Character Analysis
(Avoiding Spoilers)
Overview… a paralegal who has failed the bar exam six times. Still, Deck Shifflet has his talents. He is an expert on insurance law, thanks to his previous career as an insurance assessor, and he has a knack for acquiring hard-to-get information. When he meets Rudy Baylor, a talented but directionless young lawyer, Deck quickly partners up with him. Together, the odd duo might just have a chance of making it in the competitive industry.
Personality… highly resourceful but slightly unethical. He spends most of his free time trying to convince various members of the public to sue others who have caused them injury. When he’s not ambulance-chasing, Deck can be found snooping around and hunting for information. He may be a bit of a shifty character, but he’s one you want on your side.
Get to Know him in...
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When Rudy Baylor (Matt Damon), a young attorney with no clients, goes to work for a seedy ambulance chaser, he wants to help the parents of a terminally ill boy in their suit against an insurance company (represented by a ruthless Jon Voight). But to take on corporate America, Rudy and a scrappy paralegal (Danny DeVito) must open their own law firm.
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It's summer in Memphis. The sweat is sticking to Rudy Baylor's shirt and creditors are nipping at his heels. Once he had aspirations of breezing through law school and punching his ticket to the good life. Now he doesn't have a job or a prayer...except for one: an insurance dispute that leaves a family devastated and opens the door for a lawsuit, if Rudy can find a way to file it. By the time Rudy gets to court, a heavyweight corporate defense team is there to meet him. And suddenly he's in over his head, plunged into a nightmare of lies and legal maneuverings. A case that started small is exploding into a thunderous million-dollar war of nerves, skill and outright violence--a fight that could cost one young lawyer his life, or turn him into the biggest rainmaker in the land.... BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from John Grisham's The Litigators.
