Reviewed by Leonard Smuts for Readers' Favorite

The legal profession seems to attract its fair share of characters. Kevin O'Donnell has seen more than most and entertains readers with his reminiscences in Tales from the Oldest Profession: As Told by a Very Common Lawyer. He reflects on his student days, playing pranks, and when he was a junior attorney. He encountered clients and colleagues who were less than honest. Their character flaws ranged from cheating at sports to legal trickery and distortions of facts. The English language was used and abused. Lawyers come in all shapes and sizes, as do their employees and clients. They have varied temperaments, and some have big egos. It can be a hard-drinking occupation that seems to attract similarly inclined clients, with drunken driving cases featuring regularly. The author describes a typical legal practice and how it works, from office protocol to courtroom procedure and dealing with unrealistic client expectations. There are questions of ethics, hiring and firing, liquid lunches and strained relationships. Cases ranged from disagreements with landlords to traffic offenses, family feuds, and contractual disputes. The author was mainly involved in civil litigation and managed to maintain a distance from the more violent crimes.

Tales from the Oldest Profession by Kevin O'Donnell demonstrates that lawyers can be an eclectic group with a wide disparity in temperament. Public perceptions can be negative, while clients are equally imperfect. Disputes are not always resolved to the satisfaction of all concerned. The author points out that the legal profession has a high rate of depression due to the workload and adversarial nature of the work. Although written as a memoir, the book concentrates on the wide variety of friends, colleagues and clients that the author encountered during his forty-plus years in the legal profession. There were many amusing incidents, which outweighed the less-than-happy encounters. Some of those who featured have passed on, but friendships have endured. The writing style is conversational and humorous, sharing a wealth of experience and situations as the author moved up the ladder in his profession. It makes for entertaining reading.