Although a little slow (and a bit outdated in terms of stock market practices), The Burden of Proof is a great book. I don't know why people call it a legal thriller; for me it was mostly a book about a strong, fragile man who, spending 30 years of his life mostly in between courtrooms, now has to cope with a real-life mess, beginning with his wife's suicide and the federal investigation of his best client and brother-in-law's financial activities. Alejandro Stern's portrait is deep and full of compassion -and the same goes for most of the other characters of the book.