The Best Books For And About Lawyers
“What are the best books about for and about Lawyers?” We looked at 171 of the top Lawyer books, aggregating and ranking them so we could answer that very question!
The top 15 titles, all appearing on 2 or more “Best Lawyer” book lists, are ranked below by how many lists they appear on. The remaining 150+ titles, as well as the lists we used are in alphabetical order at the bottom of the page.
Happy Scrolling!
Top 15 Books About Lawyers
15 .) A Civil Action written by Jonathan Harr
Lists It Appears On:
- Fupping
- Law Practice Today
14 .) Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do? written by Michael J Sandel
Lists It Appears On:
- Law Studies
- OUP
Michael J. Sandel’s “Justice” course is one of the most popular and influential at Harvard. Up to a thousand students pack the campus theater to hear Sandel relate the big questions of political philosophy to the most vexing issues of the day, and this fall, public television will air a series based on the course. Justice offers readers the same exhilarating journey that captivates Harvard students. This book is a searching, lyrical exploration of the meaning of justice, one that invites readers of all political persuasions to consider familiar controversies in fresh and illuminating ways. Affirmative action, same-sex marriage, physician-assisted suicide, abortion, national service, patriotism and dissent, the moral limits of markets—Sandel dramatizes the challenge of thinking through these conflicts, and shows how a surer grasp of philosophy can help us make sense of politics, morality, and our own convictions as well. Justice is lively, thought-provoking, and wise—an essential new addition to the small shelf of books that speak convincingly to the hard questions of our civic life.
13 .) Lean in – Women, Work and The Will to Lead written by Sheryl Sandberg
Lists It Appears On:
- Legaler
- Meruscase
Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In is a massive cultural phenomenon and its title has become an instant catchphrase for empowering women. The book soared to the top of bestseller lists internationally, igniting global conversations about women and ambition. Sandberg packed theatres, dominated opinion pages, appeared on every major television show and on the cover of Time magazine, and sparked ferocious debate about women and leadership. Ask most women whether they have the right to equality at work and the answer will be a resounding yes, but ask the same women whether they’d feel confident asking for a raise, a promotion, or equal pay, and some reticence creeps in. The statistics, although an improvement on previous decades, are certainly not in women’s favour – of 197 heads of state, only twenty-two are women. Women hold just 20 percent of seats in parliaments globally, and in the world of big business, a meagre eighteen of the Fortune 500 CEOs are women. In Lean In, Sheryl Sandberg – Facebook COO and one of Fortune magazine’s Most Powerful Women in Business – draws on her own experience of working in some of the world’s most successful businesses and looks at what women can do to help themselves, and make the small changes in their life that can effect change on a more universal scale.
12 .) Njál’s Saga written by Anonymous
Lists It Appears On:
- Law Studies
- OUP
Written in the thirteenth century, Njal’s Saga is a story that explores perennial human problems-from failed marriages to divided loyalties, from the law’s inability to curb human passions to the terrible consequences when decent men and women are swept up in a tide of violence beyond their control. It is populated by memorable and complex characters like Gunnar of Hlidarendi, a powerful warrior with an aversion to killing, and the not-so-villainous Mord Valgardsson. Full of dreams, strange prophecies, violent power struggles, and fragile peace agreements, Njal’s Saga tells the compelling story of a fifty-year blood feud that, despite its distance from us in time and place, is driven by passions familiar to us all.
11 .) Rumpole of the Bailey written by John Mortimer
Lists It Appears On:
- Survive Law
- The Guardian
Rumpole of the Bailey is a British television series created and written by the British writer and barrister John Mortimer. It stars Leo McKern as Horace Rumpole, an ageing London barrister who defends any and all clients. The original show has been spun off into a series of short stories, novels, and radio programmes.
10 .) The Handmaid’s Tale written by Margaret Atwood
Lists It Appears On:
- Law Studies
- Survive Law
Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. She may leave the home of the Commander and his wife once a day to walk to food markets whose signs are now pictures instead of words because women are no longer allowed to read. She must lie on her back once a month and pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, because in an age of declining births, Offred and the other Handmaids are valued only if their ovaries are viable. Offred can remember the years before, when she lived and made love with her husband, Luke; when she played with and protected her daughter; when she had a job, money of her own, and access to knowledge. But all of that is gone now…
9 .) The Lincoln Lawyer written by Michael Connelly
Lists It Appears On:
- Goodreads
- Survive Law
A stunning display of novelistic mastery – as human, as gripping, and as whiplash-surprising as any novel yet from the writer Publishers Weekly has called “today’s Dostoyevsky of crime literature. Mickey Haller has spent all his professional life afraid that he wouldn’t recognize innocence if it stood right in front of him. But what he should have been on the watch for was evil. Haller is a Lincoln Lawyer, a criminal defense attorney who operates out of the backseat of his Lincoln Town Car, traveling between the far-flung courthouses of Los Angeles to defend clients of every kind. Bikers, con artists, drunk drivers, drug dealers – they’re all on Mickey Haller’s client list. For him, the law is rarely about guilt or innocence – it’s about negotiation and manipulation. Sometimes it’s even about justice. A Beverly Hills playboy arrested for attacking a woman he picked up in a bar chooses Haller to defend him, and Mickey has his first high-paying client in years. It is a defense attorney’s dream, what they call a franchise case. And as the evidence stacks up, Haller comes to believe this may be the easiest case of his career. Then someone close to him is murdered and Haller discovers that his search for innocence has brought him face-to-face with evil as pure as a flame. To escape without being burned, he must deploy every tactic, feint, and instinct in his arsenal – this time to save his own life.
8 .) The Trial written by Franz Kafka
Lists It Appears On:
- OUP
- Survive Law
Written in 1914 but not published until 1925, a year after Kafka’s death, The Trial is the terrifying tale of Josef K., a respectable bank officer who is suddenly and inexplicably arrested and must defend himself against a charge about which he can get no information. Whether read as an existential tale, a parable, or a prophecy of the excesses of modern bureaucracy wedded to the madness of totalitarianism, The Trial has resonated with chilling truth for generations of readers.
7 .) Tomorrow’s Lawyers written by Richard Susskind
Lists It Appears On:
- Legaler
- LIV
In his newest provocative and forward-looking volume on the legal profession, Richard Susskind-the best-selling author of The End of Lawyers? and The Future of Law-predicts fundamental and irreversible changes in the world of law. What Susskind sees is eye-opening-a legal world of virtual courts, Internet-based global legal businesses, online document production, commoditized service, legal process outsourcing, and web-based simulated practice. Legal markets will be liberalized, with new jobs for lawyers and new employers too. Tomorrow’s Lawyers is a definitive guide to this future–for young and aspiring lawyers, and for all who want to modernize our legal and justice systems. It introduces the new legal landscape and offers practical guidance for those who intend to build careers and businesses in law. Susskind identifies the key drivers of change, such as the economic downturn, and considers how these will shape the legal marketplace. He then sketches out the new legal landscape as he envisions it, highlighting the changing role of law firms-and in-house lawyers-and the coming of virtual hearings and online dispute resolution. He also suggests solutions to major concerns within the legal profession, such as diminishing public funding, and explores alternative roles for future lawyers in a world increasingly dominated by IT. And what are the prospects for aspiring lawyers? Susskind predicts what new jobs and new employers there will be, equipping prospective lawyers with penetrating questions to put to their current and future bosses.
6 .) Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance written by Robert M. Pirsig
Lists It Appears On:
- Law Practice Today
- Legaler
One of the most important & influential books written in the past half-century, Robert M. Pirsig’s Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is a powerfully moving & penetrating examination of how we live, a breathtaking meditation on how to live better. Here is the book that transformed a generation, an unforgettable narration of a summer motorcycle trip across America’s Northwest, undertaken by a father & his young son. A story of love & fear–of growth, discovery & acceptance–that becomes a profound personal & philosophical odyssey into life’s fundamental questions, this uniquely exhilarating modern classic is both touching & transcendent, resonant with the myriad confusions of existence & the small, essential triumphs that propel us forward.
5 .) Anonymous Lawyer written by Jeremy Blachman
Lists It Appears On:
- Aba For Law Students
- Legal Cheek
- Survive Law
A wickedly funny debut novel about a high-powered lawyer whose shockingly candid blog about life inside his firm threatens to destroy him He’s a hiring partner at one of the world’s largest law firms. Brilliant yet ruthless, he has little patience for associates who leave the office before midnight or steal candy from the bowl on his secretary’s desk. He hates holidays and paralegals. And he’s just started a weblog to tell the world about what life is really like at the top of his profession. Meet Anonymous Lawyer–corner office, granite desk, and a billable rate of $675 an hour. The summer is about to start, and he’s got a new crop of law school interns who will soon sign away their lives for a six-figure salary at the firm. But he’s also got a few problems that require his attention. There’s The Jerk, his bitter rival at the firm, who is determined to do whatever it takes to beat him out for the chairman’s job. There’s Anonymous Wife, who is spending his money as fast as he can make it. And there’s that secret blog he’s writing, which is a perverse bit of fun until he gets an e-mail from someone inside the firm who knows he’s its author. Written in the form of a blog, Anonymous Lawyer is a spectacularly entertaining debut that rips away the bland façade of corporate law and offers a telling glimpse inside a frightening world.
4 .) The Firm written by John Grisham
Lists It Appears On:
- Goodreads
- Law Studies
- Survive Law
When Mitch McDeere signed on with Bendini, Lambert and Locke of Memphis, he thought he and his beautiful wife, Abby, were on their way. The firm leased him a BMW, paid off his school loans, arranged a mortgage, and hired him a decorator. Mitch McDeere should have remembered what his brother Ray-doing fifteen years in a Tennessee jail- already knew. You never get nothing for nothing. Now the FBI has the lowdown on Mitch’s firm and needs his help. Mitch is caught between a rock and a hard place, with no choice– if he wants to live.
3 .) The Rule of Law written by Tom Bingham
Lists It Appears On:
- About Great Books
- Law Studies
- OUP
The Rule of Law’ is a phrase much used but little examined. The idea of the rule of law as the foundation of modern states and civilisations has recently become even more talismanic than that of democracy, but what does it actually consist of? In this brilliant short book, Britain’s former senior law lord, and one of the world’s most acute legal minds, examines what the idea actually means. He makes clear that the rule of law is not an arid legal doctrine but is the foundation of a fair and just society, is a guarantee of responsible government, is an important contribution to economic growth and offers the best means yet devised for securing peace and co-operation. He briefly examines the historical origins of the rule, and then advances eight conditions which capture its essence as understood in western democracies today. He also discusses the strains imposed on the rule of law by the threat and experience of international terrorism. The book will be influential in many different fields and should become a key text for anyone interested in politics, society and the state of our world.
2 .) Bleak House written by Charles Dickens
Lists It Appears On:
- Aba For Law Students
- Law Studies
- OUP
- Precedent jd
- The Gateway Online
- The Guardian
1 .) To Kill a Mockingbird written by Harper Lee
Lists It Appears On:
- Aba For Law Students
- About Great Books
- Goodreads
- LIV
- Precedent jd
- Survive Law
- The Gateway Online
- The Guardian
The unforgettable novel of a childhood in a sleepy Southern town and the crisis of conscience that rocked it, To Kill A Mockingbird became both an instant bestseller and a critical success when it was first published in 1960. It went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and was later made into an Academy Award-winning film, also a classic. Compassionate, dramatic, and deeply moving, To Kill A Mockingbird takes readers to the roots of human behavior – to innocence and experience, kindness and cruelty, love and hatred, humor and pathos. Now with over 18 million copies in print and translated into forty languages, this regional story by a young Alabama woman claims universal appeal. Harper Lee always considered her book to be a simple love story. Today it is regarded as a masterpiece of American literature.
The 150+ Additional Best Books For Lawyers
LIST
17 Best Lawyer & Law Book Sources/Lists
| Source | Article |
| Aba For Law Students | 5 fascinating books for lawyers and law students – ABA for Law Students |
| About Great Books | Top 10 Great Books About Law – About Great Books |
| Clocktimizer | 5 books for the tech savvy lawyer – Clocktimizer |
| Fupping | Best Books: 22 Books Every Lawyer Should Read – Fupping |
| Goodreads | Popular Lawyers Books – Goodreads |
| Law Practice Today | On the Nightstand: Book Recommendations from America’s Top Lawyers |
| Law Studies | Seven Must-Read Books for Law Students – Lawstudies |
| Legal Cheek | The best law books that aren’t To Kill a Mockingbird – Legal Cheek |
| Legaler | Lean Startup for Lawyers: 9 Game-Changing Books for Legal … |
| LIV | Ten books that all lawyers should read – Law Institute of Victoria |
| Meruscase | Best Books for Lawyers to Read – MerusCase Blog |
| OUP | Top ten essential books for aspiring lawyers | OUPblog |
| Precedent jd | Top lawyers share their favourite books for Reading Week … |
| Survive Law | The 20 Best Books for Law Students | Survive Law |
| The Balance SMB | The 8 Best Books to Buy for a New Lawyer in 2018 |
| The Gateway Online | The 5 best books, films and TV shows for lawyers | Law on The Gateway |
| The Guardian | The best summer holiday books for lawyers | The University of Law … |
