The Street Lawyer - Softcover

Grisham, John

3.88

115,913 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0099244926 ISBN 13: 9780099244929

Publisher: Arrow, 1999

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Michael Brock is a man in a hurry. He's in the fast lane at Drake & Sweeney, a giant Washington law firm. He's a rising star, with no time to waste, no time to toss a few coins into the hands of beggars. No time for a conscience.

But a chance violent encounter with a homeless man stops him cold. The fallout propels him onto a trail of corruption and illegality which leads straight back to Drake & Sweeney. To get to the truth, Michael will have to dig deep into some of his own firm's dirtiest secrets...

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Review:

John Grisham is back with his latest courtroom conundrum, The Street Lawyer. This time the lord of legal thrillers dives deep into the world of the homeless, particularly their barely audible legal voice in a world dominated by large, all-powerful law firms. Our hero, Michael Brock, is on the fast track to partnership at Washington, D.C.'s premier law firm, Sweeny & Drake. His dream of one day raking in a million-plus a year is finally within reach. Nothing can stop him, not even 90-hour work weeks and a failing marriage--until he meets DeVon Hardy, a.k.a. "Mister," a Vietnam veteran with a grudge against his landlord--and a few lawyers to fry. Hardy, with no clear motive, takes Brock and eight of his colleagues hostage in a boardroom, demanding their tax returns and interrogating them with a conviction that would have put perpetrators of the Spanish Inquisition to shame. Hardy, a man of few words and a lot of ammunition, mumbles cryptically, "Who are the evictors?" as he points a .44 automatic within inches of Brock's face. The violent outcome of the hostage situation triggers an abrupt soul-searching for the young lawyer, and Hardy's mysterious question continues to haunt him. Brock learns that Hardy had been in and out of homeless shelters most of his life, but he had recently begun paying rent in a rundown building; that means he has legal recourse when a big money- making outfit such as Sweeny & Drake boots him with no warning. When Brock realizes that his profession caters to the morally challenged, he sets out on an aimless search through the dicey side of Washington, DC, ending up at the 14th Street Legal Clinic. The clinic's director, a gargantuan man named Mordecai Green, woos Brock to the clinic with a $90,000 cut in pay and the chance to redeem his soul. Brock takes it--and some of the story's credibility along with it; it's hard to believe that a Yale graduate who sacrificed everything--including his marriage--to succeed in the legal profession would quickly jump at the opportunity for low-paying, charitable work. However, Brock's search for corruption in the swanky upper echelons of Sweeny & Drake (via the toughest streets of Washington, DC) is filled with colourful characters and realistic, gritty descriptions. In The Street Lawyer, Grisham once again defends the voiceless and powerless. In the words of Mordecai Green, "That's justice, Michael. That's what street law is all about. Dignity."

Review:

"No one does it better than Grisham. This latest novel is as unputdownable as ever." (Daily Telegraph)

"Fluent and fascinating. Few writers have so much to say, the skills to make reading what they say an irresistible pleasure -- and the clout to be able to say it to an audience of millions." (Independent)

"Compelling... Grisham is more adept at getting the reader to turn the page than almost any writer working today." (Daily Mail)

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