A review by robertrivasplata
Bad Lawyer: A Memoir of Law and Disorder by Anna Dorn

adventurous dark funny informative lighthearted reflective fast-paced

3.5

Portrait of the kind of people who are able to stumble into law school & then skate on into a career in law. Dorn paints herself as a bitchy stoner contrarian approval & drama junkie. The tone keeps it light even with all the messed up things going on, so that it almost reads like some character's adventures in law-land, except it's all stuff that really happened! I once read a quote from the great Walter Mosley where he said something like “the most important thing a writer can add to a character is a bit of himself”. If I hadn't read Exalted, I'd be like “who's this weirdo”? But having read her other book, I recognize this person from all the characters in Exalted. The main difference between Anna (as she portrays herself) & the exalted characters is that she actually is as talented & accomplished as Emily & Dawn pretend to be. For me, the biggest revelation in here are Dorn's insights into attorney brain, which I believe her odd chapter defending Tao is but one manifestation. (I'm with her that life is not black & white, & prison isn't the solution to rape culture, but you can still give some some side-eye for a guy who's a little creepy.) That said, I do appreciate her anti-carceral stance. Goes well with watching Better Call Saul.