cover image Final Arguments: Greed, Politics, and the Collapse of Finley Kumble, America's Second-Largest Law Firm

Final Arguments: Greed, Politics, and the Collapse of Finley Kumble, America's Second-Largest Law Firm

Kim Isaac Eisler. St. Martin's Press, $18.95 (0pp) ISBN 978-0-312-03830-4

The author, an editor of Legal Times, here expands an expose written by his boss, owner Steven Brill, in the magazine. Eisler's account, using recreated dialogue, shows the behind-the-scenes influence on national politics and business of Finley Kumble, an aggressive law firm with offices in some 25 cities. The names of prominent attorneys on the firm's letterhead attracted celebrity clients such as Donald Trump, until debt, interoffice feuds and, charges Eisler, a disregard for ethics led to press exposure of internal corruption and questionable legal practices. Finley Kumble declared bankruptcy in 1988. A bewildering, large cast of characters and haphazard organization of material make the narrative hard to follow. (Mar.)