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"You're not idiot of course. You can make important career decisions, manage a hectic personal schedule, and deal with most crises without a second thought. But when it comes to handling an issue that may involve a lawyer, you question your own wisdom and worry about the consequences."

Don't Freeze up! This Idiot's Guide provides:

•Idiot-proof strategies for protecting your legal interests
•Invaluable advice about working with a lawyer
•Simple solutions for solving legal hassles

This book is an outrage to lawyers. If I did not believe so strongly in the freedom of expression, I would recommend that lawyers burn this book and lobby to have it banned. I know that lawyers will condemn this book. Why the alarm? Mr. Levitan has skillfully demystified law for the layperson! What's worse, the book is entertaining and bound to be a great success.

As lawyers we spend a lot of our time pouring over volumes of cases and laws, and learning what Mr. Levitan calls "lawspeak". This is the price we must pay to call ourselves lawyers. This book tells laypeople how they can solve many of their basic legal problems without learning "lawspeak". This book makes most lawyers superfluous! Mr. Levitan has turned his brilliance and sense of humour against his own profession. He teaches people to research legal problems on their own. The theme of the book is self-help. He has written a great book that seems to be right about every point he makes. We lawyers must either bite the proverbial bullet and forgive him, or buy every copy of this book to keep people from learning that they don't always need a lawyer. Lawyers will become poor if the public gets hold of this book.

Mr. Levitan is an excellent lawyer. In the Complete Idiot's Guide, he demonstrates one of the two qualities of legal genius: the ability to make difficult things simple. (The other quality of legal genius is the ability to make simple things difficult - one good reason why laypeople should not run to a lawyer every time they have a problem.)

He lets the cat out of the bag that law is simply a means of solving specific human problems. As Mr. Levitan points out, some of our problems are the result of bad luck, like having the Flintstones as neighbours. Other problems are caused by our mistakes, like thinking we could afford the Georgian mansion which sits on prime downtown real estate. Many of our problems arise in the context of a relationship breakdown with family, employers, neighbours or landlords.

Lawyers are in the problem solving business, but they do not have a monopoly. Retaining a lawyer is not always the only or the best solution to a problem. Lawyers can be unnecessary, costly and even counter-productive. Fortunately, Mr. Levitan does not advance the (Rousseau-like) dream of an ideal lawyer-less society.

I am not ashamed of my profession. In fact, I am proud of it and believe that most lawyers are dedicated to their clients. However, I also know that being a client is no fun. Mr. Levitan's book will help you decide whether you must become a client and, if you must, how you can be an informed one.

The Complete Idiot's Guide covers such a wide range of human miseries - from tax to death - that it might be called the Idiot's Complete Guide. Miraculously, Mr. Levitan handles potentially grave topics in a way that is both empowering and delightful to read. Readers learn about shared responsibility for children through the experiences of Popeye, Olive Oil and Sweetpea and about writing an angry consumer letter from Homer Simpson's experience with an abdominal exerciser. Mr. Levitan's advice on these problems is eminently practical. Impractical people like me can learn from Mr. Levitan's tips that include avoiding legal hassles by salting your sidewalk.

The greatest assent of the Complete Idiot's Guide is that Mr. Levitan is not afraid to express an opinion about solving everyday problems, and he backs up his opinions with a great deal of common sense. The problem with problems is that you never know where to start. The Complete Idiot's Guide calms you down, makes you laugh and sets you in the right direction.

Edward L. Greenspan, Q.C.