Michael Brock is the protagonist of The Street Lawyer. He experiences a major change at the beginning of the book that convinces him to give up his greedy lifestyle as a big-time lawyer to have a humble job in a legal clinic, which provides free legal services for the poor. Essentially he goes from being completely selfish lawyer to devoting his life for benefit the people and correct the injustices of society. As a person, Michael is very straightforward, nonviolent, and seems very easy to get along with.  He had forgotten his conscience and compassion long ago, but forces himself to regain them after his life-changing event in the beginning of the book. Even though he experiences a divorce with his wife, Claire, this is primarily due to his devotion (or rather addiction) to his job rather than family life. It is not entirely his fault, the firm he works for is very demanding of their employees, however he still blames himself primarily for the divorce. I think Michael deserves some commendation for devoting his life to helping other people. It is stated in the book that Michael is well on his way to being a partner (and making over a million dollars a year) at the Drake and Sweeney firm when he decides to quit and go work for the legal clinic. He takes a 90k pay cut and basically signs over the rest of his life to helping others for no charge. That is definitely a praiseworthy thing to do.