Books, Litigators

Standard Of Review: Plaintiff's Attorneys Are The Heroes In 'Law And Vengeance'

Papantonio is a very experienced attorney, and the book reflects his expertise.

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Attorney, radio host, and author Mike Papantonio is anything if not consistent. Last year, I reviewed his 2016 novel Law and Disorder, which I found to be strong from a legal perspective but struggling with plotting and characterization. After reading his latest novel Law and Vengeance, I had a similar reaction.

Law and Disorder’s main character is Gina Romano, an attorney with the Bergman-Deketomis law firm, the Florida-based plaintiff’s firm from Law and Disorder. Despite a troubled past, Gina is a successful partner at the firm, and has a budding relationship with Bryan Penn, a veterinarian.

Gina is picked by fellow partner Angus Moore to be one of the lead attorneys in a whistleblower action against the Arbalest Corporation, which makes Sight-Clops, a gunsight laser technology that becomes defective in high humidity and is responsible for numerous accidental shootings. Gina is thrilled to be a part of this high-stakes litigation. But things soon take a turn for the worse when Angus is murdered and Gina is seriously injured. Gina recovers and vows to continue working on the case, despite the fact that she is in grave danger by individuals connected to Arbalest, including Tom Lutz, a powerful former deputy chief in the Chicago Police Department; Kendrick Strahan, a gun lobbyist; and Ivan Verloc, a young hacker/assassin hired by Strahan.

Papantonio is a very experienced attorney, and that shows as he explains the intricacies of filing a whistleblower lawsuit under the False Claims Act. Under the statute, the lawsuit against Arbalest is filed under seal in a district court, and the defendant is not even aware that it has been filed (though because they are all-knowing villains, Strahan and Lutz find out about the suit). Angus and later Gina work with the U.S. government as it decides whether or not to intervene in the action. As a civil litigator, I appreciated that Papantonio includes these nuances in the novel.

Mike Papantonio (by YouTube via Wikimedia)

On the other hand, despite the fact that Papantonio obviously has much more legal experience than me, there are other scenes that left me scratching my head. For example, in one scene, Arbalest’s attorneys file a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, and the Bergman-Deketomis attorneys mock the motion for arguing that even if the allegations in the complaint are true, the complaint should be dismissed on statute of limitations or in pari delicto grounds. There is not enough information in the novel to evaluate the merits of these arguments by the defendant, but they are certainly proper and extremely common bases for a motion to dismiss. Numerous complaints have been dismissed on such grounds. I do not understand why the accomplished attorneys at Bergman-Deketomis scoff at the notion of these arguments in principle.

Also, this may be a pet peeve as an associate, but after the motion to dismiss is filed, Gina decrees to her fellow attorneys that they must file the opposition in two days. I have been forced to file briefs in short time frames in the past, and to research and write such a lengthy opposition on so many legal issues in only two days is a recipe for disaster. Plus, in such a complicated case, my guess is that there is a scheduling order setting forth the reply due date anyway; Gina is just giving her opposition extra time to write the reply brief.

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Unsurprisingly – given that Papantonio is a plaintiff’s attorney himself – the lawyers at Bergman-Deketomis are definitely the “good guys” and opposing counsel are the “bad guys.” Gina’s colleagues often seem too virtuous to be true. And while Gina herself has a troubled background, the novel never really digs deep into her past. By contrast, without elaboration, Papantonio suggests that Arbalest and its attorneys shred relevant documents. Moreover, the attorneys for Madsen-Zimmer, the law firm representing Arbalest, are “all about the Benjamins and the lifestyle that came with them.” These attorneys “bought into a lifestyle of hobnobbing with the rich and powerful” and are “morally bankrupt.”

This seems like an oversimplification of the dichotomy between attorneys who represent plaintiffs and attorneys who represent defendants. While there are undoubtedly many “morally bankrupt” attorneys who defend corporations, there are others who mainly litigate suits between sophisticated parties and are trying to make a good living. Other attorneys take lucrative jobs at law firms because the cost of law school is out of control and firms provide the only lifeline to pay back school loans. And maybe Bergman-Deketomis is a virtuous law firm, but I think even Papantonio would agree that there are plenty of plaintiff’s attorneys who are unscrupulous and whose goal is to become rich (and many do become extremely wealthy themselves).

Law and Vengeance [Amazon (affiliate link)]

Earlier: Standard Of Review: ‘Law And Disorder’ Is Strong On Legal Process, But Struggles With Story And Characters

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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 harrygraff19@gmail.com. Be sure to follow Harry Graff on Twitter at @harrygraff19.

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