Up Against the Law

“Exceptionally thorough. . . . A masterful account of radical lawyers’ involvement in the social movements of the 1960s and 1970s.”—Dalia Fuleihan, National Lawyers Guild Review

“An eminently readable book, which should find a place in the library of anyone interested in American Studies. . . . [A] rare gem in the literature on social movements in the Long Sixties.”—Gerd-Rainer Horn, Histoire@Politique

“Elegantly written. . . . [A] welcome addition to the field which focuses on the tensions implicit in being a radical partisan lawyer using the legal system whilst also rejecting it.”—Linda Mulcahy, Frontiers of Socio-Legal Studies

“Detailed and . . . scholarly . . . this book gets the lawyer-reader to think about the relationship between our own political views and our strategy in representing both peaceful and radical protestors.”—The Champion, Journal of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers

“This book is valuable for understanding the progress of revolutionary movements in the United States from the late 1960s through the late 1970s—from civil rights protest to virtual anarchy, from movements with well-conceived philosophical underpinnings and deep roots in American history to sects fueled by rage and cavalier rejection of civil society. . . . [H]ighly recommended for students of history, law, and politics.”—Journal of American History

“Luca Falciola’s rich study . . . analyzes how Guild lawyers used this tension to their advantage during the 1960s and 1970s in defense of activist clients that shared their sympathies. . . . Falciola delivers a directional shift that expands historiography beyond student-activist driven narratives.”—Journal of Social History

“Up Against the Law is a richly composed and researched book that describes the drama of radical lawyering through flesh-and-blood portraits of individual attorneys, trials, and law collectives. Most profoundly, it is a timeless inquiry into the profound ambiguity of the law itself and the attitudes political radicals may take toward it.”—Global Sixties

“This is the best book I've read on the important contributions of radical lawyers to a wide range of social movements during the 'long 1960s.' Falciola demonstrates in fascinating detail how law was both a target and a tool of lawyers associated with the National Lawyers Guild during these years.”—Jeff Goodwin, New York University

“Up Against the Law finally provides the history of the National Lawyers Guild that has been missing from the historical literature until now. As both a history of what Guild lawyers did and a roadmap for what radical lawyering might look like in its relationship to social movements, this book has much to say not only to historians but also to lawyers and law students seeking out ways in which law can produce true social change.”—Felice Batlan, author of Women and Justice for the Poor: A History of Legal Aid, 1863–1945