FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASECONTACT: Yona Deshommes “The self-deprecating wit, catty observations and healthy sense of the absurd with which Kimes describes her approach-avoidance reactions to the world of law school raise the book above the ordinary.”—Publishers Weekly IVY BRIEFS Decades after its publication, the classic One L still has the power to spook incoming law students. Playing it for laughs, the big-screen comedy Legally Blonde features an adorable heroine breezing through Harvard Law School thanks to lots of pink and pluck. But what really goes on during the three years of legal boot camp otherwise known as law school? In IVY BRIEFS: True Tales of a Neurotic Law Student (Atria Books; May 15, 2007; $23.00; Hardcover), lawyer and author Martha Kimes relives her experience at Columbia Law School, both the triumphs and the terrors. Telling (mostly) the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, this funny, frank memoir follows her evolution from humble, insecure Midwestern transplant to savvy, confident New York City attorney in what will surely become the new go-to guide for the 100,000 people applying to law school annually. Entering Columbia in 1994, a self-doubting Kimes perceives herself as just an average young woman, despite her stellar LSAT scores and her early admittance to this top-tier institution. After watching the dated, unrealistic film The Paper Chase too many times, she is a nervous wreck on her first day of school. Faced with a class of overachievers and a case of massive culture shock, this Wisconsin native has no idea how she’ll endure this place, even though she has already uprooted her husband, Joe, and taken out massive loans. Making things worse, right away she meets a handful of annoying stereotypical characters including the Boarding School Bastard, the Gunner, the Show Off, the Self-Righteous Do-Gooder and the Sadistic Professor who relishes ambushing his students with the dreaded Socratic method. IVY BRIEFS corroborates the conventional wisdom about law school: in the first year they scare you to death, in the second year they work you to death and in the third year they bore you to death. Initially the cutthroat competition and the crushing course load have Kimes questioning her intelligence, her ability and her self-worth. But slowly she begins to change. By the end of her first semester she is fluent in Legalese. On a more basic level, law school is training her to become cynical and skeptical – in short, an actual lawyer. Preparing for final exams, a one-shot deal upon which the entire first semester grade hinges, a grade that will then be used to decide Law Review, judicial clerkships and law firm placements, well it’s no wonder an overwhelmed Kimes feels like she’s about to have a nervous breakdown. Fueled by anxiety, coffee and cigarettes, somehow she makes it through this hazing – though she does want to kill her husband when he reminds her they’re just grades! IVY BRIEFS chronicles the rest of the highs and lows that stand between Kimes and her diploma. In what seems like a fatal blow at the time, Kimes does not make Law Review, widely regarded as the dividing line between the haves from the have-nots. But that gap on her resume doesn’t stop her from landing a highly coveted summer job with the prestigious Lavish Law Firm, a precursor to future employment. Easy assignments, three-hour lunches, a healthy paycheck, parties and events – she gets used to living large very quickly, and public interest law no longer stands a chance. For Kimes, the third year is spent itching to leave and finally she graduates with honors. But there’s still one final hurdle: New York’s notoriously difficult bar exam. Kimes is shocked to realize that her lofty education has left her woefully unprepared. But with the same persistence that has taken her this far, Kimes buckles down and ultimately passes the test. Soon she is back at the Lavish Law Firm for good, with a megabucks salary – and a mandate to bill all the hours she can. Is this her happy ending or the beginning of another grueling challenge? IVY BRIEFS is the real deal, an inside look at one of America’s best law schools from someone who has survived it without relinquishing her sense of humor and her humanity in the process. Martha Kimes might think like a lawyer, but she writes like a sure-handed storyteller as this good-natured tell-all so winningly demonstrates. ABOUT THE AUTHOR IVY BRIEFS |