By Steve Thorpe
Legal News
“The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.”
— Dick the Butcher to Jack Cade in William Shakespeare’s Henry VI
Although this line is most often used to disparage lawyers, Shakespeare was actually an admirer of the trade and the two shady villains conversing in the scene are agreeing that attorneys are the key to order and civilization and must be eliminated.
Not every writer was such a fan of the profession.
A century later, novelist Henry Fielding, himself a lawyer, penned this ditty near the end of his little-known comedy “Don Quixote in England,” which appeared in 1734:
“Lawyers are for Bedlam fit,
Or they never
Could endeavor
Half the rogueries to commit
Which we’re so mad to let ‘em.”
But it was yet another century passed before books with the law as a central thread really hit their stride.
Some consider 19th century author Wilkie Collins the father of the mystery thriller. His 1859 work “The Woman in White” involved puzzles, secrets, insanity and crimes like forgery, fraud and theft, much like a modern mystery, although at the time it was considered to be part of a genre called “sensation novels.”
Although he never practiced, English author Collins was trained as a lawyer and had passed the bar. In the book’s introduction, he said: “The story here presented will be told by more than one pen, as the story of an offence against the laws is told in Court by more than one witness.”
The book is probably the first instance in literature of a story told from the viewpoint of four different narrators. It also deals with some surprisingly modern issues, like women’s rights.
Because Collins and Charles Dickens were good friends, the book appeared in a magazine Dickens had created called “All the Year Round.” Serials were the rage then and the first installment of “The Woman in White” follows immediately the conclusion of Dickens’ “Tale of Two Cities” — with an attorney as a main character — in the same issue.
“The Woman in White” has been in print continuously since then, has been adapted for the stage and spawned four film versions.
Mark Twain created the character of Pudd’nhead Wilson, an eccentric young attorney, in 1894. Not one of Twain’s best efforts, it did involve a mystery and introduced the novel notion of identifying individuals by their fingerprints.
In the early 1900s, author Arthur Train was the creator of the attorney Mr. Ephraim Tutt, sort of a proto-Perry Mason who, in the words of the author, “fights fire with fire, meets guile with guile, and rights the legal wrong.” Train was an attorney himself and wrote dozens of the books, making Mr. Tutt the best known lawyer in America at the time.
Among the hugely-successful works dealing with the law in the middle of the 20th century, “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee and “Anatomy of a Murder” by Robert Traver stand out.
But the king of them all is still Perry Mason.
Author Erle Stanley Gardner, creator of Perry Mason and author of the books until his death – yes, characters often outlive writers — was admitted to the bar in California in 1911. He tended to represent underdog (and underpaying) clients and sold tires as a sideline to make ends meet. Gardner eventually decided that writing might be a better second job and he reputedly wrote 4,000 words a night, although any writer will tell you, that’s a lot of literary lifting.
Gardner wrote his first Mason novel, “The Case of the Velvet Claws,” in 1933 and his publisher liked it so much that he suggested a series.
What followed were 81 Mason mysteries translated into 30 languages and eventually selling hundreds of millions — that’s hundreds of millions — of copies in the U.S. alone.
And we’re not even to the films and long-running television show.
It’s a safe bet that Americans who would draw a blank on such real-life legal legends as Oliver Wendell Holmes, Thurgood Marshall or even Clarence Darrow, know who Perry Mason is.
Local used bookseller John King says that Perry Mason continues to be popular and that the fans aren’t always too picky which book they get.
“There’s always someone who’s a voracious reader and comes in and buys a bushel basket of these books,” he says.
Perhaps some buyers are attracted to the racy covers the Mason mysteries usually sported.
“A lot of the lurid covers are still lurid even by today’s standards. They’re still pretty raunchy,” King says.
But if you’re looking for barristers in the Mason aisle at John King Books in downtown Detroit, you’ll be disappointed.
“It’s almost an aversion,” King says. “I don’t know too many attorneys who read Perry Mason.” Move over to the history section and you’re more likely to trip over a lawyer.
“A good number of attorneys collect books on the history of law, but not the fictional side of it,” King says.
And anyone who suspects that Gardner’s belief in the underdog was feigned, in 1948 he was one of the founders of what has been called the world’s first “innocence project.” The “Court of Last Resort” was an organization of attorneys, experts and investigators who sought to help the wrongly convicted.
After Mason’s heyday, the genre seemed to go to sleep for a decade or two. Then it began to build again and today is arguably as popular as it ever was. Now, John Grisham, Scott Turow, David Baldacci and others keep the literary courtrooms full of interesting characters.
Marlyn Robinson, reference librarian at University of Texas at Austin and an acknowledged expert on the genre, has her own theory about the resurgence of lawyer literature:
“It wasn’t until the 1970s, and especially the ‘80s, that lawyers once again began to turn away from their practices to write fiction, bringing a new edge of realism and authority to mysteries engaging the law,” Robinson wrote. “The boom in legal business up to the late ‘80s was accompanied by a massive burnout. Intense pressure for billing hours, competition for those hours, and a general feeling that law was not nearly so exciting as they had thought during law school caused a large number of lawyers to rethink their careers. The economic bust of the late ‘80s saw many lawyers casting about for alternative careers. Then in 1987, Scott Turow’s success with ‘Presumed Innocent’ exploded the legal thriller market. The sheer number of lawyer/authors dictates that the major characteristic of the genre in this decade is enormous diversity in writing styles, themes and series characters.”
While the legal profession can sometimes be hard on its practitioners, many grateful readers should be forgiven for saying, “Thank goodness for burnout.”
At legal loggerheads, the good and bad of it ALL
GOOD
Perry Mason – Hero of the books of Erle Stanley Gardner. The first Mason film appeared in 1934 and the character was a mainstay on television with the popular series running from 1957-66. Beginning in the 1980s, more than 30 “made for TV movies” were aired. The character has become such a cultural icon that he has appeared or been mentioned in the work of other authors, Mad Magazine, a BBC series, those cartoons spanning the eons “The Flintstones” and “The Jetsons,” comic books and even a hip hop song.
Atticus Finch – Hero of Harper Lee’s best-selling novel “To Kill a Mockingbird,” Finch has become a folk hero of sorts with his blend of intelligence and folksiness. The Michigan Law Review once stated that “No real-life lawyer has done more for the self-image or public perception of the legal profession. In 2003, Finch was voted the greatest hero in American film by the American Film Institute, beating out Rocky Balboa and Mahatma Gandhi. The book won a Pulitzer Prize and the film won Best Picture in the Academy Awards.
Paul Biegler – Defense attorney in the film version of “Anatomy of a Murder.” As portrayed by James Stewart, Biegler isn’t quite the choirboy represented by Atticus Finch. Biegler appears to be ambivalent about his client’s guilt or innocence and even seems to be coaching his future testimony at times. He’s also not above using their mutual passion for fishing to butter up the judge. But he also displays the earnest virtues of his Upper Peninsula community in his tenacious defense.
Sydney Carton – The conflicted, but ultimately noble, hero of Dickens’ “Tale of Two Cities.” Carton is a brilliant, selfish drunk who bitterly resents his client because the man is everything Carton aspires to be, but isn’t. For much of the book, Carton belongs on our “bad” list, but redeems himself at the end by sacrificing his own life to save that of his client.
Charles W. Kingsfield Jr. – Wise law prof of the 1970 book, 1973 film and 1978-86 TV series “The Paper Chase.” Kingsfield is a brilliant, terrifying, inspiring and intimidating faculty member of Harvard Law School. Perhaps his most famous line in the film is, “You teach yourselves the law. I train your minds. You come in here with a skull full of mush, and if you survive, you’ll leave thinking like a lawyer.” Some say that the inspiration for Kingsford was real-life cantankerous Harvard Law professor Edward “Bull” Warren.
Henry Drummond (standing in for Clarence Darrow) – Hero of “Inherit the Wind,” the fictionalized version of the infamous “Scopes Monkey Trial.” Playwrights Jerome Lawrence and Robert Lee introduced Drummond to audiences in the 1955 Broadway drama, but his best-known incarnation was rendered by Spencer Tracy in the 1960 film. His adversary in the case over teaching evolution is Matthew Harrison Brady, a thinly-disguised William Jennings Bryan.
Rusty Sabich – Protagonist in Scott Turow’s “Presumed Innocent” book and the film. A prosecutor wrongly accused of murdering a former flame, he battles to clear himself and uncovers a swirl of political intrigue. Rusty is a good guy but has some skeletons in his closet and adds one at the end when – spoiler alert – it turns out his wife is the killer who gets away with it.
BAD
Tom Hagen – Corleone family consigliere in Mario Puzo’s “The Godfather.” Produces legal briefs and severed horse’s heads with equal facility. Never has to worry if he’s produced enough billable hours. As Hagen says at one point, “I have a very special practice. I handle one client.”
Hamilton Burger – The usual prosecutor in the Perry Mason novels was not truly evil, but he was misguided. He also was doomed – like basketball’s Washington Generals – to always lose. Played in the long-running TV series by Detroit’s own William Talman.
John Milton – Senior partner of the firm Milton, Chadwick & Waters in the book “The Devil’s Advocate” by Andrew Neiderman. Does pro bono work as Satan. When an associate attorney displeases him, they have an unpleasant “Come to Beelzebub” meeting.
Claude Dancer – The unctuous, oily and ambitious “downstate” prosecutor from the big city of Lansing in the book and movie “Anatomy of a Murder.” Played by George C. Scott in the film.
Sampson Brass – From Dickens’ “Old Curiosity Shop.” Very good at displaying sympathy for his clients while cheating them. Described by a character as “an attorney of no good repute,” he serves as Daniel Quilp’s lawyer and helps Quilp get the Curiosity Shop. He’s eventually undone by a below-stairs maid.
Herr Huld – Pompous lawyer in Franz Kafka’s “The Trial,” made into films by Orson Welles and Martin Scorsese, who called his work “After Hours.”
Mr. Tulkinghorn – Sir Leicester Dedlock’s sinister and unscrupulous lawyer in Dickens’ “Bleak House.” Spends a lot of his time spying on Lady Honoria Dedlock, the client’s wife, and eventually uncovers her secret past. Lady Dedlock nearly faints while Tulkinghorn is reading a brief aloud, an experience others may have had in court.
Two-Face – Technically a former lawyer and we are required, in this era of “illustrated novels,” to stretch the definition of literature to include comic books. In the Batman series, Two-Face was once clean-cut district attorney Harvey Dent, who goes insane and turns to a life of crime after having acid thrown on his face during a trial.
– By Steve Thorpe
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This article first ran in the Spring 2013 edition of MOTION Magazine.
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