The first large case she attended was Serra's representation of Ellie Nesler, who, during a court hearing, gunned down and killed her son's accused molester.

[2] Cases captured in words and images in the book include Huey Newton and the Black Panthers, the White Panthers, Russell Little, Kathleen Soliah with the SLA, the Hells Angels, Chol Soo Lee, Hooty Croy, Bear Lincoln, Judi Bari, and Rick Tabish in the Ted Binion homicide case.

San Francisco Chronicle columnist Leah Garchik quoted Serra as saying, at the end of the book, "By nature, I'm egotistic, self-centered, domineering, obsessive and vain.

[3] The book was launched in November 2010 at an event held at the historical Fort Mason Center, not far from Serra's Pier 5 Law Offices, a co-op in North Beach.

"[7] About the finished product, the Bay Guardian's Caitlin Donohue wrote, "(The book) is a story of a man who doesn't compromise on anything -- from courtroom theatrics to lost-cause cases, to getting high and/or performing Native American protective rites before court sessions.