LawFuel – Legal Announcements – Attorney Robert E. Long’s new book, “Trial Lawyer,” takes readers right into courtrooms to witness how the law really works and offers a $1,000 juror’s “stipend”
WILLIAMSBURG, Va., Oct. 20, 2008 — “Ignorance of the law”
may not be an excuse but it can cost defendants enormous sums of money or even their personal freedom … in “Trial Lawyer,” Robert Long uses “stories” to explain how the law functioned in his most unusual cases.
Here are two of them (names and identifying details
fictionalized):
On arrival in Mr. Long’s office, “Mary O’Sullivan,” a college professor, said she had “intellectually outgrown”
her husband, a plumber’s assistant … she wanted a divorce.
Long asked if she still loved him. She nodded, “but we have so little in common now – except our 6-year-old daughter.”
Long suggested that she first write a letter to her daughter, explaining her reasons why her dad had to leave home. She agreed …
Mrs. O’Sullivan did not return for three years. She said, “I cried so much I could never finish the letter … I kept hearing my daughter asking, ‘Where’s daddy?’ My husband never knew I was thinking of divorce. I made up my mind I would try to make our marriage work. Today I have never been happier. My husband is a plumbing contractor with a number of employees. We traveled to Disney World recently with our 9-year-old daughter hanging on to daddy.”
A waitress spilled boiling coffee onto “Mr. Wilson’s” lap, causing him great pain. His sexual functions were impaired.
But how could he prove this to a jury? Long asked Mr.
Wilson’s girlfriend to testify. She said the problem was
real: “He’s very embarrassed about it!” The jury gave Mr.
Wilson a $37,000 settlement from the restaurant, considered an astronomical amount. Wilson kept congratulating Mr. Long.
However, he returned to Long’s office several months later and said, “Did you read about that $2,000,000 verdict against a restaurant because of hot coffee spilled on an old lady? What went wrong with my case?”
Mr. Long later said to friends, “Nothing is as unpredictable as life and the law.”
The book “Trial Lawyer” is available on the web at http://www.lulu.com/content/1606815. Readers can visit http://www.go-to-court.com to become “web jurors” on one of the cases in his book. After reading the trial transcript, rendering a verdict enters the readers in a Trial Lawyer Sweepstakes with a chance to win a $1,000 jury “stipend” or one of six $50 second prizes.
About the Author
Robert Long may have learned much of his future tenacity as a lawyer when he served as a captain, Green Beret, and parachutist during the Vietnam War. He returned to Hampton, Virginia and built a very successful practice as a trial lawyer. He is licensed to practice in the Supreme Court of Virginia and the Supreme Court of the United States.
Contact
Hal Gieseking
The Business Scribe Publishing
757-229-7752
halron8@yahoo.com
