The structures of the legal ambition have provided the ideal setting for a British lawyer who has tried to paint 'naked personal ambition' in his first novel. Nottingham-based Michael Smith has written 'The Deed Room' as a portrait of evil and good characters both within and outside the profession. Featuring murder, mystery, fraud and romance, one of the leading lawyer characters is Toby Malkin, described in the Nottingham Post as 'a nasty piece of work. Young, ambitious and a ruthless crook'. But Mr Smith, a commercial lawyer at Experian, has put this character in contrast with others who show another side.
Generally trusted
He said: 'I would say that Malkin is balanced against other lawyers in the story – Hugo Sanderson is, and is stated to be, a ‘decent man’; Alec Shaker is clearly a man of integrity; Tom is honest and diligent; and Ruth Braebrook, whilst easily distracted, is not crooked in any way. Also, there are other dishonest characters who are not lawyers so I wouldn’t say that lawyers get a wholly bad press in the book. Whatever people think about lawyers, they are generally trusted, and a lawyer who deliberately sets out to exploit that for his own advantage has fallen a long way.' Source: Nottingham Post
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