'The Appeal' by Grisham Trivia Quiz

Answer: A chemical company

'The Appeal' starts with a court trial featuring a chemical company named Krane Chemical. The company is accused of dumping chemical waste which contained carcinogenic elements. This had spread to all the water sources causing many a death due to cancer. Jeanette Baker, the plaintiff in the case, had lost her husband and son due to cancer and was suing the company.

Answer: Forty one million dollars

The jury announces their verdict holding Krane guilty and awards $500,000 as damages for the death of Jeanette's son, $2.5 million as damages for death of her husband and punitive damages of $38 million - a total of $41 million.

Answer: Fix the Supreme Court by getting his man in

On hearing the jury verdict, Carl Trudeau, the owner of Krane, declares that he will not part with a single penny. After a recommendation from a US Senator, he approaches a spin doctor Barry Rinehart. Barry offers to fix the election of a justice of the Supreme Court, so that Trudeau can get his man elected to the court.

The total cost charged by Rinehart for fixing the election of a Supreme Court justice is $8 million.

Answer: False

Wes Payton and Mary Grace are a lawyer couple who fight and win the case against Krane. But Krane tries to harass them by buying up the bank who had given them a loan and the bank sends them a notice to repay their loan. Krane's lawyers call Wes and Mary for a settlement and when everything seems rosy, they call off the negotiation leaving the Paytons in the soup.

Answer: Ron Fisk

Rinehart and his assistant Tony Zachary decided to fix the US Supreme Court Justice's elections and plan to get Sheila McCarthy defeated. They zero in on Ron Fisk - a young, white, 32-year-old, married male lawyer as their candidate. They convince him of victory and pit him against McCarthy.

Answer: True

The Mississippi Trial Advocates board of directors decides to back Sheila McCarthy for the elections. The association realizes that if Ron Fisk is elected, then all their cases against big corporations would be affected. So, they decide to back Sheila and fund her campaign.

Answer: Fisk is elected

The election campaign is viciously fought with mud-slinging by both parties. When Fisk comes to know about Tony Zachary's negative tactics, he threatens to quit, but finally falls in line. The slick and high cost campaign of Fisk succeeds and the final result is Fisk wins with 53 percent of the vote.

Answer: To make a killing by buying them back later

Once the jury verdict is decided, the shares of Krane Chemicals start to fall. Trudeau encourages this trend by deliberately slowing down company growth. As the shares start falling, he buys them back and finally by the time the shares start rising, he owned 80 percent of Krane. He had also made a cool profit of $800 million.

Answer: The verdict is reversed and rendered

After Ron Fisk's entry into the Supreme Court, all cases involving damages against corporations are judged in favour of the corporations. The Krane case is deadlocked at 4-4 and the deciding vote belongs to Fisk. Just before the Krane case verdict, Ron Fisk's son is hurt in a baseball accident and because of a wrong CT scan result, his treatment is delayed and he ends up in a serious condition. Fisk's son survives but the doctors predict problems and Fisk realizes that his son can never play baseball again.

He goes through a moral dilemma and his personal feeling is to rule in favour of the plaintiff. But finally, he decides that he could not swap sides because of his family's tragedy. The case goes in favour of Krane and the jury's verdict is reversed and rendered, effectively closing the case.

Answer: He regains the billion he lost

Grisham's 'The Appeal' is one of his rare novels where the bad guy wins. Carl Trudeau wins the case against his company Krane Chemicals. He had lost a billion when his shares crashed initially, but later on he manipulates an artificial fall of his shares value and buys more shares. Finally after the verdict, when his shares appreciate, he ends up not only regaining the billion he lost but earning more.

The novel ends with a party on Trudeau's new mega yacht.