preview

The Lincoln Lawyer By Michael Connelly

Good Essays
Open Document

1. Full Title, author’s name, copyright date, and number of pages. 2. The Lincoln Lawyer is a 404-page crime fiction novel written by Michael Connelly, © 2005. Criminal defense attorney Mickey Haller is presented with his latest client, Beverly Hills playboy, Louis Roulet. Roulet is accused of rape and murder but this does not trouble Haller; on the contrary, he revels in it because it means he is being offered a franchise case, or a case offering a huge payout. Naturally, Haller takes the offer but what is unique about this case is that for the first time ever, Haller thinks he may have an innocent client. This is very worrying as Haller’s father once said “There is no client as scary as an innocent man.” As the case continues, however, …show more content…

When Haller meets Roulet for the first time in jail, the author lightly introduces the issue of jailhouse snitches. Although it is only a brief moment that Haller urges Roulet to stay quiet, it is an important moment that highlights an extremely common problem in today’s jail system, which is that of eavesdroppers and the way they can further endanger their fellow criminals. Furthermore, Connelly excels at comparing the legal system to Haller’s own philosophies. Much of the book revolves around the concept that the law is a machine, and that there are many gray areas. Haller uses all of the technicalities of the law in order to provide for the best defense of the client, and it is these technicalities or gray areas that is what makes the whole novel so believable. An example of this is when his investigator, Raul Levin, gives Haller a video of Roulet meeting the victim at the bar. Haller knows that he will have to turn it over to the prosecution in accordance with the rule of discovery, but at the same time, he uses it to his advantage because he “didn’t technically have to turn over anything until I was sure I planned to use it in trial” (105). In today’s legal system, there are countless instances of cases winning on technicalities or on very unspecific laws, so much that is clear to see how Haller’s methods are constantly replicated in the real world. 5. Haller is initially a very unlikeable character

Get Access