All Rise
My Life and Trials with the Famous, the Infamous, and the Misunderstood
by James H. Voyles Jr. with Mark Bourcier
“For 56 years I’ve been practicing law, almost all of that as a criminal defense attorney. I’ve been shouted at in hallways and outside courthouses. I once had a case where, as I walked out of a courtroom with our legal team, a woman spat at us.
It sounds like a heck of a way to earn a living, doesn’t it?
Well, it’s more than that. It’s a calling.”
His weirdest trial? The Case of the Exploding Vibrator.
That’s not why we’re reviewing an autobiography by a trial lawyer. (That case is included in the book, in case you’re now curious.) Nothing in the book title or the excerpt above clues you in that there must be an automotive dimension to this story. On the other hand, the publisher’s slogan is “Reading for Racers” so we shall lift the word “misunderstood” from the subtitle and hang our review on that hook insofar as the book may miss its audience by not making it obvious what it’s about.
That Voyles is an ardent motorsports enthusiast is one thing, that his wife’s father won the Indy 500 in 1950 and her stepdad was a race driver and then USAC official and that his own uncle formed one of the first hot rod clubs in the area takes it a step further, and that he has had professional dealings with often high-profile (motor)sports figures is yet another plot point. But all this is really incidental to the book. The paragraph from which the excerpt above is lifted ends with the words:
“Every day, I am fulfilling a promise made to each and every one of us by the United States Constitution.”
Specifically the Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. And that’s why you’ll want to read this book.
If you wonder, in these confused and uncertain days, what the lived experience of that sentence looks and feels like, Voyles has something to say. As important, probably more important, other people have something to say about Voyles: Foreword 1 is by Indiana Supreme Court Justice Mark Massa; Foreword 2 is by team owner and Motorsports Hall of Famer Chip Ganassi; the Intro is by prolific motorsports writer “Bones” Bourcier; many other voices speak up throughout the book. Quickly you see that a key quality of Voyles is empathy, no matter the circumstances. Add to that a relentless work ethic, laser focus, and inspiring others by example. You’ll wish you knew someone like that. If you’re in legal trouble you’ll wish his firm will take your case (born 1943 he himself is strictly speaking “retired”).
Obligatory motorsports photos.
Of the 15 chapters, only 4 have direct motorsports contents as does one of the early ones that describes “Formative Years,” and motorsports and car collecting (he has more than 20) bits pop up all intermittently. NASCAR, especially Dale Earnheardt fans will want to slow down for the chapter dealing with the defamation lawsuit safety equipment maker and Voyles client Bill Simpson brought against NASCAR who pinned Earnheardt’s fatal basilar skull fracture at the 2001 Daytona 500 on failed seat belts.
The book is sparsely illustrated and the photos are bundled into two stand-alone sections. Being separated from the body copy and also being unnumbered makes for extra work trying to figure out what goes with what. Moreover, many are undated. The Index is of proper names only, better than nothing but limiting.
Copyright 2026, Sabu Advani (speedreaders.info).
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