A Practice Almost Perfect

A Practice Almost Perfect describes the inside story of the celebrated law firm Arnold, Fortas & Porter and the three remarkable men who founded it 50 years ago: Thurman Arnold, Yale professor, head of the United States Anti-Trust division, and distinguished federal judge; Abe Fortas, a legal prodigy appointed to the Yale law faculty upon graduation from its law school, who became Under Secretary of the Interior at age 32; and Paul Porter, a journalist and masterful politician who served as publicity chairman for Franklin Delano Roosevelt's fourth term campaign. In A Practice Almost Perfect, Norman Diamond narrates how Arnold, Fortas & Porter, alone among prominent law firms and at its own expense, defended victims of the brutal repression of civil liberties during the scourge of McCarthyism. He describes the firm's work for important clients, including the Kroger Co., Federated Department of Stores, and Samuel Goldwyn Productions, and tells of the hard-fought litigation that paved the way for discount retailing. He also recounts the administration of the estate of the legendary Washington hostess Evalyn Walsh McLean, particularly the facts concerning the legendary Hope diamond, and details the firm's salvation of Playboy magazine. Filled with fascinating anecdotes and historical detail, A Practive Almost Perfect is an important addition to the shelves of legal historians and the general public.