The Emerald Rose

The offshore oil platform known as the Emerald Rose is an explosion waiting to happen. And just as surely, it’s a blizzard of lawsuits waiting to happen.



Robert Herrick is “the lawyer for the little guy.” Against his better judgment, he finds himself drawn into representing more than a hundred plaintiffs suing the Emerald Petroleum Company. Careless managers have killed dozens of innocent victims by taking risks like replacing drilling fluids with sea water. But the other side is represented by a former street fighter named Jimmy Coleman. He’s the head of litigation at the mega-firm of Booker and Bayne, where he commands an army of associates who can find arguments to block the plaintiffs’ claims at every turn. In depositions, in pretrial motions, and even in filing the lawsuit papers, the plaintiffs’ lawyer finds himself outmanned and outmaneuvered—all while he’s being secretly hunted by the infamous drug lord El Raton.


This was one time when perhaps Robert shouldn’t have listened to his wife Maria, who thought that he was just right for this case. Robert soon learns that he will need to fight with all his strength if he is to save even a chance for his clients—and if he is to save his own life and those of his partners, because of the case of . . . The Emerald Rose.


This is the latest entry in the Robert Herrick Courtroom series, known for its realistic portrayal of law and trials—of the high-pressured work of a Texas attorney before the bar.



David Crump is a Professor of Law at the University of Houston. He earned his degrees at Harvard College and the University of Texas School of Law. He has represented most of the 50 states in the United States Supreme Court. Early in his career, he worked as an aerospace engineer, an economist, and an assistant district attorney. His teaching books are used at many law schools. He is the author of six previous novels, two books of poetry, and a modern translation and annotation of Virgil's The Aeneid. David is a guitar player in a country-blues band, an outfielder in the senior baseball league, a ventriloquist, and the father of four.