5 reviews for The Litigators
You must be logged in to post a review.
The Litigators
by John Grisham
Description:
The partners at Finley & Figgall two of themoften refer to themselves as a boutique law firm. Boutique, as in chic, selective, and prosperous. They are, of course, none of these things. What they are is a two-bit operation always in search of their big break, ambulance chasers who’ve been in the trenches much too long making way too little. Their specialties, so to speak, are quickie divorces and DUIs, with the occasional jackpot of an actual car wreck thrown in. After twenty plus years together, Oscar Finley and Wally Figg bicker like an old married couple but somehow continue to scratch out a half-decent living from their seedy bungalow offices in southwest Chicago.
And then change comes their way. More accurately, it stumbles in. David Zinc, a young but already burned-out attorney, walks away from his fast-track career at a fancy downtown firm, goes on a serious bender, and finds himself literally at the doorstep of our boutique firm. Once David sobers up and comes to grips with the fact that he’s suddenly unemployed, any jobeven one with Finley & Figglooks okay to him.
With their new associate on board, F&F is ready to tackle a really big case, a case that could make the partners rich without requiring them to actually practice much law. An extremely popular drug, Krayoxx, the number one cholesterol reducer for the dangerously overweight, produced by Varrick Labs, a giant pharmaceutical company with annual sales of $25 billion, has recently come under fire after several patients taking it have suffered heart attacks. Wally smells money.
A little online research confirms Wally’s suspicionsa huge plaintiffs’ firm in Florida is putting together a class action suit against Varrick. All Finley & Figg has to do is find a handful of people who have had heart attacks while taking Krayoxx, convince them to become clients, join the class action, and ride along to fame and fortune. With any luck, they won’t even have to enter a courtroom!
It almost seems too good to be true.
And it is.
The Litigators is a tremendously entertaining romp, filled with the kind of courtroom strategies, theatrics, and suspense that have made John Grisham America’s favorite storyteller.
About The Author
John Ray Grisham, Jr. (born February 8, 1955) is an American bestselling writer, attorney, politician, and activist best known for his popular legal thrillers. His books have been translated into 42 languages and published worldwide.
John Grisham graduated from Mississippi State University before attending the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1981. He practiced criminal law for about a decade and served in the House of Representatives in Mississippi from January 1984 to September 1990.
He began writing his first novel, A Time to Kill, in 1984; it was published in June 1989. As of 2012, his books had sold over 275 million copies worldwide. A Galaxy British Book Awards winner, Grisham is one of only three authors to sell 2 million copies on a first printing; the others are Tom Clancy and J.K. Rowling.
Grisham’s first bestseller was The Firm (1991); it sold more than seven million copies. The book was adapted into a 1993 feature film of the same name, starring Tom Cruise, and a 2012 TV series which “continues the story of attorney Mitchell McDeere and his family 10 years after the events of the film and novel.” Eight of his other novels have also been adapted into films: The Chamber, The Client, A Painted House, The Pelican Brief, Skipping Christmas, The Rainmaker, The Runaway Jury, and A Time to Kill.
Skryf Review
“Amazing Reading”
Sejal
When I first began reading John Grisham’s The Litigators I was immediately drawn into it. It’s a must-read book, if you enjoy the snappy witty charm of a young black woman keeping her older bosses together. It begins with the plot centering on Wally, Oscar, and Rochelle – then a short time later David – who’s personalities are as different as night and day. Oscar, the senior partner in Finley and Figg law offices situated on the West Side of Chicago, is a conservative jaded attorney who prides himself as a proverbial ambulance chasing attorney seeking the easy way to make a fast buck. His partner, Wally, a recovering alcoholic, sometimes employs questionable business ethics but goes just far enough to avoid too much legal scrutiny. Rochelle a former client who threatened to sue Finley and Figg for malpractice, was hired as a settlement of sorts and is the first buffer between the two lawyers and some of their shady clients and business associates. David joined the team later brought a sense of soundness to the motley crew, leaving his six figure law firm, high-stress job for the peace of mind at the low-key firm of Finley and Figg. The story tells of good and bad of a class action lawsuit filed against a cholesterol-lowering drug that has caused a number of deaths. The Litigators presents a very graphic account – using drama, humor, suspense, and sarcasm – to present a very entertaining and sometimes predictable picture, especially if you read Grisham’s King of Torts. This has many of the same nuances. Nonetheless, it’s a great read and I highly recommend it.
Smit
Well, I had great plans to jot down some notes and quotes to share with you about John Grisham’s newest book – The Litigators. Yeah, that didn’t happen…. because it ended up being a non stop read for me – I picked it up on a Sunday morning and turned the last page late (late) that night.It seems like Grisham has a lot of fun writing The Litigators – there is a sly sense of humour underlying the entire book. I laughed out loud many times at the situations and dialogue. It was eye opening to see the legal maneuvering – much of the machinations involving the drug companies and lawyers gave me pause and made me wonder how much of it is fact. Quite frightening actually.The Litigators is by far one of Grisham’s best in my opinion (and I’ve read them all) An absolutely entertaining page turner that will be a well deserved best seller!
Kalgi
This is a most enjoyable book, about David Zinc, a lawyer who got fed up with his job in a huge, fancy law firm. He got drunk, then joined up with a two-man law firm that specialized in ambulance chasing, DUI’s, and quick divorces. This small firm had a weak grasp of ethical behavior. Zinc suffers a spectacular drop in salary, but sees an unusual opportunity, and grabs it.This was a fun book; lots of twists in the plot, funny dialog, and generally unpredictable. That’s the type of story I like the most; a story line that cannot be predicted ahead of time. And the characters are well-developed. Their personalities are so different from each other, that really helped make the book come alive.I didn’t read this book; I listened to the audiobook, as read by Dennis Boutsikaris. He does an excellent job as a narrator.
aashna
This is a look at the underbelly of law, at both ends of the spectrum. At one end you have the corporate sharks, hired guns of the big boys of business and finance. At the other end you have the ambulance chasers,willing to sue anyone/anything that will increase the size of their wallets. Somewhere in between you have the rare minority that actually practice law as it should be.At first I was put off by the greasy spoon feeling given off by the high and low end lawyers. But slowly I became invested in David Zinc and his story. Written with more humor than is usual for Mr. Grisham, the story line plodded a bit, then took off running about half way through. And I always appreciate his willingness to expose the seedy side of the law.Ultimately it’s the big one against the little one and while predictable, it was an enjoyable and even educational read. It showed me what’s behind all those television ads urging people to call the number for the endless litany of bad drugs,car wrecks and on the job injuries. It’s all about the money. Justice has little if anything to do with it.