After over three years of work, Trial Guides is proud to announce the release of Moe Levine on Advocacy, the most comprehensive book ever released on Levine's lectures, trial transcripts and articles.
Moe Levine practiced in New York in the 1940s to early 1970s, trying over 2000 civil trials. He was one of the first members of the Inner Circle of Advocates, and was close friends with Inner Circle founder Richard Grand. He helped create the concept of "qualitative damages" while helping Grand re-frame one of his cases by taking a concept from the Bible and using it as a way to describe the client's loss. (The case is discussed in the book.)
Levine was a pioneer in tort litigation, on the cutting edge of medicine and medical malpractice cases, and created many of the case themes still used today in a wide variety of cases. Unlike many lawyers of his era, his ideas and work are timeless. Poor quality audio and video recordings of Levine have been passed between the nation's leading lawyers on VHS and cassette for decades, and the books published during his life now exceed $1,000 per book. In particular, several prominent members of the Inner Circle of Advocates look to Levine's body of work for case framing and trial themes. Moe Levine on Advocacy compiles all known sources of Levine's work for a fraction of the price.
While lawyers today will never get close to Levine's 2000+ jury trials, using all of the methods he developed helps you pull from his immense fund of knowledge in your own trials.
This project was personally edited and overseen by Trial Guides founder Aaron DeShaw. The project was completed with the authorization and cooperation of Levine's children.
A few of the reviews for this book:
"A trial lawyer who has not read Moe Levine is like a poet who has not read Shakespere. You may get the job done, but you are missing out on joy and inspiration—and are not truly educated. In the past, lawyers have had to search through used book stores and libraries for bits and pieces of the wisdom Moe shared with his contemporaries. Trial Guides has pulled it all together in one book that you will return to again and again."
—Rick Friedman, author of Rules of the Road, Polarizing the Case, and Becoming a Trial Lawyer. Member of the Inner Circle of Advocates, the International Academy of Trial Lawyers.
"Over thirty years ago as a young law student, I was in the front row at a trial lawyer seminar that announced the next speaker, Moe Levine from New York. At the time I had never heard of Moe. However, what I witnessed thereafter was truly a career-changing epiphany. The lights were dim, and onto the raised platform came an elderly man, obviously in poor health, with little vision. Moe stood in the spotlight and began to deliver the closing argument in an injury case. For thirty minutes I sat spellbound, engrossed in the passion of this imaginary case. Real tears fell down my cheeks and those of the people surrounding me. It was an experience I will never forget."
—Don Keenan, child advocate, and Past-President of the Inner Circle of Advocates
"Trial Guides again trumps the big guys. In this continuing era of 'tort-reformed' jurors, the hard lesson is that the old ways no longer work, and we need something else. So we invent new things. But no less important is the precious trove of Moe Levine's ways. What he did and taught way back then is dead-on what we need now. How so prescient? He dwelled at the intersection of mind and heart, the place that determines the outcome of every case. And he teaches you how to live there, too."
—David Ball, Ph.D., author of David Ball on Damages
"Only a handful of plaintiff's trial lawyers have managed to claw their way to the mountaintop of full justice over and over again; only to come back down and share the secrets of their success with their colleagues. Moe Levine was one, and it is fitting that Don Keenan, another titan and teacher, should write the introduction for the most complete collection of Moe Levine's teachings ever published. Trial lawyers everywhere can now stand on the shoulders of two giants of the plaintiff's trial bar."
—Dennis Donnelly, immediate past president of the Inner Circle of Advocates