In The Game

In The Game: The Highs and Lows of a Trailblazing Trial Lawyer by Peggy Garrity. Berkeley: She Writes Press, 2016. 238 pages. ****

In her Prologue, Garrity sums up her philosophy of life, "Women who play by the rules are doomed. What an injustice. I vow then not to let men, marriage, or motherhood take over my life." It will be the convent for her, that is until she becomes pregnant and gets married her senior year in college. Garrity faces an insurmountable challenge in her chosen career--fewer than 3 percent of lawyers were women and certainly not single mothers. This compelling memoir records Garrity's life as a mother and game player in the legal system, defending high-profile clients by day and mothering her four children at night. Being brilliant in the courtroom does not equate to being smart in her personal life,  Garrity acknowledges her poor choices, failed marriages and affairs. Her many and varied experiences make for an entertaining and engrossing story that drew me in and kept me captivated. I will definitely read her next book, Justice Delayed.


I received a copy for a review from BookSparks.

Peggy Garrity grew up in the Mississippi River hamlet of Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, population 6,000--a town with two Catholic churches, four Catholic schools, and fifty bars and pubs. After attending night school for five years and having three babies, she was admitted to the California State Bar in December 1975, and soon went on to launch a solo practice. She retired from the full-time practice of law in December 2004, but remains committed to the law through her writing, consulting, legal commentary, and handling a few select civil rights cases. Garrity also teaches yoga and meditation privately. The LA Times published her op-ed about the Halliburton rape cases, "About that Day In Court," in 2008, and she is currently at work on her next book---a legal thriller, Justice Delayed. Garrity is a doting grandmother of six.

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