Trial by Jury

From the best of The American Lawyer magazine, here is an analysis of 20 of the most important trials in recent years.

Publishers Weekly

Originally published between 1983 and 1988 in a magazine for attorneys, these stimulating essays will also magnetize the general public with their in-depth, behind-the-headlines accounts of 16 recent trials. Particularly enlightening are articles that probe the dynamics of juror interaction. An account of a libel case against the Washington Post shows a determined foreman arguing fellow jurors into voting his way by simply wearing down those with opposing views. An article about the DeLorean trial, by contrast, maintains that although adverse pretrial publicity initially influenced some jurors, they tried to consider the evidence methodically and honestly. Other pieces examine legal precedents set by individual cases. The brutal 1981 murder of a black teenager in Mobile, Ala., for example, led not only to convictions for his murderers but also to a $7 million judgment against the United Klans of America, the first time a Klan group was held responsible for the violent acts of its members. Also in these pages: Johnson vs. Johnson, MacDonald vs. McGinniss and Israel vs. Ivan Demjanjuk. Brill is editor-in-chief of American Lawyer and author of The Teamsters. (Apr.)

Steven Brill is the founder of Journalism Online, a company designed to create a new, viable business model for journalism to flourish online. He is a feature writer for The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, and TIME. Brill founded the Yale Journalism Initiative, which recruits and trains journalists. He founded and ran Court TV, The American Lawyer Magazine, and Brill's Content Magazine. He is the author of After: How America Confronted the September 12th Era and The Teamsters.