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42 of 46 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A layering of two stories that hooks you from the start, May 10, 2010
This review is from: Unbillable Hours: A True Story (Hardcover)
Ian Graham's "Unbillable Hours" weaves the true narrative of a young lawyer stumbling into counsel for the murder conviction appeal of Mario Rocha. Mario -- a young man who by all accounts appeared innocent -- was the on the wrong end of systemic oversight and miscarried justice that led to nearly a decade of imprisonment (see the documentary of his case, Mario's Story). Graham, whose privileged upbringing couldn't be any farther apart from Mario's, is drawn through a series of biographical twists and turns after moving to California to join an esteemed firm. Graham's navigation of the big law firm is the classic storyline of an overworked but well-paid greenhorn slowly getting trapped in a legal job by status and compensation. His life at the firm caves in from the booze-driven recruiting process that has him hopping LA hotspots to the realistic and joyless grind of combing legal minutiae. Once the gloss wears off, fate sets Graham on a crash course with Rocha's case through a chance assignment from a senior partner and a relentless nun whose faith in her instincts about Mario is unshakeable. Of course, the case is a Hail Mary, and the events that take place only stack up the odds even further, leaving life and death matters in the hands of a kid under 30 who isn't even sure he should be a lawyer. This thing reads like a novel.
At first the writing seemed quite ordinary, but the superb structure draws you into the web of legal hurdles and personal frustrations. The first chapter has a hook to it that pulled me into reading the book in one sitting. Graham eventually tightens up his prose into an extended, detailed Vanity Fair-type exposition of the case and how dedication to Mario's cause kept him going. One important thing to me as the reader was that the author never tried to redeem his own frailties through Mario or make any demonstration of guilt for the opportunistic upbringing he had. When visiting Mario in prison or finding himself arm-in-arm in an impromptu prayer circle in a barrio home, Graham simply went with the situation, leaving behind the typical upper class tendency to revel in a sort of authentic ghetto adventure that they can later tell their gringo friends about over cocktails.
For the prospective law student, this is the perfect complement to Scott Turow's seminal law school experience " One L: The Turbulent True Story of a First Year at Harvard Law School." Careful, though, it strips the polish from big firm life and might result in some self-examination. Or worse, it might not. While Graham doesn't have Turow's mastery of detail, his breezy style is still vivid and probably more accessible to the contemporary reader. This is a four-star plus book, but I'm going to give it five as it is a hell of a first book effort.
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17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Talented Author + Amazing Story = Couldn't Put It Down, May 12, 2010
This review is from: Unbillable Hours: A True Story (Hardcover)
In his first published work, Ian Graham manages to weave together two equally eye-opening storylines that had me turning the pages as fast as possible. Exposing the stark differences between the "legal" world faced by most top law school graduates with the devastating personal fight waged by Mario Rocha and those that loved him brilliantly engages the reader from page 1. I knew little about Mario's story coming into the book, but was left with a portrait of a man with some genuine heroic attributes in the face of towering injustice.
As a practicing attorney, many books in this genre either try and make the author out to be the hero of the story, pin the blame on a person, or part of the legal system in general or employ other elements to quickly turn a complex story into a black and white us vs. them mentality. To me, that's the easy way out. In Unbillable Hours, Graham goes out of his way to paint everyone involved with both his law firm and with Mario's case as human, albeit with genuine human flaws as well as strengths. In addition, at no point in the story does the reader get the impression that this story is about him (even though obviously it IS his story) but rather he's the common denominator between two riveting viewpoints into the legal world that few non-attorneys ever get to see.
What I was really impressed with was how accurate Graham's description of law school, the law school recruiting process and what big-firm life is actually like was. As someone was has gone through all of this myself, his account is dead on and he manages to show the negatives of each without omitting the humor and general silliness that comes along with each step. As amazing as his involvement in Mario's case was, all of the law firm intrigue captivated me equally - just a great job.
Overall, I finished the book in two nights - mainly because once I started I couldn't put it down. It's a perfect summer read too - not too long and trust me when I say that at no time does the story lag. Highly, highly recommended!!
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11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Couldn't put it down, April 29, 2010
This review is from: Unbillable Hours: A True Story (Hardcover)
This is an amazing book; it is an incredible story! I really loved this book because it weaves a few stories together and is a super easy read (I read it in 2 sittings on vacation on the beach.) I also passed it along to my 2 friends on vacation who both read it an loved it too. It combines the stories of 2 peoples lives who are very different but connect as a lawyer and client. It is also really interesting for me as a non-lawyer because I never understood the process that law students go through to get jobs at big law firms. This book is fabulous - it is a great gift for a law student or really anyone at all. It's a very inspirational story! I only wish it was longer!
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