“With a lawyer's mind and a writer’s heart, Klaw brings a deeper understanding of the way cultural attitudes about sex, money, women and relationships influence the law--and vice versa. Keeping It Civil grants access to Klaw’s most intriguing cases, exploring today’s hot button issues through the lens of ordinary people seeking counsel." —Philadelphia Tribune
“What doesn’t happen very often is that I read a book straight through, but that’s what I did with Keeping It Civil. I just couldn’t stop myself. That’s because author and Pennsylvania 'Super Lawyer' Margaret Klaw shares her cases with excitement, energy, and compassion here.” —The Bookworm Sez
“It is both Klaw’s legal expertise and her warmheartedness that make this book so approachable--and her terrific prose doesn’t hurt, either. I especially recommend this for book groups, where discussions about these ethical and legal dilemmas will no doubt be spirited.” —Bookpage
“An excellent, non-technical crash course on how and why lawyers do what they do . . . This book accomplishes an admirable goal: to foreground the humanity in the halls of justice.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Love can be messy, and law is just as complicated. Klaw’s book reminds readers that nothing about law is impersonal. Instead, human emotion remains the glue of the legal system, societal norms, and family law.” —Foreword Reviews
“Conversational, entertaining . . . Informative and smart . . . An accessible description of an intricate field of law, examined in an open-hearted style.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Margaret Klaw’s keen observations about the law and human nature are eye-opening and jaw-dropping. This book shows how today's cultural conflicts are played out in the lives of ordinary families in true-life cases that involve love, money, sex, betrayal, and power. A must read!”—Lisa Scottoline, New York Times bestselling author of the legal thrillers Save Me, Think Twice, and others
With a lawyer's mind and a writer’s heart, Klaw brings a deeper understanding of the way cultural attitudes about sex, money, women and relationships influence the law—and vice versa. Keeping It Civil grants access to Klaw’s most intriguing cases, exploring today’s hot button issues through the lens of ordinary people seeking counsel." —Philadelphia Tribune“What doesn’t happen very often is that I read a book straight through, but that’s what I did with Keeping It Civil. I just couldn’t stop myself. That’s because author and Pennsylvania 'Super Lawyer' Margaret Klaw shares her cases with excitement, energy, and compassion here.” —The Bookworm Sez“It is both Klaw’s legal expertise and her warmheartedness that make this book so approachable—and her terrific prose doesn’t hurt, either. I especially recommend this for book groups, where discussions about these ethical and legal dilemmas will no doubt be spirited.” —Bookpage“An excellent, non-technical crash course on how and why lawyers do what they do . . . This book accomplishes an admirable goal: to foreground the humanity in the halls of justice.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review“Love can be messy, and law is just as complicated. Klaw’s book reminds readers that nothing about law is impersonal. Instead, human emotion remains the glue of the legal system, societal norms, and family law.” —Foreword Reviews“Conversational, entertaining . . . Informative and smart . . . An accessible description of an intricate field of law, examined in an open-hearted style.” —Kirkus Reviews “Margaret Klaw’s keen observations about the law and human nature are eye-opening and jaw-dropping. This book shows how today's cultural conflicts are played out in the lives of ordinary families in true-life cases that involve love, money, sex, betrayal, and power. A must read!”—Lisa Scottoline, New York Times bestselling author of the legal thrillers Save Me, Think Twice, and others
"Conversational, entertaining . . . informative and smart . . . An accessible description of an intricate field of law, examined in an open-hearted style." --Kirkus Reviews
A lawyer specializing in family law relates, with appropriate redactions, some unhappy war stories. Many attorneys avoid cases involving family practice because it's too emotionally demanding. Others, like Philadelphia lawyer Klaw, are less averse to the family fights, marital mayhem, late-night calls and all the high drama. The author, a wife and mother, deals professionally with such intimate, basic human concerns as love, heirlooms, money, acquisitions, money, sex, children and, of course, money. In daily practice, she may confront lying spouses, secure protection orders, counsel same-sex marriage partners or arrange for new birth certificates for transgendered clients. Family practice, it should be noted, is an evolving legal specialty. There have been titanic social and scientific changes in just a generation or two; evolving sexual mores and relations, as well as new reproductive technology, have outpaced the stately progress of the law. Klaw's tilt is manifestly feminist, but she acknowledges the camaraderie among family-law practitioners. "We're joined together through a common work life that can be difficult, emotionally intense, sometimes exhilarating, and sometimes thankless," she writes. All lawyers, of course, enjoy reprising their courtroom adventures and recounting what they think are interesting "matters" (cases); Klaw, a regular blogger, is quite adept at anecdotal exposition of legal principles. Especially effective is her analysis, running sporadically throughout the book, of a representative custody trial. The conversational, entertaining text may sometimes sound more like Judge Judy than Learned Hand or Felix Frankfurter, but it is all informative and smart. (It may also enhance her total of well-deserved billable hours). An accessible description of an intricate field of law, examined in an open-hearted style.
