A Lawyer's Life

This book is a must read for African American lawyers or if you are considering a degree in either law enforcement or any other legal profession. Cochran is candid and tells the facts. It is a real eye opener about the US legal system.

I thought the readings from chapters 1 through 9 were great. I mean Johnnie Cochran took the reader through cases familiar, and unfamiliar. In detail how some police are just terrible, how the system has bias in who will be the victim. But, the last chapter 10. Oh MY! If you dont read the book, just read chapter 10 it'll make you rethink alot of things. Its powerful-Johnnie goes on stating how the system has failed so many, how corporations get away with discrimination. His life and what its like to be a lawyer. Its just great. Read the book, and if you dont do that. Just read the last chapter, number 10 its worth it.

...And I know you well, because I am a Black Republican - far to the Right - libertarian even. This book is not the typical liberal drivel from a neck bone-eatin' preacher. This is a good treatise on recent Black history, and an expose' on the justice system - in my view, the last vestige of true racism.While I had to hold my nose in reading the very last chapter of the book (where he goes liberal), I could not refute the notion that that I was reading the words of a "wise old man." Such an opportunity should not be ignored, regardless of your race or political persuasion. If you can read this extremely pleasurable book, and still not at least understand the pov of the other side, then you truly don't have a heart. It is enjoyable reading, unoffensive to all, and a good lesson on life in America from one of its premier insiders. Further, it advances the cause of racial harmony. BUY THIS BOOK. You won't regret it.

I read this book in a short period of time, due the fact that it was so interesting, and more importantly, I was so saddened by the REAL justice system in the United States. I was amazed and disgraced that racial injustices such as those described in this book have remained steady as if it were still the 1950s and 60s. I hope and pray that some day we as a people indeed "WILL OVERCOME." I applaud Mr. Cochran for standing up for what is right for African Americans in the face of his many critics. I say "keep on keeping on, Johnnie." From the infamous Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have A Dream Speech," "And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead. We cannot turn back..." This quote may help those who are victims of racial discrimination and is a quote I refer to when times are tough.This book has only solidified my desire to enter into the field of Law. I can only hope that I make half the progress towards achieving equality and leveling the scales of justice for my people as Mr. Cochran has.

I had read Johnnie Cochran's first book JOURNEY TO JUSTICE so I wondered what new material could be presented in his latest book. I was pleasantly surprised. Yes, there's some material regarding the O.J. case which I skimmed over because I felt it was covered thoroughly in the first book. In LAWYER's LIFE Cochran talks about the cases he has been involved with since the OJ case (P.Diddy, Abner Louima, Patrick Dorismond, Reparations for slave descendents). He talks about his son's work as a highway patrolman which often surprises those who assume he is against all cops -- when he's really against "bad" cops. He gives insightful opinions on the law and explains why he's made it his lifelong passion. The influence of his family and of his religion is obvious (he was expected to excel in life; his father was the valedictorian of his high school class). Also obvious is the amount of time he puts in working as a lawyer -- around the clock oftentimes, balancing many cases at once daily. And he gives insight into the cases that have most affected him (no not O.J.)-- rather the Leonard Deadwyler and Geronimo Pratt case, to which he devoted 27 years of attention. His musings on the differences between the cultures of NY and LA, on having had his own show where he had to ask questions as opposed to answering them, and even his take on Clarence Thomas and why he's not good for the Supreme Court are enlightening. I had not been aware of the Disney case which I found riveting. This is a book for those who have interest in the inner workings of the law and in the behind-the-scenes life of a leading practitioner of the craft. Many readers will be moved and inspired by this lawyer's life.