Complete Monster: Louis Roulet is a rich, spoiled sadist who believes he can do whatever he wants. Roulet enjoys beating on women, particularly prostitutes, as he knows they'll never be believed over him in court and he has the best representation money can buy. Roulet is soon revealed to be the real murderer in a case the Amoral Attorney protagonist, Mickey Haller, had defended years ago, and Roulet is positively gleeful over an innocent man rotting in jail for his crime. Roulet keeps Haller as his defense lawyer by threatening him, as well as his ex-wife and young daughter, knowing Haller is obliged to do the best for his client. Haller puts an informant on the stand to acquit Roulet of the assault, but the testimony puts Roulet under suspicion for his previous murder. In a rage, Roulet later makes his way to Haller's ex-wife, intending on murdering her and her daughter.
Harsher in Hindsight: The defendant Roulet describes a homosexual couple who came to his accuser's rescue as "two faggots". Haller's investigator, Levin, clarifies that it was a homosexual couple who lived next door, to which Roulet vehemently replies, "Like I said, the faggot couple!" Levin mutters under his breath, "I stand corrected. The faggot couple." It is somewhat Played for Laughs, but later it is revealed that Levin is also gay.
Magnificent Bastard: Mickey Haller is an Amoral Attorney who happily defends the guilty and will employ any legal trick to get them cleared. After an attempted rape and murder, psychopath Louis Roulet sways Haller into defending him, whereupon Haller learns that not only is Roulet guilty, but he is responsible for murdering a previous client of Haller's pleaded guilty to. In order to stop Roulet while still satisfying legal ethics, Haller plants fake testimony in a perjuring jailhouse snitch so he can discredit him along with the other witnesses against Roulet, but ensures the police hear the testimony so they may arrest Roulet for the previous murder, winning the case while still bringing Roulet down. When Roulet goes after Haller's ex-wife and daughter, Haller ensures a group of bikers he knows are waiting for him, with the only instruction that Roulet end in "the hospital, not the morgue."
Moral Event Horizon: Mary Windsor kills Frank Levin to protect her monster of a son from going to prison and later tries to kill Haller for turning against Roulet and trying to put him in prison.
Questionable Casting: In the book, Haller is half-Mexican and grew up in Los Angeles. Matthew McConaughey has neither of those attributes and maintains his Texas accent but, beyond that, he nails the character perfectly.
The Woobie: You kinda have to feel sorry for Minton. He is just completely outclassed by Mickey, he wants to do the right thing, and, oh yes, Roulet is actually guilty. The film has a shot where he's clearly realizing just how badly he's been screwed.
