Lawrence M Friedman: 24 books

The trial of O. J. Simpson was a sensation, avidly followed by millions of people, but it was also, in a sense, nothing new. One hundred years earlier the Lizzie Borden trial had held the nation in thrall. The names (and the crimes) may change, but the appeal is enduring—and why this is, how it...

In this compelling book, Lawrence M. Friedman looks at situations where killing is condemned by law but not by social norms and, therefore, is rarely punished. He shows how penal codes categorize homicides by degree of intent, which are in turn based on society's sense of moral outrage. Despite being...

In this long-awaited successor to his landmark work A History of American Law, Lawrence M. Friedman offers a monumental history of American law in the twentieth century. The first general history of its kind, American Law in the Twentieth Century describesthe explosion of law over the past...

“Law in America is a little gem. It is a peerless introduction to our legal history—concise, clear, tellingly told, and beautifully written. The greatest living historian of American law has done it again.” —Stanley N. Katz, former president of the American Society for Legal History and the...

Under what conditions are laws and rules effective? Lawrence M. Friedman gathers findings from many disciplines into one overarching analysis and lays the groundwork for a cohesive body of work in “impact studies.” He examines the importance of communication on the part of lawgivers and the nuances of motive among those subject to the law.

Lawyer Frank May is, as always, reluctant to get involved in murder cases. But when his young client, Margot, comes back from a vacation with her husband and finds the dead body of a woman in their house, Frank is drawn in despite himself. Who was this woman? And when another murder occurs—this...

Frank May is back and more hesitant than ever to get involved. But a mystery finds him anyway, too bizarre for him to ignore. Many people believe in life after death, but how many believe in murder after death? Or at least the revelation of a murder from a dead mother? Frank’s rich client...

Frank May practices law in San Mateo, California. Much of his practice deals with estate planning -- wills, trusts, and related matters. So dead people are very much on his mind and the mind of his clients. But not, for the most part, unnatural deaths. Yet mysterious deaths, for some odd reason, seem...

Frank May's law practice is mostly estate planning. Nothing is further from his mind than murder ... but mysterious deaths somehow seem to pursue him anyway. This time, it's the body of a woman, murdered and hidden on the grounds of the home in Los Altos Hills, California, owned by a new, young client,...

Inside the Castle is a comprehensive social history of twentieth-century family law in the United States. Joanna Grossman and Lawrence Friedman show how vast, oceanic changes in society have reshaped and reconstituted the American family. Women and children have gained rights and powers, and novel...

Frank May hates trouble, as a lawyer and as a guy. But it likes him just fine. For someone who practices wills and trusts law because it lies far from the scene of murder and mayhem, he has a knack for being caught up in it anyway. Which is why he thought he was fortune's friend the night his...

Frank May practices law but only the bland kind--writing wills, pushing papers. Not a seedy life in criminal law. But a dead body wakes you up to places you don't want to be. A call from frantic client Barney near the corpse of his wannabe-actress wife drags Frank in it. Only he really thinks Barney...

Contract law as applied in the real world and not just in the books. A classic study of the social and economic realities of commercial and trade law, told through cases and rich historical analysis. Comparing law over three distinct historical eras, Friedman shows that contracts law is more contingent...

The law of succession rests on a single brute fact: you can't take it with you. The stock of wealth that turns over as people die is staggeringly large. In the United States alone, some $41 trillion will pass from the dead to the living in the first half of the 21st century. But the social impact...