The Other Government: The Unseen Power of Washington Lawyers (Norton Library)

“Green sets off [his] fire alarm with an acetylene torch as hot as anyone has applied to the Washington legal scene.” —Joseph A. Califano, Jr., Harvard Law Bulletin

These are the most powerful private citizens in America: the Washington lawyers whose impact is hidden—and made effective—in the halls of Congress and the hearing rooms of the regulatory agencies. Drawing on his training as a lawyer, Mark Green describes the tactics that influential law firms use to represent big business against the interests of consumer health and safety. Through anecdote and analysis, we see the tactics used, the associations made, the positions Washington’s lawyers take to implement, and rationalize, their work. Newsworthy, tough-minded, enormously readable, this is a book about the other government that shapes our lives. For the Norton Library edition, Mr. Green has revised the text throughout and added new material. Ralph Nader’s introduction to this edition discusses integrity vs. cynicism in the lawyer’s world, and a new chapter by Nader and Green provides a consumer’s guide to choosing and using a lawyer without paying exorbitant fees.