The book tells of a down-on-his-luck law student who stumbles on an interesting non-payment of insurance case while doing pro-bono work for a retirement home. The case involves a lower-middle class couple who bought health insurance for a low premium when suddenly their child gets acute leukemia. The insurance company subsequently refuses to pay because they claim the child had a pre-existing condition that was totally unrelated to leukemia. I enjoyed this book tremendously not only because the good guys win in the end against the unethical and illegal bad guys but also for the fact that the good guys got the justice they deserved. And the good guys were happy with this justice. In the ideal world, this is what the law should be about namely, JUSTICE.This book screams for health care reform especially getting rid of the pre-existing condition and rescissions (people who were loyal to the insurance and paid their premiums on time but the claim was not honored). The book introduces to the reader the idea of post-claim underwriting, the practice of insurance companies have in finding a loop-hole in their responsibility for a claim based on non-disclosure of an illness that maybe totally unrelated to the current illness and the resulting effect of rescissions. Because of this unrelated illness, the insurance company can rescind the policy. In the book, Great Benefits insurance company based its denial of claims due to the fact the family forgot to add the flu as one of the illness that Donny Ray had. But, the truly unfortunate thing is this loop-hole allowed them the pretense of not paying the claim and thus condemning Donny Ray to death. More than anything this comprehensive health care reform seeks to end practices of insurance companies of pre-existing conditions and rescissions and finally insure all the uninsured. It also showcases the need for consumer protection from shady insurance companies by having some sort of agreed upon minimum standard of care in their policy. The consumer protection by the law against insurance companies are necessary because in the book Great Benefit insurance sells cheap policies to poor UNEDUCATED people and are counting that if they have a claim that they won't fight back if the insurance company does not pay the claim because they are poor and UNEDUCATED. This book also underscores that American medical establishment is the best in the world as long as you can afford access to it. Another component of the reform is regulation. I really have my doubts about government regulation and insurance companies because as in the book sometimes they are in cahoots. The insurance company gets the premium rates raise that they want while government gets the PR victory for "moderating" insurance premium rates. If they really want to decrease the rate increases of insurance companies, it would be via the threat of the government option. Insurance companies do not want the government option because they know they really cannot raise their premiums if there is a government option even if the government option plays by market rules. I think the government option should be the nuclear option to control increases in premium rates if the current legislation does not do the job. Reading this book, I realize that trial lawyers are really entrepreneurial in their thinking so how can Republicans who espouse the virtue of free enterprise and cap something that is entrepreneurial at its core. I think the answer to this is that the justice system should primarily be about justice just like health care should primarily be about a person's health not about business. Without comprehensive health care reform which emphasize health in health care system, I seriously cannot think of capping the trial lawyers awards. Besides without comprehensive health care reform, the trial lawyers are for better or worse the last defense for people who are wronged by insurance companies. The only way to get the industry to notice that they have wronged a client is either through government action or through their checkbook by being sued by trial lawyers. Bottom line, I think people should be more consistent about their political principles. If one thinks that free market should go unfettered then this should include the entrepreneurial inklings of trial lawyers without tort reform but if one thinks free market should be used to better humanity then there should be a system that encourages that. If health care once again be primarily about health care, then I can rule that justice system should primarily be about justice and thus tort reform should occur. Like I said, the goal of the justice system should be about justice. On the one hand, this means tort-reform so trial lawyers cannot use court cases as entrepreneurial ventures but instead focus on the justice part of it. On the other hand, the goal of justice should be to force the guilty defendant to change their ways. If the defendant is a big corporation, there is two ways of doing that: 1) Through enacting a law that punishes such behavior 2) Through their pocketbook where it hurts. Thus if there is no comprehensive reform that bans the legal but abhorrent practice rescissions (people pay their premiums but the insurance company has a loop-hole of dumping them because they forgot to declare some unrelated illness), the only justice this people have is to change the companies abhorrent behavior through suing them and either hit them hard in their pocket books or public admittance of guilt which will eventually hit their bottom line because of the bad publicity that it will cause. The book beautifully highlights this debate in the lawyers closing arguments. Whereas Rudy is asking for 10% of their cash reserves so the company bottom line hurts, Drummond beautifully points out that the son is dead and no amount of money will bring him back and so the company is willing to pay actual damages but the punitive damages should not be too much (ie: trial lawyer greed check vs finding justice to a powerful company through heavy punitive damages). Having said that trial lawyers are entrepreneurial, I also can see how people can claim that they are scavengers because they seem to want something bad to happen so they can enlist the aggrieved party and sue the pants off the defendants. In the book, judges seem to be biased towards or against the insurance company. I hope this is not the case in real life where the judges should be impartial towards the law. The Rudy character gets a great break for having the judge on his side but in the end the scales are balanced because the jury is the one who will decide if the defendant is guilty or innocent and the defendant has a top defense team that has years of trial experience between the 5 lawyers that represents the defense whereas this is Rudy's first trial experience. I love how the book ended with the unethical and illegal corporation going bankrupt and the company not only looking at numerous civil suits but also criminal suits as well. The clients are ecstatic with this news because in the end it was not about the money anyway.
“I'm alone and outgunned, scared and inexperienced, but I'm right.” Smooth, savvy, satisfying…I think this is my new favorite John Grisham novel. While not heavy on scholarly nuance, it has some depth and is crisp, right-hearted, expertly paced and reads like ice-cold lemonade on the porch in summertime.* *Please feel free to mentally substitute the simile ‘hot toddy curled up in front of a fire in winter’ if you prefer. While this page-turner is a very easy read, I wouldn’t call this light as Grisham does a good job infusing the narrative with a sense of importance and emotional attachment vis a vis the characters and the central plot. Grisham knows his subject and has a knack for dispensing highly digestible tales that quickly suck his readers into the middle of the story where they remain engaged until the end. I can think of worse ways to spend time than reading this author's work.PLOT SUMMARY:We meet Rudy Baylor when he has not yet finished his third year of Law School at Memphis State. We get a scratchy taste of the less than glamorous job market search for non-elite students as Rudy is smart, but middle of the pack. He’s an everyman and we can relate to him and the choices with which he is confronted. All students enter law school with a certain amount of idealism and desire to serve the public, but after three years of brutal competition we care for nothing but the right job with the right firm where we can make partner in seven years and earn big bucks.Through a series of missteps, bad luck and the realities of more lawyers than legal positions, Rudy finds himself working for J. Lyman “Bruiser” Stone, a shady, shark-like ambulance chaser who makes serious bank not-so-secretly owning most of the topless bars and nightclubs in Memphis. Tip of the cap to Grisham as “Bruiser” is a great character. Rudy gets teamed up with another wonderful, morally lenient character named Deck Shifflet. Deck has failed the bar six times and basically practices law without a license as a “paralawyer.” Together, we watch two very struggling guys trying to scratch out a living in the overcrowded, lawyer-eat-lawyer world of Memphis Law. There is a well done blooming romance between Rudy and an abused wife and some comic relief involving a nettlesome grandma out to re-write her will to cut off her ungrateful kin. However, the steak of this meal is a bad faith claim against an insurance company, Great Benefit. The whoreporation wrongfully denied coverage for a bone marrow transplant that would have save Donny Ray Black, a young man dying of Leukemia. We watch Rudy’s trial by fire as he is thrown in the deep end battling the evil insurance company and its massive team of $1000/hr litigators from the “Pole-in-the-Keester” mega law firm. THOUGHTS:The inner-workings of the courtroom and legal proceedings are handled lightly with sparse details and the concatenation of circumstances leading to the final verdict do not always rigorously following the realistic as the expense of entertainment. I didn’t have an issue with this because it kept the pacing brisk without bogging the story down in details that I think most readers would find tedious. The law is not an exciting place. However, Grisham, to his story-telling credit, creates excitement by populating his tale with a bevy of Southern-flavored characters that feel alive and genuine. I don’t think Grisham gets the credit he deserves for this as it a real gift. In this outing, we have: **The aforementioned “Bruiser” Stone and Deck Shifflet add much color to the proceedings.**Dot Black, the chain-smoking, embittered mother of Donny and her husband Buddy, a war veteran who is quietly drunk 24/7. This description may not make them sound likeable, but they are and they are devastated by their son’s illness. **Kelly Riker, the smart, beautiful 19 year-old trapped in a horrible marriage with her drunk, abusive husband who’s angry at the world because his dreams of being a pro athlete never materialized. **Judge Tyrone Kipler, the sympathetic judge who hates insurance companies and provides Rudy with valuable assistance and advice. These characters elevate the novel above the “just another bag of popcorn” legal thriller. I enjoyed myself reading this and will certainly pick up another Grisham book in the future. Before I wrap up, a quick word on the film/movie comparison. I had previously seen the movie adaptation of this novel and, like _A Time to Kill, I think the movie outshined its source. Very little had to be cut from the movie and Coppola did a great job of translating the tone of the story. Plus, with casting like Danny DeVito playing Deck Shifflet and Mickey Rourke as “Bruiser” Stone, the book had a pretty big uphill stroll to compete. Even years later, I remember the scene in the movie where Shifflet (DeVito) is pressuring an auto accident victim in traction and a lot of pain to sign up with him as his lawyer. When he finally gets the gut to relent (mostly to get rid of him) Shifflet walks away with an air punch saying, “Were gonna get you a bunch a money.” What a classic, classic lawyer line and I was happy to see that line was in the book as well. Anyway, the book is still very good and I did prefer the novel’s ending more than the movie. The endings are not significantly different, but Rudy Baylor’s outlook on the legal profession is put in much starker light in the book and I found that to be superior to the somewhat ambiguous handling of the film. In sum, if you’ve seen the movie, you are not missing much by not reading the book…not much except a well-written, entertaining story. You can decide. For me, the book was worth it and I enjoyed myself. 3.5 stars. Recommended.
What do You think about The Rainmaker (2005)?
" I heard a lawyer say once that it takes a few years for the pain and misery of the law school to fade and, as with most things in life, you're left with the good memories in life"This story is about Rudy Baylor, a third year student at law school about to graduate. He is an average student, having tough time with all the competition and anxiety that a final year brings with it, he works part time to clear his debts and is struggling to get a good job. His life changes when he gets a bad faith case against one of the biggest Insurance company 'Great Benefit'. " I'm alone and outgunned, scared and inexperienced, but I'm right."This story shows you Rudy baylor like any other ordinary person. He is fearful to stand against one of the best lawyer Leo F. Drummond who is going to represent the insurance company. But he also keeps reminding himself that he is doing the right thing fighting for the family who is about to lose a son 'cause the company didn't provide them with the insurance which was their right." There are moments when I feel invincible 'cause I've made it this far in such wonderful shape. Most of the time, however, I'm simply scared."This story tells you that it's okay to feel scared, just keep stepping ahead. Though, there is one thing that should be considered purily as a case of good luck that the Judge Kipler he got also hated big Insurance companies. But I must admit, this is my favorite character of this book. The way he handled every clever move from the people of Great Benefit and kept them in their limits to keep the whole trial thing fair gives a good feeling. He gives you the image of those people who use their power to support the good. The character of Judge Kipler in the life story of Rudy Baylor reminds me of a quote " Be bold and The Mighty forces will come to your aid."
—Sajida Ahmad
Michael Beck (The Golden Seal, Xanadu), who seems to be making a career out of reading books on audio (A Time to Kill, The Runaway Jury), has returned with John Grisham's The Rainmaker, bringing the backwoods of Tennessee's legal world to life. His sultry, southern drawl animates the world of Rudy Baylor, an out-of-luck, budding lawyer who has more things going against him than bedraggled, disaster-magnet Joe from Lil' Abner. The law firm that hired Baylor was gobbled up by a larger firm just three weeks before his graduation, and now he has no job and no chance of finding one. To make matters worse, when he gets home there's an eviction notice, a process server, and a lawsuit waiting for him. What's a bumbling baby-lawyer to do? Get a case and some cold hard cash--fast. Baylor stumbles upon two possible jackpots: A tight-lipped widow with millions squirreled away and a young man whose life is cut short by a negligent insurance company. Baylor gets in over his head and finds himself up against a pack of superpower attorneys; losing could cost him his life and winning would make him a rainmaker cum laude. Grisham's knack for making tedious legalities interesting, coupled with Beck's gift for shifting in and out character like a Mercedes roadster, makes for an exciting, entertaining listen. Running time: 360 minutes.
—Tony Taylor
Rudy Baylor is a 3rd Yr. Law student at Memphis State. As a 3rd Yr., he is scrambling to find employment, recovering from a broken heart, and taking the easiest classes he can until the Bar Exam. One of these classes is Legal Problems of the Elderly, "Geezer Law," in which Prof. Smoot takes them to Nursing Homes to do pro bono work. Here, Rudy meets Dot and Buddy Black and Mz Birdsong. Mz Birdy agrees to let Rudy live in her garage apt. for yardwork and Dot and Buddy want his advice on a denied insurance claim.Rudy's employment takes dips and twists, bankruptcy, and Mz Birdy's idea of "yardwork" leaves him gasping in Memphis heat and aching beyond description. The Black Case, is the focal point of this story. Great Benefit denies funds for a bone marrow transplant that endangers the life of Donny Black. Donny's twin was an identical match, but insurance was denied. Rudy has the case stolen, recovered and his first trial case becomes The Black Case against the behemouth, Great Benefit Insurance Co. of Ohio. It is an "edge of you seat" read with shady characters, intimidation, fires, thievery, love, and murder.
—Beverly
