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Better Call Saul "Gloves Off" 2x4 - Commentary (Early Access) (Patreon)

Published:
2023-06-16 00:12:15
Imported:
2024-02
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Better Call Saul "Gloves Off" 2x4 - Commentary (Early Access)

Comments

Chris Eggert

A lot of your discussion regarding the commercial focuses rightly on 'how bad was it?' or it seems like Davis & Main as well as HHM are overreacting, As you mentioned, the show does a good job of showing us this dispute from the POV of the layman. From the lawyer side though, and I recognize that this is a more uptight and traditional viewpoint, but D&M is a prestigious law firm with what seems to be a lot of business (its a large firm, yet seems to have only a few attorneys working on the Sandpiper case) and from the comments of one of Cliff's partners that Sandpiper is not what keeps the lights on. The Sandpiper case is probably not going to be paying out for some time, years at least if the case goes to trial. The old folks are also probably not paying attorneys fees currently (they're unlikely to be able to afford HHM or C&M, even collectively) - the lawyers are either going contingency (take a percentage of the final damages value) or will collect their attorneys fees as part of the damages itself (not sure if there is a RICO rule or statute that allows attorneys fees as damages, my practice is in a different area). At any rate, D&M has a lot of clients that are not the Sandpiper case, and those clients are the ones paying for the D&M overhead while D&M spends time on all of its matters, including Sandpiper which will not be paying for potentially several more years. And those clients probably work with D&M because it has the expectation and reputation of being hardworking, quiet, and dependable (just going based on what we have seen of them). What those clients are likely not expecting are TV lawyers. D&M is not a firm that needs to advertise, their clients likely come to them and aren't going to get their referral from a billboard or a bus stop or a TV ad. Their clients are either referred by word of mouth or a personal connection. In that world, scandal or allegations of wrongdoing could be killer - new clients won't come to you and current clients may look elsewhere. The last thing that a potential client wants to do is hire a firm where there are allegations of wrongdoing or other issues, because people go to these types of firms to solve problems and hand them off neatly so they don't have to worry about them. And allegations against one attorney at a firm could cause years of discussion about a firm or the reputation of the firm. So now, the commercial. I think there are two dynamics to it from D&Ms perspective. One is that Jimmy aired the commercial without getting approval. I think you discussed that at length as well as his potential reasons for doing so, but moreover I think D&M was upset that Jimmy went and did something that could have the potential to damage the firm's reputation without getting approval or even discussing it with other people in the firm. He used a college film crew, did he get a release from the old lady? Did he pay her? There are a lot of factors to consider, especially with the restrictions on lawyer advertising, and it doesn't seem like he talked or cleared them with anyone at D&M. He basically went home, made a home video, rented ad time, and ran it. It was a success, yes, but if it had been a failure or damaging for the firm, these would have all been issues over and above the content of the piece. And if Jimmy did any bit of it wrong, and Schweikart found out about it, they would try to exploit it for as much as they could Also, everything we've seen from D&M is that they are a collaborative bunch. Jimmy talks often with Omar, Jimmy talks often with Cliff, they are all in meetings together - and then Jimmy went off to make this alone, and then chose to run it alone. And he kind of knew there would be issues with it, and that's partly why he did it alone. Hence Cliff's comment about scrutiny. The second bit that I think was bad from D&M's perspective was the content of the ad itself. Again, they're not TV lawyers. They've been doing client outreach by direct mailer up until this point. Cliff says he's not opposed to doing a TV commercial, but you can clearly see what he had in mind when he said that with the example of the mesothelioma ad they ran. The content of the ad that Jimmy made just wasn't in keeping with the D&M culture - it was showy, it was heartfelt, it was passionate, yes, but its the kind of ad that people will talk about. That's a real plus point in Jimmy's mind, but D&M don't want their firm to be talked about in the context of a TV commercial. They're not "ambulance chasers" or personal injury attorneys trying to churn through cases looking for turnover - they are a prestigious firm with a large client base. Those clients want D&M to be there to solve their problems and not rock the boat. If any of them saw Jimmy's ad, they would probably be surprised to see D&M running an ad first of all, but actually one of the attorneys at the firm voicing the ad? Relying on showmanship and pulling on heartstrings to get clients and win cases? Yikes they say as they clench their pearls. I think there is a sort of 'class divide' among the law, at least in the US, between those that need to advertise to get clients (Jimmy, and later Saul as a one man shop) and the big prestige firms that don't need to advertise and see it more as something beneath them, that rely on clients coming to them, and its super interesting that this is part of the dynamic that they've chosen to explore in this show. And, that dynamic also comes back into the dynamic between Chuck and Jimmy and the points you made about Chuck resenting or being jealous of Jimmy and his ability to make people like him and make them laugh. Probably the only way that Chuck has been able to get people to like him (or appear to like him, respect him maybe is a better word) is his work ethic, his intelligence, etc. It's clear why he gravitated to a big prestigious law firm. Love your content and your analysis - great stuff. Really excited to continue.

tyleralexander
>>110868181

Cheers for the extensive explanation on this. I personally just don't come from that world and would never have really understood the full context if someone hadn't put it like that. From that perspective I totally get why they acted like they did. I suppose for me it comes down to myself disagreeing with the 'class divide' element in play here, but that's how a lot of things work so I'm not super surprised by it 😅 Thanks for the explanation and the kind words 😊