PRAISE FOR IVY BRIEFS:"First time author Kimes is entertaining and funny in recounting her three years at one of the country's premier law schools. A smart young woman with a good, but not always engaged, sense of perspective, Kimes jumps from the University of Wisconsin to Columbia Law School on the wings of a spectacular showing on the LSATs. Once there, she faces the predictable sadistic professor, hypercompetitive fellow students and, of course, rampant elitism. Kimes is happy to treat with an equal measure of humor the highly stylized courting dance between summer law clerks and mega law firms, as well as the foreboding horrors of the bar exam.Though some stories seem hyperbolic and re-created conversations can be suspiciously pat, Kimes captures with accuracy the gestalt of the law school experience. Kimes did get a job at what she calls "Lavish Law Firm." But she eventually left to join the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which may be her final comment on the world of big-time law. 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 "The path from LSAT to license, traced in a coming-of-age, full-of-panic-attacks memoir from a graduate of Columbia Law, class of '97. Fresh from the University of Wisconsin, Kimes had the notion that lawyers simply argue. Arriving at New York's Morningside Heights with a new husband, new hairdo and much trepidation, she joined her fellow bewildered freshmen in their peculiar competition. Each aspiring counselor was a strong character, and hastily formed friendships were as likely to expire as to thrive amid the first-year terror at an institution replete with top-tier Ivy prestige. Kimes describes the fear saturating the lecture halls as cases were dissected in the ancient Socratic way. She coped by maintaining a close relationship with study outlines, casebooks, texts and hornbooks. Preparations for the first set of exams were especially stressful. Happily, things improved for our lawyer-in-training. She nabbed a summer clerkship with a federal judge, the executive editor's post on Columbia's transnational law journal (though not the Law Review) and, ultimately, a job at a "Lavish Law Firm." All that remained was the bar exam. She passed. This edgy, solipsistic narrative will help explain why Ivy League lawyers tend to have a self-reverential sense of entitlement - they picked it up in law school. An antic case study illuminating how a lawyer is made in frisky prose infused with attitude." — Kirkus Reviews "Ivy Briefs ... follows Kimes' journey from LSAT to new associate — a journey that's sometimes snarky, always emotional and ultimately enjoyable." — ABA Journal "Ha[s] former colleagues buzzing." — New York Law Journal "Set your coffee pot going now, because you're not going to want to put this book down until you finish." — Law Vibe "Take a little bit of The Paper Chase but without those awful sideburns. Take a little bit of Legally Blonde but with a bit less irony and fewer gadgets. Take a bit of Scott Turow's memoir, One L, but change the gender of the main character. Mix.They say the sum is the greater than all of its parts. Martha Kimes' new memoir ... is definitely proof of that adage. " — Blogcritics "It is precisely Kimes' breezy, fast-paced, tongue-in-cheek tone that makes Ivy Briefs a thoroughly enjoyable memoir, and a worthwhile read, even for those of us who think we've already had enough of law school." — Georgetown Law Weekly "With self-depreciating humor, ditzy dithering, and gossipy bluntness, author Martha Kimes tells what it's like to be out of your (ivy) league .... If you're a Perry Mason fan, a real-life Judd for the Defense, or if you just want something different to read, here's a book to court. "Ivy Briefs" is one you'll want to adjourn with, and that's no joke." — Yankton Press & Dakotan Ivy Briefs is filled with "sharp and insightful wit." — Legal Antics "Ivy Briefs is compulsively readable and should appeal to a wide variety of people-lawyers and non-legal-types alike." — Curled Up With A Good Book A must-read for anyone contemplating law school; and for those who have already graduated, a sidesplitting review of the law school experience - torts and all." — Karen Quinn, author of The Ivy Chronicles and Wife in the Fast Lane "Martha Kimes's candid tale of attending Columbia Law School is Legally Blonde meets One L. Told with sweet self-awareness and pervasive wit, I couldn't help but cheer Kimes on as she faced every daunting law school challenge, transforming herself from fearful Midwesterner to cool and confident Ivy League grad. Ivy Briefs makes me want to hug Kimes...and then hire her as my attorney." — Jen Lancaster, author of Bitter is the New Black and Bright Lights, Big Ass "With pitch-perfect dialogue and witty observations, Martha Kimes delivers a funny and charming look at the trials and tribulations of law school. I give Ivy Briefs an A." — Alison Pace, author of Pug Hill and Through Thick and Thin "Martha Kimes has written a One L for the next generation. Ivy Briefs is a great addition to the reading list for anyone even thinking about law school." — Jeremy Blachman, author of Anonymous Lawyer |