May It Please the Court!
May It Please The Court! - From Auto Accidents to Agent Orange...
From Auto Accidents to Agent Orange:
Building a Storefront Law Practice into
America's Largest Suburban Law Firm


Leonard Rivkin
with Jeffrey Silberfeld


Carolina Academic Press
Durham, North Carolina




May It Please the Court presents the story of one man's rise from a struggling sole practitioner to the senior partner of the largest suburban law firm in the United States. Although this book is an autobiography of attorney Leonard Rivkin, it is much more. Because of its wealth of information and insights into the life of an attorney, the book could have been titled:

So You Want to Be a Lawyer? - since it goes into the real life practice of law as well as the pragmatic ups and downs of a law practice.

What Law Schools Don't Teach You - since it covers "getting" new clients, how to hold clients, the general marketing of a law office, solid tips on how to run a law office, and many other practical aspects that are rarely, if ever, covered in law school; or even

Lawyers Behind Closed Doors - since it shows how legal strategies evolved in some of the most well-know cases of our generation. The reader goes behind the scenes into the conference room as well as the courtroom and get a look at defense tactics utilized in cases such as Agent Orange (then the largest mass tort case of its time); Franklin Nation Bank (then the country's largest bank failure); Asbestos, and many others.

May It Please the Court is a great antidote to current media perceptions of lawyers (Ally McBeal, etc.) and a real-life balance to popular novelists such as John Grisham and Scott Thurow. Every young or would-be lawyer will benefit from reading this book, as will practicing attorneys. And with our society's fascination with legal matters, general audiences will find this a readable, engaging look at the legal world.



TABLE OF CONTENTS


About the excerpts:  The chapter excerpts will usually be the opening few paragraphs and, in some cases, perhaps the first few pages.  The excerpts are offered to illustrate the flow and style of May It Please the Court!  Only the introduction by Leonard Rivkin is in it's entirety.

The following links will carry you to excerpts from the associated chapter...


Introduction - page 3

Part One -- The Early Years

Chapter One
But Dad, I Don't Want to Be a Doctor - page 11

Chapter Two
Leonard L. Rivkin: Attorney-at-Law - page 23

Chapter Three
The Tote Board, Life with Johnny, and
Other Early Tales - page 41

Chapter Four
The Judicial Inquiry - page 55

Chapter Five
Crossing the Street: Representing Defendants - page 71

Part Two -- Major Clients, Major Cases

Chapter Six
The First Dow Case - page 89

Chapter Seven
The Staten Island Gas Tank Disaster - page 99

Chapter Eight
Franklin National Bank - page 141

Part Three -- Agent Orange

Chapter Nine
Not Your Typical Garden Variety Lawsuit - page 203

Chapter Ten
Litigation Strategy - page 233

Chapter Eleven
Litigation Chronology - page 247

Chapter Twelve
Settlement - page 303

Part Four -- New Partners, New Offices

Chapter Thirteen
Garden City: Transformation, Emergence,
and Growth - page 347

Chapter Fourteen
Chicago and Washington - page 391

Chapter Fifteen
EAB Plaza - page 407

Sources and Footnotes - page 417

Index - page 429


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