The Firm by John Grisham book summary

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter NINETEEN
83	219	Why does Avery tell Mitch that he was lucky to have been accepted at the firm, rather than taking a job on Wall Street?	Avery tells Mitch that on Wall street, the big companies hire large numbers of lawyers who they ‘run into the ground’. Over work and under pay until half of them leave. Unlike Mitch, junior lawyers at these firms never get to see the company limo or Lear Jet.
84	221	When Avery reaches the Cayman islands he has twenty five boxes unloaded from the pane. What do these boxes contain?	Cash. Six and a half million dollars.
85		During the conference registration, Mitch is approached by Grant Harbison. Who is Harbison and what does he give Mitch?	Grant Harbison is an FBI agent and gives mitch his card and an envelope containing a note from F. Denton Voyles, the Director of the FBI, asking to see Mitch for a few moments during lunch.
86	225-226	Who was Rusty McDeere and how did he die.	Rusty McDeere was Mitch’s brother. He died in Vietnam after stepping on a landmine.
87	228	When Mitch finally meets Director Voyles, he is given some shocking news which connects all five of the firm’s lawyers to have died in mysterious circumstances. What is this?	He is told that no lawyer has ever left the company. Five have tried, and they each were killed.
88	228	Mitch is told that the company is not really owned by the partners. Who does really own the firm?	The Morolto family. A mafia family based in Chicago.
89	229	Director Voyles tells Mitch that the FBI never had any contact with the first three lawyers who worked for the firm and died mysteriously. Why was this?	The FBI only became aware of the firm’s activities seven years ago. Since then they have had the company under heavy surveillance.
90	230	When an associate is going to be given a partnership, he is told the truth about the company. Voyles says that the company gives the candidate ‘a choice he can’t refuse’. What is this choice and do you think it means?	He is given the choice between becoming a multi-millionaire and having his picture hung in the library. Each of the five lawyers who tried to leave had their portraits hung in the library. They are thus given the choice between being murdered or becoming a partner and making obscene amounts of money.
91	233	Director Voyles tells Mitch all about Locke’s history. Outline how he ended up in Memphis.	Locke grew up as a poor kid in Chicago and started running errands for Morolto from the age of ten. After he managed to ‘scratch through law school’ he was sent to work at the Firm as he was always a favourite of Morolto.
92	235	Mitch tells Director Voyles that ‘the mob never forgets’. What do you think he means by this.	Voyles has offered to protect and relocate Mitch if he cooperates. Mitch is concerned that the Mob will never stop looking for him and so even if he is safe for ten years or more, eventually the mob will find him and exact their revenge.
93	236	Why was Mitch selected by the FBI for this task?	The FBI decided that he was perfect as he had no family except his wife. He had been hurt by everyone he had ever met, except Abby. He raised himself and in so doping became self-reliant. All of this means that he doesn’t need the firm. He is strong enough and independent enough to walk away and bring the firm down in the process.