The Street Lawyer

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Summary: A Short Summary and Recommendation of The Street Lawyer
Review: THE STREET LAWYER by John Grisham is a very good book. It is about lawyer named Michael Brock who works at a firm called Drake and Sweeny. When a homeless man who calls himself Mister takes hostage of Michael and the other lawyers Michael iis a changed man. Everything about him starts to change. To find out what happens to Michael read THE STREET LAWYER. You should read THE STREET LAWYER. It is a very good book and after reading it you will also think it is also a very good book.

Rating:
Summary: Not at his best
Review: Honestly, I am quite disappionted with this book. May be I have too high of a expectation of Grisham.

No legal thriller, just a story on a up-and-coming-high-power-turned-street-lawyer. Is Grisham trying to change his stlye of writing? I have no clue, but I certainly miss the likes of "The Firm", "The Rainmaker", etc.

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Summary: One of the best Audiobooks
Review: I've listened to the unabridged autio twice, and still hesitate to loan it to friends (because I will want to listen to it again in a year of so. A good story, well told.

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Summary: Definately not his best!!
Review: I have read all of John Grisham's books and this one is not as interesting or suspenseful or good as some of his others. If you want to read books by John Grisham, pass on this one and pick up "The Client" which is my favorite. "The Street Lawyer" is definately not worth it!

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Summary: Another Gripping Grisham Book
Review: John Grisham is one of my favorite contemporary bestselling authors, and I have read almost all his books. This one was certainly different from the rest of them in my opinion, in both good and bad ways. On the negative side, it was not as suspenseful and fast-paced as, say The Pelican Brief or The Firm or his other courtroom dramas- when I read them I could scarcely put the book down for fear that something was going to happen between the pages in my absense. However on the positive side, this book contained a much deeper message than those other books did. (Which probably explains why it wasn't all about write-an-awesome-story-to-sell excitement.) The story begins when a bum walks into a rich firm and holds ten attorneys- including some of the best and richest in the firm- hostage in a little room. He has dynamo strapped to his body and is holding a gun. He asks one lawyer to give him the facts straight of the IRS reports: how much money have each of these big-time lawyers donated to charity? By charity he doesn't mean the local symphony or the high-up charities they give money to in order to get their name mentioned, but money given directly to the poor homeless people on the street or the soup kitchens, free clinics, homes, etc. that help them out? Of course the lawyer can't give a very big figure. Although no harm results from this short hostage-holding-session (except to the bum, who is shot by a sniper outside and whose brains explode all over the lawyer who was assisting him with the figures) and it seems like the bum was just trying to make a point instead of really hurt anyone, and although the rest of the attorneys go back to their strenous trying-to-get-on-top schedule, the laywer who was asked to tell the bum the statistics is deeply touched by this episode and wants to find out more.

The lawyer's name is Michael Brock, and he becomes the main character of the story. Although he is a rising star at the Drake and Sweeney, the law firm, he gives up some of his billing hours to investigate this incident. This decision leads him to helping at a free clinic and donating his time at a homeless shelter. When he finds out what connection the firm has with the bum, he leaves it, and takes along with him a stolen file. From then on, he is a crook, and a street lawyer.

This book wasn't only another good John Grisham tale, but a touching story of a man who realized his life had been shallow and he wanted to make a difference. I recommend it with this reason. If you want a fast-paced court-room drama, read another of his books first. But if you are tired of that sort of thing but what something different and deeper, read The Street Lawyer.

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Summary: Formula Grisham
Review: A hot-shot lawyer (sound familiar?) is well on the road to success (still sound familiar?), until he becomes a hostage victim. Once released, he uncovers a terrifying secret (familiar, huh?) about his captor--a secret that leads back to his own law firm (now where have I read that before?). A decent writer, Grisham phones in his standard legal-thriller formula, and lets his desire to infuse the story with his liberal political leanings cloud the plot. Skip this one.

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Summary: LAW - Life on the Street
Review: Grisham does a wonderful job of depicting public interest law.

His protagonist, Michael Brock, is an associate working in antitrust law at the high-power/high-profile firm of Sweeny & Drake, and is only a few years away from making partner (and a million dollars a year).

Brock notices a shabbily dressed, smelly man enter the elevator with him one evening, and dismisses him with disdain (as most of us would). Brock is later shocked when this same man takes him and several of his colleagues hostage, threatening to blow them up with dynamite. After several grueling hours with "Mister", as he is come to be known, the police finally gain an edge, and while wheeling in food that Mister requests from a soup kitchen, a sniper takes Mister down with a single shot, showering Brock with blood and cerebrospinalfluid from Mister's head.

That evening marks the turning point in Brock's law career. His already failing marriage suffers even further, and his interest in pursuing a partnership with Sweeny & Drake dissolves before his eyes. Slowly but surely, Michael is drawn into the world of public interest law by Mordecai Green, a street lawyer that had once represented DeVon Hardy (Mister) for several cases.

As Brock digs deeper into the world of street law, he comes to realize that the chain of events that led up to that horrifying evening when Mister was killed began right where it ended - at Sweeny & Drake. As he becomes more involved with Mordecai, helping serve food to the homeless, Michael discovers a desire within himself to reach out and help the homeless. His heart is touched by a little boy named Ontario Burton, whose mother and their 3 siblings have been living in a car. Sadly, the family succumbs to carbon monoxide poisoning, as snow drifts cover up the tailpipe of the car, which was left running to keep the heater going overnight. Michael discovers that the Burton family had been evicted only a few days prior, and in his search for answers, finds out that Braden Chance, an unethical colleague in Sweeny & Drake's real estate division was at the center of it all.

Using Mordecai's vast knowledge of street law and the value of a D.C. jury, he and Michael manage to tweak Sweeny & Drake's noses into compensating not only the Burton family, but all the tenants who had been evicted. Michael agrees to having his law license suspend for 9 months, for "stealing" the file from Braden Chance that proved Chance's culpability in the illegal eviction.

This was a very good novel, quite different from what I had expected. Very well written, very engaging.

Peace Out.

Rating:
Summary: I enjoyed this book
Review: This is only the 2nd Grisham novel I have read(Chamber being the first), and I have to admit I enjoyed the strong moral message. Lawyers seem to have a bad stereotype, so this story was refreshing.

It centers around a young attorney who is working at a respected law firm making a six figure salary. He is shocked into reality when a street bum holds the firm hostage.

Grisham weaves a good tale with the lawyer sacrificing all: Salary, friendships, and marriage to serve as a patriot for the less fortunate on the streets.

I enjoyed the conflict between the lawyer's beliefs and his old firm.

I strongly recommend this book as well as the Chamber.

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Summary: Definitely NOT Grisham's Best
Review: In the past, Grisham's ability to spin clever and suspenseful plots have usually masked his mediocre writing style; I have thoroughly enjoyed all his other novels. This one, however, lacks suspense and is full of predictable, tired, and cliche verbage. Although his crusade to illustrate the plight of the homeless is respectable, his analysis of the problem is overly simplistic and pretentious. I had trouble finishing the story.

Rating:
Summary: The weakest Grisham
Review: I didn't like this Grisham as well as the others. Not as much suspense, I guess. But, I think he wrote this one for a different reason than just to entertain. His comment on society and homelessness couldn't keep me interested in this story.