Actor-Inspired Element: According to an interview with Jim Carrey, he says that the gag of Fletcher chasing his son as "The Claw" was something Carrey's father did to him and his siblings. He also came up with the idea for the closing scene. He woke Tom Shadyac up in the middle of the night to tell him about it.
Amanda Donohoe is laughing during Fletcher's Tina Turner speech when he's speaking to Samantha Cole.
Maura Tierney briefly breaks when Fletcher mimics Audrey's exasperation over him taking Max to a wrestling show.
Cowboy BeBop at His Computer: Fletcher tells Max that he got tickets to a Professional Wrestling show that featured Rick Rude and Randy Savage in the main event. While the two were in WCW together a year later, it was after Rude had retired from in-ring work three years before the film's release. Of course, it might be justified given Fletcher's character.
Dawson Casting: Justin Cooper, who plays Fletcher's five-year-old son Max, was eight during filming.
Deleted Role: Randall 'Tex' Cobb, has a cameo in this movie talking about returning a jacket he had borrowed from Fletcher. He also had a whole character in the movie but the scenes (which included Fletcher defending him in court and later being Flethcer's cell mate) were later deleted for pacing reasons. When Fletcher is released from prison, he can be seen sleeping in one of the prison beds.
Deleted Scene: The deleted scene shows Fletcher in court, managing to convince an entire jury that a thug who robbed an old man and assaulted a female officer was the real victim in the whole fiasco. The scene was cut likely because the filmmakers feared it would make Fletcher too unlikable, though some have pointed out that we actually get to see how great of a lawyer he actually is, rather than just hear about it. Word of God says that the scene, as well as a few more with that client, were cut for pacing reasons.
In Memoriam: The film was dedicated to Jason Bernard, who played Judge Marshall Stevens. Bernard died of a heart attack shortly after filming had finished.
Missing Trailer Scene: One trailer included moments from a deleted opening scene in which Fletcher unscrupulously defends an obviously guilty Mr. Skull against a terrified old man in court.
Posthumous Credit: Jason Bernard completed his scenes as Judge Marshall Stevens before he suffered a fatal heart attack five months before the film's release.
The script wasn't always about a lawyer. Fletcher was almost a politician or real estate agent.
The Jars of Clay's song Five Candles (You Were There) was originally written for this movie, with a working title for the song even being "The Wish". It was supposed to be played during the credits, but when they were changed to an outtakes and bloopers reel of the movie, the song was cut.
