ATL March Madness: Let's Talk About Books
Which of these legal novels deserves a shot at being the greatest work of legal fiction of all time?
Above the Law’s annual March Madness competition is already underway, with the polls already open for the Movie Region of our quest to crown the greatest work of legal fiction — we’ve already got some potential upsets brewing. Today we turn our sights on books.
There are a few caveats here. You may notice a few books in here that were also movies. We’re judging the quality and worth of the story as a whole here, so you can absolutely allow the adaptations of these works influence your voting. We also left off David Lat’s Supreme Ambitions to avoid even the appearance of inside dealing.
You have until Monday, March 19 at 9:00 a.m. Eastern to cast your vote. Stay tuned all this week as we unveil a new region every day.
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(1) A Time To Kill vs. (16) Go Set A Watchman — A novel setting up a heroic white savior lawyer and a novel blowing up the ultimate heroic white savior lawyer.
Greater Work Of Legal Fiction
- (1) A Time To Kill (86%, 178 Votes)
- (16) Go Set A Watchman (14%, 29 Votes)
Total Voters: 207
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(2) The Paper Chase vs. 1L — Competing views of law school clash in this showdown. Professor Kingsfield’s antics seem wildly antiquated today but he’s always worth revisiting if law school’s getting you down. Plus Paper Chase has the 800-page outline guy. That guy sucked.
Greater Work Of Legal Fiction
- (2) The Paper Chase (70%, 137 Votes)
- (15) 1L (30%, 60 Votes)
Total Voters: 197
Loading ...(3) The Firm vs. (14) The Client — You always want to say the Client comes first, but we all know deep down the Firm comes first.
Greater Work Of Legal Fiction
- (3) The Firm (82%, 156 Votes)
- (14) The Client (18%, 35 Votes)
Total Voters: 191
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Loading ...(4) Native Son vs. (13) Guilt By Association — The tragedy of Bigger Thomas provides a fantastic view of DuBois’s concept of double consciousness in action. Thomas is used and abused by white allies and adversaries alike as he plods slowly toward his fate as the legal system would never let a black man who killed a white girl avoid the death penalty. On the other hand, Guilt By Association was written by Marcia Clark.
Greater Work Of Legal Fiction
- (4) Native Son (79%, 121 Votes)
- (13) Guilt By Association (21%, 32 Votes)
Total Voters: 153
Loading ...(5) Pelican Brief vs. (12) Defending Jacob — A Tulane Law student becomes the most important legal mind in the country in a stunning rebuke of the predictive power of the LSAT. David Lat wrote a glowing review of Defending Jacob when he served as a judge for the ABA’s greatest legal novel feature.
Greater Work Of Legal Fiction
- (5) Pelican Brief (79%, 131 Votes)
- (12) Defending Jacob (21%, 35 Votes)
Total Voters: 166
Loading ...(6) Anatomy of a Murder vs. (11) Crime and Punishment — Did you know that Anatomy of a Murder was written by Michigan Supreme Court Justice John D. Voelker? Well, now you do. Crime and Punishment has a pretty low seed for a literary classic, but I’m not really convinced it’s a legal novel as opposed to a crime novel with a conviction at the end.
Greater Work Of Legal Fiction
- (11) Crime & Punishment (53%, 89 Votes)
- (6) Anatomy of a Murder (47%, 78 Votes)
Total Voters: 167
Loading ...(7) Lincoln Lawyer vs. (10) The Rooster Bar — I’ve been reading Lincoln Lawyer since long before anybody paid me to write about Lincoln Lawyer. The story that basically saved a car brand and gave us fully unfiltered McConaughey clocks in as a 7 seed. The Rooster Bar is new to the scene, but any book willing to rip bad law schools deserves a spot in this competition.
Greater Work Of Legal Fiction
- (7) Lincoln Lawyer (74%, 118 Votes)
- (10) The Rooster Bar (26%, 42 Votes)
Total Voters: 160
Loading ...(8) Bartleby the Scrivener vs. (9) The Trial — Tragic first-round matchup between two explorations of the bleak pointlessness of the law. Bartleby is every f**k-up associate you encounter in Biglaw that you just know will end up making partner anyway. The Trial has an almost absurdist take on the law until you realize it’s a pretty straightforward description of prosecutorial misconduct in America today.
Greater Work Of Legal Fiction
- (9) The Trial (66%, 107 Votes)
- (8) Bartleby the Scrivener (34%, 54 Votes)
Total Voters: 161
Loading ...Earlier: ATL March Madness: The Greatest Work Of Legal Fiction Ever
