All of Scott Turow's novels take what initially might be seen as black-white differences to show shades of gray. Though the law must come to clear-cut decisions, when examined closely the human issues involved are revealed to be far more complex and problematic than formal legal judgments allow. Turow's characters, in particular, are shown to be multi-dimensional mixes of good and evil, rendering final evaluation difficult but often persuasively like the decisions made in real life.

1. Lawyers often have a negative reputation in the United States; even Robbie Feaver tells lawyer jokes on himself.

Did the novel change your perspective about the difficulties lawyers face in their daily work? Especially personal injury attorneys? Did the novel create sympathy for practitioners of this kind of work?

2. The title of the novel clearly plays on the personal-injury specialty to suggest that the story is about emotional and other...