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Jack Stanton is a Washington, D. C. trial attorney whose career follows a traditional
path. As a public defender in the metro criminal court system, he develops the reputation
as a lawyer who has the skills of a true advocate. After several years in the courtroom
crucible, Jack moves into private practice, where the skills he acquired in government
service now pay off with financial reward. He is truly a rising star of the legal
profession. His success, however, comes with substantial cost.
When the reader first encounters Jack Stanton in Tim Junkin's GOOD COUNSEL, that promising
legal career is shattered and Jack is facing criminal indictment. He is about to become a
man with whom he is painfully familiar: a criminal defendant with the full weight of the
government poised to destroy everything he has accomplished. Stanton is aware that he will
soon face criminal charges and he chooses to flee rather than face his accusers.
As Stanton hides out in a rural Chesapeake Bay fishing community, we begin to learn about
his days as a young Washington, D. C. public defender. In that capacity, Jack Stanton
represented the poor and downtrodden of the criminal justice system --- and he learned
that theory and actual practice are two very divergent worlds. In the real world of trial
advocacy, the Code of Professional Responsibility must often take a back seat to the
responsibility owed a client. Jack Stanton learned these lessons case by case and
defendant by defendant in courtroom battles that often found him pitted against Morgan
Langrell, a career federal prosecutor, and their career rivalry plays a critical role in
GOOD COUNSEL. As Stanton secrets himself from law enforcement officials, he recalls many
of these cases and ponders their impact on his current predicament.
Sadly for Stanton, he is far less competent as a criminal on the lam than as a trial
attorney. His ability to remain hidden from law enforcement is quickly compromised when
the suspicious owner of a general store notifies the police that Jack has been fishing
without a license. As the police close in, he desperately attempts suicide by swimming far
out into Chesapeake Bay. Before he can drown, he is saved by Susannah "Muddy"
Blair, a young woman who, for reasons of her own, is willing to hide Jack from law
enforcement. The two slowly share with each other the story of the deceptions in their
lives that have led them both to distrust the legal system. Both Stanton and Blair are
characters with moral flaws, facing dilemmas of conscience that they cannot resolve.
Susannah is unwilling to compromise in what she believes. Jack, on the other hand,
established his success on the ability to compromise his standards at any opportunity. It
is the contrast between the two main characters that leads GOOD COUNSEL in many
interesting directions.
In GOOD COUNSEL, Tim Junkin has written a nontraditional courtroom novel. While there are
numerous courtroom scenes, they are almost all in retrospect. Instead of following Jack
Stanton's legal career from the outside, we view it from his eyes, as he acknowledges that
attorneys often cut corners and care less for truth than they do for justice. The unique
structure of this novel does not make it any less readable. It is a great summer vacation
novel to read on the beach, on an airplane, or simply in an easy chair. GOOD COUNSEL is a
page turner that ranks as a work of courtroom fiction. Tim Junkin may not yet be John
Grisham, William Bernhardt, or Scott Turow, but he is a fine writer worthy of your
consideration.
--- Reviewed by Stuart Shiffman
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