With Justice for None, Destroying an American Myth. (Times Books, N.Y. l989)

This is a passionate look at the American way of justice. Spence, who rose to fame in the Karen Silkwood case, delivers to Americans an urgent, provocative message: “That unless we are wealthy or powerful enough to buy it, we’ll rarely experience justice.”

Spence makes an eloquent and convincing argument in support of his case, drawing on more than thirty-five years of experience in the system. Once a corporate lawyer himself, he now devotes his time to representing the little guy against the corporate giants. He writes frankly, from an insider’s perspective, on the problems of the justice system that are too often ignored-and suggests some creative, plausible ways of thinking about how, together, we might change the system to render justice.

Spence ferociously attacks the variety of forces at work in this country that conspire against justice and that have turned it from a cherished ideal into an abused commodity. He spares no one-neither the law schools, his fellows at the bar, nor the judges-but he reserves his harshest criticism for corporate America: When a corporation’s money and power subvert ethical values, the citizen suffers, and justice is mocked. Illustrating his points with actual cases, Spence will change the way you read a newspaper report of a trial, watch a TV commercial, or evaluate an insurance company’s argument for raising its rates.

Spence’s intention, however, is not to mourn but to serve warning and offer reforms. He suggests solutions that range from instituting new courtroom procedures to redefining our rights in the workplace, from an improved method of choosing our judges to a new way of selecting and training our lawyers-solutions designed to protect the individual, not to abuse him.

What Spence proposes is certain to be met with harsh criticism by some, but for the millions of Americans who feel frustrated and betrayed by their justice system today, his passionate proposals will excite and illuminate.