If I taught a course on how to be a successful criminal, the books of Thomas Perry would be assigned reading. Perry is a master strategist and game player who...
Author: Roy Black
Crime
While glancing through a pile of newspapers, I came across a review of "Crime: Stories" by Ferdinand von Schirach. He is a German criminal defense lawyer writing about a few...
Cross Examination Under Control
One reason, among many, why I love our adversary system of justice is that it gives us one public place where we can rationally and politely debate very serious matters....
Rawhide, Reagan and Storytelling
Not long ago I met a former client and some friends for lunch at the Bel Air Hotel in Los Angeles. The former client regaled the table about her horrible...
The High-Tech Lynching of Barry Bonds
Imagine your worst nightmare. An ex-lover testifying in open court, with all the salacious details spread around the world, that you transformed yourself into a genetically engineered replicant who was...
Lozano: A Tale of Two Cities
Lozano. Just the name conjures up a kaleidoscope of memories. A different time in my life. I still carry the scars of those battles. They so desperately wanted, no needed,...
Clients
I have a confession to make: some of my best ideas have come from clients. This shouldn’t be a shock since who knows the case better than the client? Yet...
Bring Me the Head of Barry Bonds
Headhunting, in ancient cultures, was the taking of an enemy’s head after killing them. It was a matter of prestige. The more things change, the more they stay the same....
Cross-Examination Part 2
Young lawyers and law students are always asking what areas are ripe for cross-examination. Here is a checklist we used when we prepared for a trial several years ago. It...
John Farrell’s Biography of Clarence Darrow
March 13th marked 75 years since the death of Clarence Darrow. I just had the pleasure of reading the manuscript of John Farrell’s new biography of Darrow. I enjoyed...