The Litigators

By: John Grisham

Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris

Length: 11 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

The partners at Finley & Figg—all two of them—often refer to themselves as “a boutique law firm.” Boutique, as in chic, selective, and prosperous. They are, of course, none of these things. What they are is a two-bit operation always in search of their big break, ambulance chasers who’ve been in the trenches much too long making way too little. Their specialties, so to speak, are quickie divorces and DUIs, with the occasional jackpot of an actual car wreck thrown in. After twenty plus years together, Oscar Finley and Wally Figg bicker like an old married couple but somehow continue to scratch out a half-decent living from their seedy bungalow offices in southwest Chicago.

And then change comes their way. More accurately, it stumbles in. David Zinc, a young but already burned-out attorney, walks away from his fast-track career at a fancy downtown firm, goes on a serious bender, and finds himself literally at the doorstep of our boutique firm. Once David sobers up and comes to grips with the fact that he’s suddenly unemployed, any job—even one with Finley & Figg—looks okay to him.

With their new associate on board, F&F is ready to tackle a really big case, a case that could make the partners rich without requiring them to actually practice much law. An extremely popular drug, Krayoxx, the number one cholesterol reducer for the dangerously overweight, produced by Varrick Labs, a giant pharmaceutical company with annual sales of $25 billion, has recently come under fire after several patients taking it have suffered heart attacks. Wally smells money.

A little online research confirms Wally’s suspicions—a huge plaintiffs’ firm in Florida is putting together a class action suit against Varrick. All Finley & Figg has to do is find a handful of people who have had heart attacks while taking Krayoxx, convince them to become clients, join the class action, and ride along to fame and fortune. With any luck, they won’t even have to enter a courtroom!

It almost seems too good to be true.

And it is.

©2011 Belfry Holdings, Inc. (P)2011 Random House

A Fun Book

Grisham continues to knock them out of the park with The Litigators. He took a drive through the seedy part of the legal system, as well as the polished, money-making end. The performance was good, and the story line entertaining. I expected a lot and I was not disappointed.

A Witty Book

I enjoyed Grishim's witty humor and ironic parallels with my own life as he describes a person who has had just enough and then takes a leap of faith into a wild adventure. Then he wakes up to find he's not in the dream he signed up but definately not in the nightmare he was in before. The main character works his way around roadblocks to eventually find his place in his profession. The other supporting characters bring humor and reality to his adventure and to me made it a very enjoyable book.

Anther good one by John Grisham

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

A little slow but a good story so I would recommend it but it isn't one of his top 10

One of my favorites by author

Great plot. Predictable, but not in a bad way. Overall a wonderful read that I almost wish wasn't over.

A light comedy of the litigation system.

What did you like best about The Litigators? What did you like least?

It made me laugh. It made the laws that rule our country seem somewhat sordid.

What could John Grisham have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Add more depth to the characters.

What does Dennis Boutsikaris bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The accents and dialects

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Maybe

Any additional comments?

Grisham is a favorite and I will continue to read him.

Grisham Hit; Boutsikaris--Excellent Performance

Yes, I know that we are reviewing the books at Audible, and this one is very good within the genre, but often there is little review of the narrator beyond one sentence. I will get to the book in a minute, but a little more about Dennis Boutsikaris's performance first. Boutsikaris has a quality to his voice that really kept my interest. His range and intonation are excellent. What I look for are the ability for the performer to keep his voice in character and to make voices of the opposite sex sound believable. Boutsikaris does both very well (I remember only once mistake in the entire text). Additionally, he gives the book exactly the right amount of excitement for the genre.

If you are looking for an exciting mystery, this book is not it. The story revolves around three very imperfect lawyers and the trials and tribulations of their practice. The book contains two product liability litigations/class actions, and quite a bit of it rings true, a simplified account of what can happen in these cases.

The Litigators is very light reading, with several of the characters being somewhat funny exaggerations of what are clients and fellow lawyers. It goes fast and held my attention. At times, it had me laughing out loud (remembering my own experiences in similar situations).

Highly recommended as a light, yet detailed, novel about the law. Not recommended for those looking for a legal mystery with a lot of action.

Wonderful read

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and was sad when it was over! I highly recommend

Hilarious, authentic, good story, great reader!

I’ve listened to many books on audible, but this is my first review. I usually don’t listen to a book more than one time, but I have listened to this book multiple times!

I agree with other reviewers that this book doesn’t sound like John Grisham as much as his other work. In my experience, most of his other books are more serious and a bit long winded, but “The Litigators” was light hearted and quite hilarious. It reminded me very much of a small law firm I worked at for a few years when I was younger. I found the characters to be authentic and lovable, even though they were quite flawed.

This book was a nice reprieve from Grisham’s usual work. It lifted my spirits, made me laugh, and was very engaging and entertaining. I definitely recommend it!

Enjoyable and Engaging

Story kept me interested till the end. Got a little dry just past half way, but the story ended nicely. I would like a series. Characters were engaging.

Extremely enjoyable

Great characters, loved the banter and sarcastic humor quips. Story line keeps you coming back.