Food for Thought

      I know it seems strange that when an attorney goes on vacation, she reads legal fiction for fun, but at the end of the day, wouldn't you want a lawyer who likes the law that much?  This vacation, I read John Grisham's The Confession.  If you haven't read it, I commend it to you.  This book, which revolves around the death penalty in Texas, is disturbing.  I love Grisham, yet there were more than a few times I contemplated putting the book down for good.  At the end of it, however, I'm glad I didn't (even though my father ruined exciting parts for me by telling me what was going to happen).  Whether you're for or against the death penalty, this book gives a lot of food for thought.
     Speaking of food for thought, Hot Coffee, the HBO documentary about tort reform, featuring the infamous McDonald's hot coffee case, is amazing.  I had known the true facts about the case from my father, also an attorney.  The back story about tort reform, about the case, and about the portrayal of personal injury cases in the United States, is riveting, and more than a little disturbing.  I'm sure if you're reading this blog that you are of above average intelligence (:)), but the way even well-informed individuals have been manipulated by the insurance industry and by big business is deeply troubling.  You will never trust news stories and "public interest" commercials again.