Conflicts of Interest - Softcover

Martel, John

3.45

99 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0451410408 ISBN 13: 9780451410405

Publisher: Onyx, 2002

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With his dream job at the prestigious San Francisco firm of Miller and McGrath tainted by greed and politics, maverick lawyer Seth Cameron becomes a pawn in a power struggle with a senior partner whom Seth believes is setting him up. Reprint.

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From Publishers Weekly:

There's a secular Passion Play being enacted in modern fiction. It involves lawyers, and it's just as ritualized as the New Testament Passion: a taste of success, then a fall from grace, followed by a chance at courtroom redemption. In this second novel from California lawyer Martel (Partners), the format is particularly obvious because everything else that could have brought the story alive seems sketchy and shallow. Small-town lawyer Seth "Cowboy" Cameron dreams of a career in one of San Francisco's upper-class law firms. When he bluffs his way to a high-profile courtroom victory, he lands a job at prestigious Miller & McGrath. He also lands in the middle of a tug-of-war between M&M's young turks and firm dictator Anthony Treadwell, who uses the politically sensitive liability lawsuit of beautiful Elena Barton as an excuse to get Cameron fired. The same lawsuit proves Cameron's ticket to redemption, however, when Elena sues M&M for malpractice and gets Cameron to take the case. The attorney arguing for M&M is Anthony Treadwell?which would have made for a tense, dramatic confrontation if any of the characters were three-dimensionally portrayed or if the narrative proceeded at any speed below that of fifth gear. Martel's characterizations are strictly paint-by-the-numbers, while his dialogue is more glib than clever and his pacing is so relentlessly manic that there seems no time for motivation or thought. Meanwhile, Cameron comes across as a clever lawyer but not much of a human being, making reading his story akin to wolfing down a six-course meal of fast food in rather unpleasant company.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist:

Although overindulgent and cliche{‚}-ridden, Conflicts of Interest, written by a high-profile trial attorney, is not a bad first novel. Small-town California lawyer Seth Cameron is a spectacular litigator with an itch to play in the big leagues, no matter what the cost. But he doesn't realize the magnitude of that cost until he is put to the test by a hot-shot San Francisco firm--he must serve a grueling 18-month probationary period before obtaining a partnership. Cameron is tough, though, and he impresses the old-boy network time after time, especially for the way he turns sure-to-lose cases assigned by the vengeful senior partner into magnificent courtroom victories. However, just a month shy of being made a partner, Cameron has the rug pulled out from under him. Little does he know that the situation that did him in would not end once he left the downtown firm; in fact, it could mean the difference between life or death for him. A mix of legal action, government secrets, high-stakes dealings, and streetwise romance makes this a competent, often exciting thriller. Mary Frances Wilkens

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