| Comment | This is Melvin M. Belli's amazing book Ready for the Plaintiff! - A Story of Personal Injury Law (1963) which recounts the most sensational stories behind the courtroom scenes of the dynamic lawyer who was making world headlines long before his defense of Jack Ruby in Dallas. Among the great trial lawyers of modern times, no career has so flashed with color or crackled with controversy as that of Melvin M. Belli, the brilliant and daring courtroom virtuoso whom Life Magazine christened "The King of Torts." The high spots of this remarkable life in court have the quality of a thriller, spiced with the anger of a fighter who delights in kicking sacred cows. Can you expect justice in our courts? Are you guaranteed trial by jury? Is there a different law for rich and poor? Is your life worth less than your neighbor's pedigreed dog? In the course of a remarkable, headline-studded career, Melvin Belli has shattered many musty traditions and cracked a number of precedents. This is the entertaining, angry, utterly unforgettable story of "The King of Torts," and his volatile life in court. Every good trial lawyer is, to some extent, an actor, be he artist or ham; and he is also a playwright and a director, who prepares the script, sets the scene and stage-manages the evidence. Ready for the Plaintiff! pulls no punches in describing author's spectacular battles for justice. 360 pages, many pictures. A must read for everyone. |
