Hopefully it gets renewed for another season . . .
It was a great episode, though the Mrs. complained about so much time watching Chuck tearing down his house.
I loved Howard sticking it to Chuck by risking so much to buy him out, then essentially booting him out of the firm in front of everyone. :eek: 
Yup, that was pretty narsty, but good for Howard. He called Chuck’s bluff. Have you ever seen Coppala’s The Conversation?
What I liked is that he didn’t just call the bluff, he called Chuck out on the betrayal of suing the firm as a first response. Before Chuck sued HHM, Howard would have been willing to work with him in some way to smooth the ending or keep up appearances, but instead of forcing Howard to change his mind Chuck’s lawsuit demonstrated to Howard that he can’t afford to compromise with Chuck or do anything but get him out of the picture ASAP. Howard’s quiet “You’ve won,” made me immediately think of “you make a desert and call it peace.”
I assume Chuck’s ex-wife would inherit everything. Assuming Chuck has actually died, of course.
And to Jimmy McGill, whom I promised to mention in my will. Hello Jimmy. 
Yeah, and I thought about that flick after last night’s episode too. 
I’ve seen The Conversation and thought of it during Chuck’s meltdown scene.
One of the participants in the aftershow Talking Saul said what he was reminded of was the Ray Bradbury story “The Fruit at the Bottom of the Bowl.” I hadn’t thought of that story in years, but the guy was right: it’s another example of self-destructive, neurotic obsessiveness.
If Chuck actually made a proper will - it’s possible that he was arrogant enough and dismissive enough of his own condition that he never bothered to make one. It’s also possible that there is some flaw with the will (not properly updated since the divorce) that becomes a plot point, though I doubt either of these will happen.
I don’t think they’re going to cop-out on Chuck dying, that’s really the kind of lame storytelling Walking Dead resorts to. Also Michael McKean has said that this was Chuck’s death scene in interviews and doesn’t plan to return except for flashbacks, so…
He purposefully made it appear to be an accident. Would that have any bearing on the estate?
When trying to distinguish between Saul Goodman and Jimmy McGill, I think people tend to focus too much on Saul Goodman as a slimy, cutthroat lawyer. While it’s true that he did some unsavory things (recommending Badger’s murder, helping Walt and Jesse launder their money), it was also clear that he still cared about other people. He helps Jesse take care of Andrea, has a one-on-one with Brock, and even counsels Jesse to connect with them again. In his last interaction with Walt, he’s empathetic and considerate of Walt’s situation. Even with Hank, somebody he clearly doesn’t like, there’s a pang of regret when he has Francesca lie about Marie being in a serious car accident. At one point, he even helps Walt warn the DEA that Hank is in danger, despite the fact that doing so could very well expose him.
On a life-insurance payout, perhaps, but not on the terms of the will (if there is one). (Or at least I’ve never heard of a will’s provisions being affected by the manner of death of the testator.)
Dang, what a depressing finale. Jimmy comes clean and completely destroys his client base AND loses the settlement money, and Chuck loses it and kills himself. Hector finally has his stroke. Amazing how the person who probably came out of it the best was the one who had a car accident last episode. Well, and Hamlin, who had quite the awesome moment upending Chuck.
Does he need a lump sum of money to set up? IIRC he’s got an office in a strip mall, a secretary, and a security guard. Seems entirely in line for what to expect from an attorney just doing criminal law (especially if he’s making a bit ‘under the table’ from nefarious means). If he had millions of dollars one would think he’d be setting up a big firm, hiring some other lawyers, getting a much nicer office, etc.
Well, Sandpiper should give a raw sum over $1 million when it finishes, which will be something in the hundred thousands after taxes. That’s enough money to comfortably buy a building and renovate it, plus get a lot of other stuff set up like Ice Station Zebra and money laundering schemes, and for him to lose some on bad ideas while he’s learning. If he actually gets the $8-9 million that’s Chuck’s share, then something needs to happen to it, because yeah that’s too much spare money. OTOH it’s pretty easy to imagine him and Kim going into a venture that crashes and burns badly and uses up whatever money he gets his hands on.
Well, he doesn’t need a LOT. But it’s a lot easier to get a business like that started if you don’t need to go beg for small business loans despite having a very sketchy or non-existant record up until now.
As for Hector, I certainly remember him in the wheelchair… but I somehow had it in my brain that during the events of BB he had recently gotten out of prison. But it’s entirely possible I’m just making that up out of whole cloth.
I’m not sure that it does appear to be an accident - he ripped out the walls, piled the room high with flammable material, then knocked over the lantern. Fire investigator may well call it suicide, and he might have left a note. An accident wouldn’t make any difference to the estate or life insurance payout (if there is one). Generally life insurance doesn’t cover suicide in the first two years of a policy. Suicide doesn’t directly affect the estate, but might be used to help an argument that Chuck wasn’t in his right mind when he last updated his will (presuming there is one) in an attempt to revert to an earlier will that gives Jimmy money.
One of the photos that Mike took for Jimmy was of the lantern sitting on a pile of papers. Will that be significant somehow? Perhaps it will suggest a cause for the fire. Was Chuck aware of the photo?
Or perhaps the new season won’t refer to the circumstances of Chuck’s death at all, and just pick up in the future.
Yup. It was revealed in the hearing regarding Jimmy’s possible disbarment. It will surely come up again (to use a Gustavo phrase).
Same things I was wondering most. I figured that he realized that he cut off all friends…or at least, everyone who cared about his welfare…in the space of a couple of weeks. And he can’t even figure out what’s still making his power meter go off.* In the end I think that was truly the final straw, thinking he had lost his mind utterly and nobody’s left to even bring him milk or pick up his laundry, let alone checking on his “signs of life” as he put it.
Also, a few other posters mentioned the cost of setting up even his cheapo storefront office. Let’s not forget that he was informed that his post-suspension malpractice insurance would go way up. I’m not sure how much we’re talking here, but I do have a parallel from (physician) going from group to private practice. That’s a huge chunk of change right there due to what’s called “nose and tail coverage.” Basically, if you leave a group policy, you’ve often got to fork over a huge amount (in our case, about 5 years worth of premiums due at once) up front, to cover anything iffy that might come up about your time with the old practice. Of course, Jimmy was probably only covered minimally via HHM since he wasn’t a lawyer then, and he would have obtained (likely cheapish) coverage as a public defender. But once he got the ding on his record and all–plus I highly doubt that he immediately informed his liability carrier that he switched from public defender to suddenly throwing out a shingle for tort and elder law, and I’d be surprised if this issue doesn’t turn up–his malpractice is going to skyrocket.
Bottom line is, I could easily see $300,000 just on malpractice in his first year as Saul. Then, even if his new office rent is cheap, he’s got to have insurance on his office. Maybe even decides to get key employee insurance on himself, Francesca, and/or Buell. (Heh, I’m picturing a whole episode or two with him getting rooked by a similarly-scrupled insurance salesman) He probably doesn’t have fantastic credit, either, and if he breaks the lease at his current office building, that won’t help .
He may also have tried to mitigate some expenses or liability or god-knows-what (like Mike, last episode) by incorporating in a non-traditional manner. That costs money. It also wouldn’t surprise me if he bought the strip mall his later office is in, instead of leasing it. Remember, he later tries to offload the nail salon to Walter (for those who have watched Breaking Bad)…I dunno if that was in the same plaza or not, but you get the idea.
To make a long story short, and having been in a roughly parallel position, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Saul Goodman digs cost almost a million to really set up.
*Had a reminiscent situation several years back, trying to set up a home-business network. I know where to look for info but not formally educated on these things. Wifi kept going kaput. (I wanted all cable, but got overridden :rolleyes: ) Blamed permissions on a laptop, plumbing in the walls, my husband’s iPhone, even the damned microwave in the kitchen. It turned out to be all of those things, a bit, but the biggest factor was an overkill hardwired security system (motion sensors and all) that the previous owner had left live. I had some crazy Chuck/Kim nights trying to figure this out. Ended up manically tearing a couple wires out of the wall at 3 AM like…somebody :o
I did a little research on legal malpractice insurance. It is not nearly as expensive as medical malpractice insurance. Rates vary with the area of practice and the experience of the lawyer (rates are actually much higher for senior lawyers since they are likely to be handling complex cases). Annual premiums range from under $1000/year for a new or inexperienced lawyer to $5k-$15k for senior partners. The insurance agent said Jimmy’s premium would be increasing 150%, so moving into the couple thousand range.
Plus there is no requirement for a lawyer to have malpractice insurance.
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We know that Gus does not want Hector to just drop dead - he wants him to suffer, preferably at Gus’ hand. I noticed that when Gus was giving Hector CPR he was only doing chest compressions but no breathing. Is it possible that Gus was doing enough to keep Hector alive but not deliberately not enough to prevent brain damage? I do recall reading that the current thinking is to only do chest compressions in cases of cardiac arrest, but was that standard CPR practice in 2003?
Or am I over thinking it (as usual)?
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Well, color me surprised! I guess nobody wants to sue the lawyers, lol. (and bolding added by me.)
I will add that it’s probably not so much that senior lawyers have more complicated cases, but that they have such a back-catalogue of clients and cases that could be called into question, just like docs.
All righty, then…so why was HHM in a tizzy about their rates increasing, if it’s (relatively) chump change? The principle of the matter? Pointing out blatantly that Howard is an overall liability to the firm? Peanuts compared to his $10 million (or thereabouts) buyout…Of course it was Chuck who complained the loudest about the rate increase. But still. A handful of partners, and I’m guessing a dozen or two lawyers, plus some change for the non-lettered staff…should be no big deal.
Thanks for looking it up, though. I seriously had no idea that their insurance would be so cheap, or even blatantly non-compulsory. Of course, a doctor can “go bare” as well, legally (at least in some locales) or set aside monies to be self-insured.