  the pelican brief is a legal-suspense thriller written by john grisham in 1992. it is his third novel after a time to kill and the firm. the hardcover edition was published by doubleday in that same year. two paperback editions were published, both by dell publishing in 1993. a film adaptation was released in 1993 starring julia roberts and denzel washington. ==plot summary== the story begins with the dual assassination of two ideologically divergent supreme court justices. justice rosenberg, a liberal, is killed at his home while the conservative justice jensen is killed inside a gay porn movie theater in washington. the circumstances surrounding their deaths, as well as the deaths themselves, shock and confuse a politically divided nation. darby shaw, a tulane university law school student, conducts research on rosenberg and jensen's records, as well as cases pending before the supreme court. shaw suspects that the real motive might be simple greed, not politics, and writes a legal brief speculating that the assassinations were committed on behalf of victor mattiece, an oil tycoon who seeks to drill on louisiana marshland which is a major habitat of an endangered species of pelican. a court case on appeal, filed on mattiece's behalf to gain access to the land, is expected to make its way to the supreme court. the two slain justices had a history of environmentalism â their only common view â and thus darby surmises that mattiece, who has a pre-existing business relationship with the president of the united states, hoped to turn the case in his favor by eliminating them, thus leaving the president in a position to appoint new justices more likely to rule in his favor. darby shows the brief, which becomes known as the "pelican brief" to thomas callahan, her law professor and lover. callahan shows it to an fbi lawyer, gavin verheek. both ca
1992_novels American_novels_adapted_into_films Doubleday_(publisher)_books Legal_thriller_novels Novels_by_John_Grisham Tulane_University_Law_School