A recent study estimates that thousands of innocent people are wrongfully imprisoned each year in the United States. Some are exonerated through DNA evidence, but many more languish in prison because their convictions were based on faulty eyewitness accounts and no DNA is available. Prominent criminal lawyer and law professor Abbe Smith weaves together real life cases to show what it is like to champion the rights of the accused. Smith describes the moral and ethical dilemmas of representing the guilty and the weighty burden of fighting for the innocent, including the victorious story of how she helped free a woman wrongly imprisoned for nearly three decades.For fans of Law and Order and investigative news programs like 20/20, Case of a Lifetime is a chilling look at what really determines a person's innocence.

Case of a Lifetime: A Criminal Defense Lawyer's Story

Biographies & Memoirs

Smith, Abbe

Professionals & Academics

St.Martin's Press

A recent study estimates that thousands of innocent people are wrongfully imprisoned each year in the United States. Some are exonerated through DNA evidence, but many more languish in prison because their convictions were based on faulty eyewitness accounts and no DNA is available. Prominent criminal lawyer and law professor Abbe Smith weaves together real life cases to show what it is like to champion the rights of the accused. Smith describes the moral and ethical dilemmas of representing the guilty and the weighty burden of fighting for the innocent, including the victorious story of how she helped free a woman wrongly imprisoned for nearly three decades.
For fans of Law and Order and investigative news programs like 20/20, Case of a Lifetime is a chilling look at what really determines a person's innocence.

True Crime

St. Martin's: Griffin

This Understanding treatise presents a systematic position on lawyers' ethics. The authors argue that lawyers' ethics is rooted in the Bill of Rights and in the autonomy and the dignity of the individual. This traditionalist, client-centered view of the lawyer's role in an adversary system corresponds to the ethical standards that are held by a large proportion of the practicing bar. From this perspective, the authors of Understanding Lawyers' Ethics analyze the fundamental issues of lawyers' ethics, and particularly the ABA's Model Rules and Model Code. Even if students do not share the authors' viewpoint, they can benefit from this presentation because it challenges them to appreciate the underlying reasons for the position presented. This treatise is designed to facilitate a real understanding of legal rules as distinguished from a superficial familiarity with them by challenging the reader to test their understanding of the legal rules against the reader's own moral standards and reasoned judgment.The Fourth Edition includes:- A new section on Law vs. Justice, in addition to the section on Moral Values and Ethical Choices - The debate between Mike Tigar and Freedman on morality in lawyering. - A new chapter on Lawyers' Ethics in a Time of Crisis- A chapter on Judicial Ethics, with analysis of Caperton v. Massey Coal Co. and White v. Republican Party of Minnesota, as well as critical commentary on the failure of several Supreme Court justices to recuse themselves when required by the Constitution and by statute to do so - A concise but comprehensive chapter on Prosecutors' Ethics- A demonstration that the corporate-fraud "report up" and "report out" provisions have been deliberately drafted to defeat their purported purpose - Harmonization of Primus and Ohralik, showing that even in-person solicitation of clients is entitled to a level of First Amendment protection - An on-line debate among Steve Gillers, three practicing lawyers, and Freedman about professionalism, and whether a lawyer should take advantage of an adversary's mistake - A candid chapter on Counseling Clients, Coaching Witnesses, and Cross-Examining to Discredit the Truth

Understanding Lawyers' Ethics

Freedman, Monroe H.

Ethics & Professional Responsibility

Lexis Nexis/Matthew Bender

Carried Away: The Chronicles of a Feminist Cartoonist

Sanguinaria Pub

This Understanding treatise presents a systematic position on lawyers' ethics. The authors argue that lawyers' ethics is rooted in the Bill of Rights and in the autonomy and the dignity of the individual. This traditionalist, client-centered view of the lawyer's role in an adversary system corresponds to the ethical standards that are held by a large proportion of the practicing bar. 
From this perspective, the authors of Understanding Lawyers' Ethics analyze the fundamental issues of lawyers' ethics, and particularly the ABA's Model Rules and Model Code. Even if students do not share the authors' viewpoint, they can benefit from this presentation because it challenges them to appreciate the underlying reasons for the position presented. This treatise is designed to facilitate a real understanding of legal rules as distinguished from a superficial familiarity with them by challenging the reader to test their understanding of the legal rules against the reader's own moral standards and reasoned judgment. 
The Fourth Edition includes: - A new section on Law vs. Justice, in addition to the section on Moral Values and Ethical Choices - The debate between Mike Tigar and Freedman on morality in lawyering. - A new chapter on Lawyers' Ethics in a Time of Crisis - A chapter on Judicial Ethics, with analysis of Caperton v. Massey Coal Co. and White v. Republican Party of Minnesota, as well as critical commentary on the failure of several Supreme Court justices to recuse themselves when required by the Constitution and by statute to do so - A concise but comprehensive chapter on Prosecutors' Ethics - A demonstration that the corporate-fraud "report up" and "report out" provisions have been deliberately drafted to defeat their purported purpose - Harmonization of Primus and Ohralik, showing that even in-person solicitation of clients is entitled to a level of First Amendment protection - An on-line debate among Steve Gillers, three practicing lawyers, and Freedman about professionalism, and whether a lawyer should take advantage of an adversary's mistake - A candid chapter on Counseling Clients, Coaching Witnesses, and Cross-Examining to Discredit the Truth

Carolina Academic Pr

This Understanding treatise analyzes the fundamental issues of lawyers' ethics and the ABA's Model Rules. It is designed to facilitate a real understanding of legal rules as distinguished from a superficial familiarity with them by challenging the reader to test their understanding of the legal rules against the reader's own moral standards and reasoned judgment. 
The sixth edition has substantial new material on cross-examination in sexual assault cases; prosecution in the context of race and policing; the rise of the "progressive prosecutor movement"; the renewed call for the U.S. Supreme Court to abide by the Code of Judicial Ethics; and the ethics of lawyers engaged in former president Donald Trump's scheme to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

Understanding Lawyers' Ethics (Understanding Series)

Freedman, Monroe

Carolina Academic Press

This Understanding treatise analyzes the fundamental issues of lawyers' ethics and the ABA's Model Rules. It is designed to facilitate a real understanding of legal rules as distinguished from a superficial familiarity with them by challenging the reader to test their understanding of the legal rules against the reader's own moral standards and reasoned judgment. The fifth edition includes new chapters on Lawyers' Ethics in a Time of Crisis and Counseling Clients, Coaching Witnesses, and Cross-Examining to Discredit the Truth, and substantial updates on Judicial Ethics and more.

Criminal defense attorneys protect the innocent and guilty alike, but, the majority of criminal defendants are guilty. This is as it should be in a free society. Yet there are many different types of crime and degrees of guilt, and the defense must navigate through a complex criminal justice system that is not always equipped to recognize nuances. In Guilty People, law professor and longtime criminal defense attorney Abbe Smith gives us a thoughtful and honest look at guilty individuals on trial. Each chapter tells compelling stories about real cases she handled; some of her clients were guilty of only petty crimes and misdemeanors, while others committed offenses as grave as rape and murder. In the process, she answers the question that every defense attorney is routinely asked: How can you represent these people? Smith’s answer also tackles seldom-addressed but equally important questions such as: Who are the people filling our nation’s jails and prisons? Are they as dangerous and depraved as they are usually portrayed? How did they get caught up in the system? And what happens to them there? This book challenges the assumption that the guilty are a separate species, unworthy of humane treatment. It is dedicated to guilty people—every single one of us.

Guilty People

Rutgers University Press

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

Books by Smith, Abbe

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

Case of a Lifetime: A Criminal Defense Lawyer's Story

Case of a Lifetime: A Criminal Defense Lawyer's Story

Understanding Lawyers' Ethics

Carried Away: The Chronicles of a Feminist Cartoonist

Understanding Lawyers' Ethics

Understanding Lawyers' Ethics (Understanding Series)

Understanding Lawyers' Ethics (Understanding Series)

Guilty People