Getting Along with Each Other Despite Being On Opposite Sides
A significant theme in The Brass Verdict is getting along with each other despite being on opposite sides. In the novel, Harry Bosch, a detective for the Los Angeles Police Department, and Mickey Haller, a private criminal defense attorney, must work together. This is an inversion of typical roles: members of the police department work to help members of the prosecuting district attorney's office, not the defense. In fact, the police invariably do everything in their power to make sure that the prosecuting attorneys win and defense attorneys lose their respective cases. The same is true for Haller: defense attorneys typically do not work with police officers to achieve what they need to. Regardless, both Bosch and Haller work together, despite normal roles and despite their differences, to get what they need to accomplish done.
Pay special care to the less fortunate
A major theme in The Brass Verdict is to pay special care to the less fortunate. In the novel, a young man called Patrick is implicated in the theft of purportedly expensive diamonds. He has no means of paying Mickey Haller to defend him, but he is innocent regardless. Mickey sees that Patrick doesn't have much money to work with, so he offers to represent him and give him first-class legal service - service that he couldn't have afforded otherwise.
As a result of Mickey's defense, an innocent man walks free from charges that would have assuredly ruined his life.
Be vigilant of somone who potrays themselves as morally just
Another major theme in The Brass Verdict is to be vigilant of someone who portrays themselves as morally just, like Jerry Vincent. Mickey Haller is under the impression that Jerry is a good man with an unbreakable and magnificent moral character. However, as the novel progresses, Mickey discovers that Jerry has paid for and planted a juror on the Walter Elliot juror panel for his trial. This is patently illegal and morally unethical - especially for a lawyer.
