Bookings

Secular legions and religious activists are contending as never before over the soul of America. On the legal front of this wide ranging Culture War, each side claims to argue from the constitutional/historical high ground.

Amidst the confusion these conflicting claims create, we who care about that “soul” and in the crossfire are often at a loss in separating truth from spin.

To the rescue: Chicago attorney Kathryn Page Camp. To the lawyer, judge and every culture-war weary American, Camp has thrown a life line.

Her new book, “In God We Trust,” transforms the daunting complexity of free exercise jurisprudence into an enjoyable primer on when and how the American legal system resolves religious disputes.

Starting with the founding fathers, she recounts historical controversies that gave birth to the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and particularly the First Amendment (which I was amused to learn was originally intended as the “Third Amendment”).

The narrative is enlivened by insightful and sometimes amusing anecdotes concerning Jefferson, Madison and other giants (and pygmies) whose personalities and idiosyncrasies still vitally affect our lives.

Once the framework for the development of law through the Supreme Court is explained (and which the experienced lawyer may breeze through), Camp takes the reader on a case-thumbnail stroll through their decisions.

Eschewing law review ponderosity in favor of reader-friendly vignettes, she always includes interesting personality or religious practice details concerning the people in the legal battles. The cases are presented through a comfortable blend of chronology and topic.

The Supreme Court's approach to areas of religious litigation - such as church property disputes, individual conscience issues and freedom to speak about faith - are understood as they develop both from precedents in the same area and from the broader legal and social trends shaping American law contemporaneously with the particular decisions.

Camp's style thus makes it easier for the reader to apply historical legal development to current hot-button controversies.

For example, the retelling of the late 19th century Mormon polygamy cases helps the reader consider their relevance to the current debate over same-sex marriage, while the treatment of late 20th century decisions, such as Smith v. Employment Division, help the reader understand how the First Amendment is now being applied in a nation of increased religious diversity typified by Islam and individualization of faith.

Throughout, Camp identifies instances where the underlying logic of a Supreme Court decision is not well-explained or is difficult to square with prior or subsequent rulings.

In those situations, exhibiting a humility uncharacteristic for a knowledgeable lawyer, she never imposes a solution on the reader but rather allows the reader to reach his or her own conclusions as to what the law ought to be, or simply adjust to the reality that the “certainty” that law projects to society is actually considerably more ambiguous than some of the Culture War generals would have us believe.

Thoughtful readers will pause at the end of a chapter to reflect on questions raised by the author, affording an opportunity to integrate the important information presented and to delete the emotional spam clouding their analysis of the socio-legal-religious issues confronting our nation.

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“Fort Dearborn,” a 448-page work by Chicago Daily Law Bulletin staff writer Jerry Crimmins has been released by Northwestern University Press.

In a review in the Oct. 17 issue of the Daily Law Bulletin, Chicago attorney Gary T. Johnson, president of the Chicago History Museum, calls it a “wonderful … book of historical fiction.”

An icon of Chicago lore, the military outpost along the Chicago River was wiped out by natives during the War of 1812 in the fabled “Ft. Dearborn Massacre.” A second Ft. Dearborn existed until 1857.

“By meticulously staying within the guideposts of known facts, fiction fills in the gaps by adding detail and color,” Johnson said of the book. “It shows how people live. We hear them talking.”

In his view, Crimmins “richly succeeds” in getting beyond stereotypes and contextualizing bare facts about the role of the remote fort in development of the region.

Thomas F. McGuire of Arnstein & Lehr, Chicago, is co-author of “Guiding Those Left Behind in Illinois: Settling the Affairs of Your Loved One,” now available from Eagle Publishing Co., Boca Raton, Fla.

Although intended for use by consumers of legal services related to deaths, the well-indexed, 305-page guidebook is also useful to the general practitioner who does not concentrate in probate, trust and estate matters.

Lay readers are cautioned to seek the services of licensed professionals for advice on legal, accounting, financial planning and other issues.

McGuire is a lawyer and certified public accountant with both degrees from the University of Illinois. He is a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys and the Chicago Estate Planning Council.

His co-author is Florida attorney Amelia E. Pohl, who has compiled similar guidebooks for residents of several other states. A former teacher, she has taught mathematics at both the high school and college levels.

More information may be accessed at www.eaglepublishing.com. For ordering details, call (800) 824-0823.

LexisNexis has published “Your Lawyer: A User's Guide,” a concise, 100-page guidebook for the public on how to work with lawyers.

The authors are Philadelphia lawyer Lawrence J. Fox, an adjunct law professor at the University of Pennsylvania, and Susan R. Martyn, a professor at the University of Toledo College of Law.

Fox is a past chair of the American Bar Association Ethics Committee. Both he and Martyn served on the ABA Ethics 2000 Commission and were advisors to the American Law Institute Restatement of Law Governing Lawyers.

The stated purpose of “Your Lawyer” is to provide information to clients about the ethical obligations of their lawyers – “a trip through unfamiliar territory without a map or a compass.”

Sections of the book are titled The Client-Lawyer Relationship, What to Expect from Your Lawyer, What Not to Expect from Your Lawyer, Other People's Lawyers, and Gaining Even When You Lose.

Chapters contain boxes that outline the highlights and provide questions a lawyer should be asked. Words in bold face are defined in a glossary, and cartoons illustrate topics. A helpful index is included.

“This book is about the special obligations lawyers owe their clients,” Fox said. Martyn added, “The truly good lawyers will share this book with clients, knowing it is good business sense to promote client-attorney collaboration.”

“Your Lawyer” is available at $12 per copy from the online bookstore, www.lexisnexis.com/yourlawyer/. Bulk purchasing discounts are offered.

Eminent Publishing Co., a Highland Park publisher, has scheduled November releases of the first two of six planned media relations handbooks for law firms and legal marketing professionals.

The first is titled “How to Get Quoted and Featured in the Media” by becoming a highly quotable source by pi8tching story ideas that win coverage.

The second, “How to Do the Interview,” is a comprehensive guide to being interviewed by reporters and impressing audiences.

The authors are David M. Freedman, a Chicago-based legal and financial journalist and Eminent's editorial director, and Paul Levis Suita, principal of a Boston-area public relations firm and former newspaper reporter.

Alan H. Neff, senior litigation counsel for the City of Chicago, discussed his book, “Blauser's Building,” during a recent meeting of the Chicago Lawyer chapter of the American Constitution Society.

Set in Chicago, the book relates the breakdown of Milton Blauser, a lawyer who feels responsible for the deaths of the wife and son of a law partner. He becomes a busboy in a Greek restaurant.

Meanwhile, the former partner joins a corporate firm and attempts to buy the restaurant's building. Blauser asks for help from a detective whose law school graduation may result in a lawsuit against the city for failing to promote him.

The book is described as a “comic, dark and fast-moving David and Goliath story.”

The Decalogue Foundation of the Decalogue Society of Lawyers has initiated a Favil D. Berns Memorial Jewish Writing Competition in memory of a former president whose family has provided funding.

Each entry must address a legal issue in one of these categories: accommodation of religion in the workplace, voucher programs that benefit private and parochial institutions, and government funding of faith-based social service programs.

To obtain an information sheet with rules and specifications, contact the Decalogue Foundation at (312) 263-6493, by e-mail to decaloguesociety@aol.com or at www.decaloguesociety.org.