Hammersmith & Fulham father-son collaboration results in an entertaining law guide for young adults.
Thinking of studying law at school or university? Or are you simply curious about the fascinating world of law and lawyers?
A Young Person’s Guide to Law and Justice is written by an experienced father and son team of lawyers and educators. It provides an entertaining and accessible guide by blending the philosophical and practical sides of the law.
You will acquire a better understanding of the world around you, and by the end of the book, you will likely know more about the law than 99% of the population.
Ronald Sokol is a lawyer who has practised in the United States, the United Kingdom and France. He has taught law at the University of Virginia Law School and published several books on legal philosophy.
He explains: “After four years teaching law and litigating in the United States, I left for Paris in 1966. I was 27 years old and living in a tiny flat on the rue de l’Université, where I spent my days typing on what is now a collector’s item, an Olivetti portable typewriter. In 1969 I wrote a manuscript titled Talking about the Law: A Book for Children Ages 9 to 14. At that time, the idea of explaining law to children was unheard of.
In trying to reconstruct in 2024 what I was thinking 55 years ago, my mind turns to a book I had published in 1966 called The Law-Abiding Policeman which became a bestseller. In that book I explained legal concepts in language that a police officer could understand. The jump from explaining law to police officers to explaining it to children must have seemed a logical next step.
During the Covid intermission, I spent time rummaging through old boxes to discard what I could. It is in one of those dusty boxes that I disinterred Talking about the Law. I sent it to Daniel, now a barrister in London, for his opinion. He liked it. We spent a year polishing and adding chapters. After a half-century gestation, a new book was born: A Young Person’s Guide to Law and Justice.”