This book will remain timeless given the new legal assault onthe tobacco industry and the gun manufacturers. To find out the details and the evolution of legal concepts as it affects society, the reader should immerse himself in this momentous and extremely witty and well-written book by former Manhattan Institute scholar, Walter K. Olson. Olson's book traces the history of legal theory and ethics, and discusses the impact of these evolutionary (and revolutionary) changes on modern American society.

"Doctors in such states as Mississippi and Texas are either quitting or fleeing to practice medicine elsewhere because of out-of-sight jury awards in malpractice cases. They soon may be joined by New Jersey physicians.

"Earlier this month, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists named New Jersey one of the nine 'red alert' states where lack of tort reform is endangering health care.

For example:

"Hundreds of doctors and other medical professionals closed their offices last spring to protest malpractice lawsuits that have led to skyrocketing insurance premiums.

"Many of them descended on the Hildago County Courthouse for a 'day of awareness.'

"West Virginia is one of the costliest states in the nation in terms of obtaining medical malpractice insurance. It has also achieved the dubious distinction of driving one in every 20 of its doctors out of the state or into early retirement in the past two years.

"Juries in Mississippi are notorious for their outlandish awards to plaintiffs in tort cases - with doctors especially vulnerable in malpractice cases. Juries in that state recently awarded $3.5 million for a birth-related brain injury. In the first three months of this year alone, juries there awarded more than $23 million to plaintiffs.