"Shaun Ossei-Owusu is one of the most important legal scholars of his generation, and the book is both brilliant and highly readable. You’ll never think of law the same way again after reading it."— Imani Perry, author of South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation
"In this sharp and engaging work, Shaun Ossei-Owusu—one of the nation’s leading scholars of the legal profession—delivers a bold critique of lawyers and the law schools that shape them."— James Forman Jr., author of Locking Up Our Own
"Law on Trial is required reading for every dreamer going to law school to change the world?and for anyone who wants to understand the divides that fracture our society. Shaun Ossei-Owusu’s tell-all tale is a sobering account of the legal system’s shortcomings that could only be told by an insider working in the belly of the beast."— Nicole Gonzalez Van Cleve, author of Crook County: Racism and Injustice in America's Largest Criminal Court
"This book is both an insider’s treasure house of information and an outsider’s tell-all of the inner workings of the US legal system. . . . Essential reading for anyone interested in understanding how the law perpetuates inequality."— Mehrsa Baradaran, author of The Color of Money: Black Banks and the Racial Wealth Gap
"From classrooms to courtrooms to boardrooms, Law on Trial dissects the myriad ways in which lawyers protect powerful interests, obscure inconvenient truths, and normalize injustice?all while telling the public, and themselves, that they are fighting the good fight. Panoramic in scope yet rich in detail, unsparing in its criticisms yet never self-righteous, this book deserves to be read by every law student."— David Pozen, author of The Constitution of the War on Drugs
"This book pulls back the curtain on the legal profession to expose the myths we cling to and the deeper injustices that are often overlooked or willfully ignored. Shaun Ossei-Owusu executes the rare feat of offering a book that blends personal narrative with scholarly rigor and arresting humor. This is the book I wish I had before law school and the one I’d hand to anyone who wants an accessible primer on how our legal system fails."— Bernadette Atuahene, author of Plundered
A Bronx-born Ivy League professor cracks open the machinery of American law in an unflinching exposé that shows how lawyers fuel a range of inequalities.
The law is supposed to represent fairness, equality, and transparency. Yet in a world where injustice is normalized, many struggle to understand why our legal system fails despite its lofty principles. InLaw on Trial, award-winning legal scholar Shaun Ossei-Owusu offers a rare perspective as an insider and a clear-eyed critic of its deep, baked-in structural problems. He begins with a tour through American legal education, where some of the seeds of inequality are planted in the emphasis on abstract thinking. He then moves to different corners of the profession where those seeds flourish: elite law firms, government offices, and well-intended public-interest organizations. At every step, Ossei-Owusu confronts some of America's polarizing topics-crime, poverty, and corporate power-and highlights the legal profession's troubling complicity. His defiant dissents challenge liberal and conservative orthodoxy while illuminating how the legal system might move closer to its highest aspirations.
A Bronx-born Ivy League professor cracks open the machinery of American law in an unflinching exposé that shows how lawyers fuel a range of inequalities.
The law is supposed to represent fairness, equality, and transparency. Yet in a world where injustice is normalized, many struggle to understand why our legal system fails despite its lofty principles. InLaw on Trial, award-winning legal scholar Shaun Ossei-Owusu offers a rare perspective as an insider and a clear-eyed critic of its deep, baked-in structural problems. He begins with a tour through American legal education, where some of the seeds of inequality are planted in the emphasis on abstract thinking. He then moves to different corners of the profession where those seeds flourish: elite law firms, government offices, and well-intended public-interest organizations. At every step, Ossei-Owusu confronts some of America's polarizing topics-crime, poverty, and corporate power-and highlights the legal profession's troubling complicity. His defiant dissents challenge liberal and conservative orthodoxy while illuminating how the legal system might move closer to its highest aspirations.
Law on Trial: An Unlikely Insider Reckons with Our Legal System
Law on Trial: An Unlikely Insider Reckons with Our Legal System
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Editorial Reviews
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940201207335 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | HighBridge Company |
| Publication date: | 04/14/2026 |
| Edition description: | Unabridged |