Clementine S.M.

Villanueva

2 August 2014
BOOK REVIEW
THE FIRM by John Grisham

The book includes realizations that are very much applicable in the lives of people. The protagonist,
being a lawyer, showed the importance of the values that should always be in possession which
comes with the profession. It accents the responsibilities attached in the practice of law to it that are
difficult to fulfill.
Mitchell McDeere, raised in the coal-mining region of rural Kentucky, has worked hard to get where
he is. He graduated in accounting from Western Kentucky University, passed his Certified Public
Accountant exams on the first attempt. He was third in his class at Harvard Law. He is young, bright
and very ambitious. Mitch could have the pick of the big firms in New York and Chicago, but he has
chosen the Memphis tax firm of Bendini, Lambert & Locke. They are selective. They pay outrageous
salaries. They have a turnover rate of zero. And Mitch is about to find out why. Several events fuel
Mitch's growing suspicions. Two of the partners die in a suspicious diving accident off Grand
Cayman. During a memorial service at the firm for the two deceased attorneys, Mitch notices plaques
commemorating three other attorneys who died while working at the firm. Suspicious, he hires a
private investigator, Eddie Lomax, an ex-cell mate of his brother Ray, to investigate the deaths of the
attorneys. Lomax discovers that all five of the deceased attorneys died under questionable
circumstances: two in the diving accident, and the other three in a car accident, a hunting accident
and a suicide, respectively. Lomax cautions Mitch to be careful. Soon after delivering his report to
Mitch, Lomax is murdered. The senior partners seem unduly proud of the fact that no one has ever
resigned; and security measures at the office are, even for a company with billionaire clients, more
than a little extreme. Then Mitch makes an explosive discovery. The firm is owned and operated by
the most powerful organized crime family in Chicago. Even as Mitch discovers the truth, he finds
himself caught between the FBI, who wants an informant inside the firm, and the firm itself, which
will make him a very rich man or a very dead one.
Mitchell Y. Mc Deere is a spectacular and way above-par Harvard law student which made him in
demand even before he passes the bar exams. From the start, it can be clearly seen that he is an
ambitious individual. He was attracted by the great offer of the firm. This exemplified the innate

greed every people have. One of the things I learned from this book is that contentment is very
elusive. The reason is hard to explain but we are always searching for something that we do not have.
Once we achieve that something, search may seem to be over but then a new desire will emanate.
That results to a new cycle of searching and doing anything for that one seemingly paramount desire
at that specific period of time. Life is a never ending journey of pursuit for happiness which appears
challenging to define. Every people have different definition of that intangible thing everyone looks
for. Some may see it as negatively and some may interpret it as just genuinely dreaming for
something better. There is also a contradictory principle about dreaming. For some, continuously
having one is a sort of hope and motivation to continue on with ones life. Without it, life will be
boring with nothing to look forward to. That will result in reevaluating oneself which may be termed
by some as finding oneself. Others may look at it as greed. They may be of the opinion that a person
will never be contented therefore happiness becomes more elusive.
People by nature are prone to become greedy when they are aiming for something which they really
wanted. When the desire is burning, passion tends to accelerate. That drives humans to do things they
never thought they could. In the book, Mitchells hunger for success brought him to a situation where
he was facing danger for his and his wifes life and also prejudice to a profession he is so passionate
about. By his greed comes a price that may affect his life tremendously. Choice became a complex
word for him. He was faced with a choice of exposing the anomalies of the firm while jeopardizing
his life or pretending to know nothing while having the risk of ending his profession in a bad note by
concealing the illegal activities he discovered. The way he dealt with the situation showed how great
a lawyer he is. With the cooperation of other people, he overcame the crisis by choosing to do the
right thing wisely.
Knowledge of the law should not be used to circumvent it. Some brilliant lawyers use their
knowledge and expertise for their own benefit without considering that they are violating the law and
they are harming other people. That is what the firm in this book did. It turns out that while the firm
has many clients with clean hands, it nonetheless was set up by the Mafia as a pumphouse for
siphoning drug dollars and other untaxed cash into phony corporations set up in the Cayman Islands.
In fact, the firm's lavish Lear jet regularly hauls tons of US legal tender down to the islands with their
hundreds of tax-haven banks and secret numbered accounts. Those illegal acts were countered by
Mitchell McDeere by being the chief informant of the FBI. There were actions in his part that are

unethical as a lawyer like stealing money from the firm and being in conspiracy with the FBI for the
escape of his brother from prison. Nevertheless, at least he put a stop on the illegal activities of the
firm thus also halting the fraud done to their clients.
The legal profession is often tainted with intrigue and corruption in the eyes of many people. It is the
duty of lawyers to reverse that perception and raise the credibility of the profession. Lawyers are
stereotyped as dishonest individuals who will do anything just to win their case. Realization came to
me that being a potential future lawyer myself; one of my goals should be to earn trust from the
people. The concrete process of achieving the said goal is difficult to determine. Trust is hard to earn
but the best way to do it in relation with the legal profession is to be an ethical lawyer. One should
adhere with the governing laws. It is contrasting to promote the proper enforcement of the law
without implementing it on oneself.
The book is highly recommended considering that much realizations and conclusions I got from it. It
shows the reality of having controversies attached to the legal profession. It likewise emphasized the
risks that go with practicing law. Not all the actions done by the protagonist can be perceived as ideal
but those somehow showed the process facing the consequences brought about by a wrong decision
that rooted from a persons greed. It shows the desperate measures one can do for the safety of ones
self and his loved ones. One may do the unthinkable in times of need. Coupled with the risk is the
passion and desire to correct the wrong in the best possible way.
Let me share a quote from the book that embodies a reality of being in the legal profession:
[youll acquire] A certain amount of cynicism. This business works on you. When you were in law
school you had some noble idea what a lawyer should be. A champion of individual rights; a
defender of the Constitution; a guardian of the oppressed; an advocate for your clients principles.
Then after you practice for six months you realize you were nothing but hired guns. Mouthpieces for
sale to the highest bidder, available to anybody, any crook, any sleazebag with enough money to pay
your outrageous fees. Nothing shocks you. Its supposed to be an honorable profession, but youll
meet so many crooked lawyers youll want to quit and find an honest job. Yeah Mitch, youll get
cynical. And its sad, really. ~ Lamar Quinn