Business Law In Film Assignment

EXERCISE SUBMISSION FORM

NAME: Anonymous DATE: ??? FILM: The Lincoln Lawyer

1. Briefly Summarize the Film

Matthew McConaughey plays Mickey Haller a criminal defense attorney based in Los Angeles. At the beginning of the film he is offered a new case defending a wealthy young man named Louis Roulet (Ryan Philippe), who has been charged with beating and attempting to rape and kill a prostitute named Reggie Campo (Margarita Levieva). The case becomes more complicated once Haller discovers that Roulet not only is guilty of attacking Campo, but that he already had raped and killed another prostitute earlier. In this earlier case Haller represented Jesus Martinez (Michael Pena) and convinced him to plead guilty because he believed that Martinez was guilty. Since, Roulet is his client Haller cannot directly take his discovery to the police. So, Haller ends up getting Roulet acquitted in the current case concerning the beating of Campo, but during this process he helps the police to discover evidence, which ultimately secures the release of Martinez and the arrest of Roulet.

2. Discuss generally how the film relates to Business Law.

The film follows around the defense attorney Haller and shows a lot of his work as a lawyer. While some scenes may be dramatized the film does generally show various legal proceedings as well as a lot of interactions between a lawyer and his clients. The movie deals shows a host of clients that have committed various crimes that include drug possession, assault, battery, rape, and murder. The movie also shows most of these crimes being committed.

Over the course of the movie we see several scenes that depict the legal process during the case that involves Louis Roulet. The film shows the discovery process, some plea bargaining, various courtroom arguments amongst other elements.

The movie also deals a lot with ethics surrounding the law and particularly the ethics in the conduct of a lawyer. While our class has not focused as much on the ethics involved with being a lawyer, we have discussed the differences between ethics and the law. This movies shows how by breaking some ethics, and possibly some laws, Matthew McConaughy helps free an innocent man and imprison a killer.

3. List an example of a specific scene from the film, and the rule of law that applies here, citing the text.

The movie is primarily focused on the night that Roulet beat up Campo and the criminal court case that follows. One court scene, where both Roulet and Campo share their accounts of what happened, reenacts that night and depicts the possible crimes committed. The first situation reenacted is Roulet’s story. He claims that Campo invited him over and when he walked into the apartment she came up behind him and hit him in the head, knocking him unconscious. This brings up the intentional torts of assault and battery. Chapter six of our textbook discussed intentional torts and defines assault as “an act that makes a person reasonably fear an imminent battery” (pg. 136). In this scene Roulet is struck from behind on the head, he is initially not aware he is in any danger, therefore it cannot be an assault. Chapter six also discusses battery and defines it as “an intentional touching of another person in a way that is harmful or offensive” (pg. 136). Roulet’s story does support a claim of battery because he was clubbed over the head with a bottle.

In the same scene the events of the night in question are then reenacted based on Campo’s story. She claims invited Roulet over, and when he she let him in to her apartment he attacked her and began to beat her, until she was able to knock him unconscious. In she has a valid claim against Roulet for both assault and battery. In her telling she opens the door and Roulet then immediately pushes her back and punches her in the face. She saw that he was about to punch her and then she was punch. This meets the requirements for both assault and battery and would likely win her some damages in a civil suit.

4. List another example of another scene from the film, and the rule of law that applies here, citing the text.

At the end of the movie after Haller has helped the police arrest Roulet, he returns home to find Roulet’s mother Mary Windsor (Frances Fisher) waiting for him. She then reveals that earlier she had stolen a gun that belonged to Haller and used it to kill his friend Val Venezuela (John Leguizamo). After confessing this she produces the gun and shoots Haller in the shoulder. There are a number of crimes being committed and confessed to in this one scene. One of these crimes that is also discussed in our textbook is larceny. In chapter eight of our textbook larceny is defined as “the trespassory taking of personal property with the intent to steal” (pg. 191). Mary Windsor come to Haller’s personal home and took his gun, this constitutes as a larceny. The book further clarifies that ‘Trespassory taking’ “means that someone else originally has the property” (pg. 191). Earlier in the movie we are told the gun was passed down to him from his father, and it was kept in a box in his house. Clearly this was his personal property and Windsor committed an act of larceny.

After she shoots Haller, he then shoots and seemingly kills her. However, if she is alive Haller can also sue her in a civil case for the torts that she committed. Our textbook defines the intentional tort of trespass as “intentionally entering land that belongs to someone else” (pg. 137). Windsor had broken into Haller’s house, which is his private property. Our textbook also discusses the intentional tort of conversion, and defines it as “taking or using someone’s personal property without consent” (pg. 137). As mentioned earlier Windsor had previously taken Haller’s gun from his home and used it to kill his friend. The textbook definitions would support Haller’s claims of trespass and conversion in a civil suit.

*Citation to movie and to textbook and any additional sources should also be included on next page.