True, jury selection is a critical part of a trial. But it is presumptuous to think that with a few tricks prospective jurors can be reduced to categories. The best parts of Reading People are its improbably juxtaposed stories. In the end, these asides are far more illuminating of the book's various people-reading points than are its exhaustive lists and endless truisms about the importance of being observative. Reviewed by Douglas O. Smith Law school is not the place to learn the law.
Law students learn how to find the law, and if they are lucky, they begin to think like lawyers.
Once in practice, lawyers must discover what the law is in the context of the particular kinds of legal work they are doing. Punitive Damages and Business Torts is the prototype for what lawyers need to have when venturing into an area of law in which they are less than completely expert. Commercial litigators and contract lawyers of all types will benefit from the analysis of an area that often seems, to those of us who do not do this work regularly, without rules. The handbook covers the nature and origin of punitive damages, the standards courts use to determine liability for punitive damages, the criteria courts use to determine the measure of punitive damages, bifurcation as a procedural tool in punitive damage cases, expert witnesses, judicial review, and even the tax implications of punitive damages. Each area is covered concisely, but the important issues and principles are all addressed.