We Who Remain

The main themes of the book are redemption, sacrifice, family, and love. These themes play out through a small law firm in Orland, Florida which handles civil cases. David Jordan—the senior partner—represents a greedy real estate developer who allegedly married a wealthy widow to get her money to complete his large multi-use development when he was desperately in need of capital for his project. Following his wife’s untimely death due to cancer, her adult children sue him for undue influence to set aside the will and trust she signed shortly before her death, at her husband’s urging. How he finds redemption is related to the sacrificial work of David Jordan’s wife.
Carol Jordan—David’s wife—is the founder and president of Women’s Crisis Center, a non-profit residential center for battered women and children, many of whom are also dealing with drug addiction. In the midst of a fundraising campaign to build a new residential building, without which WCC likely will be unable to get permanent funding and remain open. She is diagnosed with stage-4 breast cancer. So, she must carry on with fundraising and running WCC while dealing with cancer treatments and being a wife and a mother to their 12-year-old daughter. And David must handle a very difficult client while also providing love and support to his wife.
The legal case provides twists and turns familiar to experienced trial lawyers. It also highlights the ethical challenges David must face in the midst of strategic and tactical decisions that could determine the outcome of the case and the future of his client. In both his law practice and his home life, the stress continues to build until events come to a dramatic and unexpected climax.
The story provides an insight into how lawyers deal with complex legal and factual issues that can change the course of a person’s life, depending upon the outcome of the litigation. The characters in the story are also confronted with the question of why bad things happen to good people—a question all of us ask ourselves sooner or later.