Journal Entry for Tuesday, Dec 13th

The Litigators by John Grisham I just finished The Litigators by John Grisham and enjoyed it immensely. It’s about two lawyers at a firm called Finley & Figg — a two-bit operation always in search of their big break. Mostly  ambulance chasers looking for the next great car wreck, they also specialize in quickie divorces and DUIs. In partnership together for more than twenty years, Oscar Finley and Wally Figg bicker like the ‘Odd Couple’, yet somehow continue to scratch out a half-decent living from their seedy office in southwest Chicago. All of a sudden their routine is changed when 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 their ‘boutique’ firm. With their new associate on board, F&F feels they are ready to tackle a really big case.  When Varrick Labs, a giant pharmaceutical company with annual sales of $25 billion, comes under attack after several patients taking their extremely popular drug, Krayoxx, the number one cholesterol reducer for the dangerously overweight, sufferer heart attacks, Wally smells money.  A little online research confirms Wally’s suspicions - a huge plaintiffs’ firm in Florida is putting together a class action suit against Varrick, and all Finley & Figg have 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! Before you know it, everything goes south, in more ways than you can count. I Thought this well written story was extremely intriguing and couldn’t wait to get back to it each time after I had to put it down. Unlike the last book I read, which dragged on for nearly two months, I finished this book within nearly a week. Certainly one of the best books I’ve read this year. I give it 5-Stars.