Tim Moynahan has been practicing law longer than many readers of this post have been alive. He's a hero of mine, and so I asked him to read my new book, Taking Back the Courts. Here is his take. I hope it inspires you to read the book, which available at Amazon.com.
"One of Norm Pattis’ heroes, Clarence Darrow remarked, “Inside every lawyer is a wreck of a poet.”Read this book! It possesses the lyricism of a sensitive and learned intellect, the unembellished integrity of a seeker of fundamental fairness and equality before the bar of justice and it heartily expounds a criticism of our justice system that is always constructive , sometimes excruciatingly, painfully so. Like a jilted and heartbroken lover who yearns for the return of his ideal, the author pleads his case for an enlightened, truly impartial judiciary on behalf of all who come within the ambit and intimidating power of our criminal courts, but, especially, for those against whom the deck of life has been stacked, essentially abandoned, bereft of resources, without hope. As a defense lawyer, I know the shortcomings of our system, I know how defendant’s are too often treated like interchangeable parts on an assembly line, how legislatures have breached what should be the sacrosanct doctrine of separation of powers and how woefully uninstructed jurors are when a fully informed jury would be considered to have a hampering effect upon unfettered State domination. This is an easy book for lawyer and layman alike, filled with tales of real life, tragedies and losses, triumphs, aspirations and hopes. Pattis, ever irrepressible, especially when saddened and disappointed, takes us into combat, to the front lines, and reveals he is one of those lawyers, who provide the last line of defense , who are, indeed, `liberty’s last champion.'"