SUITS on USA: Do you care about what Mike did?

[Skald_the_Rhymer]

There are at least two ways to take that question, and I’d like to address both of them.

For people who don’t watch the show, Suits is set at a prestigious Manhattan law firm that makes a point of only hiring lawyers who graduated from Harvard Law. The two leads are Harvey Spector, the firm’s star litigator, and his protege, Mike Ross. In point of fact Mike did not graduate from Harvard or even from college; he’s a genius who nonetheless got himself expelled from undergrad after his skeevy best friend persuaded him to help others cheat, who then supported himself by taking the bar exam for others for years. Harvey hired Mike for the firm in full knowledge that he had no genuine credentials. For years Mike worked as a lawyer at Harvey’s firm,performing brilliantly on account of being a genius, but always with the specter of exposure, disgrace, and possible jail. Initially only Mike, Harvey, and Harvey’s secretary/platonic lover Donna know the truth about Mike, but over time, Mike’s eventual girlfriend (whose name I forgot while typing this sentence; she’s a law student and paralegal at the firm) and Jessica (the firm’s managing partner and Harvey’s other platonic lover ) discover the truth, and, presumably being high on crack at the time, keep Mike’s secret. In recent episodes Mike’s secret has been discovered by a prosecutor who has the gall to actually prosecute him for being a fraud. Exactly how that is going I cannot say, because, though Jessica and Donna and what’s-her-name are all very pretty, I lost interest in the show years back.

Anywho, here’s my two questions.

1. First the in-story perspective. Suppose you were a client of the firm’s. Mike has done brilliantly as your lawyer, in litigation, drawing up contracts, etc; by every metric you can name, you were better off for having him as your lawyer. When you learn that Mike is a fraud, would you feel cheated? Want to sue? What’s your reasonging, either way?

2. Now from a story-external perspective. Do you have any sympathy for Mike and Co., or is the ration of shit they are currently eating exactly what they deserve? (By Mike & Co. I only mean those characters who were in on the secret, not people who worked at the firm but didn’t know.)

Thought?

[TBG]

As a client, the only way I’d feel cheated is if, as brought up on the show as a possibility, it caused my successful suit to get overturned.

Story external, of course they’re getting what they deserve but they’re the “heroes” of the series and thus things are so strongly written in a way that it’d seem weird to not still feel “on their side” even though they’re guilty as sin.

Mike’s girl’s name is Rachel, btw.

[Dewey_Finn]

@Skald_the_Rhymer

2. Now from a story-external perspective. Do you have any sympathy for Mike and Co., or is the ration of shit they are currently eating exactly what they deserve? (By Mike & Co. I only mean those characters who were in on the secret, not people who worked at the firm but didn’t know.)

As for this, basically zero sympathy for Mike, Harvey, Jessica and Louis. In particular, Jessica as the managing partner of the firm had an obligation to the other partners to protect their investment.

[Leaper]

I seem to remember a Law and Order episode in which it was found that a murdered ADA was an impostor who stole a classmate’s identity (I don’t THINK he graduated from law school, but he definitely didn’t under his real name). From what I recall of the episode, no one was overly concerned that the impostor’s cases would be overturned just because he wasn’t who he said he was (and possibly, not a duly barred lawyer). No idea whether that’s at all realistic, but it reminded me of this.

[Terminus_Est]

Point of order: AFAIK Mike never took the bar exam nor took the bar exam for others. What he did was take the LSAT for others - the Law School Admission Test. That’s the test that gets you into law school in the first place. You take the bar exam after you graduate from law school, and that’s what actually makes you a lawyer.

As for my opinion: Jessica should have canned Mike and Harvey when she found out about the whole thing. But then we wouldn’t have a show.

[Skald_the_Rhymer]

@Terminus_Est

Point of order: AFAIK Mike never took the bar exam nor took the bar exam for others. What he did was take the LSAT for others - the Law School Admission Test. That’s the test that gets you into law school in the first place. You take the bar exam after you graduate from law school, and that’s what actually makes you a lawyer.

As for my opinion: Jessica should have canned Mike and Harvey when she found out about the whole thing. But then we wouldn’t have a show.

In the pilot, Mike specifically says that has passed the bar multiple times, just not under his own name. Simply passing the LSATs wouldn’t require the knowledge of legal minutiae he’s displayed from day one. It’s clear that he has instant total recall of every book he’s ever read (though he initially lacked a lot of practical, non-textbook knowledge.)