The Lincoln Lawyer

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2005

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Prologue-Chapter 5

Chapters 6-10

Chapters 11-15

Chapters 16-20

Chapters 21-26

Chapters 27-31

Chapters 32-36

Chapters 37-41

Chapters 42-47

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Themes

Innocence Versus Evil

In his line of work, Mick has learned that almost everyone is guilty of something. However, he does differentiate between innocence and evil. More specifically, he fears not being able to see innocence amidst all the evil he encounters on a daily basis. This is a common fear in his profession: Levin also wonders whether in representing Roulet, Mick “may have found the innocent man” (113); meanwhile, Mick’s own father used to say, “the scariest client a lawyer will ever have is an innocent client. Because if you fuck up and he goes to prison, it’ll scar you for life” (113). His father was right: sending Jesus to prison ends up haunting Mick. But in his obsession with spotting innocence, Mick misses is the importance of looking for evil. Levin and Mick are blind to evil, so they don’t recognize it in Roulet or in Mary Windsor until she is aiming a gun at them.

The police detectives and prosecutors who represent the victims of heinous crimes like rape and murder have a better sense of innocence versus evil. Not only does Maggie represents the innocent, she also has compassion for the corrupt, and can spot evil almost instantly. Maggie recognizes that Roulet is guilty right away: “I don’t really care what he did before. I’m just going to make sure he doesn’t get out to do this again” (40). Mick, on the other hand, has so often been labeled “the devil” (31) because he defends criminals that he can no longer spot the difference between low-level bad behavior—in his own mind, because of his machinations, he’s actually a “greasy angel” (31)—and sociopathic monstrosity.

Justice and Corruption in the System

Mick does not believe that the legal system is capable of rendering justice: “the law was not about truth. It was about negotiation, amelioration, manipulation” (30). Mick thinks of himself as someone who helps people who would otherwise be fodder for the legal machine, and who therefore deserve a lawyer who can manipulate the system. He focuses on street criminals, who he feels resort to criminal activity because society has placed them at a disadvantage because of their race, class, or family background.

In court, Mick constantly hustles, and corruption on both sides of the law is evident. He trades information on a wanted drug dealer with the feds in order to reduce his client Gloria’s sentence; later, he manages to get a self-confessed guilty client acquitted by proving that the police used illegal means of procuring evidence to arrest him. At the same time, the federal government is willing to reduce sentences of criminals in order to get information they want, and they are willing to break the law in order to prosecute someone they know is guilty.

Roulet’s case highlights the depth of corruption and inability to provide swift justice. Some of this is because of racism, classism, and other biases. For example, despite the fact that Roulet’s victim identifies him and her two neighbors corroborate her story, Roulet still manages to convince a judge to allow bail and convince Mick that he didn’t commit the crime. On the other hand, Jesus Menendez pleads guilty to a crime he didn’t commit because of his race, class, English fluency, and other such circumstances. Later, we see that facts and evidence mean little in court without a lawyer’s persuasive oratory skills. Even after Mick knows about Roulet’s multiple crimes, Mick argues impressively before a jury that his guilty client is innocent, manipulating the evidence into a not guilty verdict. This makes readers ask the unspoken question: If Jesus were white and wealthy, would Mick have fought harder to defend him, using his vast array of courtroom skills?

Stereotypes and Stock Characters

As many thrillers do, this novel uses stock characters. We have such one-dimensional characters as the purely evil villain (Roulet), the pure and just crusader (Maggie McPherson), and the overbearing mother (Mary Windsor). Relying on easy-to-grasp flat characters like these helps the fast-paced plot drive forward.

However, the novel sharply contrasts the idea of stock characters with harmful stereotypes. The author repeatedly introduces a character from a narrow, biased perspective, only to show that the initial characterization relied on prejudice and was completely wrong. This allows readers to see the danger inherent in stereotyping, particularly within the justice system. One good example is Louis Roulet. We meet Roulet as a wealthy white man in good standing in his community—a stereotype that makes it hard to believe that he is capable of committing a vicious crime. When we find out the truth about Roulet, we realize that the stereotype obscured his true identity—the stock character of the sadistic, cold villain. Reggie Campo and Jesus, on the other hand, are easy to dismiss and stereotype. Reggie seems like a possible predator simply because she is a sex worker, while Jesus, a poor, Hispanic man who pays for sex and has a drug-dealing brother, seems easy to dismiss as a killer. Again, when these stereotypes turns out to be false, we realize that they were based in prejudice—hidden behind them are these characters’ stock types, the helpless female victim and the falsely convicted innocent man.

Finally, the stereotype that defense attorneys are corrupt and the powers of the state stand on moral high ground is debunked. Detectives and prosecutors repeatedly break and bend laws in much the same way that Mick does, executing bad faith search warrants, infringing on privacy laws, and withholding or faking evidence. Instead, the corrupt defense attorney manages to get the real killer arrested and the falsely accused man freed.