Summary of The Exchange by John Grisham: After The Firm (The Firm Series) E-Book

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• Herausgeber: BookRix
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

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Summary of The Exchange by John Grisham: After The Firm (The Firm Series)

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John Grisham's The Exchange is a thrilling legal thriller that follows Mitch McDeere, the hero of The Firm, and his wife Abby, who fled after exposing Memphis law firm crimes. The sequel follows Mitch and Abby's life in Manhattan, where he becomes the center of a sinister plot with worldwide implications, revealing his mastery of staying ahead of his adversaries.

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Summary of The Exchange by John Grisham: After The Firm (The Firm Series)

John Grisham's The Exchange is a thrilling legal thriller, following Mitch McDeere and his wife Abby, who flee Memphis after exposing crimes.BookRix GmbH & Co. KG81371 Munich

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Summary of The Exchange

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Summary of John Grisham’s book

After The Firm

(The Firm Series Book 2)

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Summary of The Exchange by John Grisham: After The Firm (The Firm Series Book 2)

By GP SUMMARY© 2023, GP SUMMARY.

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This is an unofficial summary & analysis of John Grisham’s “The Exchange: After The Firm (The Firm Series Book 2)” designed to enrich your reading experience.

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Copyright 2023. All rights reserved.

Chapter 1

On the forty-eighth floor of a glistening tower in Manhattan, Mitch McDeere stands alone in his office, gazing out at Battery Park and the busy waters beyond. Scully & Pershing, a firm with over two thousand lawyers worldwide, vainly considered itself the premier international firm on the planet. Its New York partners, including Mitch, rewarded themselves with larger offices in the heart of the financial district. The firm was now a hundred years old and reeked of prestige, power, and money.

Mitch's life was ruled by the clock, as he was on the clock, trying to appreciate the spectacular view each day. He had many friends in the firm and only a handful of known enemies, and there was always a new wave of fresh associates and eager junior partners with faces and names he was supposed to recognize.

Mitch left the stairwell on the forty-second floor and hustled to the office of Willie Backstrom, another partner with the luxury of not billing by the hour. Willie had the enviable position of running the firm’s pro bono programs, but though he kept up with his hours, there was no one to pay them. The firm was notorious for its commitment to pro bono work, volunteered for difficult cases around the world, and every lawyer was required to donate at least 10% of their time to various causes, all approved by Willie.

Willie Backstrom kept the peace, as no lawyer would ever criticize the firm’s aggressive pro bono programs. He was currently spending four hours a week working with a homeless shelter in the Bronx and representing clients who were fighting evictions. The fact that Willie was called in was an ominous sign, as the firm was working hard to shed its fossilized image as a white-collar club filled with white men in dark suits.

Tad Kearny, a notorious criminal, has been incarcerated for ninety days due to his decision to fire his lawyers. He had a team of lawyers, but they were unable to save him due to his insanity. Mitch, a lawyer, suggests that he might be a good fit for the job. Mitch, however, is hesitant due to his past with a coal miner's family and his involvement in drugs.

Mitch suggests that Tad might be a distant cousin of Mitch, but he is not accepting visitors at the moment. To pass the time, he suggests that he could work with Amos Patrick, a well-known death row lawyer, to evaluate Tad's case. However, Mitch is hesitant to return to Memphis due to the history of his past and the fact that his clients were all gone.

Mitch asks Willie to find a foundation in need of pro bono counsel, but Willie is hesitant due to his preference for action and drama. He suggests that he could find a foundation that feeds hungry kids or delivers clean water to Haiti.

Mitch, however, is defeated and decides to visit Tad, who might be a distant cousin. He is unsure if he will be able to help Tad and his family.

Chapter 2

Mitch, a man with a humble past, takes the subway to his apartment in Memphis, where he spends his days with his twin brother Carter and his wife Abby. They have been away from their home for years, but Mitch is intrigued by the idea of returning.

Mitch arrives at his apartment on Sixty-Ninth Street at Columbus Avenue, where he meets his twin brothers Marco and Marcello, who have opened a successful trattoria near Lincoln Center. Abby, who is editing the Rosarios' first cookbook, has the clout to secure a table and encourages them to experiment with new recipes. They cook at the apartment weekly, and Mitch pretended to be chastised for not doing homework.

The name of their restaurant, Rosario's, is embroidered in bold letters across red aprons worn by the chefs. Marcello offers a plate of bruschetta to Mitch, but he declines due to his lack of cooking skills. Abby allows him to peel and chop vegetables, measure spices, set the table, and handle the garbage, all grunt work she deems acceptable for his talents.

Mitch learns that Italians, despite their prodigious production of wine, actually drink little. A carafe of their favorite local red or white would satisfy a large family over a long dinner. The story highlights the challenges faced by those who choose to leave their home and pursue a career in the world of finance.

Abby, a senior editor at Epicurean, a specialized cookbook company, and Mitch, a chef, frequented their apartment as a laboratory for young chefs. They enjoyed extraordinary meals prepared by the chefs, including cacciucco, cappelletti, risotto with saffron, and spaghetti in clam sauce. The boys were encouraged to pan any dish they didn't like, and their parents joked about raising a couple of food snobs.

Over coffee, the McDeeres and Rosarios debated which recipes should be included in the cookbook, which was months away from completion. After eight, the brothers were ready to pack up and leave, leaving the restaurant with promises to return next week.

Mitch, the owner of the restaurant, announced that he would be out of town tomorrow night. He had accepted the demands of his job and was diligent with their planning. They discussed their plans and decided to go to Memphis for a nightcap. Abby, who had been away for fifteen years, agreed to take the case, but she was worried about the memories of the place.

Mitch, who worked at the prison, suggested visiting the lawyer in Memphis to get briefed before driving to the prison. She assured her that if the client refused to see him, he would be off the hook and back home before they even missed him.

Abby, who was always gone, reminded herself that arguing with Mitch was a waste of time and promised to be careful.

Chapter 3

Mitch, a third-year Harvard Law student, was offered three job offers by mega firms in Memphis. He and his friend Abby were skeptical, but Mitch rationalized the greed and believed that a small-town kid would feel more at home in a smaller city. They lasted only seven months and were lucky to escape.

Mitch had fond memories of being heavily recruited and the unbounded certainty of a bright future. However, his doubts began to dissipate when he entered the Peabody hotel. He walked to Lansky's Deli, an old Memphis tradition, where he had been quizzed by an FBI agent about his firm. The agent was Wayne Tarrance, a name he would never forget.

After a short ride to Main Street, Mitch found the office to be chaotic and no one remembered him. He went back to the Peabody and took the elevator to the top bar on the roof, where he and Abby had been entertained by younger members of the firm and their spouses. Later, they had a quiet drink on the roof and decided to take the job.

Nostalgia failed him as the days of such promise vanished within weeks as their lives became an unbelievable nightmare. Mitch and Abby had a happy life, but their dreams of a brighter future had begun to fade.

In Memphis, Mitch visits the famous Rendezvous restaurant for dinner, where he enjoys the cold beer and ribs. The Capital Defense Initiative (CDRI) was founded by Amos Patrick in 1976 after the Supreme Court lifted the ban on capital punishment. Patrick, a legend in death penalty defense, had saved many lives and built a nonprofit to sustain itself and attract talent. His office, a bad imitation of 1930s Art Deco, was a converted bay where lawyers and paralegals practiced law.

Amos moved his growing staff into the old Pontiac place, which had been remodeled over the decades. The lawyers and paralegals adopted a defensive attitude towards their sparse and eclectic workplace, as they were not expected to visit clients on death row or other prison units. There was no reception area because there were no visiting clients.

Mitch enters an open area that was once a showroom, filled with posters advertising shiny new Pontiacs, calendars dating to the 1950s, and framed headlines of cases in which the CDI had managed to save a life. The floors were quite original, with shiny concrete with permanent stains of paint and oil.

A young lady greets Mitch and tells him he is supposed to see Amos at nine o'clock. She manages a tense smile as if she had better things to do, and says, "Okay, I'll tell him, but it might be a while. We're in the middle of a bad morning." She leaves without invitation to have a seat or offer of coffee.

In a law firm where every case deals with death, Mitch McDeere is late for an appointment due to a pro bono matter. Amos Patrick, a wild-looking character with unruly gray hair and an unkempt beard, arrives at the office and hugs Mitch. They exchange chitchat about Willie Backstrom and the weather. Amos tells Mitch that Tad Kearny was found hanging from an electrical cord in the shower, and they are called to the punch. Amos apologizes and says that they can't do anything.

Amos shares that he loved Tad Kearny and felt sympathy for him. He had lost two of his clients and had represented him for eight years. Tad's mental state deteriorated over the years, and he would write a five-page letter filled with thoughts and ramblings. He tried insanity but got nowhere. The state fought them at every turn and the courts had no sympathy. They had a fighting chance a few months ago when he decided to fire his legal team.

Amos's death is a shocking revelation, as he had been through the same struggles as Mitch and Tad. He reflects on the importance of empathy and the struggle of lawyers to navigate the legal system.

Amos, a lawyer, discusses the case of a drug runner who was killed by narcs in a sting operation. The DEA agents, who worked with informants and snitches, decided to kill smugglers to win the war on drugs. They used vigilante justice, bought by authorities and the press. The gang never was exposed, so no one knows how many traffickers they ambushed. Mitch, a lawyer, is surprised that a lawyer who had lost twenty clients to executions would be so emotional.

Amos suggests that the authorities wanted to keep him quiet until they could kill him properly in July. The investigation will be a whitewash, and there is no way to find the truth. Mitch is relieved to see Amos and his office, but he has no plans to find out. Amos offers an opening for a lawyer who quit last week, but Mitch is not interested. He has tried Memphis, where the Bendini story was a big one, but his name was hardly mentioned. Mitch is not coming back, and he is not going to return.