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I was sent BAD LAWYER by Hachette Books as part of their #HBSocialClub!

Anna Dorn shares her time in law school and the few years after when she casually practiced law throughout this short memoir. As the title hints, she wasn’t the most skilled or interested lawyer- her sights set instead on launching her writing career. This is where the two meet.

I had a Bad Lawyer this past year. Lawyers to me are like capital A Adults and I trusted that this person would handle my case effectively and professionally. Instead, they strung me along for the better part of a year - frankly forgetting my case and failing to remedy the situation when I finally questioned it. I wouldn’t be surprised if I looked back and Anna Dorn was my lawyer in disguise.

Dorn shares how she skated by in law school at Berkeley, mostly skimming material and relying on her natural organizational skills to drive her through the rest. It was pretty illuminating and a story about law and lawyers that you don’t really see - but, of course there are bad ones, right? Of course not all lawyers are like those we see on TV (and hey, even a good lot of them are also problematic).

I couldn’t quite connect with the cadence of Dorn’s tale. The book starts out light hearted and fun, I wanted to love and hang out with this stoner law student on a journey of coming out and figuring her way into the world. But, as the book went on, Dorn boldly puts a finger on her privilege then shrugs it off. Wants to work hard for underprivileged clients but then shrugs when it doesn’t really happen. Complains about the law and it’s racism, sexism and various other disparities but shrugs because she gets a LOT of creative writing done at work.

The last couple of chapters feel different in tone and highlight facts and disparities that make one feel like she’s really putting her foot down on the LAW, but really these are essays she wrote while approaching publishing the book. The rest that was back filled was mostly us being convinced how flippant she was about the whole process and how being a lawyer was, like, totally not for her.

I’d love to hear others perspective on her story. While the book isn’t published until May, I have this ARC to pass on to anyone who might be interested. Share the story with a lawyer in your life and see their reaction. It’ll be a funny little experiment, just like playing with the law was to Anna Dorn.