CONDUCT UNBECOMING: The Rise and Ruin of Finley, Kumble

by Steven J. & Kevin J. Lahart Kumble ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 25, 1990

From the founder and senior partner of the ill-starred law firm of Finley, Kumble, once one of the nation's largest: a gossipy account of the firm's ascent and decline (into bankruptcy court). More than any other law firm of its time, Finley, Kumble exemplified the transformation of the legal profession from a perceived gentlemanly pursuit into a frankly money-obsessed business. Kumble candidly admits that he developed Finley, Kumble into a giant by raiding better-established firms for clients and legal talent, a previously unheard-of practice. He is equally frank about his partners' resentment of his abrasive manner, his public self-promotion, and his relentless emphasis on the bottom line, an emphasis that resulted in mercurial expansion but that also may haw caused the recruitment of partners who subordinated ethics to greed and lust for power. Kumble describes partners who collected vast sums for little or no substantive work, who as board members of banks (which in turn were clients of Finley, Kumble) made loans to other partners in return for favors, and who intrigued endlessly against one another. In the end, Kumble lost control of his empire to a partner whose mismanagement, in Kumble's account, buried the firm under a mountain of debt. Kumble's account is engrossing and entertaining, his candor disarming, and his occasional touches of humility refreshing. .Nonetheless, the impression lingers that Kumble and the partners he criticizes were pirates in pinstripes who richly deserved one another. (For a more objective, and damning, account of Finley, Kumble, see Kim Isaac Eisler's Shark Tank, p. 26.)

Pub Date: Nov. 25, 1990

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Carroll & Graf

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1990

Categories: NONFICTION