The Exchange: After The Firm

Author’s Note

The law firm of Scully & Pershing was founded in 2009 when I needed it to add flavor and authenticity to The Associate, that year’s legal thriller. Big law firms are big targets for writers of fiction, and I’ve had my share of fun at their expense. Five years later, I retained Scully again in Gray Mountain.

It was the perfect place to put Mitch fifteen years after The Firm imploded in Memphis. Now, he’s leaving again and I’m not sure where he’ll turn up next.

I was once a lawyer in a small town, far removed from the world of Big Law. And since I’ve always tried to avoid big firms, I have no idea how they function. Typically, I did what I usually do when trying to avoid research. I called a friend.

John Levy is one of the senior partners of Sidley & Austin, a mammoth Chicago firm with offices around the world. He invited me to stop by for lunch and toss questions at him and some of his colleagues. I had a delightful time talking books and law with Chris Abbinante, Robert Lewis, Pran Jha, Dave Gordon, Paul Choi, Teresa Wilton Harmon, and, of course, Mr. Levy himself. John is one of the finest lawyers I’ve had the pleasure of knowing.

If asked to, I would swear on a Bible that Scully is not based on Sidley.

Thanks also to other friends: Glad Jones, Gene McDade, and Suzanne Herz.

A special thanks to the readers who have enjoyed The Firm over the years and been kind enough to write and ask: Will we ever see Mitch and Abby again?