Even though it starts out a little slowly, anyone who enjoys reading about the legal profession and our justice system should enjoy John Grisham's latest release, "The Litigators." Grisham takes his second shot at America's mass tort system (his first was "The King of Torts" 2003) with two ambulance chaser attorneys from the "boutique" firm of "Finley & Figg" leading the charge.
Oscar Finley and Wally Figg decide to take on the mega giant pharmaceutical company Varrick Labratories where the popular cholesterol drug Krayoxx is produced. Krayoxx is "reportedly" causing its users to suffer strokes and heart attacks at an alarming rate.
"Although sometimes confused, a mass tort action is different from a class action. In a mass tort action, each plaintiff has an individual claim resulting from distinct damages. Each plaintiff receives his or her own, separate trial, whereas in a class action, the many plaintiffs typically are not considered individually and there is only one trial."Rottenstein Law Group LLC . What is "mass tort." Retrieved November 28, 2011, from http://www.rotlaw.com/legal-library/mass-torts/
Enter protagonist David Zinc, a Harvard Law School grad who after self imploding from working 80 hour weeks underwriting bonds for five years at a sweatshop firm known as "Rogan Rothberg" joins F&F when a fateful cab ride drops him at their southwest Chicago doorstep. Pleased with his new "normal" hours and the challenge of being a "street lawyer," he's the third and only attorney to ever join the "boutique" firm of "Finley & Figg." David quickly falls into a routine, signing up mass tort clients for the Krayoxx case and doing the usual divorce, DUI and injury cases that come his way. He even finds time for his wife and they produce their first child.
New to the mass tort world, Finley & Figg soon realize that they are in way over their heads taking on "Big Pharma" and filing the Krayoxx lawsuit in Federal Court. With little resources to fund the discovery required in such a big case the firm and its finances quickly start to spiral down the drain.
There are several plot twists and turns along the way, but predictably the Krayoxx case blows up in their faces with all the experts running for cover after the real studies come in finding no evidence that Krayoxx is harmful. The three F & F amigos, who have never actually tried a case of any kind, end up in Federal court on their own with the first Krayoxx test case, up against the best defense lawyers Varrick Labs can buy.
The courtroom drama and legal schnanigans make for fun reading and the book is hard to put down as the case unwinds in fits and starts. The conclusion, even though totally expected, was a romp and left me smiling for quite a while.
This was without a doubt my favorite Grisham novel in several years. Glad to see him back!
You need to be a member of San Pedro News Pilot to add comments!
Join San Pedro News Pilot