A reader from Orange County, California:

I bought this book half-way through my first year of practice and it probably saved both my sanity and my career. More than worth the money.

Posted on Amazon.com, January 26, 1999.

From the Research Advisor :

Most junior associates are set on their way with neither map nor compass...although expected to arrive on time at the secret destination.

In The Young Lawyer's Jungle Book: A Survival Guide, Thane Josef Messinger provides the map; his book is packed with frank and encouraging advice for beginning attorneys.

When one of our new fall associates saw it on my desk, he wanted to read it then and there. I wish I had enough copies for each of them.

Enjoy the book! I did.

Ms. Michelle Schmidt, Research Advisor: Information Solutions for Today's Legal Professionals, issue 13, Jan/Feb 1998, pp. 5­6. Ms. Schmidt is librarian for Luce, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps, a law firm based in San Diego, California.)

The Washington State Bar Journal :

Like most associates starting out, I have quickly realized that three years of law school education did not adequately prepare me for legal practice.

This book is loaded with common-sense advice for new associates, presented in a humorous, readable manner.

Joseph Lee, Esq. in the Washington State Bar News, March 1997, pp. 38-39.

From the Connecticut Bar Journal :

This is a thoughtful, candid, and well-written book. The new attorney, or even second or third-year law student, would do well to make the investment.

Richard F. Wareing, Esq. in the Connecticut Bar Journal, vol. 70, no. 4, pp. 308-310.

The Compleat Lawyer (another of the journals of the American Bar Association):

This book should be required reading for all law students....by the time it reached my hands, two decades after law school, it was still relevant. This book could be the most worthwhile investment you make in your legal career.

Ms. Jennifer Rose, Esq., Editor-in-Chief of The Compleat Lawyer, July 6, 1997.

From Career Opportunity News :

A very helpful book for those planning legal careers. Each year 45,000 young lawyers graduate from one of the most grueling of all graduate programs only to enter one of the most hostile employment environments.

If you did well in law school, and go with a top firm, its expectations will blow your mind. If you were only average, then you have a real job search on you hand. In either event, this book is filled with sound advice with a helpful optimistic tone.

Every career field would benefit from a great book like this one on law.

Career Opportunity News, Jan./Feb. 1997, p. 12.

From the Midwest Book Review :

New lawyers receive relatively little in the way of practical guidelines to the real world of practice: enter this title, which examines law practice operations and the young new lawyer's entry-level experience. This book covers all the basics.

Midwest Book Review, vol. 3, no. 12, p. 1.

From Law Practice Management (a journal of the American Bar Association):

It has been documented many times that the first year of law practice is one of the most stressful in the life of a lawyer, replete with new surroundings, experiences, behaviors, and requirements. The background the author provides to the new associate is priceless.

Law Practice Management, March 1997, pp. 60-62.

From The Colorado Lawyer (the journal of the Colorado State Bar Association) :

New associates are often bewildered by the world after law school, with its competing demands on too little time, uncommunicated or confusing expectations by supervisors and clients, and isolation into piecemeal projects having little perceived relevance to the reality of lawyering.

Similarly, law firms are notorious for their inability -- through lack of time, attention, expertise, or awareness -- to develop a coherent and meaningful plan to train and develop their new attorneys, which are their greatest resource and their future.

Forewarned is forearmed.

Catherine A.G. Sparkman, Esq. in The Colorado Lawyer, vol. 26, no. 12, pp. 26-28.

From Bench and Bar of Minnesota (the journal of the Minnesota State Bar Association):

Law school's over; now comes the hard part. The Young Lawyer's Jungle Book: A Survival Guide provides new lawyers facing the terror of that first year with the tools and tips they will need to keep their heads above water. Check the bookstores.

Bench and Bar of Minnesota, vol. LIV, no. VIII.

An excellent book, loaded with good information.

I have found this to be an excellent book on the practice of law. After nearly two years in a medium-sized, boutique law firm, I think the situations and advice of the author are on-point. The book is a bit unconventional, but after a few chapters, I found it well-written and really funny, which makes it a lot easier to digest.

I recommend this book to all new lawyers. It has information you won't find anywhere else - including stuff nobody ever mentioned to me - and you might pay a hundred bucks to duplicate it, if you could find a "Senior" lawyer who cared enough to tell you everything written in the book.

Five stars - a definite "buy."

Posted on Amazon.com by reader from New York, January 8, 2000.

A must-read for those considering becoming a lawyer.

I recommend this book to my pre-law students. It covers many areas of law that one needs to consider, and it does it without being boring.

A must-read book for those considering becoming a lawyer.

Posted on Amazon.com by<ktwheeler@du.edu> from Denver, Colorado, October 18, 1999.

From the National Law Journal :

Worth Reading.

National Law Journal, Monday, June 23, 1997, p. 818.

From Current Publications in Legal and Related Fields (the journal of the American Association of Law Libraries):

An absolutely hilarious book...respectful of the difficulties faced by the new lawyer -- and the expectations of his or her new employer.

Current Publications in Legal and Related Fields, vol. 45, no. 3, p. 123.

A letter from another librarian:

None of the books in our collection provide quite this type of career guidance for new attorneys. Congratulations on a unique, useful, and hilarious book!

Letter from Ms. Sephanie Langenkamp, Library Director of the San Marcos Public Library, Texas, to the author, November 22, 1996.

A letter from a new lawyer:

Many of the insights apply to those working as law clerks during school, as well as junior associates.

I would have loved to have had such insights when I started my first job.

Letter from Ms. Kelly Mego to the publisher, December 1996.

Email from a law student:

Dear Mr. Messinger,

I can't tell you how much "The Young Lawyer's Jungle Book" has come to mean to me.

Even as a second-year law school student, I can appreciate the insights and invaluable advice throughout the book.

Email to the author, February 24, 1997.

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