The Street Lawyer is a legal thriller novel by John Grisham. It was Grisham's ninth novel. The book was released in the United States on 1 January 1998, published by Bantam Books, and on 30 March 1998 in the UK, published by Century.

Plot
A homeless man, identifying himself only as "Mister," enters the offices of the powerful Washington D.C. law firm Drake & Sweeney and takes many of the lawyers hostage while angrily demanding information about some kind of eviction that took place. Although he is eventually shot and killed by a police sniper and the hostages freed, one of the hostages, an antitrust lawyer named Michael Brock, is concerned by what he has learned and feels compelled to investigate further.

He finds his way to the 14th Street Legal Clinic, where he meets Mordecai Green, an advocate for the homeless, who asks him to help one night at a homeless shelter. Green, along with his abrasive but brilliant and committed staff (an idealistic Jewish lawyer named Abraham and a Latina office genius/jack of all trades named Sophia) work to provide legal help to the most downtrodden members of society. As Brock's investigation deepens, he finds that his own employer was complicit in an illegal eviction, which eventually resulted in the death of a young homeless family. It involved the sudden approval of a federal building project on the site of a condemned building that had been serving as a rent-payment housing center for formerly homeless families; due to the rent system, these individuals were tenants and not squatters and thus entitled to a full legal eviction/contestment process, but a senior Drake & Sweeney attorney ignored this information because the firm had a large stake in ensuring the federal project start on time, and thus illegally threw everyone out into the freezing winter streets. He takes a confidential file, intending to copy it, but is quickly suspected of its theft.

Shocked by what he has found, Brock leaves his firm to take a poorly paid position with the 14th Street Legal Clinic, which works to protect the rights of the homeless. This leads to the severing of his links to his previous white-collar life, as his already-dying marriage officially ends in an amicable divorce. He later becomes emotionally involved in the case of a woman named Ruby, whose drug addiction led to her losing custody of her son. He also meets a lovely young homeless advocate named Megan and they start a relationship. As Drake & Sweeney comes after Brock with theft and malpractice allegations, the clinic launches a lawsuit against the law firm and its business partners. The firm makes a deal where Brock has his license suspended for a short time, while they settle for a large amount of money and fire the sleazy senior partner whose actions led to the young family's death.

Drake & Sweeney's head partner, deeply troubled by the events, offers to make his entire staff available for pro bono work to assist the clinic in fighting for the rights of homeless people. The book ends with Brock taking a short vacation with Megan and Ruby, and them reflecting on their lives. Good Read - Recommend Highly

Mixed into an intriguing lawyer story is a look at homelessness. By seeing characters who live a homeless life and also those who seek to help them receive justice, aka street lawyers, I feel I got a more complete picture than what I had. I think this story opened my mind and heart a little and it was an enjoyable read besides. I listened to the audiobook version.

I am re-reading some old John Grisham books that I enjoyed the first time round to see if my perspectives have changed in 10-15 years...

The Street Lawyer was a favourite in the past. It tells the story of Michael, a wealthy lawyer climbing the ladder at a prosperous firm, Drake and Sweeney. His marriage is in trouble but he surrounds himself with work, competing with his soon to be ex-wife. Who is the most ambitious and who will earn the most money? But in a dramatic turn of events, Michael finds himself held hostage by a homeless person that his firm had been involved in evicting from a "squatters site." Life intact, Michael sees the emptiness of all of the things he has been seeking and sets about making some changes.....

I think I will never be able to give a Grisham book less than three stars as I always enjoy them for the story alone. However, this book had me thinking on a different level this time around. What Grisham is presenting here is basically a call to action to help the homeless or what Christians might call a social Gospel but without the Gospel. This would be fine for a secular author but Grisham claims he is a Christian with a deep private faith.

Grisham suggests through his novel that meeting the physical needs of a person will completely fulfill them. That feeding, clothing and sheltering people should be the goal of all those in a position to help financially and by giving time. Jesus tells us to help those in need and he had a special heart for the poor. God condemns those who neglect or abuse the poor and demands impartiality and justice. But that is not enough and doesn't get to the heart of a person's problems in life. It will not be the fulfillment they are looking for if they are not also told the truth about Jesus.

I feel strongly about this issue as many are providing help without hope around the world. A focus on earthly matters does not prepare someone for eternity. This novel, still a page turner, left me feeling empty on second reading--there is no mention of God unlike some of Grisham's other books. I also struggled with the way the main character's marriage dissolved as if it was inevitable.

The novel does highlight the meaninglessness of wealth and the purposelessness of climbing the corporate ladder. There is a little bad language, no sexual content and limited violence. Grisham fans will enjoy this book but maybe Christians should have a different perspective. For further discussion about help without hope see my posts below:

http://christianmissionaryuk.blogspot...
http://christianmissionaryuk.blogspot...

Check out my John Grisham Shelf!

In the introduction,John Grisham reminds the reader that he,one of the most successful novelists in the world,was once a struggling street lawyer himself.Draws attention to the plight of the homeless,in Washington,and does it well.

A mediocre effort, this one from Grisham. A pretty standard setup gives us a young lawyer who, via a privileged upbringing and Yale, is working eighty hours a week at a posh Washington law firm. His work is at the dull end of the spectrum but he’ll be a partner in three years and then he’ll be pulling in the really big bucks. But a dramatic event at work one day changes all that, changes his whole life in fact. He starts to look at things in a different way and is tempted to his swap plush leather chair in antitrust for a cheap plastic one working as a public interest lawyer in the rough end of town.

At heart this is a look at how the homeless in America fare. A job helping them claim wages owed or providing a road to clearing their debts through bankruptcy proceedings isn’t hugely stimulating, but it’s certainly worthy. And that’s really the issue with this tale, there are just too many small stories here and the case central to the plot rather gets lost in the noise. It all lacks the ever present sense of jeopardy that keeps his best stories running at a high tempo.

Another great novel from John Grisham.
I love the way he writes, he captures your attention from the very start and holds it to the very end. I am on a bit of a John Grisham book fest at the moment, I have read 5 in February alone and can't wait to start the next one. Although many of his books are about lawyers they remain different and good novels in their own right.

I personally have become a recent fan of John Grisham’s book and to any of those fans out there, this is a book that will not disappoint you. Even for those who aren’t John Grisham fans, this book is a must read. Grisham captures the life of the impoverished and needy in downtown D.C. and he shows how the law treats different class’s different ways. This book is not only a page turner but a fast page turner. I found myself rushing at times, anxious to read on and discover more about this mysterious and dangerous case that Brock was working on. Grisham uses a narrative style that lets the reader into the main characters thinking and it help the reader discover the characters own traits and how he is affected by the events around him. Grisham used descriptive language beautifully in this book and I felt the words were jumping off the page for me to see them played out right in front of me.
tThis book is not only compelling and exciting but it’s advocating for those who don’t have a voice themselves. Grisham uses the microphone he’s been giving through pages and words to illustrate the need our country has and the situations of many underprivileged people in our county. One thing that I’ve always liked and I’m sure others enjoy too, is the themes and moral lessons Grisham always has in his novels and how they all have a redeeming quality to them. Overall, I think this book was extremely well done and is one of Grisham’s finest. I highly recommend this book to all readers. Grisham, like always, captivated me with his exciting plots and deep description, making this one of the best books I have ever read. If you have the opportunity, give Street Lawyer a chance, you won’t regret it.

Puikaus išsilavinimo teisininkas Maiklas, nejaučiantis stygiaus, buvo pakeliui į didesnius turtus ir dar nuostabesnį gyvenimą,nepaisant artėjančių skyrybų su žmona. Darbo vietoje vienas benamis paima įkaitais 9 jos teisininkus, tame tarpe ir patį Maiklą. Po dramos jo gyvenimas verčiasi 180 laipsnių kampu. Jis išeina iš perspektyvios darbovietės ir pradeda dirbti gatvės advokatu - ginti benamių ir jų teisių,nes niekas jų neišklauso, niekam jie nerūpi, jie iš nieko nesitiki pagalbos.
Po vieno skaudaus įvykio, kai policija gatvėje aptinka prišalusį automobilį, o jame - motiną ir 4 jos vaikus, visus mirusius nuo asfikcijos, nes jie neturėjo kur gyventi,Maikui plyšta širdis, nes jis norėjo vargšei motinai padėti, bet nespėjo. Jis turi įslaptintą bylą iš senos darbovietės, kuri yra susijusi kaip tik su sąmokslu, kuris kainavo nekaltų žmonių gyvybes,ir nutaria imtis drastiškų veiksmų. Buvę partneriai tampa aršiausiais priešais ir žūtbūt nenori, kad tiesa iškiltų į paviršių.

Labai puiki dar viena Grisham knyga, priverčianti apie daug ką susimąstyti.

Michael Brock werkt voor een grote advocatenfirma, waar massa's geld te verdienen valt. Op een dag echter komt een man binnen in een vergaderzaal, waar Michael en nog een aantal anderen aanwezig zijn. De man heeft een wapen en gijzelt de aanwezigen. Het is niet meteen duidelijk wat hij wil, maar hij is geïnteresseerd in hoeveel men daar verdient etc. Uiteindelijk kan de man overmeesterd worden, er hijzelf is de enige die gedood wordt.
De zaak laat Michael niet los, hij wil weten wie de man was, en wat zijn motief zou kunnen zijn. En zo komt hij terecht bij het wereldje van de daklozen en de straatadvocaten. Meer nog, hij ontdekt dat zijn eigen firma iets te maken heeft met de ontruiming van een gebouw waar daklozen woonden, en die dus geen plaats meer hadden om te slapen in de ijzige februarikou, voor sommigen met noodlottige gevolgen. Michael steelt een dossier uit het kantoor met de bedoeling het later terug te leggen, maar door omstandigheden lukt hem dit niet. Als de diefstal ontdekt wordt, begint voor Michael een heel gevaarlijke tijd, want het bevat informatie die vanuit het standpunt van de advokatenfirma maar beter het daglicht niet kan zien. Maar Michael beseft ook de waarde van de documenten die hij in handen heeft. De strijd kan beginnen...

Ik heb genoten van dit boek. De wereld van de daklozen in Washington wordt beeldend beschreven, en het is niet moeilijk om je in de gevoelswereld van Michael en de andere personages in te leven. Vlot leesbaar ook.

Good but not as entertaining as his other books.

REVIEWER’S OPINION:
The author’s intentions were to write about the plight of the homeless and generate sympathy, compassion, and hopefully some action. The character development and dialogue were excellent – as usual for this author. But the plot development wasn’t as exciting as some of his other books. At best I would say it is a good story – worth reading if you’re a Grisham fan. At times it gets a little preachy with statistics and problems of the homeless. Frank Muller is very entertaining as a narrator. I purchased the mp3 audiobook through Audible(dot com). About six times or so, the narrator erroneously repeated a sentence. It wasn’t bad, but it was noticeable.

STORY BRIEF:
Mike was an Ivy League educated lawyer. He was working 80 hours a week for a large prestigious law firm Drake & Sweeney (DS). His specialty was antitrust law. He would probably make partner in another three years which would give him income of $800,000 or more per year. The story begins when a homeless man comes to the firm with dynamite strapped to his chest. He holds Mike and several others hostage in a conference room. The hostages survive. The homeless man said DS had wrongfully evicted tenants from a building. Out of curiosity Mike looks into this. He meets Mordecai who runs a legal aid clinic for the homeless. Mike decides to leave DS and join Mordecai. Mike borrowed a file from DS which showed the firm helped to evict tenants illegally. His file borrowing causes problems for Mike.

DATA:
Unabridged audiobook length: 10 hrs and 30 mins. Narrator: Frank Muller. Swearing language: none that I recall. Sexual content: none. Setting: current day Washington D.C. with one scene in Chicago, IL. Book copyright: 1998. Genre: legal suspense.

OTHER BOOKS:
I’ve reviewed the following John Grisham books.
5 stars. The Firm
5 stars. The Client
5 stars. The Pelican Brief
5 stars. The Runaway Jury
4 ½ stars. The Rainmaker
4 stars. Playing for Pizza
3 stars. The Partner
3 stars. The Street Lawyer
2 stars. The Chamber

I think I expected a little more from Grisham, but there was nothing wrong with this book. I gives you a scary look at the homeless people that are all around us. Good characters in a very good story.
A good read!

Non sono appassionata di legal thriller, perché quello degli avvocati è un mondo lontanissimo da me e non mi affascina, tuttavia questo libro è un po' diverso dagli altri dell'autore nel senso che, come dice il titolo, parla di un avvocato di strada, immerso nei problemi dei poveri veri, gli homeless.

Michael Brock è un avvocato di uno dei principali studi legali americani, si occupa di antitrust e guadagna 120.000 dollari l'anno. All'inizio del libro viene preso in ostaggio da un homeless, insieme ad altri colleghi. Resterà sconvolto da questa esperienza e la sua vita cambierà, tanto che deciderà di lasciare il mondo dei ricchi e potenti per dedicarsi ad aiutare i poveri tra i poveri: gli homeless. Forse è un po' poco credibile (ma veramente un avvocato di tale successo può subire una simile trasformazione radicale? per non parlare del finale), però l'ho trovato interessante e ben scritto. Non solo negli USA, ma anche da noi tendiamo a non vedere gli homeless, presi dalle nostre vite in cui rincorriamo il benessere. Fa riflettere e ha un'ambientazione interessante. Tutto sommato lo consiglio, anche se mi fermo a 3 stelline perché continua a non essere il mio genere.