The Lincoln Lawyer

All right, Earl.

Next. Come on, step right through.

Sir, I need you to take your belt off and go back through.

- Good, Mick. - Hello.

Mick! Mick, I was just calling you.

Hey, I was just calling you at the office. I gotta talk to you.

- Come on, stick with me. - How long are you gonna be here today?

Depends on when the judge calls my client.

See, what does it say about me that I let you treat me like this, huh?

I'm giving you a big chance to move up in the world and help me.

- My daughter's about to go to surgery. - I've heard it all before, Val.

Come on, baby, talk to me. What do you got?

Okay, I got something big for you. This guy's gonna be the big money.

It's in Inglewood.

But the problem is that he goes up before the judge at noon, okay?

- You listening to me? - I'm listening.

So the client, his mother and his mother's lawyer

comes to my office at 8:00 a.m. in the morning...

- He's already got a lawyer? - Just listen.

Listen, it's not criminal, it's just real estate, okay?

And I made them so crazy about you

that now they want to put up their Malibu beach house against a million.

- The bail's a million? - Yeah.

- What did they book this guy for? - I say it's a romantic tiff.

The cops are saying he beat up the girl really bad.

They want assault with a deadly weapon, throw in a GBI.

- Has the DA filed yet? - Yes, he did.

See, I take care of my friends. I even take care of you, bubba.

Inglewood by noon.

You could do it, man. Go through some red lights,

- break the speed limit. - Be honest with me, Val. Is this real?

Don't bullshit me. Is this gonna stick?

Of course it is. Would I lie to you? And you're gonna take care of me, right?

Make them forget the beach house and go for my bond.

- What's his name? - Louis. Louis Roulet.

R-O-U-L-E-T, like the wheel.

That's not how you spell the wheel, but got it.

Roberto!

Do you mind checking that list, seeing where my man Harold Casey is on it?

Don't go that low.

I got a case across town at noon I gotta get to.

Do you mind just bringing him down? I'll only be a second.

- Reynaldo. - Pardon me?

My name's Reynaldo, not Roberto. Us bailiffs all look alike, right?

- Your man white? - Yeah, he's white.

- I got blacks down here right now. - All right, listen, Reynaldo.

My bad on your name. I took a wild-ass guess. I was wrong.

But I didn't forget you at Christmastime, did I?

Remember that jar of nuts with the prize inside?

"Happy holidays. Your friend, Mick."

- I went through those pretty fast. - All right, let's make it two this time.

Okay. I'll bring your body down, but you better make it quick.

Gracias, Reynaldo.

Harold Casey. Yeah, bring him down.

Harold. You shouldn't be running from your lawyer. It's bad form.

Now, you know what I want to talk about.

In a minute, Judge Powell's gonna call us down.

He's gonna want to know if we're ready for trial.

- We are. - We are not. And you know why not.

Rule one, I get paid or I don't work.

- Don't worry, I got your money. - Exactly. You got it, I don't.

It's coming. I talked to my boys.

Listen, Harold, I looked on the list of people I trust. You're not on it.

The law says you can't just quit. The judge won't let you. I looked it up.

Pay close attention.

Michael Haller for the defense, Your Honor. If I may, I'd like to carry this over.

Do you have a reason, Mr. Haller?

I'm having trouble locating a witness, Your Honor, an indispensable witness.

A Mr. Green?

- How much time do you need? - That's hard to say.

- Does the state object? - No, Your Honor.

All right, I'm gonna hold this over pending notification from counsel.

- That was some bullshit, man. - Yeah. I expect to hear from you, Harold.

Inglewood, Earl. Keep it on the surface streets.

Earl, headphones.

- This is Haller. - And this is your office.

Actually, I'm in my office, Miss Lorna, on my way to the courthouse in Inglewood.

Listen, jot down to remind me to give Reynaldo,

the bailiff over in San Fernando, 200 bucks for Christmas, all right?

Got it. Hey, did Val reach you about his customer?

Yeah. "I got something big for you, Mick." Every time. Any other calls?

No, just some odds and ends.

A few DUIs. I just quoted them the house number.

- Gloria Larson called from county lockup. - She got popped again?

The usual with a complication, cocaine possession.

- Her first appearance is right after lunch. - Look, tell her I'll try.

So, I was thinking, boss, you know, when you get your license back or whatnot,

maybe I can stay on, like, a permanent thing or something, you know?

I got my license back three months ago, Earl.

Hey, boss. Do you want me to do something about that? 'Cause I can.

No, just keep doing what you're doing.

Boss.

All right. Pull over up here.

- Counselor. - Eddie.

- How's it hanging? - A little to the left, my man. How about you?

Not bad.

Your ride's a little messy.

Yeah, the maid doesn't come till Tuesday. What can I do for you, big man?

Our boy Harold called from the pen,

said you're stalling his case till you see some more green.

- I don't get paid, I don't work. - We paid you. $5,000.

That's long gone, Eddie.

Look, I could tell you that half of it went to an aerial-photo expert.

He's gonna blow the state's case by showing that the DEA

violated the airspace over Harold's farm by flying too low.

I could also tell you that I gotta fly that guy in from New York City, get him to testify,

put him up in a hotel and all that kind of stuff,

but you don't need to know that. All you need to know is that we had a deal.

It's time to refill the tank.

- What, another five grand? - Ten.

He wants to fly business, wants a first-class hotel.

And we want Harold back on the farm.

He's our best farmer, if you know what I mean.

I don't, and I don't want to.

Now, look, either pay me or go with a public defender.

He won't know much about airspace, but...

- Ain't you gonna count it? - I just did.

Keep that rubber on the road, Eddie.

Let's roll, Earl.

So, this expert flying in from New York,

do you want me to pick him up at the airport?

- There's nobody coming in. - What?

The best camera experts in the world are right here in Hollywood.

Nice.

You know what? You would've done all right on the streets.

Shit. Where do you think I am, Earl?

- Louis Roulet? - Yes.

I'm Michael Haller.

Mr. Haller, I called you because I need someone.

This whole thing is a setup.

I made a mistake with that woman, and she was setting me up.

Keep your voice down. Hear me?

Don't say anything about the case until I get you out on bail.

- I understand your family lawyer's in court. - Yes. His name's Cecil Dobbs.

He's here somewhere.

I'll find him. Tell me about yourself. How old are you?

Thirty-two.

Ties to the community? Did you grow up here?

Yeah, Beverly Hills. I went to USC. I work for my mother's business.

- How about your father? - He died when I was two.

- How much did you make last year, Louis? - My taxes said $600,000.

I want a lawyer, too. My name's Corliss, two "S's". Do you got a card on you?

Listen, buddy, they'll have a lawyer for you out there.

Right now I need you to back away and give us a little space.

Can you do that, pal?

- I'm backing, boss. - There we go.

Okay.

There we go. There we go.

Listen, they've put some heavy charges on you, Louis.

The DA's probably going to ask for no bail.

- Wait, no bail? - I said they're gonna ask for it.

When was the last time you were arrested?

Never.

- So, if I checked your record... - You'd find parking tickets.

Are you gonna get me out of here?

I'm gonna try, Louis.

Are you the prosecutor who used to have the Roulet case?

- Haller! Son of a bitch. - Rules are rules.

I wanted this one. Okay, okay, I'll go quietly.

But after today's hearing, if you don't object.

- It depends. Are you going for no bail? - That won't change with the prosecutor.

Not after what your guy did.

- If he did it. - Sure, if.

They only picked him up in her home with blood all over him.

I love it when you get sarcastic.

Can I at least see the arrest report?

You get it from whomever takes over. No favors on this one.

How's Hayley today?

- She's good. - Good.

I'll pick her up the usual time on Saturday.

Because of the seriousness of the offense, the financial resources of the accused,

the state requests no bail.

Your Honor, there's no way the state can claim that my client is a flight risk. He's not.

With resources like this man has, flight is always a risk.

- Are there any priors? - No, Your Honor.

Then I'm going to reduce the risk of flight by ordering him to wear a tracer anklet

and I'm going to set bail at $1 million.

- Judge, have you seen the photo? - Miss McPherson, bail is set.

Thank you, Judge.

Mick. Feeling compelled to thank me and speak well of me,

'cause this one's gonna be the money, I'm telling you.

- We'll see, we'll see. - There's his lawyer right there. Cecil Dobbs.

Hey, Mick, don't forget our deal.

A possibility, but... He's here now. I'll talk to you later.

- Cecil Dobbs. - Mr. Haller.

It's depressing to see the boy caught up in that cattle call.

The boy?

I've represented the family for a long time.

Listen, my advice is, let Val fix you up with a bond.

Then you take the boy home.

But we were thinking of putting up property, Mrs. Windsor's beach house.

The mother's name is Windsor?

Her second husband's name. He's dead now.

Assessing the house will take days.

Trust me, you don't want the boy in the clink for even that long.

So tap Val, take Louis to your office. I'll meet you there at 4:00.

Here, let me give you my business card.

Oh, boy.

Media? Yeah, they're already on us.

Mrs. Windsor is sensitive about the press,