Dec 13, 2011

Hilarity Ensues Because Book Titles Cannot Be Copyrighted

Perhaps you've heard of a recent New York Times' Best Seller: The Litigators? Ask anyone who the author is, and they'll tell you John Grisham. But what some of these same people are doing unaware is going online and purchasing a different book with the same name.
You see, six years ago in 2005, Scarletta Press published its very first book, a fiction/legal thriller by lawyer/author Lindsay Arthur, and the title? You guessed it...The Litigators. Now we here at Scarletta are proud of our first book, in fact, we think it's a darn good book, but time passes and publishers are forced to focus on current and upcoming books, and less is done with backlist books. However, November hit and suddenly The Litigators saw a pretty big spike in ebook sales. We couldn't account for it, but sales kept increasing. And then the book received a new review on Amazon...it began, "I have read everything written by Mr Grisham." Wait...Mr. Grisham?

Ironically, Grisham lovers flocked to read his new work, but it seems some failed to check to see if he was listed as the author when they purchased it. Now the story could end here, but lucky for us, it doesn't. People eventually started realizing their mix-up, but instead of a public outcry to swap books, they realized what Scarletta has known all along: Lindsay Arthur's The Litigators is a great book! And thanks to John Grisham choosing a previously used title, more people are experiencing it.So if you're looking for a good fiction/legal thriller to read, we have two recommendations for you: The Litigators. They may have the same title, but each author weaves his own captivating story.
The Litigators by Lindsay Arthur:

A woman living near a toxic waste site that was treated with a new process using genetically engineered microbes develops a mysterious neurological illness. By chance, she meets a passionate young lawyer at a neighborhood church supper. He feels obligated to find justice for his new struggling client and in the process takes on the largest law firm in Minnesota. How far will Dillon Love go for his client if the end result of his lawsuit is to destroy the brilliant university professor who has dedicated his entire life to improving the environment? How far will Henry Holten go to defeat the graceful woman whose family and financial future is dependent upon the success of her court case? The Litigators is a riveting page-turner, which asks if there can be any justice for either party without infliction of a great injustice on the other. This winner-take-all legal battle brings together three tenacious lawyers and their highly worthy clients in a way that forever changes the lives of all. The Litigators by John Grisham:

The partners at Finley & Figg—all two of them—often refer to themselves as “a boutique law firm.” Boutique, as in chic, selective, and prosperous. They are, of course, none of these things. What they are is a two-bit operation always in search of their big break, ambulance chasers who’ve been in the trenches much too long making way too little. Their specialties, so to speak, are quickie divorces and DUIs, with the occasional jackpot of an actual car wreck thrown in. After twenty plus years together, Oscar Finley and Wally Figg bicker like an old married couple but somehow continue to scratch out a half-decent living from their seedy bungalow offices in southwest Chicago. And then change comes their way. More accurately, it stumbles in. David Zinc, a young but already burned-out attorney, walks away from his fast-track career at a fancy downtown firm, goes on a serious bender, and finds himself literally at the doorstep of their boutique firm. Once David sobers up and comes to grips with the fact that he’s suddenly unemployed, any job—even one with Finley & Figg—looks okay to him. With their new associate on board, F&F is ready to tackle a really big case, a case that could make the partners rich without requiring them to actually practice much law. An extremely popular drug, Krayoxx, the number one cholesterol reducer for the dangerously overweight, produced by Varrick Labs, a giant pharmaceutical company with annual sales of $25 billion, has recently come under fire after several patients taking it have suffered heart attacks. Wally smells money. A little online research confirms Wally’s suspicions—a huge plaintiffs’ firm in Florida is putting together a class action suit against Varrick. All Finley & Figg has to do is find a handful of people who have had heart attacks while taking Krayoxx, convince them to become clients, join the class action, and ride along to fame and fortune. With any luck, they won’t even have to enter a courtroom! It almost seems too good to be true. And it is.





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