The King of Torts

We've all seen the billboards and the late night television advertisements: "Have you taken this drug? If so, something may be wrong with your health. Please call this toll-free number." We know the names; they have become part of our society, a distasteful display we accept without much thought. Let me warn you, once you've read The King of Torts, you will never see another of these ads the same way again.

John Grisham opens a window into the fascinating world of tort litigation with The King of Torts, a daring, fast-paced legal thriller that documents the descent of a good-hearted young lawyer into a sinkhole of greed and moral turpitude. Although Grisham does not always get a lot of respect from the literary establishment, his explosive statement on the nature and state of tort litigation in The King of Torts likely caught the attention of many of the nation's mass tort lawyers, and with good reason.

The King of Torts is the tale of Clay Carter, a 31-year-old D.C. public defender, five years out of law school, making $36,000 a year, and well on his way to burnout. This was not the way it was supposed to be. Clay's father was heading a law firm he was going to join after graduating from law school. Instead, as a result of some shadowy ethical decisions, his father's firm collapsed, and Clay joined the public defender's office, not a place known as a training ground for bright young litigators. While Clay tries to reason that his position will give him the litigation experience he needs to join a law firm, deep down he knows that this is a one-way ticket to nowhere. As a result, Clay "grows up" with a feeling of inferiority, which is constantly underscored by his girlfriend's wealthy parents, who loathe him and his financially unimpressive job. Eventually, even his girlfriend, Rebecca, who is pulled by the lure of money and stability, turns away from him. The seeds are planted, and Clay's inferiority complex eventually catches up with him, contributing to a wild ride and his ultimate downfall.

As he keeps dreaming of a better job, Clay gets corralled into taking the murder case of a young black male, Tequila Watson, charged with a random street killing. At first, Clay assumes that this is one of the many senseless murders his office sees on a regular basis. However, as he begins his investigation, he is approached by the mysterious Max Pace, a corporate "fireman," as in damage control, who represents a mega pharmaceutical company whose drug caused Tequila, and others, to kill. Clay is offered $10 million to secure a quick and quiet settlement with all of the murder victims, and protect the company from mass tort litigation. In return, Max Pace gives him stolen insider information to launch a mass tort attack against a competing pharmaceutical giant. Suddenly, Clay finds himself in the middle of a complex case against one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, looking at the kind of settlement that could completely change his life, and crown him the next king of torts.

Clearly, Grisham holds tort lawyers in contempt, and of course his protagonist Clay is no exception. Clay's disdain of the "find'em, sign'em, settle 'em, take the money and run" tort mantra is evident. However, Clay is not immune to the power and thrill of the world of tort litigation. While he manages to scoff at the expensive toys, as in $45 million private jets and huge yachts, he nevertheless becomes wrapped up in a world that not only accepts him but gives him the opportunity to join the wealthy elite. It feeds his ego and quells his feelings of inferiority. Before long, Clay finds himself rich, famous, and wanting the same big toys he once ridiculed. The downward spiral is inevitable, and the reader cringes at the recklessness and greed which are bound to lead to disaster.

Clay navigates through murky ethical waters by convincing himself that no one pays the price for this type of unbridled greed, not even the mortally ill tort clients who might have extracted a decent settlement from the corporate clients he is representing. The book is an indictment of the avarice and compromised morals of tort lawyers, the likes who, upon hearing that an S.U.V. has flipped over and killed five passengers, exclaim, "We got Ford." Grisham exposes the convoluted rationale that tort lawyers use to justify their existence, that without them no one would attack large corporations and protect consumers, and then quickly tears it down. The fact remains that these plaintiffs might also fare better if thousands of their cases were not lumped together; without the money, the tort lawyer would not exist. In fact, there is little talk about the plaintiffs, all joined into one faceless mass. The focus always seems to be on the corporate company and the depth of its pockets, regardless of whether it is a reprehensible corporate villain putting the lives of the public at risk, or the likes of Hanna Portland Cement Company, brought to its knees by an isolated incident. Money speaks louder than justice. As one of Clay's own clerk remarks, "Mass tort (is) not the practice of law. It (is) a roguish form of entrepreneurship." A form of entrepreneurship that capitalizes on the sick and injured.

The King of Torts is Grisham's vehicle to summarize what is wrong with the legal system and mass tort litigation. The problem is highlighted by a respectable Arizona tort lawyer who tells Clay: "Mass torts are a scam, a consumer rip-off, a lottery driven by greed that will one day harm all of us. Unbridled greed will swing the pendulum to the other side. Reforms will take place, and they'll be severe. You boys will be out of business but won't care because you'll have the money. The people who'll get harmed are all the future plaintiffs out there, all the little people who won't be able to sue for bad products because you boys have screwed up the law." This is the type of commentary that may keep Grisham from many tort lawyers' Christmas card lists. Yet, Grisham, himself a lawyer, does not hold back on a legal branch that has enormous effects on our economy and our lives. He provides a plea for tort reform that resonates loud and clear.