The Fall of the House of Zeus, Curtis Wilkie
The Fall of the House of Zeus, Curtis Wilkie
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The Fall of the House of Zeus
The Rise and Ruin of America's Most Powerful Trial Lawyer

Author: Curtis Wilkie

Narrator: Sean Runnette

Unabridged: 13 hr 42 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 11/17/2010


Synopsis

The Fall of the House of Zeus tells the story of Dickie Scruggs, arguably the most successful plaintiff's lawyer in America. A brother-in-law of Trent Lott, the former U.S. Senate majority leader, Scruggs made a fortune taking on mass tort lawsuits against "Big Tobacco" and the asbestos industries. He was hailed by Newsweek as a latter-day Robin Hood and portrayed in the movie The Insider as a dapper aviator-lawyer. Scruggs's legal triumphs rewarded him lavishly, and his success emboldened both his career maneuvering and his influence in Southern politics—but at a terrible cost, culminating in his spectacular fall, when he was convicted for conspiring to bribe a Mississippi state judge.

Here Mississippi is emblematic of the modern South, with its influx of new money and its rising professional class, including lawyers such as Scruggs, whose interests became inextricably entwined with state and national politics.

Based on extensive interviews, transcripts, and FBI recordings never made public, The Fall of the House of Zeus exposes the dark side of Southern and Washington legal games and power politics: the swirl of fixed cases, blocked investigations, judicial tampering, and a zealous prosecution that would eventually ensnare not only Scruggs but his son, Zach, in the midst of their struggle with insurance companies over Hurricane Katrina damages. In gripping detail, author Curtis Wilkie crafts an authentic legal thriller propelled by a "welter of betrayals and personal hatreds," providing large supporting parts for Trent Lott and Jim Biden, brother of then-senator Joe, and cameos by John McCain, Al Gore, and other D.C. insiders and influence peddlers.

Above all, we get to see how and why the mighty fail and fall, a story as gripping and timeless as a Greek tragedy.

About Curtis Wilkie

Curtis Wilkie was a national and foreign correspondent for the Boston Globe for twenty-six years. He is the author of Dixie and coauthor, with Jim McDougal, of Arkansas Mischief. Curtis graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he currently teaches journalism and is a fellow of the Overby Center for Southern Journalism and Politics. He and his wife, Nancy, live in Oxford.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Judith on June 18, 2022

4.5 stars After reading this account, I have to suspect that Mississippi is not the only State in the Union to have a deeply entrenched and tightly knit “good ol boy, I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine” mentality. “The convergence of politics and law” in this account will make your head spin.......more

Goodreads review by Leslie on January 03, 2011

I loved this book. I read it in two days, because I simply could not put this book down. I love Mississippi for many reasons, but one thing that I do not love about Mississippi is how the men who run that state pride themselves only on serving themselves and not the people that need it the most ther......more

Goodreads review by Sharman on September 21, 2011

The first 100 pages were very tough reading for me. So many characters, such a complicated story. The author would suddenly throw in a character that hadn't appeared in 50 pages with no hint as to who this person is except for the name & context (and often not even the full name!). I kept having to......more

Goodreads review by Syd on February 04, 2023

This book was a little difficult for me. It got into the nitty gritty of this case, which took a lot for me to be engaged. So I would recommend, but it’s not like a relaxing read. Like it’s educational and takes brainpower?? If that makes sense??......more

Goodreads review by Skipr on November 01, 2018

Incredible inside look at the wheeling and dealing by high stakes trial lawyers and politicians. Their pursuit of the almighty dollar and their arrogance that the end justifies the means --ethics be damned-- make Scruggs and his associates easy to despise. That was why I was surprised that by the en......more