Brandt Goldstein is author, storming the Court. He left the practice of law to concentrate solely on writing storming the Court and has been writing ever since.

1. LAWCROSSING
THE LARGEST COLLECTION OF LEGAL JOBS ON EARTH
LAW STAR www.lawcrossing.com 1. 800.973.1177
Brandt Goldstein: Author, Storming the Court
[By Charisse Dengler]
Once upon a time, there was a group of Yale Law School students who took on the U.S. government and won. Those
students were Brandt Goldstein’s fellow classmates; and in his book Storming the Court , Goldstein tells their tale.
“The story for the book was one of the great place. And nevertheless, if I’ve done my job keep America true to its highest principles,
things that came out of law school for me,” right, it reads just like a thriller.” but about the perseverance of this incredibly
Goldstein says, “because it was my law beautiful, charismatic woman who simply
school classmates who filed the case to free In order to capture the captivating story with wanted to get to freedom and save her
the first group of people held on Guantanamo complete accuracy, Goldstein conducted children.”
[Bay] in the early ‘90s. In this case, though, what some would consider excessive
the detainees were 300 innocent political research. Since Storming the Court’s release,
refugees, not suspected terrorists.” Goldstein has had several extraordinary
“I interviewed 250 people—some of them
experiences meeting or speaking with
40 or 50 times. I read tens of thousands of
As Goldstein’s book describes, the refugees readers of the book, including a long
pages of legal documents,” he said. “Then,
were democracy activists who had fled a telephone call with William Sloane Coffin,
I boiled it all down and tried to tell—not the
military coup in Haiti. Officials from the first the real-life inspiration for Doonesbury’s
story of a lawsuit—but a compelling human
Bush administration denied them entry to the Reverend Sloan (Coffin died just months after
story about law students standing up against
U.S. after they tested positive for HIV. Goldstein spoke with him); but Goldstein said
the White House for what they believed in.”
the two biggest highlights of the last year
Upon graduation from law school, Goldstein were giving a book reading at his hometown
Currently, plans are underway to turn the
did what most law school graduates do: He bookstore in Ann Arbor, MI, and getting an
well-received book into a major motion
began practicing law in order to pay off his email from REM.
picture, with Warner Bros. owning the film
law school loans. However, he said he knew
rights and Michael Seitzman (who wrote
during the first hour that he wasn’t destined “The last four people I thanked in the
North Country) set to write and direct the
to be a “typical lawyer.” In October 1997, he book—without explaining to anyone who they
film.
left the practice of law to concentrate solely were—were Michael, Mike, Peter, and Bill,
on writing Storming the Court and has been who are the four founding members of REM,
“I always thought that this story about law
writing ever since. though Bill Berry has left the band. A friend
students fighting for justice against all odds
of theirs—somebody I know who happens to
and winning would appeal to some people
The book, which took almost seven years know their manager—passed on the book,
because it’s a David and Goliath story, and
to complete, was named one of the 10-best and I got an email from the manager and the
those have been popular since the Bible,”
nonfiction books of the year in 2005 by Kirkus band expressing real interest in the book and
Goldstein said. “But realistically, most
Reviews, probably because the gripping, Americans don’t pay very much attention to
support for possibly having their music in
real-life story reads just like a novel. the movie. Obviously, I saved that email. You
Haiti or Haitian refugees. So, I tried to tell the
don’t get an email from a world-famous rock
story of just one woman from Haiti so people
“In the tradition of Truman Capote’s In Cold band everyday,” he said.
could identify with her as an individual. She
Blood—I wanted it to read like a novel; but gets tortured in Port-au-Prince for her belief
it’s a nonfiction narrative,” he said. “Every In addition to Storming the Court, Goldstein
in democracy and then, after fleeing for her
word in it is true; and to back it up, the book
life, ends up suffering brutal treatment at also co-authored Me v. Everybody: Absurd
has 30 pages of notes explaining the source
the hands of the INS and American troops on Contracts for an Absurd World with Dahlia
of every last snippet of material. I didn’t Lithwick. He and Lithwick, a senior editor
Guantanamo.”
modify or alter anything. It’s all based on at Slate, based the satirical work on a
interviews, newspaper articles, law review Valentine’s Day contract Lithwick had written
“In the end, I hope the book resonates as a
pieces, travel to the places where things took during law school.
tale not only about young people trying to
PAGE continued on back

2. LAWCROSSING
THE LARGEST COLLECTION OF LEGAL JOBS ON EARTH
LAW STAR www.lawcrossing.com 1. 800.973.1177
“We took that idea and ran with it,” he said, “My biggest hope for this book is that it “I was $55,000 in credit card debt thanks to
“We wrote everything from a contract that reaches a broader audience so people can writing this book,” he said. “I’d lost my shirt.
you have with your pet to one for a long-term read what I think is a compelling story about I’d lost my sense of direction, and sometimes
relationship to how to split a restaurant bill a woman who stood up for democracy in her I felt like I was losing my mind. But it’s like
among four people.” home country of Haiti and ended up being Winston Churchill said, ‘Never, ever, ever,
held on Guantanamo like a prisoner of war ever, ever give up.’”
Goldstein also has somewhat of a cult and a group of students who took on the
following due to an article he wrote for White House to free her and won,” he said. If you are interested in inviting Goldstein
FindLaw’s Writ in 2000. Writ, which is “She’s now in the United States working a to speak at your law firm, public interest
the original legal commentary section of full-time job, and her son is in the Marines organization, or law school, he will be touring
FindLaw, was created in 2000 by Goldstein, and recently came back from Iraq—kind of an again beginning in January 2007. He can be
Lithwick, and two of Goldstein’s Yale amazing coda to this story.” reached at brandt.goldstein@gmail.com.
classmates. His article, “The Real Ten Best
Law Schools,” is a spoof on the U.S. News When asked if he had any advice to give ON THE NET
World Report annual ranking; and to say it is law students, Goldstein answered: “Don’t
funny would be an understatement. trust anyone’s advice, because it’s always Goldstein’s Real Ten Best Law Schools
in the form of nostalgia packaged as people writ.news.findlaw.com/
Currently, Goldstein is working as a talking to themselves about what they wish commentary/20000620_goldstein.html
contributing feature writer for the online they’d done. With that caveat, I’d say it really
addition of the Wall Street Journal, pays not to become a lemming and do what Storming the Court
working on the Documentary Companion to everyone else is doing. Struggle to think www.brandtgoldstein.com
Storming the Court, writing book reviews about what you yourself—in your heart—want
for publications such as the Washington to accomplish; and if it doesn’t involve, for Wall Street Journal
Post and the Chicago Tribune, working on example, clerking for a judge, then don’t do it www.wsj.com
a screenplay, doing research for his next just because other people are doing it.”
book, and getting ready to join New York
Law School in the fall as a visiting scholar. Goldstein admitted that it took him a while to
He’ll also be addressing the entire incoming get things right. In fact, he said most people
class at Fordham Law School in August, and thought he was crazy for leaving the practice
he’s anticipating the release of Storming the of law without a concrete plan of what to do
Court in paperback this December. next.
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