The Litigators by John Grisham

The Litigators by John Grisham

Book review

Rating 4/5

Fictional law drama! No spoilers here!

This is an old Grisham novel which I somehow missed to read! I had an eBook but the original kindle was a measly 200INR! So I got it again! And it was totally worth it!

The story is mainly of David who even after being educated in Harvard and is in a high paying job in a law firm though who has never seen the inside of a court or seen real cases reaches a breaking point and just drowns himself in alcohol and by a twist of faith ends up drunk in a law firm which is a total upside down as the stranger things!

This law firm has two comical and tragical lawyers! One is Oscar who is so fed up of his life and wife and in spite of his age does not have any money or honey! While the other is Wally who after four divorces and multiple rehabs is just one push away from kicking the bucket! The only normal person in the firm is the Donna like secretary Rochelle who is the one glue keeping the messy firm from falling apart! In a dark comedy of sorts she was in fact a client who after some harassments and twists of fate made secretary of the firm! Then there is the adorable dog AC who is like the testament of the state of the firm! Old and fat and lazy!

The firm is basically a bunch of ambulance chasers who would do anything to get case or even bend law when they can and the storyline is like a cross between Suits and Better call Sam and it is a page turner!

So the crux of the story is when one of their clients who is fat and old dies and they stumble upon a drug which may have a link with the death! Wally smells a big tort case and he convinces the whole firm to dive into the case with full gusto! The even get a big law firm to partner with them  signing the deal in a private jet! Just when the lawyers and clients start counting their chickens before they hatch; they geta tsunami of sorts!

First Oscar who has not seen the inside of a court in years and then Wally and then finally David get to fight the case in a federal court with a seasoned opposition in classic David vs Goliath moment though with the amount of sleaze and dirt the lawyers have, you would not know which one is David! How this case ends is the semi climax with all hopes lost or is it?

In between this David gets another case of a toy causing lead poisoning and how that ends is the climax of the story!

You have the classic company lawyers with their high bills and swanky cars who would charge over three clients for lunch and actually grab a sandwich! Then you have those ambulance chasers who would go to the extent of dressing up as doctors to get a client! Then you have divorce lawyers who would turn a no contest divorce into a bill meter! Then you have the classic defense lawyer Nadine reminiscent of Scot of Suits with a team of lawyers and para legals! And finally you have those Tort lawyers with their own private jets of the latest models! From street to the sky, this novel has it all!

In the end there is hope and I am so happy that John did not end it abruptly and that was a big satisfaction for me since lately John has been doing a lot of open ending!

Loved reading this classic John and even though I am not a big fan of lawyers especially the situation it has reached in the US; I love reading John just cause!