The Founding Lawyers and America's Quest for Justice

American lawyers enjoy a much more prominent and respected position in society than their English counterparts. This may be because the legal foundations of the United States define the country's very identity: children are taught details of the Constitution in class, politicians quote the Declaration of Independence on television, and the phrase 'I know my rights' only sounds natural coming from an American. The Founding Lawyers and America's Quest for Justice goes some way towards explaining why this is.

The book is a fascinating hybrid: part historical overview of American constitutional law, part treatise on access to justice. Author and litigator Stuart M Speiser's main point is that the American Constitution has been so successful precisely because lawyers were central to its creation. He firmly believes that the work of lawyer-statesmen is at the core of America's ascendancy.

Having chronicled the establishment of the Constitution and explained its ongoing success, Speiser embarks on a quest to prove the American legal system is unique in solving the problem of universal access to justice. He is particularly critical of the English system in comparison, arguing that only the very rich or the very poor enjoy the full protection of the rule of law in Britain.

He is unyielding in his stance that only by getting rid of the 'loser pays' rule and allowing wider use of contingency fees will the English system be fully accessible. He makes his point well, citing prominent cases in America's history and in his own career which would not have been likely in the UK for cost reasons. These case histories can seem overly detailed and anecdotal, but they make for exciting reading nonetheless.

The book is published by the Pound Civil Justice Institute, an organisation founded to 'safeguard access to the civil courts for ordinary citizens', and there are times when the book reads like a think-tank pamphlet lobbying for litigators. However, Speiser's astute analysis as an informed outsider of the challenges faced by the English legal system, combined with his unusual lawyer-centric overview of American history, makes for an engaging and thought-provoking read.