ABA book advises on how a lawyer can dress for success

When it comes to how to dress in the office, business norms are changing: “casual Friday” has given way in many offices to the full-time casual workplace. With so many options, today’s businessman needs advice to make the appropriate choices.

“The Laws of Style: Sartorial Excellence for the Professional Gentleman,” a new American Bar Association release, is an exploration from leading fashion lawyer Douglas Hand into how to dress professionally with the goal of not only enhancing the reader’s career, but enriching his life.

Witty, bright, charming and informative, the book is at the same time a striking visual resource with more than 40 illustrations created by renowned fashion illustrator Rodrigo Saldana.

In addition to the author’s 54 “laws of style,” the book includes short introductions to highlighted designers relevant to each law. More than just a simple dress-for-success guide, Hand’s erudite, creative, elegant and whimsical narrative style is a fitting tribute to the laws he has created to assist readers in establishing and elevating their own style — both professional as well as personal.

Hand is one of the pre-eminent fashion lawyers in the United States. He is a member of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) Fashion Awards Guild, which votes on the designers to receive CFDA Awards. Hand is also on the Fashion Institute of Technology’s Couture Council. He is an adjunct professor of Fashion Law at both New York University and Cardozo School of Law.  Hand has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Vanity Fair, the ABA Journal, Women’s Wear Daily and The Business of Fashion. Before becoming a founding partner of HBA LLP in New York City, he was an M&A lawyer at Shearman & Sterling LLP.

“The Laws of Style: Sartorial Excellence for the Professional Gentleman” costs $29.95 and can be ordered by calling 800-285-2221 or online at shopaba.org.