Unbillable Hours: A True Story

A true story involving saving a soul as told by a person who was close to the situation.An innocent young man from a poor family background was mistakenly arrested for killing someone in a gang related violence. He had no hope of getting out of jail until the case reached the hands of a senior attorney of a large law farm for his 'pro bono' help. The author joined the senior attorney helping him to arrange the case and change the situation for the innocent young man. Success they achieved, but only after their long ordeal and circuitous route to justice.In that process, the author only found his life to be changed. In a profession that encourages cold, dry relationship with the clients, the author came close to that rare life changing event, that creates the meaning of a profession - to help another human being. And this is why, whether we know what the legal system looks up, close and personal or not, whether we like the inherent stress of the way this story was told by the author, and whether we like the outcome of this story on author's career, we feel exhilarated reading this captivating tale.Life wins in the end.

So, I have a Kindle and this book was offered free a while back. The title caught my attention because I am very familiar with the concept of billing hours, so wanted to know what it was about. Attorneys comes to mind first, but there are other professions using a similar system of charging clients. I was naturally curious.The introduction made me realize this was not a novel, but a memoir. That made me a little less interested until I saw that a documentary (Mario's Story) had been made regarding this subject. Luckily Netflix had it on instant watch and I saw it before reading the book.Mario's plight in a nutshell: imprisoned for life for being the third shooter at a party that killed another teen - but he was actually innocent and severely misrepresented by his attorney. I don't usually read books like this, but the story was intriguing and I wanted to know what this memoir contained since it was written by the young associate that was helping overturn the decision - but this was a pro bono case. I started reading it and could not put it down. It's a simple story, but it does read like a novel as others have mentioned.Ian did not really care to be an attorney and does a great job outlining what it was like to be in law school and land a job at a larger firm in the 1990's. Everything he says is spot on with the experiences my husband and I had while he was in law school and getting his first job around 1996. That's the way things were at some of the bigger firms.I think the author was being pretty honest about how he felt about practicing law and the long hours he had to work for all of the various people in his office. He also does a very good job outlining how he got to be involved with Mario.It reads well and I don't see anything wrong with him writing a memoir about a pro bono case he helped with. Yes, he didn't charge the client - but why not write about it and see if you can become a writer? Ian expressed a few times in the book that he didn't think becoming a partner was for him...so why not use the writing skills he has to become an author and maybe even a famous one?To be a successful law student and attorney - writing skills are huge with all the opinions and briefs that are written. You see a lot of attorneys turn to writing books because it makes sense.This book was a nice break from my normal fiction classics and/or scifi I normally read.

I really enjoyed this book, particularly because it is true. I liked how only about half the book is actually dedicated to the murder appeal case and the rest gives a very detailed account of what it's like to be a lawyer at each stage, from school through the first five years of his career. His thinking at various stages, interaction with other lawyers in the firm, and swings in his career are insightful.The murder case itself is actually less interesting because it seems like such a no brainer that Mario is not guilty. The only real question is how he ever got convicted in the first place. That said, the case still drags on for the duration of the book through many surprises. Certainly an example of why implementation of the law sometimes really stinks. It's all true though, so no fault to the writer for the facts of the case.The book is very well written and a great read.

I could not put this book down. It was interesting on so many levels, the life of an Attorney just staring out in the profession and billable hours. How crazy/petty the legal system can be on a day to day basis. Mostly, the story of Mario, wrongly convicted of a Murder and the author (who is an Attorney) and a group of other caring people who would not give up and kept fighting for him, despite the odds against him. This book shines a light on how very racist, biased and unjust out legal process has become. Low income, minority individuals are lumped together as one group of gangs and thugs. Prosecutors have become immune to them as individuals and will try to convict, despite the fact there was no evidence in this case. This is a very sad story about our justice system. The fact is there are many more Mario's sitting in prison now, who are innocent.The book was very well written, honest and a story that needed to be told.

I really enjoyed this book and it was a Kindle freebie (score). I think being able to relate to the experience of law school, recruiting, and then the actual practice of law v. school, allowed me to feel as if I knew the author. However, it did get a little old to hear about the author's priviledged upbringing, effortless good grades, and the apparent fawning over he received during recruiting. However, I think that it was necessary for the author to set the stage, showing his cockiness and materialism at the beginning of the story to see/appreciate the growth he goes through. I felt that he adequately described the grueling hours, billing expectations, and philosopy of the big firm to get a picture of new associate life. The recounting of Mario's story was touching and made me glad the author let his conscience be his guide. Ultimately, Ian Graham had to answer that age old question, "your money or your life?" I think he made a courageous decision.