The Lincoln Lawyer

Hello?

- Turn him over. - Is he alive?

Can you hear me?

Hey.

Hey. Where are you? I've been calling for an hour.

Lorna, you're not my wife anymore.

Thanks for that, Mick,

I still get confused. Some days, I think I am your wife.

Others, I'm more like your mother.

Don't do that. Think I can't tell when you're holding the phone away?

What I am is a person who runs this practice,

what's left of it anyway,

and as such, I need to be able to reach you.

Okay, you reached me. What's the problem?

We got a call from Judge Holder.

- She wants to meet with you ASAP. - The Chief Judge?

Technically, the presiding judge. Tell me you're not sleeping with her.

No. Why would you even say that?

The only reason you'd be called to the private chambers of a female judge

is, A, you have a case before her, or B, you have a personal relationship.

And since you haven't had any cases for a year…

I never even met the woman.

- She wants to meet with you now. - But she didn't say what it was about?

No. But can we please allow for the possibility

this might be positive?

Maybe she wants to assign you a case pro bono.

- Work begets work. - Well, maybe.

Mick?

Still here.

Drive one of the Lincolns.

They're in storage.

Get one out of storage. The Lincoln becomes you.

And you become you.

Should this present as a real opportunity, you gotta go in there full Mickey Haller.

All right.

Hey!

Hey.

You've got Hayley tonight. Just calling to remind.

'Cause you think I'll forget?

Six o'clock, okay? Not 6:10. Not 6:05.

Who's the lucky guy? Do I know him?

6:00 p.m. sharp, Mickey.

I got it.

Hey, what can you tell me about Judge Mary Holder?

Why?

I don't know. She called me to her chambers.

- Did you do something? - No, I haven't done something.

Then why would she call you to chambers?

I don't know, which is why I'm asking. What can you tell me about her?

She's got a bug up her ass the size of the legal canon of ethics,

which makes me think you've done something.

- Thanks. - Wait, Mickey...

I'll see you tonight.

He's done something.

Oh, hello, Mick.

- Lorna. - I was driving this way anyway.

- No. You're checking up. - Says who?

You look good. I have always loved this one.

What are you doing here?

This could be a very big deal.

She's the presiding judge. So I came down to gather intel.

And?

Most of her work is administrative, which judge goes where and so forth.

And?

And… she assigns cases.

- If that's what this is about… - You don't want me to blow it.

I'm just saying, whatever this is, it has to go well. Okay?

Mr. Haller, I presume.

Judge Holder.

I don't believe we've met before.

No, Your Honor.

Well, come on then.

The Lincoln Lawyer, that what they call you?

Some do, yes.

Or did.

Why?

Mainly worked out of my car. Going from court to court.

All the driving and so forth.

Being ready to flee the jurisdiction if need be.

Never fled the jurisdiction.

Have a seat.

What's your relationship with Jerry Vincent?

Jerry Vincent?

Uh, I used to go up against him back when he was a prosecutor.

And he switched sides.

He was murdered last night.

Excuse me?

Shot dead in his car.

What?

If you were close, please accept my condolences,

but that's not why you're here.

Were you close?

I mean, friendly. Colleagues, mostly.

He left you his practice.

I beg your pardon?

Mr. Vincent filed a motion with the court ten days ago

that allowed for the transfer of his entire practice to you,

should he become incapacitated or deceased.

- He never discussed this with you? - No.

Well, last night he became deceased, which means what was his is now yours.

Including the Trevor Elliott trial.

You have heard of that?

The tech guy who killed his wife and her boyfriend.

Allegedly.

Of course.

That's now my case?

They're all your cases, Mr. Haller.

You might not get to keep them.

Every client has a right to move on to another attorney

once apprised of Mr. Vincent's demise.

What it does mean is you get first shot.

Assuming I'm satisfied that Mr. Vincent's clients

are being transferred to a replacement counsel

of good standing and competent skill.

As far as I can tell,

you haven't had any cases in quite some time.

Yeah. I was in an accident about 18 months ago.

Surfing, if you can believe it.

I had multiple surgeries and, well, there were complications.

Complications?

I took painkillers. Got addicted to 'em. But that's over now. I got help.

Got clean. So whatever concerns you may have about my reputation, I...

It's my reputation I'm concerned about. I'm the one that has to sign off on you.

Or not.

Why you?

Of all the lawyers out there.

Honestly, Your Honor, I have no idea.

Well, if you were to guess?

Well, as I said, Jerry and I were friendly,

we trusted each other.

And second, though this is subjective,

when I am right, there's no better criminal defense attorney in Los Angeles

and Jerry knew that from personal experience.

And you think you're right now?

I do.

This is an order

transferring Mr. Vincent's practice to you.

I can rescind it just as fast.

I will be monitoring you, Mr. Haller.

I want an updated inventory of cases by the beginning of next week.

After that, a bi-weekly status update

of every case on which you will remain counsel.

- Am I clear? - I won't let you down, Your Honor.

Don't let your clients down.

I suggest you get to Mr. Vincent's office right now.

The police are, no doubt, searching it

and probably invading their privacy as we speak.

Thank you, Your Honor.

Good luck, Mr. Haller.

Well, did you get a case?

I just got a lot of them.

Including Trevor Elliott.

What?

I need to meet the clients,

get their sign-offs, but I might be back, Lorna.

I might actually be back.

What did I tell you about positive visualization?

You wake up, not a single client.

Now, you are repping a guy like Trevor Elliott in a murder trial.

If he decides to keep me.

Positive thinking, Mickey. Positive thinking.

- Floor is closed, folks. - We have business on this floor.

- Not today, you don't. - Talk to the judge.

Need to see some ID.

You know, you don't help yourselves being dicky-do's.

Just saying.

- Can I help you? - Mickey Haller. I'm an attorney.

I've taken over Mr. Vincent's practice.

You need to come back tomorrow. This is a crime scene. It's sealed off.

The crime scene was a parking garage, not this office.

There are client files here I need to access and apparently safeguard.

What'd you say your name was?

Mickey Haller. This is Lorna Crane. She works with me.

Well, Mickey Haller and Lorna Crane,

I need you to both leave. Now.

- Dicky-do's, I'm telling you. - What was that?

That wasn't meant for you. But if you heard me, you heard me.

You're contaminating a crime scene. You can't be here.

This order will confirm I've been appointed

by the presiding judge of the Superior Court

as replacement counsel to Jerry Vincent's clients.

That means his cases are now my cases,

and you have no right to be in here looking through files.

That's attorney-client privilege.

Mr. Vincent's been murdered. The motive could be in one of these files.

- Even if that were the case... - Counselor...

Just read the order, Detective.

Your crime scene is out in the garage

and no judge in LA would extend it to this office and these files.

You say this gives you all of Mr. Vincent's cases?

That's right.

- Then that puts you on our list. - Come again.

Our suspect list.

He's dead and you get the whole business?

That's motive, ask me.

Care to tell us where you were last night between 8:00 and midnight?

You got me, Detective. You got me.

I killed Jerry. Case closed, everybody.

Clearly you've done this before.

Are you gonna get out of here, or do I need to call the judge?