Book Review - Spinning The Law By Kendall Coffey

By Author: Emily Rouse
Total Articles: 1
Comment this article

Kendall opens this book with When attorneys spin, it's about trying to win. And yet there's much more to it. Deflecting collateral damage to a client's good name is something they don't teach in law school but they should. The high-profile courtroom dramas in this book "Spinning The Law" have fascinated our nation, especially when they concern the rich and famous. And while the American public has come to realize that the spin factor is a prime ingredient in political tactics and marketing campaigns, many are unaware of the strategies for shaping public opinion when it comes to major courtroom battles. Kendall Coffey has personally experienced the lessons taught in this book, and he shares his experience masterfully.

This behind-the-scenes analysis of media strategies presents an intriguing, often entertaining curriculum that they do not teach in law school or journalism classes. As the lead counsel in some of the country's most notable cases and a savvy legal commentator with hundreds of television appearances, author Kendall Coffey brings a distinctive combination of depth as a legal practitioner and experience as a ...
... media analyst to this insightful, provocative, and practical book.

Kendall Coffey begins with a historic election fraud trial, relying on his personal experience with the basics of law spin. He then guides the reader through an abbreviated, engrossing tour of spinning cases through the ages--including Socrates and Joan of Arc, as well as the Charles Lindbergh kidnapping case. Modern cases include the O. J. Simpson trial, the author's own experiences in the international Elian Gonzalez controversy--and his thoughts on the possible overwhelming effect that controversy had on Florida in the 2000 presidential election between Gore and Bush.

In Kendall Coffey also examines the most famous cases of recent times--those of Michael Jackson, Kobe Bryant, Martha Stewart, Scott Peterson, Gordon "Scooter" Libby, and the shenanigans of impeached former Governor Rod Blagojevich.

Along the way, in "Spinning The Law" the author, Kendall Coffey exposes many of the myths associated with the law, debunking assumptions about legal concepts ranging from circumstantial evidence and cooperating witnesses to so-called prosecutors' vendettas. As Alan M. Dershowitz says in his forward to the book In a democracy, where the people ultimately rule, this exciting book is an indispensable guide for all who care about justice.