Better Call Saul

Chuck was right though.

Jimmy will ALWAYS take shortcuts. Yes, he will always mean well, and is at his core a decent human being, but Chuck is 100% right, Slipping Jimmy with a law degree and the backing of a huge firm like HHM is a bomb waiting to go off.

For all of his exhortations to Jimmy to straighten himself out and work hard at something legitimate, Chuck can't stand the thought of his sense of superiority being threatened by Jimmy becoming one of his peers. That's the worst sort of prick. Tell someone to bootstrap themselves into something worthy of respect all while standing on top of their foot.

Lleauaric_sl said:

Chuck was right though.

Jimmy will ALWAYS take shortcuts. Yes, he will always mean well, and is at his core a decent human being, but Chuck is 100% right, Slipping Jimmy with a law degree and the backing of a huge firm like HHM is a bomb waiting to go off.

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he was only partially right, the rest was him being a snooty fucking asshole. the guy has a huge fucking ego, do you think everyone at HHM handed in their cellphones and shut off the power and clapped for chuck all on their own? no, hamlin arranged all of it at chuck's request. he was wrong about jimmy on a few things, taking shortcuts if you can take them is not a bad thing, its why you have a paralegal to check your shit. usually the goal of a law firm is to bill hours first and win cases second. chuck is also completely wrong about jimmy not being his peer. they both passed the same state bar exam to become lawyers. your fucking school isnt what make you or not make you another lawyer's peer. results are what matters, billing hours and winning cases.

chuck was also wrong to keep jimmy in the mail room even after he passed the bar. that firm has at least a hundred employees, it would be nothing to start jimmy as a paralegal and then make him earn his way up the ladder to associate and someday to full partner. nope, he had to be a prick. why? because in chuck's mind, he is the hero and jimmy is the zero and always will be.

Why would he patch things up with Hamlin now? He was the foot soldier of Chuck's douchebaggery. Sure he'll probably throw the case over to HHM, but I'm betting he never sees that 20% on the back end.

Chuck is a jerk, but would you hire Jimmy if you were a partner in the law firm?

Its just a question of perspective. I think Jimmy was always going to wind as some version of Saul or another. Chucks reality check didn't change him., he is who he is.

Jimmy never had a strong moral compass. Not when he was Slipping Jimmy, to when he was hanging from a billboard to when he was helping Heisenberg.

Same dude.

It depends on what you'd be hiring him for. To make him a full partner and put his name (well, a second McGill) on the building? No. But there is a place for someone with a combination of legal background plus Jimmy's "life experience" in a large enough law firm.

I really appreciate the detail and complexity of the motives in this show. It's not black and white. I can sympathize with both Jimmy and Chuck and understand where both are coming from.

Lleauaric_sl said:

Chuck is a jerk, but would you hire Jimmy if you were a partner in the law firm?

Its just a question of perspective. I think Jimmy was always going to wind as some version of Saul or another. Chucks reality check didn't change him., he is who he is.

Jimmy never had a strong moral compass. Not when he was Slipping Jimmy, to when he was hanging from a billboard to when he was helping Heisenberg.

Same dude.

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You have a point, but I'm not so sure it's about having a moral compass. At that level, it's about manipulating interpretations of the law to win the case for your side.

The lawyer for the assisted living facility talked about having worked with him before, about what a great lawyer he was, and I bet he wouldn't mind having him as a partner if the opportunity presented itself. Meanwhile, that lawyer is defending clients that clearly ripped off millions from their customers.

I don't think his "moral compass" argument holds up. He doesn't like that his brother has taken what he considers a shortcut and can't see past that move to recognize he has a lot of drive and potential. He's embarrassed by Jimmy, he's not worried that he could possibly rip off people.

law firms are businesses like anything else, they are there to make money, the best lawyer there isnt the guy who can free OJ and Phil Spector, the best lawyer is the one who earns the most for the law firm. sure the law firm will still take on small potato clients, but you wont see the full partners do it. they are out grabbing the big cash cows. its the james mcgills who help you write your will or set up your bankruptcy status. its why im so pissed that chuck wouldnt even throw his own brother a fucking bone.

anyone who is not sure how law firms really work, i suggest you read all of john grisham's novels(he is a lawyer who occasionally still practices law), i said read, the movies are not always true adaptions.

Ambiturner_sl said:

I don't see how there'd be any grounds for a dismissal. Like you said, it's not his personal case so the best they could do would be to have Jimmy removed. Since he's giving you a chance to settle for 10% of what you'll lose in court, that would be a very very bad move.

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But, he can't make that offer is the point. It's his client's decision, not his. They would have to get all the clients to agree to a 10% settlement, which means Jimmy then only gets a percentage of that money. If he takes the payment personally, and his client's get nothing, that's what is illegal. It can't be done by the books. They will have to get the clients to sign paperwork agreeing to the settlement amount.

Now, if you are saying he effectively takes a bribe from them to drop the case, there's nothing stopping a different lawyer from taking over the same case then. S&C wouldn't want to do that, as they could potentially be out the 2mil to Jimmy PLUS eventually lose the case anyways.

Basically Chuck is a piece of shit. Its why Hamlin keeps Kim in the office after chewing her out to basically tell her its out of his hands due to Chuck. Its why Kim cant bring herself to rock poor Jimmy's world by telling him the truth. Mike basically set it all up in his prior talk to that guy he was working for in that episode. He mentions criminals who are good people, and non criminals who are bad people. Chuck is bad people.

enzie_sl said:

But, he can't make that offer is the point. It's his client's decision, not his. They would have to get all the clients to agree to a 10% settlement, which means Jimmy then only gets a percentage of that money. If he takes the payment personally, and his client's get nothing, that's what is illegal. It can't be done by the books. They will have to get the clients to sign paperwork agreeing to the settlement amount.

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Of course he can make that offer - they'd take the 2mil payout without hesitation if he told them to.

they would jump at that offer and then allow jimmy access to the old folks home to get the plaintiffs to sign off on it. a million for the old folks and a million for jimmy. all legit. its not even shady