History Literature / TheLincolnLawyer

* VanityLicensePlate: Haller's plate, NTGUILTY.

* ShameIfSomethingHappened: [[spoiler:Roulet]] makes a veiled threat to Haller about Haller's daughter Hayley. Haller initially gives him a brief TheReasonYouSuckSpeech about how he's not the first client to threaten him or his family. [[spoiler:When Roulet tries to follow through after Haller burns him for murder to free Menendez, Haller is waiting for him with a gun and some of his other clients... [[EvilerThanThou a motorcycle gang]].]]

* EvilerThanThou: Haller one-upping Roulet,a petty and privileged sadist with the motorcycle gang. It is awesome and hilarious.

* GPSEvidence: [[spoiler: The parking tickets that Roulet accumulated were able to show where he was on the night of the murders he's indicted for.]]

* PapaWolf: There's a scene where Haller stakes out in front of his ex-wife's house to protect his daughter from someone who declared himself to be a threat.

* ThisIsReality: After Minton the inexperienced prosecutor objects that Haller is "badgering the witness", Haller in his narration sneers that "It must have been something that he had seen in a TV or a movie.

In 2011 ''The Lincoln Lawyer'' was [[TheFilmOfTheBook adapted as a film]] directed by Creator/BradFurman, starring Creator/MatthewMcConaughey as Haller, with Creator/MarisaTomei as Haller's ex-wife Maggie [=McPherson=] , Creator/RyanPhillippe as Louis Roulet, Creator/WilliamHMacy as Frank Levin, Creator/BryanCranston as Detective Lankford, Creator/JoshLucas as Minton the prosecutor, Creator/SheaWhigham as prison snitch DJ Corliss, and Creator/BobGunton as Cecil Dobbs.

** Early on, Roulet mentions that the only criminal records against him are parking tickets. It turns out [[spoiler: a certain parking ticket he received links him to the murder of the hooker Roulet killed and pinned on Menendez.]]

In 2011 ''The Lincoln Lawyer'' was [[TheFilmOfTheBook adapted as a film]] directed by Creator/BradFurman, starring Creator/MatthewMcConaughey as Haller, with Creator/MarisaTomei as Haller's ex-wife Maggie [=McPherson=] , Creator/RyanPhillippe as Louis Roulet, Creator/WilliamHMacy as Frank Levin, Creator/BryanCranston as Detective Lankford, and Creator/BobGunton as Cecil Dobbs.

* EvilerThanThou: Haller one-upping Roulet,a petty and privileged sadist with the motorcycle gang. It is awesome and hilarious.

* CurbStompBattle: [[spoiler:Roulet]] vs. the aforementioned biker gang. It is ''glorious'' to behold.
-->'''Haller:''' ''Hospital'', not the morgue.

* OhCrap:
** Minton, the prosecutor for the Roulet case, has this look when Roulet reveals his [[{{RapeAsDrama}} reasons]] for always carrying the weapon with which he was accused of assaulting the victim, thus blowing a huge hole in Minton's case.
** A big shock happens when Roulet's mother tells him [[spoiler: that ''she'' was found raped by her son.]] Josh Lucas is handling [[DidntSeeThatComing it]].

* TooDumbToLive: Roulet, upon seeing an entire biker gang busting up his car, walks up to them and demands to know what the hell they think they're doing. ''They then proceed to brutally show him exactly what the hell they think they're doing.'' It's very plain that if Haller had not been there to keep them on a leash, it would have been the morgue and ''not'' the hospital.

** Early in the movie, Roulet mentions that the only criminal records against him are parking tickets. It turns out [[spoiler: a certain parking ticket he received links him to the murder of the hooker Roulet killed and pinned on Menendez.]]

* EvilerThanThou: Haller one-upping [[spoiler:Roulet,a petty and privileged sadist ]] with the motorcycle gang. It is awesome and hilarious.

In 2011 ''The Lincoln Lawyer'' was [[TheFilmOfTheBook adapted as a film]] directed by Creator/BradFurman, starring Creator/MatthewMcConaughey as Haller, with Creator/MarisaTomei as Haller's ex-wife Maggie [=McPherson=] , Creator/RyanPhillippe as Louis Roulet, Creator/WilliamHMacy as Frank Levin, and Creator/BobGunton as Cecil Dobbs.

In 2011 ''The Lincoln Lawyer'' was [[TheFilmOfTheBook adapted as a film]] directed by Creator/BradFurman, starring Creator/MatthewMcConaughey as Haller, with Creator/MarisaTomei as Haller's ex-wife Maggie [=McPherson=] and Creator/RyanPhillippe as Louise Roulet.

* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: An early hint to [[spoiler: Louis's]] true nature is his grievous lack of tact. He says "I woke up with two faggots on top of me", refusing to tone down his language for the court.

* ForTheEvulz: Why Roulet picked a low-rent attorney like Haller, when he had the resources to hire a bigger name. [[spoiler: He knew Haller had represented a man he'd framed for an earlier murder, knew Haller would figure it out, and knew Haller couldn't do a damn thing about it without sacrificing his career.]] [[TakeAThirdOption Or so he thought.]]
* GenderFlip: Judge Fullbright is a woman in the book and a man in the film.

In 2011 ''The Lincoln Lawyer'' was [[TheFilmOfTheBook adapted as a film]] directed by Creator/BradFurman, starring Creator/MatthewMcConaughey as Haller, with Creator/MarisaTomei as Haller's ex-wife Maggie [=McPherson=] and Creator/RyanPhillipe as Louise Roulet.

In 2011 ''The Lincoln Lawyer'' was [[TheFilmOfTheBook adapted as a film]] directed by Creator/BradFurman, starring Creator/MatthewMcConaughey as Haller.

* AdaptationalAlternateEnding: TheFilmOfTheBook leaves out the downside of the novel's BittersweetEnding. In the book, [[spoiler:while Mickey Haller gets Martinez exonerated, he ends up disbarred for several months for breach of professional ethics and is sued for malpractice by Martinez for originally convincing him to plead guilty. Additionally Martinez is now HIV-positive due to PrisonRape.]]
* AdaptationNameChange: Investigator Raul Levin becomes Frank Levin, judge Connie Fullbright [[GenderFlip becomes]] Jameson Fullbright, and Jesus Menendez becomes Jesus Martinez.

* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: Most of the trailers make no effort to hide that [[spoiler: Roulet is very guilty of what he's being accused of]]; those that don't show it outright heavily imply it.

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* ArtisticLicenseLaw: A {{Downplayed}} example, since Haller is in a pretty unusual situation and might not have thought of this- not to mention his primary concern is not simply his job but the physical safety of his family-, but [[spoiler: the "attorney-client privilege" aspect that Roulet is counting on doesn't necessarily apply to this case, since a) Haller is free to report to the police that his client broke into his home and threatened his family, which would put Roulet in jail by itself, b) Californian lawyers are legally required to disclose information that might result in the "previous bodily harm" of a third party, which would apply to Martinez who is wrongfully imprisoned and in fear of his life inside (in fact in the novel he has even contracted HIV from prison rape), and c) in any event he is free to simply talk to the judge in private, let him know in sufficiently vague terms that he has found himself in a compromising situation, and try and work something out without breaching his legal ethics.]]

* TheAtoner: Mickey Haller becomes this after he finds out he once strong-armed an innocent client into pleading guilty.

* {{MamaBear}: Mrs. Windsor [[spoiler: goes as far as murdering lawyers to prevent her Roulet from paying for his sadistic hobby.]]

* OffOnATechnicality: Some of Haller's clients. One such case is an officer in a motorcycle gang busted for growing pot. Mickey gets the charge thrown out on account of the flyover to confirm the pot having been at a low enough altitude to be considered unreasonable search and seizure.
* OhCrap: Minton, the prosecutor for the Roulet case, has this look when Roulet reveals his [[{{RapeAsDrama}} reasons]] for always carrying the weapon with which he was accused of assaulting the victim, thus blowing a huge hole in Minton's case.
** Also used, when Roulet's mother tells him [[spoiler: that ''she'' was found raped by her son.]] Josh Lucas is handling [[DidntSeeThatComing it]].
* OnTheRebound: It's revealed in the book that Mickey's ''second'' failed marriage started that way.

* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: An early hint to [[spoiler: Louis's]] true nature. He says "I woke up with two faggots on top of me", refusing to tone down his language for the court.

Enter Louis Roulet, a rich trust fund kid accused of attempting to rape and murder a young woman he met at a bar. With his wealthy parents' money, Roulet retains Haller as a lawyer. Roulet insists that he is absolutely innocent, but the young lady tells a different story. Within a few days revelations from both sides of the case send things spiraling out of control, and Mickey Haller finds himself and his loved ones in serious danger but unable to defend them due to the machinations of a brilliant criminal. But perhaps the would-be mastermind has underestimated the cunning of the Lincoln Lawyer...

* AntiHero: Haller

* EvilerThanThou: Haller one-upping [[spoiler:Roulet]] with the motorcycle gang. It is awesome and hilarious.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Haller may be a sleazy lawyer but he is also a caring friend, loving father and generous boss. And he is clearly appalled at Louis' viciousness.

* {{MamaBear}}/{{PapaWolf}}: Mrs. Windsor and Haller, respectively.

* SerialKiller: [[spoiler:Louis Roulet]].

* StraightGay: Frank.
* StupidEvil: [[spoiler: Roulet choosing Haller was really just a sadistic ploy on his part, since had he chosen any other lawyer not only could he have been given as good or better representation, but no lawyer but Haller was likely to have even made the connection between the two crimes in the first place. Could also be a case of EvilCannotComprehendGood--Roulet may think that Haller will fight extra-hard for him with his career on the line, not realising that he'll just try extra-hard to find a way to screw Roulet over and make sure he is sent to jail. Ultimately Roulet seems simply to think that in choosing Haller he is being diabolically clever and showing that he, a rich kid with no career or real qualifications to speak of, is smarter than a lower-middle class professional lawyer (especially if Haller ''didn't'' make the connection), not to mention [[EvilGloating he probably just wanted someone to brag his crimes to safely.]]]]

In 2011 ''The Lincoln Lawyer'' was [[TheFilmOfTheBook adapted as a film]] directed by Creator/BradFurman, starring Creator/MatthewMcConaughey as Haller. It was a modest financial success, more than making back its budget, and did very well with critics at the time of its release. No word at this time on possible adaptations of the sequels.

''The Lincoln Lawyer'' is a 2005 LawProcedural novel by Creator/MichaelConnelly.

The book was followed by several sequels: ''The Brass Verdict'' (2008), ''The Reversal'' (2010), ''The Fifth Witness'' (2011), and ''The Gods of Guilt''.

* AllBikersAreHellsAngels: One of Haller's repeat customers are the members of a motorcycle gang that makes its money running drugs.

* AllBikersAreHellsAngels

* AcquittedTooLate: Attorney Mickey Haller's client Jesus Martinez spends several years in San Quentin [[spoiler:for a murder he didn't commit. In the book he's HIV+ due to PrisonRape]].

* AmoralAttorney: An interesting exploration of the concept. Defense attorney Mickey Haller is seen by prosecutors (including his ex-wife) as one. Haller points out that all too often, [[{{Hypocrite}} the prosecution]] tries to pin unsolved crimes on defendants and pull other questionable legal maneuvers. [[spoiler:The prosecutor who took over Roulet's case after Haller's ex-wife left to avoid conflict of interest provided an example]]. Mickey himself makes his living using whatever technicalities or loopholes he can find to help his clients, who are usually guilty as sin. [[spoiler:However, Mickey is horrified to learn that Martinez, a prior client he advised to plead guilty to the rape and murder of a prostitute was actually innocent, and that his current client Roulet was the real killer. True to his professional obligations, Mickey defends Roulet to the point that the DA drops charges with prejudice, then promptly burns him for the greater charge of murder to get Martinez exonerated.]]

* BatmanGambit: Haller knew that the DA would be so eager to pounce on DJ Curliss, that he wouldn't look into his past and learn about [[spoiler: his history of being a jailhouse snitch and his record of lying]]. Not only did this put the final nail in [[spoiler:Roulet's case, but it caused the DA's office to take another look at the Martinez case.]] Which is what Haller wanted all along.
* BittersweetEnding: In the book. [[spoiler:Martinez is freed and Roulet goes down for the rape and murder that Martinez was convicted of, but Mickey is penalized with temporary disbarment for breach of professional ethics and gets sued for malpractice by Martinez. The "but" is left out of the movie.]]

** Early in the movie, Roulet mentions that the only criminal records against him are parking tickets. It turns out [[spoiler: a certain parking ticket he received links him to the murder of the hooker Roulet killed and pinned on Martinez.]]

* ShameIfSomethingHappened: [[spoiler:Roulet]] makes a veiled threat to Haller about Haller's daughter Hayley. Haller initially gives him a brief TheReasonYouSuckSpeech about how he's not the first client to threaten him or his family. [[spoiler:When Roulet tries to follow through after Haller burns him for murder to free Martinez, Haller is waiting for him with a gun and some of his other clients... [[EvilerThanThou a motorcycle gang]].]]

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