Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury: Greatest Closing Arguments in Modern Law

Bruce D. Brown Legal Times What makes Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury enjoyable, in the end, is the variety of styles in the volume – Spence’s chatty informality; Darrow’s use of the rhetorical question; Kunstler’s blunt spoken tongue; Jackson’s awesome solemnity….The flavor of the times comes through in the voices in the courtroom.Don Franzen Los Angeles Times Book Review Lawyers and nonlawyers will enjoy the passion and eloquence of these counselors; practitioners of law will find much to learn from them.Henry G. Miller New York Law Journal As much about history as advocacy.James C. Alvord The San Diego Union-Tribune [The] arguments read like passionate poems, deftly crafted to challenge the mind and satisfy the soul….Masterful speeches.Richard Roberts The Indianapolis Star The majesty of the law stands tall in this presentation of the powerful closing arguments in ten of the most dramatic and eventful trials of modern times….Relatively few people were present for their original delivery. Now anyone can revisit them.

Michael S Lief is a senior deputy district attorney in Ventura, California. A former newspaper editor, he was a submarine driver for the U. S. Navy during the Cold War.

H. Mitchell Caldwell is a professor at Pepperdine University School of Law. A former deputy district attorney, he specializes in death-penalty litigation before the California Supreme Court.