What do you think?
Rate this book
Legal Briefs
William Bernhardt, author of seven bestselling novels featuring attorney Ben Kincaid, asked ten of his fellow lawyer/authors to contribute their most fiendishly clever short pieces for this anthology, and told them their imaginations were their only guides. The result is Legal Briefs, a smorgasbord of stories boasting a wonderful variety of themes and styles. From John Grisham's exploration of a doctor's guilt in "The Birthday" to Richard North Patterson's story of a lawyer's loyalty to his mentor in "The Client," to Grif Stockley's tale of a divorce lawyer who learns the hard way that things are not always what they seem, these pieces showcase the extraordinary depth and breadth of talent among the new breed of legal thriller writers.
Some of these stories feature twisting and inventive plots; some illuminate the moral dilemmas and psychological complexities faced by the modern-day lawyer; some are good, old-fashioned yarns. But for all their diversity of approaches and characters, these writers understand that the courtrooms and law firms from which they came offer the raw material for the most dramatic, suspenseful stories you can read.
Legal Briefs will be a delight for fans of all these bestselling authors, and a splendid introduction to their talents for readers new to the genre.
Some of these stories feature twisting and inventive plots; some illuminate the moral dilemmas and psychological complexities faced by the modern-day lawyer; some are good, old-fashioned yarns. But for all their diversity of approaches and characters, these writers understand that the courtrooms and law firms from which they came offer the raw material for the most dramatic, suspenseful stories you can read.
Legal Briefs will be a delight for fans of all these bestselling authors, and a splendid introduction to their talents for readers new to the genre.
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
3 people are currently reading
288 people want to read
About the author
William Bernhardt
99 books513 followersWilliam Bernhardt is the author of over sixty books, including the bestselling Daniel Pike and Ben Kincaid legal thrillers, the historical novels Challengers of the Dust and Nemesis, three books of poetry, and the ten Red Sneaker books on fiction writing.
In addition, Bernhardt founded the Red Sneaker Writers Center to mentor aspiring writers. The Center hosts an annual writers conference (WriterCon), small-group seminars, a monthly newsletter, and a bi-weekly podcast. More than three dozen of Bernhardt’s students have subsequently published with major houses. He is also the owner of Balkan Press, which publishes poetry and fiction as well as the literary journal Conclave.
Bernhardt has received the Southern Writers Guild’s Gold Medal Award, the Royden B. Davis Distinguished Author Award (University of Pennsylvania) and the H. Louise Cobb Distinguished Author Award (Oklahoma State), which is given "in recognition of an outstanding body of work that has profoundly influenced the way in which we understand ourselves and American society at large." He has been nominated for the Oklahoma Book Award eighteen times in three different categories, and has won the award twice. Library Journal called him “the master of the courtroom drama.” The Vancouver Sun called him “the American equivalent of P.G. Wodehouse and John Mortimer.”
In addition to his novels and poetry, he has written plays, a musical (book and score), humor, children stories, biography, and puzzles. He has edited two anthologies (Legal Briefs and Natural Suspect) as fundraisers for The Nature Conservancy and the Children’s Legal Defense Fund. OSU named him “Oklahoma’s Renaissance Man.”
In his spare time, he has enjoyed surfing, digging for dinosaurs, trekking through the Himalayas, paragliding, scuba diving, caving, zip-lining over the canopy of the Costa Rican rain forest, and jumping out of an airplane at 10,000 feet. In 2013, he became a Jeopardy! champion winning over $20,000.
When Bernhardt delivered the keynote address at the San Francisco Writers Conference, chairman Michael Larsen noted that in addition to penning novels, Bernhardt can “write a sonnet, play a sonata, plant a garden, try a lawsuit, teach a class, cook a gourmet meal, beat you at Scrabble, and work the New York Times crossword in under five minutes.”
In addition, Bernhardt founded the Red Sneaker Writers Center to mentor aspiring writers. The Center hosts an annual writers conference (WriterCon), small-group seminars, a monthly newsletter, and a bi-weekly podcast. More than three dozen of Bernhardt’s students have subsequently published with major houses. He is also the owner of Balkan Press, which publishes poetry and fiction as well as the literary journal Conclave.
Bernhardt has received the Southern Writers Guild’s Gold Medal Award, the Royden B. Davis Distinguished Author Award (University of Pennsylvania) and the H. Louise Cobb Distinguished Author Award (Oklahoma State), which is given "in recognition of an outstanding body of work that has profoundly influenced the way in which we understand ourselves and American society at large." He has been nominated for the Oklahoma Book Award eighteen times in three different categories, and has won the award twice. Library Journal called him “the master of the courtroom drama.” The Vancouver Sun called him “the American equivalent of P.G. Wodehouse and John Mortimer.”
In addition to his novels and poetry, he has written plays, a musical (book and score), humor, children stories, biography, and puzzles. He has edited two anthologies (Legal Briefs and Natural Suspect) as fundraisers for The Nature Conservancy and the Children’s Legal Defense Fund. OSU named him “Oklahoma’s Renaissance Man.”
In his spare time, he has enjoyed surfing, digging for dinosaurs, trekking through the Himalayas, paragliding, scuba diving, caving, zip-lining over the canopy of the Costa Rican rain forest, and jumping out of an airplane at 10,000 feet. In 2013, he became a Jeopardy! champion winning over $20,000.
When Bernhardt delivered the keynote address at the San Francisco Writers Conference, chairman Michael Larsen noted that in addition to penning novels, Bernhardt can “write a sonnet, play a sonata, plant a garden, try a lawsuit, teach a class, cook a gourmet meal, beat you at Scrabble, and work the New York Times crossword in under five minutes.”
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
April 14, 2018
Like a strand of pearls, each pearl it’s self beautiful and intricate, the stories in this anthology are worthy of exploration. Jurors, witnesses, lawyers, judges… They are all there. Each story shines light on a different part of the legal system sort of like the multifacets of a diamond. Taken together, this is an excellent selection of short stories with balance and skilled editing.
May 20, 2016
Since I read "The Postman always rings twice" and watched 1930's and 1940's Noir cinema, the intricacies, plots, schemes and lingo of lawyers and shysters has always eluded me. It flustered me since I had a hard time to follow the stories. This book was the rare exception; it allowed me to perform mental gymnastics while tracing and understanding about 90% of the more complicated ones. My favorites were "The Divorce" and "Roads"; actually they could appear in any literary anthology and not necessarily wedged in a so called Legal briefs genre.
June 30, 2018
This is a fun bunch of stories, making me like this bunch of writers more. Time to read Grisham again... on vacation! But each of these different authors has some quality to recommend, in a fine assortment.
Recommended.
Recommended.
August 23, 2011
Mysteries are my favorite genre of books and for some reason I really like the legal process as well. John Grisham remains one of my absolutely favorite and since he's an author in this book I was drawn to it. I was disappointed that John's story was the shortest one in this book but the rest of the authors are worth the read nevertheless.
August 30, 2013
Great collection of stories-I really liked that John Grisham's story was such a departure for him. I bought it at Wordsworth Books in Little Rock soon after it came out and Grif Stockley autographed my copy. His story, "The Divorce" remains my favorite, followed closely by "What We're Here For."
September 3, 2016
"You want to know something funny? I discovered the law again. You actually made me think about it. I managed to go through three years of law school without doing that." --Mitch McDeere, 'The Firm'
January 10, 2020
Short stories are my jam! Each author brought a new theme and perspective - some were funny, some were real, and of course, thrillers.
January 9, 2015
I initially picked up this book to read the Phillip Margolin title, The Jailhouse Lawyer. However, when I saw the other authors who had contributed to this anthology, I decided to read the entire book.
These are short stories about lawyers, written by lawyers, and enjoyed by anyone who picks up the book. If you are looking for quick reads, these short stories are for you. They manage to fill the need for a quick thriller-fix without taking too much time to get through.
I enjoyed each story in this volume.
These are short stories about lawyers, written by lawyers, and enjoyed by anyone who picks up the book. If you are looking for quick reads, these short stories are for you. They manage to fill the need for a quick thriller-fix without taking too much time to get through.
I enjoyed each story in this volume.
August 21, 2016
This book was such a let down. Especially the John Grisham story. What a waste. I was pissed because I wasted so much time reading this in anticipation of getting to the JG story. It was like a freaking page and a half. It just really pissed me off. Don't waste your time. There's not enough time in a lifetime to find and read all the good books. I can't get that time back William!
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews