Law.com Review
Occasionally profane but never in doubt, Edward Menkin’s new memoir, which chronicles the interesting criminal cases he’s tried over his 42-year legal career, is an entertaining read that lawyers will find authentic and non-lawyers will consider accessible.
‘Death on the Doorstep & Other Stories: A Trial Lawyer’s Memoir’
By Edward Z. Menkin
Independently published, 248 pages, $12.99
Clarence Darrow once said that the only real lawyers are trial lawyers, and trial lawyers try cases to juries. This sentiment finds no disagreement in Edward Z. Menkin’s new memoir, which chronicles interesting criminal cases he has tried over the course of his 42-year legal career. Raised in the 1950s Bronx and educated as a Shakespeare scholar, Menkin’s book is at once both conversational and erudite, telling an edgy tale in a style that Mickey Spillane might admire. Occasionally profane but never in doubt, the book is an entertaining read that lawyers will find authentic and non-lawyers will consider accessible.
Long a fixture in the Syracuse bar, Menkin began his legal career as an assistant in the Onondaga County District Attorney’s Office. In 1980, he opened his own law office, from which he has handled both criminal defense and personal injury cases. Over the years, he has tried over 100 cases to verdict. Although Menkin has handled many successful tort cases, his book confirms that criminal law is his first love. Writing in the book’s concluding chapter, he quips that: “the only law that matters is criminal law; everything else is just about other people’s money.”
Two parts of this book readily stand out. The first appears early in the book, where Menkin humorously describes “the best opening statement” he ever delivered to a jury. It occurred in a concealed weapons case that he prosecuted as a young ADA. The case involved a sawed-off shotgun that had a detachable barrel and stock. The weapon was found in a detached form (with ammunition) under the seat of the defendant’s car during a police stop. The defendant’s lawyer contended that the detached pieces did not constitute a gun.
Read the rest of the review at https://www.law.com/newyorklawjournal/2019/09/17/book-review-death-on-the-doorstep-other-stories-a-trial-lawyers-memoir/
