before the notorious Judge Julius Hoffman—to one of the most important civil rights cases of the era, the Supreme Court decision that spelled the death knell for the corrupt political patronage system in Mayor Daley's Chicago, Tucker's career spanned three decades of legal landmarks. In Trial and Error Tucker becomes the star witness whose crisp prose and penetrating voice carries readers rung by rung up the legal ladder, altering common misconceptions of lawyers and their craft. Relating both the highs and lows, while also recounting tales from the trial of a giant Mafia gambling ring to a legal showdown with heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali, Tucker gives aspiring young attorneys, law students, recent graduates, and all fans of courtroom drama—and comedy—the chance to see it all through the eyes of the man in the middle of the ring.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Midlife crisis or not, at 51 Tucker made an unusual career move: he gave up his partnership and six-figure income with the prestigious Chicago law firm of Jenner and Block to write about legal issues that interested him. In his newest (after May God Have Mercy), he turns to professional autobiography and chronicles several of the major cases that shaped his views about the law. Mercifully, they transcend the kind of "war stories" too often told by middle-aged lawyers at cocktail parties. Tucker argued twice before the Supreme Court: his first case involved the question of mental illness and a person's competency to stand trial; the second concerned the controversial practice of patronage hiring (and firing). Tucker prevailed in each, although his first client subsequently fired him for suggesting the use of an insanity defense, even though this was the very issue that had been taken to the Supreme Court. Tucker takes it in stride: "I had long since learned that a client's gratitude is a fragile reed." Despite great material, however, Tucker displays a couple of unfortunate tendencies that lessen the book's impact. First, there's frequently more detail than the general reader needs and, as a result, Tucker's points are buried by needless digressions and asides. Second, while he makes no bones about his biases, sometimes the potshots that he takes at his legal adversaries, particularly Chief Justice Rehnquist, are so unwarranted that they undercut Tucker's credibility. These reservations aside, the author enjoyed the kind of career that most lawyers dream about, and his reflections will be of interest to those in the profession.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Tucker, a respected lawyer and retired partner in a prestigious Chicago law firm, highlights some of his most interesting cases and casts light on a past era that still resonates with us today. Tucker recounts his baptism in practical trial experience, his firm's pro bono criminal representation, and his appearances before the U.S. Supreme Court, all of which provided insights into social and racial disparities. His firm undertook the landmark Contract Buyer League case, ultimately losing the case but still casting some light on a dual racial housing market and its inequities, which persist to this day. His most famous public interest case was the defense of the Chicago Eight, the major protesters involved in the demonstrations at the 1968 Democratic convention that provoked police violence. Tucker's client list has included Mafia affiliates as well as heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali. Tucker provides a glance at high courtroom drama as well as the flaws in our judicial system, offering an excellent read for those interested in popular American culture and the legal system. Vernon Ford
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books; First Edition edition (January 22, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786711132
• ISBN-13: 978-0786711130
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #699,745 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #93 in Books > Law > Procedures & Litigation > Trial Practice

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars disregard the marketing-focus on the first-rate war stories, June 3, 2005

By 

Donovan G. Rinker "donoglen" (Cambridge, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Trial and Error: The Education of a Courtroom Lawyer (Hardcover)

John Tucker offers a wealth of tactical insights gleaned from an impressive career as a litigator, mixing the pathos of legal practice for good causes with the legal theories deployed on behalf of a wide array of clients.

By striving for objectivity, Tucker avoids the self-aggrandizing tone of some other such memoirs and instead focuses on the meaty tactics, the rush to file, the strategies behind certain suits, and a bit of background to explain why things mattered to him. The diverse cases he litigated at every level, from initial motions to the Supreme Court, are presented fairly. Many are not the blockbuster cases one might have heard of - esp. Clark v. Universal Builders - the case Tucker fought for harder than any other, and though he ended up losing in court, some sort of justice prevailed. Tucker's may be the only enduring account, and as such, he offers a gift to litigators and civil rights activists alike.

Two flaws: first, the promotional packaging focuses on the Chicago Eight case, in which Tucker played a small part, as if it were the focus of the book. It's not. In some 20 pages of 360, Tucker explores it and moves on. Lazy publisher might not have read further...More relevant, Tucker evades criticizing his partners and associates (his piercing critique of Judge Hoffman drips with justified acidity), dropping only a subtle hint about other frictions. But that's a forgivable indulgence: who could fault him for refraining from offering anything but praise for mentors and colleagues?

Tucker's career is a model for litigators worthy of emulating. While much has changed since he started practicing, the ongoing struggle for justice (and clients able to pay for it) goes on.

A must read for future litigators, if only for the tactical insights.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An extraordinary insight into the law and lawyers, September 3, 2003

By 

Jerry Saperstein (Evanston, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Trial and Error: The Education of a Courtroom Lawyer (Hardcover)

For any who lack faith in the America's legal system or think all lawyers are worthy subjects of jokes, Tucker's book is the proverbial lightbulb in the cave. Tucker recounts his journey through a lengthy career as a trial lawyer and along the way demonstrates that our judicial system, while short of perfect, is still the best in the world. Tucker helped the poor, the wealthy, the politically powerful and powerless and the reviled through the judicial system. Some cases he won; some he lost.
Win or lose, however, Tucker fought the good fight for his clients, often pro bono.
His story is complete. He reveals the importance of trial preparation -- an element that truly separates competent lawyers from their clumsy brethern (the latter of which I always seem to retain; while the former retain me as an expert witness). Tucker tells some wonderful stories about judges, good and bad. Like Tucker, I am from the Chicago area and am very familiar with bad judges. Tucker discloses that there have been many good judges in the area as well and provides useful insight into their judicial reasoning.
All in all, a wonderful book that will redeem lost faith in our judicial system. "Trial and Error" is not a courtroom thriller: it is far better than one -- it's real life and I for one am glad that Tucker decided to take the time to write his memoir. It is well worth reading.

Jerry

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A PRIMER ON THE LAW....FOR EVERYONE, July 15, 2003

By 

Brady Buchanan (Henderson, NV United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Trial and Error: The Education of a Courtroom Lawyer (Hardcover)

Twenty-one different courtroom cases are covered in this book by a most successful attorney who has his head on straight; by that I mean he mixes the intricacies of the law with living a "normal" life. He certainly puts in long hours in preparation, but that goes along with his job. The author states, "In the American Legal System, a lawyer's job is not to seek justice, but to win the case for his client." He relates many interesting cases, but two exceptional ones are defending a rapist who is truly mentally defective and one about defending the "Chicago Eight" in 1968. A lot of detailed information about that political incident is fascinating. Mr. Tucker does a lot of pro bono work and one of this type was defending the Contract Buyers League in Chicago...a race conflict of great proportions. Fine writing delineates complex legal cases that are most understandable.