Low Life Lawyer

It is said that inside every lawyer is a frustrated writer and that lying beneath a stack of files and briefs is a half-completed manuscript just waiting to be remembered.

Many have taken the leap from legal practitioner to weaver of dreams, such as former Carter-Ruck solicitor Alex Wade, barrister Penelope Evans, Paul Weiss attorney Helen Wan, and Cravath lawyer Alan Hruska. And then of course there is the doyen of the legal thriller himself, John Grisham.

However, there is a new author in town. Step forward retired Howard Kennedy partner Michael Simmons, whose new novel, Low Life Lawyer, 'lifts the lid' on the gritty side of the legal profession by detailing the fictitious rise and fall of a rogue lawyer and jazz musician. The novel's 'very unorthodox' solicitor protagonist, Richard Gregory, is reduced to trading legal favours for drinks. Well, who hasn't?

The novel has already received rave reviews from solicitor judge Mr Justice Barrington Black, who called it enjoyable for 'lawyers and their prey alike', while Ronnie Fox, principal of Fox Lawyers, said, 'Everyone interested in law, sex, and jazz will love this book.'

Giving his take on the thriller, Howard Kennedy's Mark Stephens CBE said: 'The English legal profession has long deserved a story teller such as John Grisham. In Michael Simmons, perhaps he has now appeared.' The firm's partner adds that Low Life Lawyer is 'more sophisticated' than Grisham's latest piece and 'with overtones of Kingsley Amis, Simmons takes the lid off the legal scene in the City in the 1950s and 60s'¦ A page turner to recommend to all.'

Will Simmons' literary delight inspire others to dust off those half-finished stories? Only time will tell.