In Reciprocia: Natural Political Philosophy, Liberty, Law & Government, Richard Rieben maintains that what he refers to as "reciprocia" is political liberty, pure in both theory and structure. He does not advocate any particular political agenda or advocates any conventional forms of political revolution, but instead, offers a revolutionary concept of liberty that is coherent, sensible, practical, useful -- and above all, possible. Reciprocia offers principles for describing law, structuring government, enforcing law, practicing government, and the application of principles as embodied in the legal code of a constitution. Reciprocia is unique and iconoclastic, informative and challenging, and of intense interest to students of political philosophy, political science, ethics, justice, economics, jurisprudence, and constitutional law.

When Rodney King asked "Can we all get along?" he was begging for someone to write this book.

Reciprocia is 400 pages of thought-inspiring stuff about liberty and how it can and should work. There's something here for everyone to disagree with -- and a framework that forces the reader to reexamine that disagreement. Richard Rieben demolishes the fraudulent "social contracts" of Hobbes and Roussea, and defines the state as something arising from the political contract, rather than as a party to it.

If you've busted your skull trying to figure out just what rights are and what liberty is, take two aspirin and read Reciprocia. You'll be glad you did.

This book is just what the doctor ordered. I am not an accountant or big time property investor but I needed to find out how to deal with the taxes I faced on the sale of a small apartment building. This book covered the stuff my realtor talked to me about and went far beyond. I quickly found out that what I was planning on doing wasn't going to work out the way I (or my realtor) thought. However, this book gave me other ideas and choices I hadn't considered; some of which would work pretty well for my situation. I don't necessarily enjoy reading business or tax books, but this one was surprisingly easy to read and understand. I was able to get through the book in a few days and didn't get bored or mind boggled. Now I've got both my realtor and accountant reading it. This one is worth the time invested. Hat's off to the author.

This book is a "must read" for anybody who is considering buying or selling real estate in their lifetime. Many of the strategies listed in this book are very cutting edge. There are so many detailed tax advantages that are expressed in an easy to read format. This book is an excellent resource and I highly recommend it.

I loved this book. A very readable journey through the court case which arose out of Colorado's anti-gay initiative, supported by a clear and descriptive primer on the larger gay rights movement. The pacing was crisp, the writing clear and the story told in a compelling fashion. I highly recommend this book.

Suzanne Goldberg, the Lambda Legal Defense Fund attorney who worked on Romer v. Evans, and Lisa Keen, the Washington Blade journalist who won an award from the A.B.A. for her news coverage of the case, have collaborated on a truly fascinating "inside baseball" account of the litigation. Particulary useful: their detailed description of the expert testimony offered to the trial court on the issue of "suspect classification" for sexual orientation discrimination analysis. This is a must read for lawyers and legal scholars interested in Romer and gay rights generally.

This fine book by Prof. Richard Epstein has probably been more influential than the casual reader may be aware.

The heart of Epstein's claim is that _anything_ the government does that imposes any sort of "cost" on anybody amounts to a "taking" for which the Constitution requires just compensation. We all know how this is supposed to work as applied to the usual exercise of eminent domain. But Epstein casts his net wide and argues that the takings clause applies to all sorts of things you never would have thought of -- welfare programs, rent control, jiggery-pokery with the national currency, you name it.

The impact of the book is evident mainly through "negative" evidence. For example, some readers may recall that during the Clarence Thomas hearings, somebody asked Thomas if he believed the stuff in this book (as the Congresscritter in question clearly did not). I think Thomas managed to duck the question, but the point was made. And at any rate, it tells you something that somebody found it important to _ask_ the question in the first place.

Then, too, my own property-law casebook remarks somewhere near the end that Epstein's views on "takings" have not been found convincing by too many people. Interesting that the book still finds it necessary to mention his work, then.

So check it out. Sure, it's radical, and (let's admit it frankly) it's probably not a correct interpretation of the framers' intent. But if you're not a tax-and-spend Congresscritter, maybe you'll find it as pregnant and alluring a suggestion as I do. And it's one of Epstein's best books; I think he wrote it before he had completely converted to utilitarianism. You don't have to agree with it, but you should at least learn why Federalistas are afraid of it.

The human right to own and use property is a bedrock of our basic values and freedoms. Epstein's classic book is a seminal (and accessible) analysis of the complex legal and philosophical issues involved. Its original publication in the mid-1980s was also an important political event; it helped trigger the current movement to reinvigerate the right to property, in the Congress and in the Courts. With the Del Monte Dunes case up in the Supreme Court, the argument is getting even hotter. Takings is essential for anyone who wants to understand the issues.

James V. DeLong

What impact is the Internet revolution having on the practice of law? If you read most mainstream legal publications you would think the answer is very little. Or you might sense that most of the change has occurred already. Richard Susskind understands the larger forces that are going to dictate how law is practiced in the immediate future. His explanation is cogent, well thought-out, and compelling.

The idea that market forces will compel lawyers to provide better services to a larger class of people at a lower cost is not something that most lawyers want to hear. Of course, travel agents didn't want to hear that people were going to start booking their own travel online either (same with stock brokers).

If you have read and enjoyed the Cluetrain Manifesto then check this book out, even if you only have a passing interest in the law. If you are a lawyer and expect to be practicing for another ten years then to ignore the ideas expressed in Susskind's book is dangerous.

This wonderful book is very different from most legal technology books, which concentrate on tactics: which word processor to choose, which case management system is best, how to secure an intranet. This book concentrates instead on the strategic implications of new technology, especially the Internet, on the legal profession.

One of the highlights of the book is helping lawyers understand why large accounting/consulting firms are a threat, and how lawyers can compete more effectively. The book is also good at showing ways to do what consultant Tom Peters has called "baking a new pie." Instead of merely competing more intensely for known existing markets, create a new market that you will dominate.

This is the most important book I have ever read about the impact of technology on law firms.

Jerry Lawson, Author of The Complete Internet Handbook for Lawyers (ABA 1999)

This is truly a work of God's art. These Universal Laws, if people were to learn them and apply them to their lives, would end the world suffering as we know it now.

I had the pleasure of taking Professor Seamon's Administrative Law course at the University of South Carolina School of Law. He really knows the material in and out and this book reflects that.

Administrative law is probably one of the more complex areas of law, and this book provides a solid framework for understanding the material. I reviewed some commercial outlines, but this material is much better suited for the E&E format. I've used the E&E Series for all of the first year courses and found this to be one of the better books. I highly recomend getting this book and going through it both before and during class.

I turned to this legal guide first. Later when I sat in my attorney's office with the expensive meter running, I already knew the answers to the basic questions. This guide helped me focus on the important aspects of adoption, gave me sample forms, a reading list, and possible scenarios that I had overlooked. Comprehensive enough for the layman without being inundated with legalese. I'd definitely recommend this to anyone starting the adoption process.

This books includes alot of great, sound information, and is detailed enough to allow a person to discuss the options with their attorney/CPA. It does not provide enough info to allow the nonprofessional to draft any documents. A little disappointed that nearly all of the wealth transfer techniques deal with CRTs. However, they are described in the context of their application in different scenarios, which provides a clear illustration of their benefits (which are significant). In summary, this book provided a number (about a dozen) great ideas for using ones assets to generate income while alive and transferring the assets to children with reduced estate taxes.

Richard A. Posner is Chief Judge of the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals and a professor and the University of Chicago Law School. In addition to being one of the most cited judges in U.S. legal history and one of the founders of the Law and Economics school of legal theory, Judge Posner is also one of the fathers of modern antitrust theory.

This book is somewhat dated, but this is primarily due to the fact that it has been so widely read (and its policies so widely adopted) by other American judges. Up until the late 1970s, U.S. antitrust law was characterized by the pursuit of two (sometimes conflicting) goals: protecting consumers from monopolies and price fixing, and protecting "small dealers and worthy men" from larger competitors. Posner's book and a similar volume by Judge Robert Bork (The Antitrust Paradox) laid the theoretical groundwork for a seminal shift in antitrust thinking--one focusing primarily on consumer welfare.

In Antitrust Economics, Posner describes in easy-to-understand terms why monopolies are bad from an economic point of view, and the shape of current antitrust law. He then lays out why some types of economic behavior that up until then had been considered anticompetitive (mergers between competitors, some types of exclusive supplier arrangements) can actually be pro-competitive or, at the least, pro-consumer. For example, while retail behemoths such as WalMart or mergers like that between Daimler-Benz and Chrysler may be devastating to smaller competitors, they may benefit consumers by generating economies of scale and lower prices.

Regardless of whether one agrees with Posner's theories or the economic concentration in many industries that followed the adoption of his ideas, "Antitrust Economics" is essential reading if one wants to understand how we got to where we are and the theory behind modern antitrust law.