When you hear the word “Cravath,” what comes to mind? If you are a lawyer who is not actually employed at Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, you may think about the Cravath salary scale, which recently upended attorney compensation at large law firms. But before Cravath (the firm) was the cause of attorneys seeing dollar signs, Cravath (the person) was a newly minted lawyer just trying to make it in the world. It is this latter version of Cravath that is the protagonist of Graham Moore’s excellent new novel The Last Days of Night, which depicts how Cravath becomes embroiled in the dispute between inventor Thomas Edison and industrialist George Westinghouse.
The Last Days of Night is set in the 1880s, and Paul Cravath is an attorney in his mid-20s who has just graduated from Columbia Law School. But when the firm that Paul joins quickly disintegrates, Paul joins with the senior partner at his old firm and that partner’s son-in-law, future Chief Justice of the United States Charles Evans Hughes, to form a new firm that is hungry for business. Through a tenuous family connection, Paul, despite his lack of experience, is hired to defend famed entrepreneur Westinghouse in the patent lawsuit filed by Edison. After claiming to invent the lightbulb, Edison obtained a patent so broad that it threatens to put any other putative lightbulb manufacturer, including Westinghouse, out of business. However, the feud between Edison and Westinghouse has more to do than just lightbulbs; Westinghouse – aided by quirky scientist Nikola Tesla – wants to use his nascent alternating current technology to power the United States, while Edison believes that his preferred direct current is superior. As Cravath embarks on his long-shot representation of Westinghouse, he begins to rub noses with the elite of New York society, including Edison’s investor J.P. Morgan and popular singer Agnes Huntington.
Moore is best known for writing the film The Imitation Game, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. I am admittedly not a fan of that film (and even once wrote about it in a column about Suits; I have no idea if Moore was responsible for The Imitation Game’s clumsy framing device). But thankfully, The Last Days of Night has a more straightforward narrative. Indeed, despite fundamentally centering around a nineteenth-century patent dispute, the novel moves at a brisk pace and is extremely entertaining. The book is very easy to read and Moore avoids the temptation to include too much technical or legal jargon (though he does include a clunky scene in which Westinghouse provides a very long explanation of the difference between direct current and alternating current). The underlying feud between Westinghouse and Edison is extremely compelling, particularly because its consequences are still felt today. Moreover, it is fascinating to read about how 1880s technology like the lightbulb was considered to be so magical and awe-inspiring.
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My one qualm with the historical aspects of the novel is that occasionally Moore gets too cute. For example, after Tesla suggests the possibility of a wireless phone, Paul asks himself who would ever use such a device. These winks at the 2016 audience detract from the narrative.
Paul Cravath
As a lawyer, it is odd to think about the eponym for one of the world’s most prestigious firms as a neophyte attorney with barely a clue. But I related to Paul Cravath; I definitely know the feeling of attempting to undertake a legal task while feeling completely over my head. Moore succeeds in describing that feeling on the scale of a history-altering lawsuit. Indeed, the perpetually nervous lawyer in me cringed when Paul makes a mistake in a contract negotiation that leads to an undeserved massive royalty from Westinghouse.
Of the secondary characters, Agnes is the most rounded. Moore depicts her as witty, smarter than Paul in certain respects, and not the society girl that Paul initially believes her to be. Edison is clearly the villain of the novel; he will do anything, and even resort to underhanded tactics, in order to beat Westinghouse. And Westinghouse (for the most part) is portrayed as saner than Edison, on the right side of history.
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The Last Days of Night is thus a very good novel and I would wholeheartedly recommend it to lawyers, law students, and non-lawyers who have interest in the history of industry in the U.S. As reported in Above the Law earlier this week, a film adaptation is already in the works, with The Imitation Game director Morten Tyldum set to direct and Eddie Redmayne signed on to star. I would have gone with Domhnall Gleeson as Paul, and while I am giving free casting advice, I would hire Mr. Robot’s Portia Doubleday as Agnes, Stranger Things’s David Harbour as Westinghouse (unfortunately Gaten Matarazzo is too young), and veteran actor Jason Clarke as Edison. You can thank me when the film with that cast inevitably becomes a hit.
(Disclosure: I received a review copy of this book.)
The Last Days of Night [Amazon (affiliate link)]
Earlier: Eddie Redmayne To Play Paul Cravath — Yup, *That* Cravath
Harry Graff is a litigation associate at a firm, but he spends days wishing that he was writing about film, television, literature, and pop culture instead of writing briefs. If there is a law-related movie, television show, book, or any other form of media that you would like Harry Graff to discuss, he can be reached at [email protected]. Be sure to follow Harry Graff on Twitter at @harrygraff19.