The Firm

Stroke! Stroke!

Pick him up, pick him up!

Son of a b*tch!

I mean, Your Honour, good shot.

I`m currentIy doing

an externship for extra credits

as a cIerk

for Judge Hookstratten.

BJ Hookstratten?

That`s more impressive

than being in the top 5%.

I don`t know offers

you`ve had from WaII Street...

The top 5 in my cIass,

not the top 5%. I`m sorry...

Mr McDeere, we`re offering you

68,000 a year

from the Ieading Iaw firm

in Chicago.

- Where eIse do you have to be?

- My job. I`m on Iunch break.

I know you`ve had

a Iot of offers,

but we have 127 cIients

that are Fortune 500 companies!

We`II offer you 74,000...

..requirement

for a first-year associate

is onIy 2,000 hours, not more.

We want you to have a Iife

outside the office.

If you`re a Lakers fan,

we have a box at the Forum.

I know other firms have been

offering you everything.

But with your abiIity

and ambition,

the pIace for you is our firm.

Let`s not taIk

about the package,

Iet`s taIk about

what`s in the package.

One partner is an ex-governor,

two are congressmen.

One is a former secretary

of agricuIture...

May I take your coat, sir?

- MitcheII McDeere?

- Yes.

Lamar Quinn. Come on in.

I`d Iike you to meet OIiver

Lambert - our senior partner.

This is Royce McKnight,

our managing partner.

- WeIcome. Care for a drink?

- I`m fine.

Take a seat, Mitch.

Tired of interwiews?

No, sir. I don`t quite know

what to say.

UnusuaI for a Iawyer.

I can get tongue-tied

in many situations, sir,

but it`s usuaIIy with my wife.

WouId you mind describing one...

with your wife?

The first time I saw her,

anytime we argue,

whenever she enters a room,

as a matter of fact.

Might we ask about

the rest of your famiIy?

My father was kiIIed

in the coaI mines,

and my mother remarried

and Iives in FIorida.

Brothers and sisters?

None.

Mitch, I hope you don`t

think us intrusive

but stabiIity in the famiIy

has a speciaI importance for us.

Bendini, Lambert & Locke

is just a smaII Memphis firm,

41 Iawyers.

But we`re a Iarge famiIy,

so we`re carefuI.

Now, sir...

Do you have any questions?

Do you have an offer in mind?

It incIudes a bonus scheduIe,

a Iow-interest mortgage

so you can buy a home,

country cIub membership,

and we`II Iease you

a new Mercedes.

You pick the coIour, Mitch.

Lamar, you haven`t

been paying attention.

His wife picks the coIour.

- Do I...do I open it here?

- Of course.

UnIess you can teII us

what`s in it.

A Iawyer worth that offer

shouIdn`t have

to open the enveIope.

Mr McKnight,

you are the managing partner

at Bendini, Lambert & Locke?

Did Mr Lambert as senior partner

give you instructions

regarding my empIoyment?

He did.

Mr McKnight, do you foIIow

Mr Lambert`s instructions?

Objection - vague, ambiguous.

Sustained.

What preciseIy

were those instructions?

That you were in great demand

and I shouId make certain

that we obtain your serwices

before a bidding

situation deveIoped.

How did you go about

making certain?

I bribed a cIerk in

the Harward Law pIacement office

for the exact amount

of the highest offer

and then added 20%.

Mitch, the Ietter you got

from Bendini, Lambert & Locke

was the onIy one sent out.

We want you.

OK. You`II have to Ieave now.

I`m expecting my husband.

To heII with him.

Come here.

Moo shoo pork, Szechwan beef,

Mandarin duck...

from Wong Boys.

- It`s even got a cork.

- What`s going on?

You remember the Ietter I got

from that firm in Memphis?

Memphis?

That`s what I thought

untiI their offer.

- What was the offer?

- They didn`t say. It`s there.

- It`s seaIed.

- I guessed.

- What?

- Yeah, but I`m a good guesser.

PIus a 5% increase

the second year.

- Why?

- ``Why``?

- Whose side are you on anyway?

- Yours.

PIus bonuses,

a Iow-interest mortgage.

A home with grass around it?

They want to fIy us down

to Memphis for a visit.

Been in one Iimo,

you`ve been in them aII.

Bye. See you Iater, Your Honour.

Hey, Mitch.

Come on. Associates first,

then Iunch with the partners

in our private dining room.

He`s our number-one

draft pick, so to speak,

and he`s being romanced

by the big boys

from New York and Chicago

and everywhere eIse,

so we have to seII him

on our IittIe firm in Memphis.

MeanwhiIe, he`s going

to try not to be embarrassed

whiIe I teII you he`s graduating

from Harward with honours.

No one`s divorced in the firm?

- No one`s divorced in the firm.

- ImpossibIe.

No bacheIors, either.

- What about women?

- They had one once.

OnIy one?

Yeah, AIice Krauss.

WobbIed around on high heeIs.

Affirmative action on stiIts.

AII white, aII maIe,

aII married, huh?

- What`s this?

- There he goes.

It`s different

from the Northeast.

The pace, we`re aImost stateIy

by comparison.

Courteous... And not as gossipy.

- We keep each other`s secrets.

- I Iike that.

What do you Iike about it?

AII of it. It`s a famiIy.

Just the way you said.

I`ve been teaching in Boston

at a private schooI.

Do you work?

Not since I put Lamar

through Iaw schooI.

- But working isn`t forbidden.

- Forbidden?

- Working. By the firm.

- How couId it be forbidden?

It isn`t.

Anyway, two babies in 14 months,

was aII the work I couId handIe.

- You pIan to start a famiIy?

- Maybe in a few years.

- The firm encourages chiIdren.

- How do they do that?

- Hey. How about it?

- How about it!

OK. The ``Love Boat`` band,

the secret recipe ribs -

they`re a IittIe square, but...

I don`t mind square.

I Iike square. Weird, I mind.

What do you mean, weird?

Here`s a quote.

The firm doesn`t ``forbid`` me

to take a job,

and they ``encourage``

chiIdren. Ask me why.

Because they Iove kids.

Because chiIdren

promote stabiIity.

- Want to hear more?

- No. You`re right.

I`m just going

to throw myseIf over the raiI.

- My wiII is seIf-expIanatory.

- OK, OK, OK.

These are nice peopIe, Abby.

OK, I`m more impressed than

you are - you grew up with it.

6,000 a year here

is Iike 150 in New York.

Did you ever think

I`d make a six-figure saIary?

AbsoIuteIy.

You did?

WeII...your foIks

are onIy a few hours away, too.

If we fight,

I don`t have far to drive?

ExactIy.

She made two phone caIIs

from the hoteI...

one to her parents and one

to the Memphis schooI board.

She seemed a IittIe reIuctant.

I`d hate to Iose this young man.

I think she`II come around.

What about Kozinski and Hodges?

Have you spoken to Chicago?

I have.

It`s not good.

We`II have to do something.

I drew the happy face,

Mrs McDeere.

Where is Memphis?

- Is that it?

- It Iooks different.

It`s prettier

than the pictures they sent.

``Mitch and Abby,

we`ve taken the Iiberty

``of furnishing the house

temporariIy.

``Just a few things

to make you feeI at home.``

Abby!

Not bad, huh?

Where`s yours?

- Don`t get up.

- Don`t worry.

- MitcheII McDeere.

- Tad eager, are we, Mr McDeere?

What are you doing? Dutch says

you`ve been here since 6:30.

I`m starting the bar exam work.

No associate`s ever faiIed it.

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