Published by Horizon Press (Sole U.K. distributors Wildy & Sons Ltd., London) (1980, 617 pp., plus notes and index) Clothbound £20, paperback £5

The renowned lawyer here opens his files to reveal the strategies behind such cases as Nader v. General Motors, the invasion of privacy suit that opened the way for the world-wide consumer revolution; the Grand Canyon collision, the Turkish Airlines DC-10 Paris crash, the KLM-Pan Am Tenerife disaster, and the other aviation catastrophes; Aristotle Onassis’s role in his son’s fatal plane crash, and the fascinating suit that followed; the Israeli rescue at Entebbe and its legal aftermath; Roberto Clemente’s death on his mercy mission to Nicaragua; and others.

Although Mr Speiser is an American lawyer, he has wide experience of cases originating in the United Kingdom. For example, his firm represented most of the families of British passengers who were killed in the 1974 Turkish Airlines DC-10 Paris crash, and those lawsuits are featured prominently in the book. There is extensive comparison of British and American law and procedure, with comments by English authorities on how the English courts would have treated cases such as Nader v. General Motors; and analysis of many controversial features of American litigation, such as contingent fees, damage assessment by juries, and entrepreneur-lawyers.

Many other cases of British interest are discussed, including the litigation arising out of the sinking of the Titanic; the first major British aircraft accident (the 1924 crash at Croydon in which the great English barrister, Gilbert Beyfus, represented claimants); the famous art trials involving Lord Duveen; the Thalidomide litigation and its repercussions on both sides of the Atlantic; and the three De Havilland Comet crashes, the last two of which Mr Speiser claims would not have occurred if American rather than English litigation procedures had been followed.

“LAWSUIT” gives much food for thought to those interested in evaluating and improving the British legal system, since there is much to be learned from the workings of the American system, especially as highlighted here in the many cases discussed by Mr Speiser which have British as well as American aspects. The author is well known to the British public through his prior writings and his appearances on BBC radio and television programmes. In June, 1979, when the American Government grounded all DC-10 aircraft, the BBC interviewed him in New York and transmitted the interview live by satellite for The Money Programme.