Not recommended for readers below 18 years of age.. do yourself a favor and don't read this book because it is just a waste of time

Un viaggio nei pericoli dei cavilli giudiziari.

Lettura scorrevole, colpi di scena e alla memoria torna la fiaba del pesciolino d'oro di origine russa trascritta da Aleksandr Pushkin.

È opportuno essere contenti di ciò che già si ha, perché, ad esagerare, spesso si rischia di rimanere con un pugno di mosche in mano: ovvero "Chi troppo vuole nulla stringe".

Interesting enough subject matter. I will say I was never bored but I'll also say I was never surprised.

No está mal pero se pierde mucho hacia el final que parece escrito a toda prisa, solo para terminar.

The World of Crime and Mystery
Torts have suddenly gained my attention, thus a 2nd read.
Cast - 2 stars: Cliches everywhere: Greedy lawyer, East European model fondled by the POTUS (in 2003 - how prescient!), horrific drug-manufacturers.
ATM - 1 star: Story could happen anywhere, the author resorts to calling people "fatties".... and worse.
CRIME - 3: How do tort lawyers steal billions from dying victims? Then ever look in a mirror? Or sleep?
Investigation - 2: FBI finally drops in.
Resolution - 2: Yea evil lawyer lives happily ever after. Happens all the time.
SUMMARY - 2.0. The subject IS interesting. But the cliches are everywhere. A weak Grisham, rather lazy. And surprisingly mysogynistic.

First Read;
COVID PANDEMIC: 5 Grishams and 1 David Sedaris
Okay, is the average lawyer as stupid and greedy as the ones portrayed here? After reading this, I'm hiring the friend of the cousin of the crack ho on the corner, you know, the guy/gal with 4 toothies. Still, fun read as stupid lawyers get their dues. Not as awful as "Skipping Christmas", so 2 stars.

Davvero deludente. La trama intriga molto, come la parte iniziale del romanzo del resto. Ma poco più avanti la storia si blocca, si appiattisce. In pratica muore. Non si evolve in nessun modo. Data la fama di questo romanzo che lo precede è difficile aspettarsi tutto ciò. Tantissimi personaggi menzionati, anche di poco conto, ma tutti con nomi simili e complicati. Il ché non aiuta e confonde ulteriormente. Pagine e pagine intere di cifre e calcoli. Riepiloghi su riepiloghi. 120.000 copie vendute. L'unico messaggio positivo che è stato possibile trarre da questo racconto è stato l'avidità umana. L'ingordigia e la continua ricerca di soldi a più non posso. Di quanto l'eccesso di denaro possa rovinare vite senza nemmeno rendersene conto, se non troppo tardi.

no one gets that stupid that fast .

Another excellent Grisham novel, in this book we get a rather compelling picture of a young lawyer who is struggling to make ends meet working for the public defenders office. He stumbles into a once in a lifetime chance to earn a fortune at the cost of ethics and in doing so begins a tale of greed that whilst seems to begin with good intentions he ultimately succumbs to those he surrounds himself with and begins to place money on a pedestal before all other things.

Excellent book, hard to put down.

Normally I’m a Grisham fan but the way women are depicted in this book is absolutely abhorrent.
There’s the fiancé whose only goal is to marry rich and have babies; the European model who prances around naked in front of men at any opportunity; the “sexless” mountain type woman who is nothing to look at; the “two fatties caught in their quest for litigation”, and the Cuban prostitutes hired for the lawyers on the yacht - “take your pick boys!” Carlos said.
Grisham this was a foul effort even for a book written in 2003. I hope you’re suitably embarrassed.

Nice work ! The reason I liked it was because it was fast paced and interesting. The reason I didn't like it was because it did not have the normal Grisham courtroom drama which would have made it really really interesting. So average rating would be apt. You learn the very basic moral value that "greed never pays" !

This is basically a fluff law piece. It was sad to see Clay change with the money and his company choices and I saw the ending coming basically from the beginning. I didn't know about tort law before, not really, so this taught me some things in passing.

An ok read to pass the time, but nothing really more than that. It's just kind of a neutral book.

Whenever I see another class-action lawsuit advertisement on T.V. I will always think of this book.

The story revolves around a lawyer in the trenches of the D.C. criminal defense system, Clay Carter, who works for Washington D.C.'s Public Defense Office. He and his whole department are overworked and underpaid, and the career ladder there is pretty grim. He loves his girlfriend Rebecca but the low pay and prestige of his job takes a toll on their relationship, especially aggravated in no small part by her nouveau-rich parents who burn for their daughter to elevate higher in society. They disapprove of Clay greatly.

Meanwhile, after some attentive investigation by Clay into the murky drive behind his latest client's crimes, a dark stranger by the name Max Pace who represents a pharmaceutical company drops into Clay's life and offers him an opportunity to make riches. However, this would be by changing teams to settle potential lawsuits of families affected by both his client's crime and a slew of other criminals in the D.C. area who have been influenced to commit the crimes. Representing all these families early in a class-action lawsuit a.k.a. a mass tort, would stop cold the chance the lawsuits going to a courtroom trial and avoiding potential sky-high punitive penalties against the influencing organization responsible.

This settlement sets the stage for other even greater pre-trial mass tort settlements, initiated by further tips obtained by Max Pace via questionable sources and methods. The strategies on snagging and holding onto as many clients as possible in a national pharmaceutical mass-tort is laid out, including the massive shock-and-awe advertising with fear-hyped t.v. commercials, the jockeying among regional tort lawyers to get as many clients as possible, the strong-armed negotiated portions of winning case money for the lawyers, the tort operations committee steering, and the cash-flow and human resources. Clay and his fellow lead tort lawyers splurge heavily at committee meetings in beautiful and exotic locations. They receive greater and greater animosity from the traditional trial lawyer as well as the newspapers and media. Clay himself gains regional and then national hype and hate, and his winnings help instigate regulations proposed to clamp down on mass-tort. Clay's initial identity of a modest guy and fiscal conservative mutates in parallel with his winnings, and becomes akin to the greed-driven and materialist-absorbed tort lawyers he initially loathed. His early thrifty expenditures blow out of control into huge ego-driven purchases. However even though he loses Rebecca, his heart still holds fast for her.

Eventually the murky foundations behind some of Clay's settlements begin to rear their ugly heads, drawing attention from the justice system. Further, the ruthless cuts his firm demanded from its clients backfire into his face with aid from an anti-tort New York ringer lawyer. Clay's past kindnesses pay him back at this time and the friends he stood by reflect this kindness when he most needs it.

All in all, the novel was an interesting and eye-opening top-level look at class-actions/max torts, while also maintaining a solid rags to riches anon story.