The Lincoln Lawyer is Michael Connelly’s 2005 which introduced his franchise character, criminal defense attorney Mickey Haller. Since publication, Haller has appeared in five book sequels, a feature film, and a Netflix television series. Haller has established himself a brand name character standing alongside Connelly’s earlier creation, Detective Harry Bosch.
The real-life tale of Haller as a fictional character parallels the story told in The Lincoln Lawyer. Most analysis of the novel focuses on issues related to the ethical considerations of attorneys making deals for clients they don’t know for sure are actually guilty. The plot of the novel eventually works it way toward confirming that Haller made a deal which resulted in an innocent man being sent to prison. Haller’s father was a highly regarded attorney himself whom his son quotes as saying that having an innocent client is the most terrifying circumstance a lawyer can face because if you mess up and he gets sent to jail, the trauma never goes away. Haller thinks he has truly found “the innocent man” in high-profile client Louis Roulet.
Roulet will eventually prove to be far less than innocent, however, and the bulk of the story is about how Haller exploits the judicial system to ensure justice prevails. Justice in this case being not only due punishment for Roulet, but freedom for his actually innocent previous client. The intricacies of the plot allow for this conventional interpretation of the book as being primarily about legal ethics as it relates to guilt, innocence, and the notion of justice.
Simmering just beneath this analysis is another aspect of the story is equally deserving of attention but rarely receives it. In fact, there is an entire level of the novel that can fairly be argued is much more immediately relevant in the social zeitgeist of the early 21st century. Mickey Haller is initially introduced as a lawyer who is barely one step above—professionally if not ethically—an ambulance chaser. The book gets it title from the fact that he literally operates out of his car rather than office. His clientele consists almost exclusively of the lower depths of the social spectrum. As a result, the offer to represent a client like Roulet is one that Haller a “franchise case.” Such a case essentially means a client wealthy enough to charge exorbitant fees that can be stretched out through an entire trial process rather than cut short by a negotiated plea. As stated, Haller initially thinks Roulet is that rarity in his world, “the innocent man.” The question is whether Haller thinks Roulet is innocent because of what he thinks he knows or simply because he wants him to be innocent.
A true franchise case for a lawyer like Haller is not merely one that pays off for representing that client, it is one that establishes a reputation. Taking Roulet’s case to trial if he were guilty and winning a not guilty verdict would set Haller for life financially, but might occasionally make it hard to sleep at night. Taking Roulet’s case to court as innocent man and getting him a not guilty verdict would set Haller up for life and allow plenty of nights where he never even goes to bed.
The really big unresolved question of the novel is why does Roulet hire Haller in the first place since he more than wealthy enough to afford a lawyer with an actual reputation. The question is addressed directly in the novel, but Roulet’s answer that he “remembered your name from something I read in the paper” is not very convincing. It makes no sense at all for Roulet to hire a guy working out of his car on to defend him in a case ready-made for tabloid TV coverage. Haller never sniffs a single whiff of something rotten in this turn of events. One might say it makes no sense for him to take the case. The whole point is that it makes perfect sense.
Of course, he is going to take the case. Of course, Haller is going to completely overlook the obvious gap in logic in Roulet hiring him. Of course, Haller is going to completely misread Roulet and actually believe him to be innocent. Because Haller desperately wants the one thing that has become the whole reason for pursuing any business in America.
He wants to become a brand. Haller sees Roulet as his ticket to slick commercials, giant billboard images of himself, appearances on Court TV and never having to work with the kinds of clients he had to rely on so far. Haller may actually see himself as a defender of the downtrodden and he may view rich white society as the source of evil which keeps them down, but he’s a lawyer. He doesn’t have to like his rich white-collar clients any more than his drug addict clients.
The story ultimately turns out to be a cautionary tale for Haller’s ambitions to transform himself from human into brand, however. Brands don’t bleed when shot. Humans are not so fortunate.
