“Judges come to their robes bearing the stigmata of past experience.”If this old saying is true, then this book describes the stigmata of Ruggero J. Aldisert, Senior U.S. Circuit Judge, a distinguished member of the Greatest Generation who’s still active as a judge on the second highest court in the land, just a notch below the U.S. Supreme Court. There is a huge sweep in these pages. Born in 1919, the author takes the reader from his early childhood to 1968, when he first put on robes as a U.S. Circuit Judge.You’ll find no stodgy writing here, nary a “whereas” and “aforesaid,” but it’s what the author says in his preface–a great-grandfather sitting back with the young ones and reminiscing how it was to grow up before dial telephones and when the first radio was a crystal set powered with two batteries and you listened with a set of earphones.But it’s more than family memoirs; there’s a lot of history set in the Twenties, and Thirties, and most of the time it wasn’t to the tune of “Happy Days are Here Again.”Judge Aldisert grew up as the son of an Italian immigrant in a Pennsylvania steel mill and coal mining town, remembers the Twenties when men worked 12-hour shifts, except every other Sunday when it was a 24-hour shift, came face to face with the Great Depression, the spread of world conflict during his 1937-1941 college years, and describes World War II service as Marine Corps officer in the Pacific.He gives an insider’s view of a lawyer who tried both civil and criminal cases, of life as a Pittsburgh trial court judge, and of the rocky road to nomination by President Lyndon B. Johnson and confirmation by the U.S. Senate in 1968.The opening page is a harbinger of things to come. His mother has her arms around the author, then aged three, and his brother one year older. She is sobbing, “Please don’t hurt my babies,” as they peered through her bedroom window at a procession of hooded and robed members of the Ku Klux Klan who walked in a silent circle in the Aldise

Road to the Robes

Aldisert, Hon. Ruggero J.

Biographies & Memoirs

AuthorHouse

Opinion Writing

This second edition of the original 1990 version of Opinion Writing seeks to advise judges on how to improve their writing skills in justifying their decisions. We follow the common law tradition in stating written reasons for our decisions. The common-law tradition demands no more than a clear statement of reasons. The judicial process expects no more. The brief reader and the opinion readers deserve no less. The ability to write clearly and memorably may or may not sometimes be a gift granted at birth. Without question, it can be perfected by studious attention and constant application, much like a muscle that is strengthened by proper and continuing exercise. To do this -- the writing and editing and rewriting required for polished text -- takes time. Time, unfortunately, is severely rationed these days. Even with the word processors, the high-speed laser printer and the computer-contained dictionary and thesaurus, the modem era of the law does not permit the leisurely pace that our forebears apparently enjoyed. As this book develops in detail, every opinion should ideally begin with a clear statement of the flash point of the controversy between the litigants. Judges must identify precisely where the litigants differ and tell the reader whether their clash concerns the choice of the controlling legal precept or the interpretation of an agreed-upon precept or, if there is no dispute over either, a statement that the controversy concerns the application of settled law to settled facts. Having identified these contours, we should then proceed to resolve the difficulty and explain why one choice, or one interpretation or given application, is preferred to another. This discussion explaining the reasons for the decision, the ratio decidendi, must offer more clarity. There must be more exposition of analysis and more selective use of precedent. Lawyers and judges both have an obligation to evaluate the effect of previous cases and to decide which citations they will authenticate and which they will consider simple duplicates, which of them are necessary to the argument and which of them only validate obvious statements of reason In sum, this how-to book guides judges to recognize what critics say about our work, and teaches how judicial opinions can be improved.

Legal Education

This second edition of the original 1990 version of Opinion Writing seeks to advise judges on how to improve their writing skills in justifying their decisions.   We follow the common law tradition in stating written reasons for our decisions. The common-law tradition demands no more than a clear statement of reasons. The judicial process expects no more. The brief reader and the opinion readers deserve no less.  The ability to write clearly and memorably may or may not sometimes be a gift granted at birth.  Without question, it can be perfected by studious attention and constant application, much like a muscle that is strengthened by proper and continuing exercise. To do this -- the writing and editing and rewriting required for polished text -- takes time. Time, unfortunately, is severely rationed these days. Even with the word processors, the high-speed laser printer and the computer-contained dictionary and thesaurus, the modem era of the law does not permit the leisurely pace that our forebears apparently enjoyed. As this book develops in detail, every opinion should ideally begin with a clear statement of the flash point of the controversy between the litigants. Judges must identify precisely where the litigants differ and tell the reader whether their clash concerns the choice of the controlling legal precept or the interpretation of an agreed-upon precept or, if there is no dispute over either, a statement that the controversy concerns the application of settled law to settled facts. Having identified these contours, we should then proceed to resolve the difficulty and explain why one choice

Literature & Fiction

Almost the Truth: A Novel of the Forties and the Sixties

The setting is New York City in 1963 where the protagonist, Victor Mancuso, is a prominent lawyer. His good friend and client, Alex Reinmann has been kidnapped in Italy. In Rome, during the Nazi occupation in June of 1944, the kidnappers served as freedom fighters with Alex, who had been a secret operative with the OSS, a United States intelligence agency. On the day of Rome's liberation, Alex confiscated from the fleeing fascists a supply of diamonds and other jewels, and buried them in the countryside outside of Rome. He reported this incident to his fellow partisans who would become his kidnappers years later. The kidnappers believed that Alex could lead them to the buried fortune. But after questioning Alex at length about the location of the fortune, the kidnappers finally decided he truthfully did not know its whereabouts. Fearing prosecution for kidnapping if they released Alex, they decided to kill him. The plot was foiled when Alex was rescued by a combination of the Italian Military PoliceCthe Carabinieri, headed by the beautiful Sergeant Regina GraziellaCand a group of American private detectives led by Victor. After the rescue, a congressional committee in the United States, as well as certain indignant members of the Carabinieri, alleged that Alex was lying under oath when he denied ever recovering the jewels. A resulting indictment of Alex for perjury took place in New York. Victor volunteered to represent Alex at trial to clear the name of his client and close friend.

Contemporary

Judge Aldisert offers insight on whether to appeal, the likelihood of success, and how to improve your brief writing and oral argument. Learn what state and federal judges expect from lawyers during the appellate process and how to avoid common criticisms of written and oral arguments.

Winning on Appeal : Better Briefs and Oral Argument (NITA's Practical Guide Series)

Reference

Natl Inst for Trial Advocacy

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Aldisert, Hon. Ruggero J.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Aldisert, Hon. Ruggero J.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Aldisert, Hon. Ruggero J.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Road to the Robes

Opinion Writing

Opinion Writing

Almost the Truth: A Novel of the Forties and the Sixties

Winning on Appeal : Better Briefs and Oral Argument (NITA's Practical Guide Series)