Mitch McDeere is a struggler. He hails from a poor family and his past is nothing that he is proud of. But, Mitch is an outstanding law student. He has graduated third in his class at the Harvard Law School. With such excellent credentials, the ‘legal world’ beckons him with open arms.
Mitch has offers from the best law firms in Chicago and New York and has almost decided to join one of them. But, he decides to attend one interview by a non-descript Memphis law firm partly out of curiosity and partly to satisfy his own ego. But, Mitch is in for a shocker, Bendini, Lambert, and Locke offer him twenty percent more salary than the best offer he has on hand and a brand new BMW to boot. He is also offered perks such as a fully furnished bungalow standing in its own ground, and not one of those cubby holes in New York or Chicago, for a home. Mitch, also, learns that if he puts in the right amount of work and commitment he will become a partner(with extra perks and much better salary) within a reasonably quick time.
Coming from a family that was chronically hard pressed for money; his father dead when he was 7, one brother killed in Vietnam, the other serving a jail term for manslaughter, and his mother remarrying and out of his life, Mitch jumps at the offer shutting out all warning signals. He is even happier when he is told that his student loan will be paid off by the firm. The firm believes in keeping its employees happy he is told.
The next few weeks fly by as Mitch has his nose deep in work. In this period, Mitch sees very little of his very pretty wife, Abby. Success, he believes must come the hard way and a few sacrifices, such as not being in time for dinner or spending enough time with his wife, are in order. There is one hitch, to become a member of the family of the law firm Bendini, Lambert, and Locke(BLL), Mitch must clear his Bar Exam and being neck deep in work Mitch wonders how he is going to take out time for preparing for the exam. But, Mitch is an outstanding student, remember, so he stands first much to the delight of the people at BLL.
It’s not long before the euphoria dies down for Mitch. One day, while lunching at a small eatery, Mitch has a visitor. The visitor introduces himself as Wayne Tarrance, Special Agent, FBI. The revelations by Tarrance, though unwelcome, work overtime on Mitch’s grey cells. Though, he tries to keep things to himself uttering little and observing more, Mitch eventually gets sucked into the firm’s scheme of things like many before him did. He realizes that he cannot leave the firm on his own. Nobody from BLL left the firm alive before their time, either they retired honourably with their rather large earnings or they met with a ‘little accident’.
Mitch recalls two of his associates had died in an accident during their vacation and learns that a few more had met with a similar fate before he joined the firm. Mitch has no way of knowing whether the deaths were natural, or accidents designed to look natural. But, at least, the FBI agent had alluded to the recent deaths as no mere accidents. Eventually, it dawns on Mitch that the firm he is working for is actually a façade for undercover money laundering operations and extensive tax evasion. Though he was given clean files to work on, almost all the partners were well and truly involved in designing capers for money laundering for rich clients and especially the Morolto crime family who surreptitiously owned the firm.
Time was running out for Mitch. Unwittingly, he had become an associate in crime and if he wanted to leave the firm there was no easy way out. Either he had to hand over incriminating documents of the BLL firm to the FBI and seek an amnesty, or take his chances and stick with the firm whose security head was getting increasingly suspicious of his activities and had no qualms in blowing his head off. Not exactly an enviable choice, but he had to make it… and make it soon.
The rest of the story takes you on a roller coaster ride with Mitch deciding to turn in the incriminating documents to the FBI. But where are all the documents and how can he get hold of them with the firm’s security tightly in place and watching him 24 hours a day? Mitch is also aware that his home, office and even car is bugged, and someone is keeping a watch on his wife too. More importantly, Mitch learns that there’s a mole in FBI who is selling valuable information to the Morolto gang. So, the odds are suddenly doubled. Mitch is, now, running for his life both from the Morolto thugs and the FBI whom he no longer trusts. How does Mitch keep one step ahead of his pursuers?
The Firm is one of the best books ever written by John Grisham. Though it essentially deals with lawyers, it doesn’t have long drawn out courtroom cases with interesting arguments and counter arguments by lawyers of both sides which was popularized by Erle Stanley Gardner in his Perry Mason series. In fact, The Firm stays far from the courts and legal wrangles. It is more of an action thriller with a bit of law thrown in for good measure.
Mitch McDeere is an young, intelligent, and ambitious law graduate. He is eager to do well on the legal firmament and, in the process, make a name and fortune for himself, albeit legally, if you will pardon the pun. But what transpires is that ever since he decided to join the firm of Bendini, Lambert, and Locke, his resourcefulness and basic instinct for survival turns out to be more important than his legal expertise.
I always believed lawyers are more resourceful and imaginative when it comes to twisting cases in the courts by cross examining witnesses, and trying to influence the jury. But, Mitch McDeere is one lawyer who might feel comfortable doing a ‘Mission Impossible’ or a ‘Casino Royale’ flick.
This book deserves 4.5 out of 5 for the racy storyline, and the rare insight Grisham brings into unethical legal practices that some lawyers are involved in laundering dirty money.
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