Americans Have A One-in-a-hundred Chance Of Going To Prison

Sept. 7, 2008 - PRLog -- “Ignorance is not bliss” for anyone caught in the American legal system, creating bankruptcies and even loss of liberty.  Today one out of every hundred Americans is  in prison, a prison population of more than two million (the majority for nonviolent crimes). Of course, the odds of actually going to prison change dramatically based on the individual’s  income, education, access to legal help and expert witnesses, gender, race and geography.

Robert E. Long, a successful Virginia lawyer, has encountered the lack of knowledge of legal rights and court procedures among many of  clients, and jurors in the courtroom. He has developed over the years a “story telling” technique to help explain complex legal issues to these  clients and jurors.

He has now written a new book, Trial Lawyer, that uses true case stories from his files to demonstrate how the law functions in real life:“Tue cases” in my new book, Trial Lawyer. (All identifying details have been fictionalized.) One example:

“Mary O’Sullivan,” a college professor, asked me to begin a divorce action against her   plumber-assistant husband. She said she still loved him and had given hima lovely six-year-old daughter, but she had outgrown him “intellectually.” Robert LongI suggested that before she started into the rocky world of divorce, she write a letter to her daughter explaining the divorce. She would then give this letter to her daughter when the young lady married.  It could help allay any questions or guilt feelings the daughter may have harbored over the years about why her dad left home. Mr. Long did not see Mary for three years.. She tcame into his office and said, “I couldn’t write the letter. My tears kept staining the paper.” She then said she decided to do what ever she could to make the marriage work. It did.

“My husband has become a very successful plumbing contractor. I now have the time to become very active in my daughter’s school and extra-curricular activities. I am the happiest woman on earth.”

Other stories in the book include cases about personal injury, a stolen military secret, patrimony and adultery. Each case suggests different legal principles. Trial Lawyer would appeal to the growing number of people who watch Law & Order on TV and read John Grisham’s legal thrillers – with the added drama that these are true cases.

The book can be purchased at a 15% discount ($14.95) at www.go-to-court.com. This new website is an interactive introduction to courtroom procedure with viewers becoming web jurors for one of his cases. Submitting a “guilty” or “innocent” verdict in the case enters the viewer in a free Trial Lawyer Sweepstakes with a $1,000 cash grand prize.

“Ignorance of the law” is not an excuse. That ignorance is not bliss either for millions of Americans .involved in legal actions.

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