Divorced from Justice by Karen Winner (Read 1/13/18 to 1/19/18) - 3 Stars

The second book from my pile was Divorced from Justice: The Abuse of Women and Children by Divorce Lawyers and Judges by Karen Winner.  This book was published in 1996, so it is outdated, sadly I can still see that even now 22 years later a lot of the same issues are present.  "An investigative reporter and former policy analyst, Winner exposes the corruption at the heart of the American legal system and demonstrates exactly why divorcing women -- more than half a million in the U.S. per year -- face terrible economic hardship after being processed through the legal system. This landmark expose, based on years of painstaking research and documented with compelling, real-life stories, paints a vivid picture of a divorce industry fueled by greed, favoritism and self-interest, and a judicial system that claims to value the sanctity of family yet allows unethical judges and attorneys to exploit and manipulate the laws for their own benefit." (Excerpt from back of book.)
This book would have gotten a higher rating if it had been more current, it got as high of a rating as it did because sadly it is still relevant.  It focused a lot on poor billing practices, which I am not sure are still prevalent, I had no issues at all with my lawyer's billing and I felt she was very reasonable and fair.  I wish it had focused a bit more on the bias issues, and it didn't touch at all on the issue of parent alienation, which I feel is a larger issue now.  It was eye opening as to the fact that some of these issues have been around for so long.  I feel the reading it after my divorce was final made no difference, the data is a little too outdated to be useful.  I wish the writer would do a revised version, she if and how things have changed in the last 22 years.