Lawyers, who are often maligned in the media and by stand-up comedians and popular culture, get a bad rap, according to Armand J. Della Porta Jr., longtime former Chestnut Hill lawyer and author of the just-released largely autobiographical book, “So You Want to be a Lawyer,” published by Archway Publishing, a division of Simon & Schuster. Della Porta has a book signing scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 18, 1 p.m., at the Barnes & Noble bookstore, 2300 Chemical Rd., Plymouth Meeting.

“Lawyers get a bad rap because some appear unprofessional and are willing to do anything to get money for their clients,” Della Porta, 69, told the Local last week. He retired in April 2022, after practicing law for 44 years, and then worked on the book for three years.

“Some of the current ads you see for law firms stretch the limits of decency and encourage people to file lawsuits which may or may not have any basis in fact or law. Not everyone who slips and falls is entitled to collect money, such as when the slip never happens or is due to that person’s own negligence, and not everyone who gets injured at work is entitled to collect money from their employer,” he said.

Based on the myriad lawyer-based TV shows and true crime novels, movies, and documentaries, there is no doubt an unquenchable thirst for stories of legal cases in the United States. Della Porta recounts many of the fascinating cases he has tried in his new book. He defended civil cases seeking recovery for personal injury or property damage, and he specialized in defending asbestos personal injury claims. He took thousands of depositions and tried hundreds of cases.

“My most satisfying win,” he said, “was a vehicle accident case I tried where my client barely rear-ended the plaintiff’s vehicle. I won the case at arbitration, but plaintiff’s counsel appealed, and the case went to trial before a jury. Before trial, the plaintiff’s counsel wanted $80,000 to settle the case. The most we offered was $8,000, but they turned it down, and the jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff in the amount of just $1,500.

“The most disappointing case I tried was the one where the two plaintiffs were in a car which struck my client’s truck and lowboy trailer,” he continued. “One plaintiff died instantly and the other suffered severe injuries. The case went to trial. My client settled the case of the plaintiff who survived the accident, but the case of the deceased plaintiff went to a trial, where the jury’s verdict awarded that plaintiff’s estate several million dollars.”

Della Porta grew up in Chestnut Hill, living on Rex Avenue until 1971 and then moving to Crefeld Street, where his mother, Marie, still lives. His father, Armand Della Porta, a highly respected Philadelphia Common Pleas Court judge who also served on the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, died in November 2017 at the age of 95. He and Marie were married for 63 years.

Della Porta went to Our Mother of Consolation for grade school, then graduated from St. Joseph’s Prep School in 1973, Georgetown University in 1977 with a degree in government, and Villanova Law School in 1980.

He and his wife, Debbi, were married in 1983. Right out of law school, Della Porta clerked for a Common Pleas Court judge for one year. He was hired by a maritime and casualty firm in 1981 and worked there until 1989 when 10 members of that firm, including Della Porta, left and started their own firm doing mostly insurance defense work, primarily defending asbestos personal injury claims.

“The people who had the greatest impact on my life,” he said, “were my parents and two teachers I had at St. Joseph’s Prep. One taught religion and history, and the other taught Latin and Greek and became a close personal friend I still see today.”

Overall, how does Della Porta view his 44-year career as a lawyer? “At times it felt like a life sentence,” he said in the book’s prologue. “At other times it was very satisfying, even exhilarating. Looking back on it all, do I wish I had pursued a different career? I could have made a lot more money had I followed other paths with a lot less effort and time.

“But monetary reward was probably the least motivating factor for my choice of law as a career, but face it, in today’s world you cannot ignore it as a motivating issue,” he continued. “I initially turned to law as a means to get involved in politics and government, yet I never followed through with pursuing that goal.

“Despite that, I look back on my career with deep satisfaction — and a whole host of stories about which I frequently said I would recount in a book. I often told these stories to friends, and they often told me I should write a book about them.”

For more information, email armanddellaporta@gmail.com. Len Lear can be reached at Lenlear@chestnuthilllocal.com.