"'Diagnose and adios.'" - The Boston Globe
:"Diagnose and adios."
That rueful phrase has long summed up the treatment options for victims of multiple sclerosis, a chronic autoimmune disease with no clear cause or cure. It also reflects a gnawing fear among many MS patients: that once their employers learn of their illness, which can cause fatigue, loss of balance, and slurred speech, their jobs will be in jeopardy.

Alan J. Labonte suspected his own diagnosis with MS was his undoing at the now-defunct Boston law firm Hutchins & Wheeler, which fired him as its executive director seven months after he disclosed his disability. But Labonte fought back, suing the firm for handicap discrimination and winning a historic jury verdict of $3.5 million. When the case was appealed, he turned down a $3 million settlement offer, instead waiting for a ruling by the state's highest court, which issued a landmark decision protecting the rights of the disabled.

"A Million Reasons" is Labonte's memoir of his five-year legal battle. Much of it reads like a diary, a self-affirmation that he did his job well by imposing fiscal discipline on a financially dysfunctional firm. Labonte's detailed explanations of how he selected the firm's life insurance and healthcare plans, managed its burdensome lease, and upgraded its phone system will be of limited interest to most readers.

But the book is a fascinating inside look at the complicated world of law firm economics, and its greatest appeal comes in Labonte's tales of the backstabbing, manipulating, and money-grubbing among lawyers. He names names, discloses top partners' annual compensation to the penny, and details the firm's disastrous finances.... FULL STORY - The Boston Globe