The Firm Page #3

It`s not even for you,

and you know it.

It`s easy for somebody rich

to taIk about being poor

Iike it`s some bothersome fIy

you just wave away.

This isn`t about rich or poor.

It`s something that won`t

get fixed with 10 Mercedes.

Hey, that`s not fair,

Abby. That`s not fair!

This is about a mother

in a traiIer park

and a brother

you pretend you don`t have.

Have a nice trip.

Just foIIow me

and don`t over breathe.

What about Sonny Capps?

Aren`t we under pressure?

Tremendous pressure. If we

don`t dive before the bank,

we can`t do it.

You can`t dive

and then fIy within 24 hours.

How can you dive

so soon after the accident?

We don`t know what happened

to Kozinski and Hodges.

There was a pIane crash

Iast week.

We didn`t take a boat

to the Caymans, did we?

That`s ridicuIous. Let us

sit down for five minutes.

Thank you.

Son of a b*tch pays Iess than 5%

tax and wants to fire us.

The Hyatt.

This new pIan

is very aggressive,

and it defers aII your

tax IiabiIity for years.

You couId start right away.

I`m sorry, sweetheart.

I can`t taIk right now.

These taxes

are onIy deferred, right?

The future tax vaIue is Iess

than haIf their present vaIue.

- Who says?

- After the eIection...

Are you teIIing me who`s going

to be president next?

That wouId be

vaIuabIe information.

Mr ToIar has a pIan that...

that meets aII your needs,

whoever`s in the White House.

- Let him teII me.

- He`s trying to.

- Are you his Iawyer or mine?

- Neither one, sir.

- Why the f*** are you here?

- Sonny...

You`re not the firm`s

onIy concern here.

We put you into deaIs

with other cIients

who may be sensitive about

exposing their reIationships

to outside attorneys.

You hear that, counseIIor?

That`s a veiIed threat.

If you`re taIking

about our friends in Chicago,

they don`t make money

when I pay you fees. You do.

They make money

being in business with me.

As Iong as

they`re making money,

they don`t care

who does my taxes.

You don`t know me.

I`m a nice guy.

Lose me a miIIion bucks,

I won`t break your Ieg.

Sonny...

Let`s not get carried away.

What did I say?

- What did I say?

- It`s what you didn`t say.

What I didn`t say?

What didn`t I say?

``Thank you.``

Mr ToIar`s scheduIe

virtuaIIy guarantees you

zero tax with zero risk.

Your stock wouId be the face

amount of the instaIment.

The stock has no vaIue but

it`s offset against income.

You defer your tax in fuII,

even with a bankabIe LC.

- Deferred tiII when?

- What do you care?

It`s the best interest-free Ioan

you`II ever get.

So the worst is I pay my taxes

much, much Iater?

No. Next year they`re cIosing

this IoophoIe.

If you haven`t grabbed

this proposaI,

you`II feeI you`ve been f***ed

with a dick big enough

for an eIephant to feeI it.

Do you know that for a fact?

Hey, you Iike

the word ``protege``?

I never had one.

You ever been one?

I`m ``A``, you`re ``B``.

Right next door.

- Avery, who`s in Chicago?

- We`II get to aII that.

To heII with it.

CIean up and come over.

You earned a good night out.

Mr Abanks, I don`t beIieve

it was an accident.

Just think about it.

I Iost my son.

I`d have screamed bIoody murder

if something was wrong.

- You`re right. I`m sorry.

- Nothing to bury, even.

Just a stone.

They never did find him

or the other two.

What other two?

The other two

who spIit the charter.

Your friends

and two other guys.

Lawyers?

They were in swimsuits.

They paid cash.

- Were they American?

- CouId have been anything.

One was...I don`t know,

squat, heavy.

Other guy had Iong,

bIond hair...aImost white,

with weird bIue eyes.

- Mitch?

- Yeah.

Grab a Red Stripe.

I`m a IittIe sIow.

Take your time.

I`m trying to Iook

as pretty as you,

which I`m convinced I can.

It just takes me

a IittIe Ionger.

Anything to munch on?

Yeah. There`s some stuff

next to the fridge.

It`s got a Iock on it.

Use that key I gave you.

- Do you see it?

- Yeah, sure.

Did you find something?

Listen, Capps is a tough guy,

but he`s aIso a bIowhard.

He Ioves to give the impression

that he`s connected.

He thinks it`s gIamorous.

He said a coupIe of things.

You`re about

to take the bar exam.

Here`s a muItipIe choice...

The difference between tax

avoidance and tax evasion is:

``A``, whatever the IRS says,

``B``, a smart Iawyer,

``C``, 10 years in prison,

``D``...aII of the above!

Being a tax Iawyer`s got

nothing to do with the Iaw.

It`s a game.

We teach the rich how to pIay it

so they can stay rich.

The IRS keeps changing the ruIes

so we can keep getting rich

teaching them.

It`s a game...

One you just pIayed very,

very weII. Where`s your beer?

I decided to wait for the rum.

- I hear it`s good down here.

- Everything is. Taste it aII.

I think that since

we`re here on this isIand,

there`s things we can do

on it...primitive things.

Come on, you deserwe it.

Look,

this isn`t going to happen.

TeII my friend

I went back to the condo.

You don`t know

what you`re missing.

Thanks, anyway.

Are you aII right?

It`s OK. Just wait a minute.

Wait a minute.

Can I Iook at this?

- You`re not a doctor.

- No, but I`ve...

I`ve sprained a Iot of...

I`ve sprained a Iot of ankIes.

MostIy mine.

You shouId...

You shouId ice this.

You shouId aIso

report that guy.

That was your boyfriend.

That was for money.

- Aren`t you going to finish?

- I`m sorry.

- You think that`s...

- It`s nothing to do with me.

- Is this too tight?

- No.

I work in a traveI agency.

I wanted to feeI

Iike aII those peopIe...

with first-cIass tickets

and pretty cIothes.

I guess...I wanted to feeI...

rich.

How much wouId it take

to feeI rich?

I don`t know.

How much wouId it take

to feeI safe?

You did that.

You made me feeI safe.

WiII you stay with me

for a whiIe?

Why don`t you take

the afternoon off?

You deserwe it. Spend it with

that pretty wife of yours.

Oh, sh*t, I forgot.

She phoned Iast night.

What did you teII her?

That you were probabIy

waIking on the beach.

I was.

I guessed right, then, didn`t I?

OK, Mr McDeere.

Just sign where the ``X`` is,

and initiaI where it`s marked.

The man

from ``GentIemen`s QuarterIy``.

How you doing, Ray?

Pretty fair. How`s yourseIf?

It`s a Iong time, huh?

It`s OK.

I`ve become a patient man.

Don`t beat yourseIf up, kid.

If I wasn`t here, I wouIdn`t

want to be here, either.

- You ever taIk to Ma?

- A few months ago.

- StiII with the same guy?

- They`re aII the same guy.

So... You finish Iaw schooI?

Yeah.

That suit`s a dead giveaway.

You get a job on WaII Street?

You aIways said...

No, I`m not. I just...

I went with a firm across

the river in Memphis.

- Memphis?

- Hey, Ray...

WouIdn`t it be funny if I went

to Harward, you went to jaiI,

and we both ended up

surrounded by crooks?

Sonny Capps is thriIIed.

McDeere was dazzIing.

We shouId puII Lamar

out of that tax seminar

and send Mitch instead.

Let him take the jet.

- Any probIem with that, BiII?

- No, no. No probIem.

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