Book Review: Stack the Legal Odds in Your Favor

Stack the Legal Odds In Your FavorWhat happens when an attorney and a guy who’s not a lawyer with a history fighting in court on his own get together to create a legal self-help book?

You get a book with an attitude.  Think Mark Wahlberg in the courtroom. Authors Tom Scott and Sara Naheedy combine to bring the attitude and the legal expertise to Stack The Legal Odds In Your Favor.  The dedication provides a preview of the attitude and begins:
“This book is dedicated to those individuals who have been victimized by the U.S. judicial system. In particular, it is dedicated to people who have been unjustly imprisoned and, in some cases, those who have been executed or have died in U.S. jails or prisons while serving time for crimes they did not commit.”

While the dedication provides a preview of the book’s tone, the final sentence accurately portrays the practical, useful and expert advice found in between.

“We hope we have imparted to you the insight, knowledge, and weaponry crucial to fighting all legal battles that lie ahead and have helped you stack the legal odds in your favor!”

Ron PaulForeword by Dr. Ron Paul

The well-respected stalwart of limited government and individual liberty, former presidential candidate, Congressman Ron Paul, has written the foreword to Stack The Legal Odds In Your Favor describing the need for this book with his characteristic thoughts on government: it’s too big and regulates too much.  Dr. Paul explains how big and online casino go byzantine government requires us all to have knowledge of the system that at some point involves us all.  He wishes it were not so, but recognizes the reality that to protect ourselves we need knowledge of how things work in reality.  Stack The Legal Odds In Your Favor reveals that reality and provides tips on working through it.

Understanding the Players in a Courthouse

The book is filled with stories that describe steering through the legal maze as a pro se[1] participant, and comes with Tom Scott’s personal experience of doing so in over two dozen court cases.  These stories illustrate that all the “official” participants are human as well and that they come with their own baggage and foibles despite the formality of a court room.  The book brings these all too human shortcomings into sharp relief, and gives direction to the reader in spotting and dealing with them, and consistent with the title, ideas on how to employ them to advantage in the court room.

Practical Advice

Combined with Scott’s personal experience in navigating on his own is Naheedy’s legal training and knowledge.  The nuts and bolts of court clerks, documents and filing technicalities are found in the book, so someone walking into court without counsel is not daunted by the paperwork.

On a practical level, things to consider in specific areas of law are included with chapters devoted to the kinds of matters that a citizen is likely to find themselves in a court room for:

  • Small Claims
  • Traffic Cases
  • Divorce Cases
  • Criminal Cases
  • Debt Collection
  • Residential Landlord Tenant Law
  • Wills, Probate, and Related Law 

An Unusual and Useful Book 

Stack The Legal Odds In Your Favor is rare among legal self-help books in that includes entertainment, philosophy, and practical advice.  It provides a mindset and tools for those wishing to represent themselves, and delivers knowledge to make decisions on the quality of an attorney’s work for those choosing to hire an attorney when they find themselves in a courtroom.

Stack The Legal Odds In Your Favor is available on Amazon in both print and Kindle.

Tom Scott, Sara Naheedy and David Shestokas discussing the US Constitution

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[1] A person representing his own interests in a court room is referred to as pro se.

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