The Street Lawyer by John Grisham Review and Summary

Yesterday night I finished reading a book called The Street Lawyer by the acclaimed author, John Grisham. I liked the book substantially, even though I didn't like the ending, as it was not concrete - very open. Judging by the name, the book is obviously about a street lawyer, which doesn't surprise me, as John Grisham is a lawyer and most of his books are legal thrillers. John Grisham's most famous titles include; The Firm, The Chamber, The Client, A Painted House, The Pelican Brief, The Rainmaker, The Runway Jury and A Time to Kill. 


The book tells the story of an antitrust lawyer named Michael Brock, who works at a big firm in Washington D.C. called Drake and Sweeney. The plot begins when a homeless man that calls himself "Mister" enters the offices of Drake and Sweeney and takes as hostages about a dozen of the lawyers at the firm. As he is at the office he gives the hostages a lecture about homelessness and about the general greed of the American higher class asking them as proof how much they earn per year in comparison to what they give to charity or other non-profit organizations. Finally at the end of that day "Mister" is shot by a police sniper and the hostages are rescued. Consummated by the need to understand what he learned from this incident, Michael reaches to a man called Mordecai Green, an advocate for the homeless who asks him to help him one night at a homeless shelter. Here Michael becomes more sympathetic for the homeless. A few days later Mordecai asks him to join him at the 14th Street Legal Clinic, the legal clinic which is owned by Mordecai. Michael finally quits his job at Drake and Sweeney to enter his new job at the 14th Street Legal Clinic meaning he has to abandon a 400 thousand dollar annual salary for a 15 thousand dollar annual salary. Simultaneously, Michael takes a file illegally from Drake and Sweeney regarding an illegal eviction done by a lawyer at the firm in which Mister was involved. He tries to copy the file and then take it back to the firm, but while heading to an office to make the copy he is embraced in a car accident which delays his fleet and causes the lawyer involved with the case to realize the file was stolen. At his new firm Michael manages to attend many clients in need, much who just needed someone to talk with. At the end of the book Michael produces a legal case against the illegal eviction in which he succeeds a a major settlement with Drake and Sweeney for all the damages caused by the eviction, then Drake and Sweeney demand him for the robbery of the file in which he accepts his license to practice law to be suspended for six months and to return the file.