Product Description

Michael was in a hurry. He was scrambling up the ladder at Drake & Sweeney, a giant D. C. firm with 800 lawyers. The money was good and getting better; a partnership was three years away. He was a rising star, with no time to waste, no time to stop, no time to toss a few coins into the cups of panhandlers, no time to walk around them on the sidewalk, and no time for a conscience. But a violent encounter with a homeless man stopped him cold. Michael survived; his assailant did not. Who was this homeless man? Michael did some digging and learned that he was a mentally ill veteran who'd been in and out of shelters for twenty years. Then, Michael dug a little deeper, and found a dirty secret, and the secret involved Drake & Sweeney. The fast track derailed; and the ladder collapsed. Michael bolted from the firm, and took a top secret file with him. He landed in the streets, a poverty lawyer, a street lawyer, an advocate for the homeless, and a thief.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #20455 in Books
• Published on: 1998-11-14
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 368 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
John Grisham is back with his latest courtroom conundrum, The Street Lawyer. This time the lord of legal thrillers dives deep into the world of the homeless, particularly their barely audible legal voice in a world dominated by large, all-powerful law firms. Our hero, Michael Brock, is on the fast track to partnership at Washington, D.C.'s premier law firm, Sweeny & Drake. His dream of one day raking in a million-plus a year is finally within reach. Nothing can stop him, not even 90-hour work weeks and a failing marriage--until he meets DeVon Hardy, a.k.a. "Mister," a Vietnam veteran with a grudge against his landlord--and a few lawyers to fry. Hardy, with no clear motive, takes Brock and eight of his colleagues hostage in a boardroom, demanding their tax returns and interrogating them with a conviction that would have put perpetrators of the Spanish Inquisition to shame. Hardy, a man of few words and a lot of ammunition, mumbles cryptically, "Who are the evictors?" as he points a .44 automatic within inches of Brock's face. The violent outcome of the hostage situation triggers an abrupt soul-searching for the young lawyer, and Hardy's mysterious question continues to haunt him. Brock learns that Hardy had been in and out of homeless shelters most of his life, but he had recently begun paying rent in a rundown building; that means he has legal recourse when a big money- making outfit such as Sweeny & Drake boots him with no warning. When Brock realizes that his profession caters to the morally challenged, he sets out on an aimless search through the dicey side of Washington, DC, ending up at the 14th Street Legal Clinic. The clinic's director, a gargantuan man named Mordecai Green, woos Brock to the clinic with a $90,000 cut in pay and the chance to redeem his soul. Brock takes it--and some of the story's credibility along with it; it's hard to believe that a Yale graduate who sacrificed everything--including his marriage--to succeed in the legal profession would quickly jump at the opportunity for low-paying, charitable work. However, Brock's search for corruption in the swanky upper echelons of Sweeny & Drake (via the toughest streets of Washington, DC) is filled with colourful characters and realistic, gritty descriptions. In The Street Lawyer, Grisham once again defends the voiceless and powerless. In the words of Mordecai Green, "That's justice, Michael. That's what street law is all about. Dignity."

Daily Telegraph
'No one does it better than Grisham'

Daily Telegraph
'No one does it better than Grisham'

Customer Reviews

Enjoyable Grisham novel
A Yale graduate and fast tracked to partnership, Michael Brock has sacrificed everything, including his marriage, for the law and his firm Drake + Sweeny.

However a kidnapping by a homeless man 'Mister' is about to have a profound effect on his life. When the hostage situation is brought to a seemingly unnecessary violent ending Michael begins to look into Misters background and realises he is yet another victim of a big corporation who had his rights under the law overlooked.

A meeting with Mordecai Green, a legal champion for the homeless, changes Michael forever and sees the unlikely event of him turning his back on certain wealth and prosperity for a much less money, swapping his plush office for more basic surroundings.

I feel this is a good read, though it does lose its way a little. However I feel it demonstrates how today after some soul searching, people can still be called to their vocation, however unlikely.

Excellent Read - A Real Must Have
This book is brilliant! The story grabs you from the very first chapter which prompts you to continue reading. The story tells of how a hard-hearted lawyer re-thinks his priorities in life and chooses to help those people less off. The story is touching and makes you think after reading it. It is definately not just a read and throw away book! John Grisham has demonstrated what an excellent writer he truly is with this text and I would advise anyone who is reading this review to purchase the book as soon as possible.

Years pass by, but do things change?
It might seem an odd choice to review a book coming up ten years old, but this has been sitting on my shelf gathering dust, and as it is the only Grisham book I haven't read, I decided to dip into it while I waited for the new Lee Child to come out. I'm glad I did.

It tells the story of Michael Brock, Corporate Lawyer earning big bucks, pretty wife, fast lane to partner status and millionairedom. Everything is rosy until an odd incident occurs. A vagrant, a street dweller hijacks the lawyers in their tower-block office and before he can make clear his demands, special-forces blow him away. The vagrant's brains are splashed over Brock's face. It changes his outlook on life, but then it would.

He begins to take an interest in the homeless, he resigns his cushy job and big bucks, loses his wife, and takes on pro bono unpaid legal work on behalf of the street people, and that is just the beginning of his journey.

This book concentrates attention on homeless people in American inner cities. Whether their plight has greatly changed in the intervening ten years I have no idea, but my guess is things haven't altered that much.

As always with Mister Grisham's books the narrative rushes along. I was never tempted to duck any pages and it is all too easy to see why he has shifted so many copies of his books over the years. I liked this one a lot. It was thought provoking, retained my attention throughout, and though I kind of guessed the ending long before I actually arrived there, I was never disappointed.

If you like Grisham, you will like this. If you don't like Grisham you will probably still like it. Definitely recommended.

Coincidentally this very day John Grisham was in London to collect a lifetime achievement award for among other things, selling over 250 million books. Incredibly he stated he had never won an award before. Perhaps writers should be more valued by us all, and feted too.