Real Lawyer Reacts to Better Call Saul (Episode 1)
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Why do bad things happen to good lawyers? Before he was Saul Goodman he was Jimmy McGill -- but he was always a great lawyer. Today we’re going to review Better Call Saul. Stay until the end for my Legal Realism Grade!
I loved Breaking Bad. And Saul Goodman was one of my favorite characters. Despite being down on his luck and faking his own name, he somehow always managed to give good legal advice to certain meth dealers in Albuquerque. Not surprisingly I REALLY enjoyed this show. Are there other episodes that are particularly good? Would you like me to react to another one? Let me know in the comments!
"A court appointed attorney" can be as scary as it is necessary for a person fighting for their freedom, especially if they don't have a choice in attorney, which they usually don't. I think that these court appointed attorneys and all prosecutors should be required to complete CLEs explaining that when they act too "buddy buddy" with opposing council, in front of a defendant, it can make them feel like their attorney and the prosecutor "are in cahoots". So, when their attorney then tries to get them to settle their case, or, if they then "fail" to bring up a point that the defendant feels is valid (usually because it isn't the time to bring up those points - as in a PC case) they are left wondering if settling is really the best possible option.
I've seen one too many PC cases where the defendant ends up asking the judge to get them another lawyer. Out of context it looks like the defendant is just trying to be difficult. In context, the defendant just watched the two of them crack jokes before court, or act too convivially in front of them. I get it, you've been friends for years. But not in front of the client, you maniacs. The defendant may be facing 10 years in prison, you are encouraging them to settle, and in the meanwhile both you and the prosecutor seem to be on too good of terms or in too good of a mood for their liking. And, when the client asks for a change in representation, everyone but him has a look on their face like they don't understand what brought this on. I've seen judges tear defendants a new one for intimating that their lawyers may be selling them out to the prosecutor, "How dare you imply...!" It's kind of disturbing to watch.
Yeah, maybe they aren't using the best language to express their concerns, but their objection to council is not predicated on nonsense...although to be fair, if their council was selling them out to the DAs office, I'd assume that they'd do it in a less obvious manner (or, devil's advocate, maybe it's so common that they don't feel as though they need to hide anything). Do you see what I mean? These are the kinds of things that can give the legal system a bad name. And when/if a case comes up where a public defender is actually caught doing this, it will of course be extrapolated out to the whole system. I'd like to see a CLE (Continuing Legal Education) course, covering subjects like this, be made a requirement, before something like this happens.
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I get asked a lot about whether being a practicing attorney is like being a lawyer on TV. I love watching legal movies and courtroom dramas. It's one of the reasons I decided to become a lawyer. But sometimes they make me want to pull my hair out because they are ridiculous. Today I'm taking a break from teaching law students how to kick ass in law school to take on lawyers in the movies and on TV. While all legal movies and shows take dramatic license to make things more interesting (nobody wants to see hundreds of hours of brief writing), many of them have a grain of truth.
In the statement at the beginning, at one point Jimmy addresses the prosecutor ("Don't you think, Dave?"). Is that something that might happen in a real opening/closing statement?
This is part of a continuing series of "Lawyer Reaction" videos. Got a legal movie or TV show you'd like me to critique? Let me know in the comments!
Props to Dr. Mike's Real Doctor Reacts (https://goo.gl/qF6Hza) and Wired's Technique Critique (https://goo.gl/C8dz2U) for the inspiration.
It is acfucking dumbass tv show.
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I also love the show because of the memes it came out. Especially flying Kitty with his video better call finger because oh the jokes were PEAK. JUST PEAK. it's just too good
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I've always felt you should sell your car, collateralize your testicles or take out any predatory loan available to you before you use a public defender particularly if you're innocent. I have to wonder if they think the same thing.
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OBJECTION!
Idk I just wanted to say it
More User Perspectives
For a secondary I thought this lawyer guy is Jim from The Office .
@soulxineYes, this guy definitely looks like a lawyer.
@senorpolainas35679:33 In some jurisdictions there are salaried public defenders, instead of or in addition to court appointed private attorneys who take cases on a fee basis.
@christophercarrier2902Wheeling out the was so funny
@TimesFM4532Objection: it's correct the new Mexico state defines criminal trespass. A person enters a premise during business hours and even limited hours. Once proprietor or Agents has ask that person or persons to leave and they don't or return after their invitation was expired they committed an act of criminal trespass. The is no defense for a justification of trespassing.
@tracylarson1935My favorite thing about this episode is the wordage Jimmy uses throughout the opening, “Knuckleheads, bananas” etc, so light, silly, innocent, only to contrast with the insane thing his clients actually did.
I’d have loved seeing Saul try to defend Heisenberg.
Insurance falls under that same contract at around the 11 minute mark. If you willingly make payment towards your premium, you are agreeing to the insurance contract or policy that the premium goes towards. Insureds or policy holders (normal folks) will argue that they never signed up for something or that insurance never should’ve excluded something. But if the insured is willingly paying premium, they are agreeing to the terms. Read your policy, people. Change anything you don’t like or go with a company that covers specifically what you need. Don’t trust the agent to know what they are signing you up for.
@GaGaGooey10:00 Well surely, it's older than the US. It's common law from the UK = England. But I get your point, agreed, argued in the supreme court, and defined as such.
@Richie8406Objection: Post another Better Call Saul video!
@chapo39923:31 self defecating (through a sunroof)
@danmilewSalient
@zan5701awe its baby Legal Eagle
@DustinBramhillIt's all good man
@wartemIt was Jimmy McGill not Saul Goodman
@mingyan8081This is the moment when Devin became LegalEaglenberg
@seraphine56309:26 I genuinely thought flyingkitty edited this but nope.
@EniagobiThis is back when the channel was good. Before he spewed his political opinions.
@1TheSarcasticobjection!
i miss when the channel was more light hearted content like this. I understand the current political landscape is an absolute goldmine for legal analysis and your insights are both welcome and necessary.
but, yknow.
once upon a time things were simpler
Just a couple of points: In the HHM office, he's trying to cash his brother out of the law firm that he's a partner of because Chuck has been on a leave of absence due to his "allergy to electricity" that he had developed. Jimmy likely has selfish motives for that. He's not working on behalf of Chuck's interests at all. The scam that he's running with the boys in the last part involves him paying them the money you showed him promising to them after he secures the case of the Kettlemans; Mr. Kettleman stole a bundle of money from the state, basically, and got caught. Jimmy wants to be their lawyer so he can break out of being a public defender. Those boys tried to run their scam on him earlier in the episode. He remembered that and thought that their routine could work to his advantage so he could be Mrs. Kettleman's "Knight in Shining Armor" who rescues her from their scam, thus securing their business.
@solrosinI think one of the most endearing things about Saul that would think some judges would appreciate is self deprecating mannerisms that he displays here trying to explain his clients actions.
@charlesstrader300511:58 oooomg it all just came back to me. What a show! I should rewatch that.
@izzy6131I wish he reviewed the scene where Jimmy simply replaced the defendant
@clubbizarreGood show
@alireza.m2:37 its evident he is not familiar with the show as he refers to him as Saul Goodman here
@anonymoususer602Saul is not a criminal lawyer, he's a CRIMINAL lawyer.
@harrr53Objection: im way too drunk
@waterbottle6644Wouldn't you say that Walter is more of a sociopath than a psychopath?
@flamingninja93“They had sex with a head” hahaha 😂
@nigelcrow6225Im just gonna google this but, how much courts jury stuff like this happen? Yearly?
@ShaneFlettI like that his name sounds like S'all good, man. 😂
@pieflingerpt2I OBJECT! Counsel will refrain from masturbating during the corpse desecration!
@jbrisby"If I were held accountable for the crazy stuff I did when I was nineteen..."
This is such a beautifully ironic bit of foreshadowing, because we find out later that the crazy stuff he did when he was nineteen did in fact have huge consequences for him later, and he could never really fully escape his accountability for it.
You mentioning that sometimes the evidence speaks for itself makes me think about the prosecution's opening statement for Sarah Boone, basically just reading the transcript of her video talking to her dying boyfriend. It was really powerful.
@SK98765OBJECTION!!! Nothings illegal if you don’t get caught
@kombatkode9708Hey! I know this is super late but wasn’t Gideon v. Wainwright only a selective incorporation of the 6th amendment? That right to an attorney previously existed in federal cases right? Or am I mistaken? Either-way awesome video!
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