The Appeal

Call ( Original Title: The Appeal ) is a novel by American author John Grisham in 2008, the legal thriller relates the case of a woman who has lost a chemical company her husband and son and is now trying to erstreiten damages..

Content

Jeannette Baker lives in the small village of Bowmore in the U.S. state of Mississippi. Here the chemical company cranes Chemicals had a factory in which it simply buried highly toxic waste in the ground. Thus, the drinking water was poisoned and many residents affected by cancer.

Jeannette Baker also lost her husband and her son, and therefore draws against the company in court. Your two lawyers, the couple Wes and Mary Grace Payton, put everything on the profit of the process. They even sell their house in order - in the hope of large profits - to finance the process. When the court Jeannete Baker then awards 41 million U.S. dollars, the sensation is perfect.

But the company is appealing to the Supreme Court of the State of Mississippi, the half consists of "liberal" and "conservative" judges. One of the most liberal judges, Ms Sheila McCarthy, is re- elected this year, which makes to use Carl Trudeau, multi-billionaire and major shareholder of cranes Chemicals, and turns to a dubious company that it promises McCarthy exchanged for a suitable, conservative judges. A rival candidate is found quickly: Ron Fisk, a young inexperienced provincial lawyer who seems precisely to fit in Trudeau's idea, because it is easy to " buy " and also media- effectively enough to beat McCarthy. Using Trudeau money and a merciless campaign against liberal judges succeed it easy to deceive the electorate in the ultra-conservative Mississippi and Ron Fisk wins by a landslide.

Ron Fisk true now generally against claims for damages. When his son is badly injured by a baseball that was hit with a banned bat, he begins to doubt. Ultimately, however, he agrees but for cranes Chemicals and against the victims of the company.

Background

John Grisham exerts strong critique of the American legal system.

As in the novels The Judge, The guilt and defense is a theme of the book the mischief of escalating damages claims in the United States and the often unscrupulous lawyers who beat out of them capital.

In this book, however, he criticized to put in a dish especially judges elections and the resulting opportunities for interest groups or firms " preferred candidate ". The case that a company has can choose an appropriate judge has actually occurred in the U.S. quite a few times. So Grisham called a case from West Virginia, in which a coal mine owners had made to take advantage of this opportunity and was able to end a decades- long process quickly. To this end, he said in a TV show:

"It's already happened: It happened a few years ago in West Virginia. A guy who owned a coal company got tired of getting sued. He Elected his guy to the Supreme Court ... So it happens. "

"It's so happened few years ago in West Virginia. An owner of a coal mine had no desire to be sued. He left his brother in the Supreme Court choose. So ... it happened. "

In the epilogue of his book he writes about this problem. The influence of judges elections, but at the federal level ( the Supreme Court of the United States ) was already subject of his book The Act.