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MEDIA REVIEWS The Nine: Inside The Secret World Of The Supreme Court By Jeffrey Toobin Reviewed by Mark Schuck The Nine, authored by Jeffrey Toobin—he of CNN and The New Yorker fame—is a good read. In providing a brief history of the U.S. Supreme Court over the last 20 or so years, The Nine effectively and interestingly weaves short biographies of current and former justices, failed appointees, and notable Supreme Court advocates with descriptions of important cases, opinions, and legal trends over that time period. The book also excels in providing what feels like an insider’s perspective of how Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush determined who they would ultimately appoint to the Court. The Nine is well written, interesting, and worth reading, serving as an entertaining refresher of the major goings-on at the Supreme Court over the last 20 years. The majority of the time covered by Toobin’s book is marked by stability in terms of Court personnel, with the 11-year stretch from 1994 to 2005 representing the longest in the Court’s history in which the same nine justices served. The Nine describes how the jurisprudence of the Court gradually shifted to the left through the mid-1990’s and early-2000’s and how several of the justices’ votes gradually became untethered to the political party-affiliation of the president that appointed him or her. In particular, the three culprits to the conservative movement, as Toobin describes it, are Justices Sandra Day O’Connor, Anthony Kennedy, and David Souter, all appointed by Republican presidents, but frequently siding with the left. Toobin makes a strong case that Justice O’Connor has been the most influential jurist during the last two decades, demonstrated by her casting the swing vote for a striking number of noteworthy decisions. Toobin also foresees an ideological shift to the right with the recent appointments of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito and notes that early decisions of the Roberts Court are beginning to bear this out. The Nine also contains several funny stories. In one passage that reveals how the personalities of the justices can potentially serve as predictors of judicial temperament, Toobin describes how the justices dealt with a “freak snowstorm.” After walking in the waist-deep snow to share a ride with Justice Kennedy and Supreme Court advocate Carter Phillips, Justice Antonin Scalia said:
Amusing anecdotes like that and several others caused me to occasionally wonder just how and from whom Toobin obtained his information. The answer that the book provides is a bit vexing. In his acknowledgements section, Toobin explains that the bulk of the book is based upon his interviews with the justices—though he does not say which of the justices he interviewed—and over 75 of their former clerks. The interviews, however, were done on an unaccredited basis, which means that Toobin could use the material gathered from the interviews but could not attribute the source of the material to anyone. Maybe this is the only way that Toobin could get the interviews or get the justices and clerks to talk, but several times while reading the book, the question “how does he know that?” prompted me to look in the mere six pages of citations and when invariably there was no cite, I was left doubting the credibility of the book, or at least feeling that things had been exaggerated. For example—and these are both minor observations regarding daily lunch routines—Toobin writes that Justice Rehnquist “had a single beer and one cigarette at lunch every day” and that Justice Souter “ate the same thing for lunch every day: an entire apple, including the core and seeds, with a cup of yogurt.” I have no basis for doubting either of these statements, but they both seem, if not untrue, embellished. There is no source cited for either of these statements. In another, more significant, instance of hard-to-believe statements, Toobin describes that after the presidential election cases of 2000, Justice “Souter seriously considered resigning” due to the partisanship shown by the justices in resolving Bush v. Gore. There is no source cited for this statement either. Maybe Justice Souter did consider leaving the Court after Bush v. Gore, but as a reader, I want at least one source for such a statement before I am convinced that this occurred. Toobin continues, “There were times when David Souter thought of Bush v. Gore and wept.” Now I do not know Justice Souter as a person, but I simply do not believe that sentence. Of course, I might not even believe it if Justice Souter told me that Bush v. Gore made him weep, but the book provides no details as to who provided Toobin with such information. The Nine is an entertaining and educational book, and while there are a few minor source problems, the vast majority of the facts in it are well known or easily verifiable. Above all, The Nine’s chronology of the Supreme Court’s last 20 years shows how little the political-leanings of the presidents who appointed the justices had to do with the Supreme Court’s jurisprudence during that time. Toobin thinks this unpredictability will end, however, noting that the last five appointees—Justices Thomas, Ginsburg, Breyer, Roberts, and Alito—“have turned out precisely as might have been expected by the presidents who appointed them.” Maybe Toobin will write another book in 20 years testing this theory—a book in which he hopefully cites to a few more sources. Mark Schuck runs The Schuck Law Firm where he focuses his law practice on business litigation and appeals. He is a member of The Houston Lawyer editorial board.
Innocence By David Hosp Reviewed by Judy L. Ney David Hosp, attorney turned author, in his newest book, Innocence, has joined his fictional lawyer, Scott Finn, with the real-life Boston case that Hosp, along with personnel from the Innocence Project, overturned—freeing a man who had wrongly been convicted of rape and attempted murder. In his third book, Innocence, Hosp continues the saga of Scott Finn, now a solo-practitioner, specializing in courtroom divorce dramas, who unwillingly, but driven by his conscious and sense of justice for the underdog, tackles the criminal defense of an El Salvadoran gang member, Vincente Salazar. Salazar was convicted of a highly publicized rape and murder attempt of police officer, Madeline Steele, 15 years ago and was sentenced to 50 years in prison without parole. He has been languishing in prison for the past decade as this story unfolds. This case, as in real life, portrays a wide assortment of familiar supporting characters. Private investigator, ex-cop, Tom “Koz” Kozlowski shadows and supports the working and ethical decision of his colleague, Finn. Mark Dobson, the young, inexperienced, large-firm attorney, is working pro bono for the New England Innocence Project, and convinces Finn of his client’s innocence, not realizing the consequences. Then there is the disabled, police officer, Madeline Steele, who is pictured as the angry victim, a member of the family of police officers with their own code of conduct. As the sub-plots emerge, Hosp interestingly leads us through the lives and interactions of his characters. Innocence, as the name so appropriately states, describes the actual Innocence Project, which is an organization dedicated to helping free wrongly convicted prisoners, as in this case, using the latest scientific probative methods including DNA evidence. Tragically, even though this story is set in Boston, where inadequacies and corruption were exposed in the Boston Police Department, the reader can easily imagine the same situation occurring in “Any City” USA. Hosp, through Finn, takes the reader step by step in re-examining all the evidence, exploring all the angles, contacting all involved parties, in order to build the case and exonerate the felon. Hosp artfully describes the bumps in the road as Finn maneuvers his way through the criminal justice system. The journey is well worth the read. David Hosp is in the same league with John Grisham, as a story-teller who captures the audience with accurate legal complexities, yet humanizes the tragedies of the victims, including those that have been wrongly convicted. Innocence is a fast paced, legal thriller that will leave the reader satisfied knowing that due to dedicated lawyers and organizations, mistakes can be corrected in our criminal justice and prison systems today. Judy L. Ney is a hearing officer with the Texas Department of Insurance Division of Workers’ Compensation. She is a member of The Houston Lawyer Editorial Board.
The Creative Lawyer: By Michael F. Melcher Reviewed by Janet H. Moore Why are lawyers so highly paid and yet often so miserable? Author Michael Melcher feels that lawyers have such low job satisfaction because they lack tools and resources for managing their lives and careers. The Creative Lawyer tries to remedy that situation. The author—a former practicing lawyer and career coach—uses his professional experience to help lawyers see their career possibilities. He notes, “The legal profession doesn’t constrain people’s potential. But it does tend to constrain their way of thinking about potential. Lawyers sometimes don’t see the possibilities before them, and they therefore don’t always act in ways that take advantage of those possibilities.” (p. 8) In other words, legal training enhances lawyers’ analytical skills while diminishing their creativity. The book uses many traditional coaching exercises, like those that help people clarify values, imagine possibilities, visualize positive outcomes, commit to specific action steps, and the like. One template helps attorneys articulate their career visions—and even do “market research” on themselves. Attorneys who have taken personality or communication style diagnostic tests will recognize some of those concepts in the book. The Creative Lawyer discusses the four common personality types and the attributes of each, drawing on resources like the Meyers Briggs Type Indicator and the Enneagram. Readers may be able to identify their own type—and as a result, figure out why they have faced certain communication and career challenges in their lives. For many lawyers, learning about these concepts will be new. The book provides an invaluable introduction to self discovery, helping lawyers to figure out their individual strengths and weaknesses, and likes and dislikes. It will also enable them to clarify their future career aspirations and move forward proactively. In other words, the book is a great resource for attorneys who want to coach themselves through a career change, rather than working with an actual lawyer career coach. The Creative Lawyer includes a variety of questionnaires and other exercises. Although readers will certainly benefit from merely reading the book, they will need to complete the exercises and take the action steps suggested for maximum impact. For example, attorneys seeking career change are advised how to “experiment” with alternate careers through job shadowing, doing informational interviews and the like. Like any career change book, The Creative Lawyer recognizes the importance of effective networking. It describes how to network effectively—with whom, and what to say when you meet someone—and the importance of building good relationships. “If you have strong, rich, and extensive relationships, you will improve the quality of your work and life—and if you have weak, superficial, and restricted relationships, you will hobble yourself.” (p. 87) The author peppers the book with examples of lawyers who have faced career crossroads, and solutions that they found. Readers are bound to connect with one or more of the lawyers described in the book, and feel inspired to forge their own path of self-discovery and career change. Janet H. Moore, JD, ACC, is an experienced lawyer who works as a trainer and executive coach for lawyers (www.InternationalLawyerCoach.com). She helps lawyers with cross-cultural client development and career strategies. Moore is a member of the editorial board of The Houston Lawyer.
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