Second Chair (A Stan Turner Mystery) (Stan Turner Mysteries Series, Vol. 3) 1st edition

It's 1981 in Dallas and Stan decides to throw a Christmas party at his home as a way of saying thanks to the clients who have sustained him during his first tumultuous year in the practice of law. As Stan's luck would have it, a client is killed and Stan is blamed for his death. While trying to shield himself from the wrath of the grieving widow, he's asked to defend a young college student charged with murdering her newborn child. Knowing he lacks the experience for such an undertaking, he enlists his former criminal law professor to be "Second Chair." What he doesn't know is the professor, who everyone calls "Snake" is a drunk and a womanizer. When Snake fails to show up for the last few days of trial Stan is devastated.