Reddit reviews A Civil Action

Are you wanting to read substantive legal materials (e.g., what does the First Amendment say?) or about the history of law, or biographies of famous or interesting lawyers, or are you looking for information about what the practice of law is like?

"A Civil Action" might be a reasonable start. http://www.amazon.com/Civil-Action-Jonathan-Harr/dp/0679772677/

This one is about law—so I guess sorry for not actually answering your question—but I just finished this one and can't recommend it enough. Someone in an 0L thread a couple months back recommended "A Civil Action" to anyone looking to read something fun this summer that's law school-adjacent but not a casebook or whatever, and I finally picked it up and started reading it about a week ago.

I flew through it and loved it so much—it's a super compelling and true story, a total page-turner, and made me feel in the tiniest way that I was getting in a law school mindset without doing any of the "useless" prep that everyone warns against/discourages. One of my favorite nonfiction books I've ever read.

>Can any of you give some advice on some books that a young teen could look into to learn more about the profession and what's involved with it, what types of things she would be studying and such?

It might be a bit advanced for a 13 year old, but A Civil Action is a pretty interesting non-fiction read. It discusses the experience of a litigator in a major trial and the various trials and tribulations that he goes through. I don't remember anything in there that would be inappropriate for a teenager and it is used in high school curriculum.

It might be a bit advanced for an average 13-year-old, but I doubt that an average 13-year-old is actively trying to be a lawyer.

One of my favourite books about being a lawyer: A Civil Action by Jonathan Harr (later made into a movie with John Travolta). Book takes place in the American context (and in the context of an environmental contamination case), but it's extremely well-written and interesting and really provides a good in-depth look about what it's like to be a particular type of lawyer (i.e., a small-firm bulldog type). Highly recommended!

My other advice is to try to work at a law firm for a bit - see if you can get a legal assistant job for a little while. It will definitely teach you a great deal about the inner workings of a law firm.

I searched the name of the book you recommended but couldn't find it. Do you know the authors name?

Wait are those 3 different books?

Edit: Yea I am dumb they are different books. Here they are on amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Simple-Justice-Education-Americas-Struggle/dp/1400030617

https://www.amazon.com/Letters-Young-Lawyer-Mentoring-Paperback/dp/0465016332

https://www.amazon.com/Civil-Action-Jonathan-Harr/dp/0679772677

https://www.amazon.com/Nine-Inside-Secret-World-Supreme/dp/1400096790