Plea
Bargaining, fifth edition—the only comprehensive, fully up-to-date reference
on the subject—teaches how to negotiate the best deal. It discusses the nature,
types, and goals of plea bargaining, and treats in detail a wide variety of
styles and strategies. Attorneys on both sides of the aisle know that effective
plea bargaining is both an art and a science. The fifth edition, fully reviewed and revised to reflect the
2018 changes to the U.S. Attorneys Manual offers extensive analysis of plea
bargaining in state and federal courts, the process of negotiating with the
U.S. Attorney under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, as well as the plea
policies of the Department of Justice contained in the Justice Manual and the
Principles of Federal Prosecution. Other pertinent standards and rules such as
the ABA Standards for Criminal Justice, National District Attorneys Association
Prosecution Standards and the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct are also
discussed and analyzed.
Designed for
practitioner and student alike, the fifth edition combines the experience of
two seasoned law professors and litigators, to provide readers with
• the benefit of a broad, yet detailed
discussion of plea bargaining,
• the benefit of knowledge drawn from direct
experience with the U.S. Attorney’s office;
• step-by-step checklist on how to prepare
for plea bargaining;
• familiarity with a broad array of tactics;
• clear understanding of the Who, When, Where
and How of negotiation;
• instruction on how to enter and enforce the
plea bargain.
Plea Bargaining, fifth edition remains the only comprehensive reference work on the topic for an area of the law where 95 percent of all criminal cases are resolved through plea bargaining. Its value as a resource to students and practitioners could not be overstated.
G. Nicholas Herman
practices with the Brough Law Firm based in Chapel Hill, North
Carolina. His practice is otherwise
devoted to litigation and appeals involving areas such as county and municipal
defense, zoning issues, land use regulation, condemnation cases, nuisance
abatement, employment law issues, business litigation and personal injury.
Formerly a partner of Coleman, Bernholz, Bernholz, Gledhill, Hargrave &
Herman, he focused his practice on general, criminal and civil litigation and
appeals. He has extensive litigation
experience in state and federal court in a wide variety of areas of law,
including criminal defense, local government law, personal injury, civil
rights, and employment law. He has
argued numerous cases in the North Carolina Supreme Court, North Carolina
Appeals, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth District.
Mr. Herman’s Bar activities include service as President of the
Orange County Bar Association (1991), Vice President (1986),
Secretary-Treasurer (1987), and as a member of the North Carolina Bar
Association’s Appellate Rules Study Commission.
Beyond his legal duties, he has ties to academia, having served as
Adjunct Professor at his alma mater, Duke Law School, as well as at various
universities such as the North Carolina Central University School of Law,
Campbell Law School and at Elon University. Since 1993, Mr. Herman has been
engaged as a faculty member of NITA, the National Institute of Trial Advocacy,
through which he has taught on trial practice, negotiation and mediation, and
deposition-taking skills. He has also
lectured for numerous Continuing Legal Education programs on the law of
damages, witness preparation, legal aspects of drug testing, and ethical
considerations in civil litigation and appellate practice.
Zachary C. Bolitho is an Associate Professor of Law
at Campbell University School of Law in Raleigh, North Carolina. He teaches Criminal Procedure, Criminal Law,
Federal Crimes, Trial Advocacy, and Evidence.
He has been voted “Professor of the Year” by the student body at
Campbell Law on three occasions. Professor Bolitho previously served as an Associate Deputy Attorney General of the United States, Chief of Staff to the Deputy Attorney General, and as an Assistant U.S. Attorney. He previously worked as a law clerk to Judge David W. McKeague of the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and as an associate with the
international law firm of Jones Day. He
received his law degree with highest honors from The Ohio State University
Moritz College of Law where he served on the editorial board of the Ohio State
Law Journal.
