Recollections of an Occasional Attorney

By Francis N. Iglehart

In the midst of his not-so-ordinary life, author and attorney Francis N. Iglehart found time to dabble in law with a great deal of success. In his most recent memoir, Recollections of an Occasional... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1561678627
• ISBN13: 9781561678624
• Release Date: September 2004
• Publisher: American Literary Press, Inc.
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.5" x 0.3" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

Offering the reader an opportunity to see the courtroom and trial cases from the inside

Recollections Of An Occasional Attorney is the wry and candid memoir of attorney Francis N. Iglehart, presenting his firsthand experience with the American legal system from the mid-1950's to the present day. Offering the reader an opportunity to see the courtroom and trial cases from the inside, Recollections Of An Occasional Attorney devotes one to a handful of pages to each individual remembered case, ranging from disputes about divorce or a slip and fall to the death of a child and school desegregation. A revealing and sometimes personal, often professional but always compelling glimpse behind the scenes of human attempts at justice.

Delightful in some respects, disappointing in others.

Francis N. Iglehart's book, Recollections of an Occasional Attorney, is partly an autobiography and partly a fascinating description of the life of a prominent person in Baltimore County, Maryland over a period of 75 years. It's as delightful in some respects as it is disappointing in others. Please let me explain. As a former practicing attorney, I knew "Ike," although not well. Somewhat liberal in his views, he belonged, for a time, to one of two factions warring for political control in the County. In an area where Democrats outnumbered Republicans back then, it was natural that Ike would gravitate toward other Democrats and become associated with Democrat causes. I, being one of the outnumbered Republicans, did not travel in the same circles, but we'd sometimes see each other in the hallowed halls of the old Towson Courthouse, or at a local restaurant at midday, and nod the greeting of those who recognize each other as fellow members of the Bar. He'd been practicing for 13 years when I began in 1965. His reputation as a very good lawyer was already established. Born into wealth, and raised at Ivy Hill in Greenspring Valley, perhaps the most upscale residential area in the County, Ike was clearly a member of the privileged class. His education was, as you might expect, the best. The schools he attended, Gilman, St. Paul's Preparatory School in Concord, New Hampshire, Princeton (after his Army service) and the University of Maryland Law School, were those to which the wealthy sent their children. Why not? His parents could afford the best. Don't all parents want the best for their kids? Reading this book, I was struck by similarities between Ike's life and that of William F. (Bill) Buckley, Jr., recognized as the builder, if not the founder, of the conservative movement in America. Mr. Buckley, a prolific writer of many novels and a recent autobiography (Nearer, My God: An Autobiography of Faith. 1997), was born to wealthy parents, was raised in an upscale Connecticut home, and received the best education, including prep school and Ivy League university. Like Buckley in much except his politics, Iglehart was introduced to yachting at an early age, an interest that made a lasting impression and led, in later years, to racing and sailing on long cruises with family and friends, to exotic ports in the Caribbean and elsewhere. Both men have lived long, fascinating lives. Which leads me to what I found disappointing about Ike's book. Granted the work is entertaining and will certainly hold the interest of any reader, especially one who, like me, is familiar with many of the people about whom Ike writes. Judges Haile, Jennifer, Menchine, Proctor, Raines and Turnbull, were fine judges and good, honorable men. Haile, Jennifer and Menchine often appointed me to represent indigents accused of crimes, back in the days before the Public Defender. I'm sure they did that for, or to Ike, as well, and as court-appointed work often became burdensome to