The Riverboat Disaster

The Rainmaker

A deadly prom-night sinking reveals the predatory side of personal-injury practice and tests Rudy’s commitment to the kind of lawyer he wants to be.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

The Midnight Call The Midnight Call from "The Rainmaker". A Disaster Becomes a Lead News of the Sinking Deck Shifflet wakes Rudy with word that an oil barge has struck a prom riverboat carrying hundreds of students.

The Midnight Call from "The Rainmaker". A Disaster Becomes a Lead News of the Sinking Deck Shifflet wakes Rudy with word that an oil barge has struck a prom riverboat carrying hundreds of students.

A Disaster Becomes a Lead News of the Sinking Deck Shifflet wakes Rudy with word that an oil barge has struck a prom riverboat carrying hundreds of students. Rescue operations are underway, and families gather along the water. The Lawyer’s Calculation Deck sees a potentially valuable source of clients. Rudy initially objects to treating the deaths as business, though he follows Deck to the scene.

The Search for Bodies The Search for Bodies from "The Rainmaker". Families Await News A Public Mourning Rudy sees teenagers, parents, ministers, and rescue workers waiting for identification of the dead.

The Search for Bodies from "The Rainmaker". Families Await News A Public Mourning Rudy sees teenagers, parents, ministers, and rescue workers waiting for identification of the dead.

Families Await News A Public Mourning Rudy sees teenagers, parents, ministers, and rescue workers waiting for identification of the dead. Each announcement brings one family devastating news. Commerce at the Edge Personal-injury lawyers approach grieving relatives with business cards. Their timing turns a shared catastrophe into competition for fees.

Rudy Turns Away Rudy Turns Away from "The Rainmaker". Refusal to Prospect A Moral Boundary As lawyers move closer to grieving families, Rudy turns his back on the river and runs through downtown.

Rudy Turns Away from "The Rainmaker". Refusal to Prospect A Moral Boundary As lawyers move closer to grieving families, Rudy turns his back on the river and runs through downtown.

Refusal to Prospect A Moral Boundary As lawyers move closer to grieving families, Rudy turns his back on the river and runs through downtown. He refuses to solicit clients in the immediate aftermath of the disaster. An Uneasy Distinction His refusal does not erase his involvement in other aggressive solicitation. It does, however, reveal a boundary he cannot cross when suffering is directly before him.

The Work Continues The Work Continues from "The Rainmaker". The Disaster Enters the Courts A Public Tragedy The sinking produces dozens of deaths and a rush of legal claims.

The Work Continues from "The Rainmaker". The Disaster Enters the Courts A Public Tragedy The sinking produces dozens of deaths and a rush of legal claims.

The Disaster Enters the Courts A Public Tragedy The sinking produces dozens of deaths and a rush of legal claims. The disaster becomes another example of how a courtroom can follow catastrophe almost immediately. Private Consequences Rudy’s refusal to exploit the families sits uneasily beside the legal marketplace around him. He recognizes that professional survival can reward conduct he finds degrading.

A Measure of Conscience A Measure of Conscience from "The Rainmaker". What the Scene Leaves Behind An Ethical Memory The riverbank remains a counter-image to the firm’s routine search for accident victims.

A Measure of Conscience from "The Rainmaker". What the Scene Leaves Behind An Ethical Memory The riverbank remains a counter-image to the firm’s routine search for accident victims.

What the Scene Leaves Behind An Ethical Memory The riverbank remains a counter-image to the firm’s routine search for accident victims. Rudy understands that legality alone cannot determine whether a lawyer’s conduct is humane. A Divided Profession His choice is small against the scale of the disaster, but it gives his professional doubts a concrete form. The question becomes what kind of work he can live with.

late one night before the trial

the early morning rescue operation

after the first death is announced

the days after the sinking

during Rudy’s later reflection on his practice