WE WOULD LIKE TO OFFER OUR SPECIAL THANKS to Peter von Mertens and Lynn Snedecor for reading the manuscript and making many helpful comments, Ann Walker for Tahoe leads, Bill Dawson for his intense interest in the issues that plague legal practitioners, and Deputy Sheriff Tom Hill of the South Lake Tahoe Police Department for answering questions about procedure.
Our brother, Patrick O’Shaughnessy, contributed the usual spice to our characters and plot, and continues to be the best worker’s comp attorney in California, in our opinion.
Brad Snedecor was, as always, an indispensable creative accomplice.
Thanks to the California State Bar court personnel for their consideration.
The California Bar Journal was a source for information about bar court proceedings. We consulted a number of informative Web sites and books about the Hmong people for the story of the Vang family, including www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Congress/8725/unip2001.htm and I Begin My Life All Over: The Hmong and the American Immigrant Experience by Ghia Xiong (contributor), Lillian Faderman. For Mrs. Gleb’s testimony, we wish especially to acknowledge The Psychology of Handwriting: Secrets of Handwriting Analysis by Nadya Olyanova, ©1960, Sterling Publishing Company.
Our greatest respect and admiration go to our terrific agent, Nancy Yost, and to our perceptive editor, Danielle Perez. Many thanks to Irwyn Applebaum for his patient and benevolent style, and to everyone else at the Bantam Dell Publishing Group for all their hard work on our behalf-what good people.
And finally, an escapist lift of the coffee cup to the fine and clever company in the back booth at the Plantation Cafe: Bill Cheney, Ruth and Bill Dawson, Laura Ferrari, Jim Nicholas, Pat Spindt, and Sylvia Walker.
All mistakes are our own.