Laughs from legal eagles
Anything’s possible when a master lets loose his sense of humour.
FOR someone who claims to be a die-hard John Grisham fan, it has been over four years since I last read any of his books. Don’t ask, I have no idea why either. So when I came across The Litigators, I felt that it was about time to rekindle my love for the passionate writer who is famous for his court room centred thrillers.
The sleeve of the book promised that The Litigators would be a “tremendously entertaining romp filled with the kind of courtroom strategies, theatrics, and suspense that have made John Grisham America’s favourite storyteller”.
What it failed to tell me was that The Litigators would have me rolling on my bed, holding my sides (and bladder), gasping for air, and laughing my lungs out every other chapter. Grisham sure showed me what I’ve been missing all these years! *wiping tears*
The Litigators is one amazing novel. It is hard not to love this book or the main characters in it. We have Oscar Finley and Wally Figg, of the Finley & Figg “boutique” law firm, who bicker like an old married couple; David Zinc who literally stumbles into the firm,rm, drunk and looking for a job; andnd grumpy secretarytary Rochelle Gibsonn who can’t wait till the clock hits fiveve every workingng day so she canan leave the officeffice and her crazyrazy bosses bosshind. behind.
Grisham sham bringss all these great characters cters togetherher to tell thehe tale of smalltime allclever lawyers trying to survive in the big-time dog-eat-dog world.
Our protagonist Zinc has just walked away from his fast-track career at a reputable law firm. Jobless, drunk and with no prospects for any sort of a future much less a bright one, he comes across a tacky advertisement publicising the services of the partners at Finley & Figg – all two of them. So what does he do? He jumps into a cab, directs the driver to the office located in a dodgy area of town and passes out on their old leather couch – not before throwing up on their porch and rest room, of course.
Our dear Finley and Figg are middle-aged lawyers who have been working the trenches for far too long and have nothing to show for all the hours they’ve worked.
Still chasing after ambulances and handling petty divorces, the duo are at their wits end to find that one major lawsuit that would help them settle down, and buy a beach house and a private jet each. But, as Zinc is quick to notice, Finley and Figg are always barking up the wrong trees, which of course not only brings them the worst cases but also gives the reader plenty to laugh about.
Seriously speaking, Grisham has proven that he is not just one for serious courtroom dramas. He has a sense of humour, a very good one at that, and is veryclever at injecting it into his charchar-