Servants of the Damned: giant law firms and the corruption of justice

A long-overdue exposé of the astonishing yet shadowy power wielded by the world’s largest law firms. Though not a household name, Jones Day is well known in the halls of power, and serves as a powerful encapsulation of the changes that have swept the legal profession in recent decades. Founded in the US in 1893, it has become one of the world’s largest law firms, a global juggernaut with deep ties to corporate interests and conservative politics. A key player in the legal battles surrounding the Trump administration, Jones Day has also for decades represented Big Tobacco, defended opioid manufacturers, and worked tirelessly to minimise the sexual-abuse scandals of the Catholic Church. Like many of its peers, it has fought time and again for those who want nothing more than to act without constraint or scrutiny — including the Russian oligarchs as they have sought to expand internationally. In this gripping and revealing new work of narrative nonfiction, New York Times Business Investigations Editor and bestselling author David Enrich at last tells the story of ‘Big Law’ and the nearly unchecked influence these firms wield to shield the wealthy and powerful — and bury their secrets.

About the Author :
David Enrich is the Business Investigations Editor at The New York Times and the #1 bestselling author of Dark Towers. He previously was an editor and reporter at The Wall Street Journal. He has won numerous journalism awards, including the 2016 Gerald Loeb Award for feature writing. His first book, The Spider Network: how a math genius and gang of scheming bankers pulled off one of the greatest scams in history, was shortlisted for the Financial Times Business Book of the Year award. Enrich grew up in Lexington, Massachusetts, and graduated from Claremont McKenna College in California. He currently lives in New York with his wife and two sons.

Review :
‘Enrich tells an important story of the gradual corruption of the rule of law, and of the broader corruption of our society.’ ‘Servants of the Damned is a feat of thoughtful, detailed research, rendering with clarity and even compassion the moral drift of ‘big law.’ As an attorney, I found it illuminating — but this is important reading for anyone concerned about law and policy.’ ‘Astonishing … A powerful and important picture of how mega law firms distort justice.’ ‘A withering study of how big law got into bed with the 45th president … Informative and disturbing … as much a rebuke of one large firm as it is an indictment of Trump’s Republican party.’ ‘A blistering study.’ ‘This fascinating book is somehow both devastating and rollicking all at the same time. Enrich brings us into the room to watch how a modest law firm built on honourable service gradually becomes an uber-shield for the worst of American greed and abuse — all in the quest for enormous billable profits and outsized power. From handling a fatal gas explosion to terrorising a tobacco whistleblower to aiding Donald Trump, it's all in here.’ ‘A fast-moving, damning book … Essential reading for students of the Trump corruption machine.’ ‘The legal industry has sold its soul to deep-pocketed corporations and polarising politicians, according to this impassioned indictment of international law firm Jones Day and its peers … Enrich’s history of Jones Day probes the corrosion of ethics after the advent of law firm ads in the 1970s touched off a spiral of money-grubbing, and sketches engrossing vignettes of the predatory culture that resulted … a vivid, crackling account of the law at its most bullying. Readers will be outraged.’ Praise for Dark Towers: ‘A revelatory book about the rise and fall of the world’s biggest bank … Has all the elements of a page-turning mystery novel.’ Praise for Dark Towers: ‘Enrich compellingly shows how unchecked ambition twisted a pillar of German finance into a reckless casino where amorality and criminality thrived.’ Praise for Dark Towers: ‘In Dark Towers, David Enrich tells the story of how one of the world’s mightiest banks careened off the rails, threatening everything from our financial system to our democracy through its reckless entanglement with Donald Trump. Darkly fascinating and yet all too real, it’s a tale that will keep you up at night.’