It`s not just Saul. Other morally ambiguous defenders of film and television have caught our attention despite – or perhaps because of – their flaws. We are not sure what this says about us viewers and our perception of the legal profession. But now that Saul seems to have ended his run as the undisputed king of flawed lawyers in film and television, it may be a good time to take a look at his closest competitors: Inverse sat down with Huff to tell the whole story of Don`t Go to Jail: Saul Goodman`s Guide to Keeping the Cuffs Off, A book without precedent or relevance. to experience. But with a lot of good jokes. Clients benefit more from having a lawyer who offers them useful ideas and encourages them to do better. This type of advice can manifest itself in several ways. For example, a lawyer may suggest a more favorable business structure for an early-stage company that wants to grow. A lawyer may also suggest a more effective negotiating position in a settlement conference that improves the client`s chances of resolving a dispute. Lawyers should never hesitate to find and suggest ways for the client to improve their situation.
Some lawyers often refrain from giving free advice or useful legal advice to non-clients because they feel they should be compensated for this information. However, this approach costs them valuable opportunities to prove their expertise. Customers only buy a product or service if they understand the value they receive. Lawyers should embrace this philosophy and proactively provide useful advice. However, there is an idea from Goodman`s monologue that every lawyer should be aware of: he charges this client a fixed fee. I have been advocating for years for lawyers to include a flat fee in their billing. (We do this in my business.) I abhor the traditional model where lawyers charge their clients for legal services by the hour. This model pits the financial interests of the lawyer (more time = more fees) against the interests of the client (less time/work of the lawyer = less fees). It never made sense to me. In case you didn`t know, Saul Goodman is the central character in Better Call Saul, a TV masterpiece that recently completed its six-year existence on AMC and AMC+.
Saul is the story of a villain, often dressed loudly, who transcends the boundaries of legal ethics – and crosses borders – while building a law firm doomed to collapse and burn. Saul Goodman is the legal counsel for the “Empire.” On the surface, Goodman is the archetype of the sordid lawyer. He advertises his practice with cheesy “Better Call Saul” TV commercials proclaiming, “I`m fighting for YOU, Albuquerque!” and a website with a “Welcome Lawbreakers” banner and “Blue Light Special” offers: “From parking tickets to mass murders, slips and falls to bond fraud, Saul Goodman and Associates is your one-stop shop for all your legal needs. Just this week – two shoplifting arrests for the price of one! 2 His office is located in a seedy shopping mall and features a huge inflatable Statue of Liberty on the roof3 and a grandiose oval interior office with constitutional-style wallpaper and fake fluted columns. What`s the most illegal thing you`ve ever done? If Saul could just keep his nose clean and not cross the line that should never be crossed, he would be an incredible defender. As a company, we watched the series in anticipation of Season 2, which currently consists of three episodes. From our legal point of view, it was interesting to see a small local lawyer, Jimmy McGill, transform into Saul Goodman, a shy and kind man who speaks fast. What do you think? If you were to break the law, would you name Saul Goodman? What are your own experiences with lawyers and the legal system? Lawyers are generally good at advocacy, but not very good at marketing or networking. Many businesses and individuals need legal services, but the general inability of lawyers to market themselves effectively prevents these clients from benefiting from the services of a competent lawyer.
Lawyers should take a page from Saul`s book and develop an effective networking hook they can use when meeting new people or marketing their services. In litigation, for example, lawyers are much more effective when they can turn the facts and information provided by a client into a compelling narrative that leads a judge, arbitrator or mediator to rule in the client`s favour. Because storytelling is less mechanical than the dry, logical progression of legal reasoning, lawyers should spend more time learning how to turn uninteresting information into something everyone wants to read. As a student, I was convinced that one day I would become a lawyer. It was one of my passions to learn all about the law and the legal profession. Saul Goodman was a master at helping his clients find ways to hide money or convert it into legitimate income. Here, aside from the clearly illegal advice to buy a laser tag store so that Walt can launder the millions of dollars he made cooking methamphetamine, Goodman has to be thanked for his creativity. Another feature of Goodman was that he understood how to market and how to do it effectively. In today`s world, companies that embrace the “donors win” marketing philosophy and add value to potential customers for free often attract more paying customers. Even though Goodman passed on the above advice to Walt Jr., he probably left an impression. and you couldn`t help but wonder who else Walt and Skyler would call if Walt Jr.
got into that kind of trouble. In college, it is quite possible that I occasionally buy illegal substances for recreational purposes. That`s all you get. Second, it provides predictability for the customer. The lawyer can give the client a certain price, and that price does not change. (You know, how virtually every other good or service is priced.) In fact, in Breaking Bad, this “joke” turns out to be the logic that convinces Walt to hire Saul Goodman. As Jesse explains, “He`s the guy you want. When it comes time to push, you don`t want a defense lawyer, you want a defense lawyer, you know what I mean? 6 And Saul fully identifies with the designs of his “despised clients.” If there is an ethical lesson for lawyers in Breaking Bad, it could be a warning about the siren song of unbridled advocacy. Clients want him, lawyers admire him and he is on television.
Steve Huff literally wrote the book about “Jimmy” McGill, Esq. A lawyer should always take the time to learn about a client. Goodman`s bedside manner in this scene left much to be desired (even if it was hilarious). However, he was blunt, pointing to the inadequate results of Walt and Jesse`s meth business. It was difficult, but it made one point: Walt and Jesse had to step up their game. Goodman never hesitated to point out Walt and Jesse`s mistakes or identify their weaknesses. Lawyers should be equally open. A lawyer should always explain to a client the weaknesses of his position or the challenges ahead.
If a lawyer promises everything to a client under the sun – especially in litigation – frustration will inevitably arise if events don`t go as promised, and the pressure on everyone will increase. While a brutally honest prognosis for a deal or negotiation may deter a client from proceeding, it is far preferable to the alternative, which can cause serious headaches for everyone involved. The best thing about Breaking Bad was that it raised the stakes every season. Each season, the showrunners introduced something new that made things more interesting. In episode 8 of season 2, we were introduced to Saul Goodman, a criminal defense attorney – played by Bob Odenkirk – who ran his practice from a mall, had large Greek pillars in his office, was known for his low-budget TV commercials (“The Constitution says you have rights! Me too!â) and offered a variety of hilarious lines and spontaneous remarks. I tried to align what I wrote with what Season 1 and Breaking Bad said about Jimmy/Saul, where it made sense to do so, but the book remains as its own thing. It was planned and structured in such a way that it was not absolutely necessary to know the whole story of Saul`s life. Well, most — I`ve heard more than once that people say I have to tell you. I know lawyers like Saul – which is always funny to me because it occurs to me that they might mean they are like Saul.7 Saul Goodman was not an ethical lawyer, and he embodied the kind of defamation that many consumers despise in some lawyers. However, if you`ve carved your way through the humor and glorification of Goodman that Breaking Bad tried to highlight, it`s not hard to see that Goodman`s many antics began with a base of effective and useful traits that many lawyers should follow.