Off the Record: Sidebars from a Trial Lawyer's Life

For lessons they don't teach in law school, sample "Off the Record: Sidebars from a Trial Lawyer's Life." This book from San Francisco attorney Kurt Melchior takes you on a colorful guided tour of the off-the-record side of a seasoned trial lawyer's courtroom life. With almost sixty years of practice, Kurt has seen it all, and his experiences have yielded an instructive -- as well as hugely entertaining -- book. Each of the one-hundred-plus, wide-ranging anecdotes is true. From dealing with the client who baldly lies to get a lawyer to take his case, to how to handle a star witness who's so nervous she's shaking, to the fine points of jury selection, "Off the Record" offers "on-the-job training" and insight from the comfort of your reading chair. It also provides plenty of laughs along the way, as it zeroes in on difficult clients, opposing counsels' gaffes, judges' foibles, and the often humorous twists and turns of our legal justice system.