Good Counsel - Softcover

Junkin, Tim

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1565122844 ISBN 13: 9781565122840

Publisher: Algonquin Books, 2001

Synopsis

Tim Junkin's fast-paced insider novel tracks a moral journey. Jack Stanton began his career as a public defender in the Washington, D.C., "Agency." A quick study and a charismatic trial lawyer, Jack believed wholeheartedly in indigent clients' rights to the best legal defense possible. He worked tirelessly and won some tough cases against the District's corps of prosecuting attorneys. His reputation for expert client preparation grew alongside his passion for winning.

Ultimately, however, Jack pays for that reputation with his integrity. And, for his workaholism, he pays with his marriage. By the time he decides to leave the Agency to establish his own private law practice, his line between truth and manipulated fact has thinned to almost nothing. And so, specializing in medical malpractice cases, Jack succeeds brilliantly until he obscures that thin line altogether and is charged with lying under oath.

He runs, hiding out in a secluded house on the Chesapeake Bay. It's there that he encounters an idealistic young woman plotting to avenge her father's murder by terrorists. Her plight leads Jack to act once again on behalf of an underdog and to regain-at least for himself-his own idealism and honor.

With its intriguing cast of the accused and their defenders, Good Counsel dramatically illustrates the process and practice of litigation. It's a knowing, taut, suspenseful novel that confronts the high price of professional success.

About this title

From the Inside Flap

Charismatic trail lawyer Jack Stanton begins his career as a public defender in the Washington, D.C., "Agency." His dogged research and painstaking client preparation win him some very tough cases against the District's corps of prosecuting attorneys.

He believes with all his heart that indigent clients have a right to the best legal defense possible. And he represents the least defendable: the chronic sex offender accused of rape at gunpoint, the African-American boy accused of killing a white neighbor. He gets them off. He has "the gift." Everybody recognizes it.

Ultimately, however, Jack pays for his reputation with his integrity. By the time he decides to leave the Agency to establish his own private law practice, his line between truth and manipulated fact has thinned to almost nothing. Jack succeeds brilliantly at his specialty - medical malpractice-and enjoys every luxury money can buy. Until the day he crosses the thin line and lies under oath.

He bolts and runs, taking refuge in a secluded house on the Chesapeake Bay, where he encounters a young woman with the kind of idealistic passions he's lost. Her plight leads Jack to act one more time on behalf of an underdog and to regain-at least in his own eyes-his old idealism and honor.

With its intriguing cast of the accused and their defenders, Good Counsel is a knowing, fast paced drama about the high price of professional success. Tim Junkin, a new master of suspense, tells it powerfully-and from the inside.

From the Back Cover

Good Counsel belongs on everyone's best-seller list. Junkin joins a select class of fiction writers, such as Scott Turow and John Grisham. -Plato Cacheris, ESQ.

"A suspenseful novel that raises serious questions, Good Counsel gives the insider's look into the ethical traps in high stakes trial practice. Finely written and authoritative." -Jacob A. Stein, ESQ., author of Closing Argument-The Art and the Law

"A masterful Page-turner, Good Counsel plunges us into the lawyer's worst nightmare-a face-to-face confrontation with his own conscience." -Ken Gormely, author of Archibald Cox: Conscience of a Nation

About this edition

• Publisher: Algonquin Books
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 1565122844
• ISBN 13: 9781565122840
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 290