''The Lincoln Lawyer'' is a 2005 novel, the 16th by American

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definit ...

writer

Michael Connelly Michael Joseph Connelly (born July 21, 1956) is an American author of detective novels and other crime fiction, notably those featuring LAPD Detective Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch and criminal defense attorney Mickey Haller. Connelly is the bes ...

. It introduces

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

attorney

Mickey Haller J. Michael "Mickey" Haller, Junior is a fictional character created by Michael Connelly in the 2005 novel ''The Lincoln Lawyer''. Haller, a Los Angeles-based defense attorney, is the paternal half-brother of Connelly's best-known character, LAP ...

, half-brother of Connelly's mainstay character Detective Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch. It was adapted as a 2011 film of the same name, starring

Matthew McConaughey Matthew David McConaughey ( ; born November 4, 1969) is an American actor. He had his breakout role with a supporting performance in the coming-of-age comedy '' Dazed and Confused'' (1993). After a number of supporting roles, his first succes ...

Plot

Moderately successful criminal defense attorney Mickey Haller operates around

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is the ...

out of a

Lincoln Town Car The Lincoln Town Car is a model line of full-size luxury sedans that was marketed by the Lincoln division of the American automaker Ford Motor Company. Deriving its name from a limousine body style, Lincoln marketed the Town Car from 1981 to ...

(hence the title) driven by a former client working off his legal fees. While most of his clients are drug dealers and gangsters, the story focuses on an unusually important case of wealthy Los Angeles

realtor A real estate agent or real estate broker is a person who represents sellers or buyers of real estate or real property. While a broker may work independently, an agent usually works under a licensed broker to represent clients. Brokers and agen ...

Louis Roulet, accused of assault and attempted murder. At first, he appears to be innocent and set up by the female "victim". Roulet's lies and many surprising revelations change Haller's original case theory. He reconsiders the situation of Jesus Menendez, a former client serving time in

San Quentin State Prison San Quentin State Prison (SQ) is a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation state prison for men, located north of San Francisco in the unincorporated place of San Quentin in Marin County. Opened in July 1852, San Quentin is the ...

after pleading guilty to a similar and mysteriously related crime. Haller outmaneuvers Roulet (revealed to be a

rapist Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, Abusive power and control, ...

and murderer) without violating ethical obligations, frees the innocent Menendez, and continues in legal practice. He also conducts much self-examination and acquires some

emotional baggage Emotional baggage is an everyday expression that correlates with many varied but similar concepts within social sciences, self-help movements, and other fields: its general concern is with unresolved issues of an emotional nature, often with an impl ...

Characters

- criminal defense lawyer * Margaret McPherson - Haller's ex-wife, prosecuting attorney * Louis Ross Roulet - the accused * Ted Minton - prosecutor in Roulet's case * Fernando Valenzuela - The Bondsman * Jesus Menendez - Haller's former client * Dwayne Corliss - jailhouse snitch * Reggie Campo - Roulet's alleged victim * Martha Renteria - Menendez's alleged murder victim * Raul Levin - Haller's investigator and colleague in Roulet's case * Lorna Taylor - Haller's manager and ex-wife * Cecil C. Dobbs - the Roulet family lawyer * Mary Windsor - Louis Roulet's mother * Detective Howard Kurlen - the lead detective on the Jesus Menendez case * Detectives Lankford and Sobel - two cops who investigate Levin's murder

Reception

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' wrote: "Mastering the

egal thriller Egal or Égal may refer to: People * Ali Sugule Egal (1936–2016), Somali composer, poet and playwright * Fabienne Égal (born 1954), French announcer and television host * Liban Abdi Egal, Somali entrepreneur * Muhammad Haji Ibrahim Egal (1928– ...

on his first try, Connelly delivers a powerhouse drama fueled by cynicism and driven by a criminal defense lawyer named Michael Haller ('People call me Mickey') who works for the scum of the earth and makes no apologies."

In other media

Film adaptation

The novel was adapted as a 2011 film of the same name, starring

as Haller and

Marisa Tomei Marisa Tomei ( , ; born December 4, 1964) is an American actress. She came to prominence as a cast member on ''The Cosby Show'' spin-off ''A Different World'' in 1987. After having minor roles in a few films, she came to international attention ...

as Maggie McPherson. The film was directed by

Brad Furman Brad Furman is an American film and music video director, producer, and writer. Career Furman grew up in Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania, attended Friends' Central School, and went on to study at New York University (NYU) where he earned a BFA in ...

from a screenplay by

John Romano John or Johnny Romano may refer to: * Johnny Romano (1934–2019), American baseball player * John Romano (physician) (1908–1994), American physician and psychiatrist * John Romano (writer) (born 1948), screenwriter and producer {{human name dis ...

, and produced by Stone Village Pictures.

Lionsgate Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, doing business as Lionsgate, is a Canadian-American entertainment company. It was formed by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is currently headquartered ...

holds the US distribution rights, and

Lakeshore Entertainment Lakeshore Entertainment Group, LLC is an American independent film production, finance, and former international sales and distribution company founded in 1994 by Tom Rosenberg and Ted Tannebaum (1933–2002). Lakeshore Entertainment is headquart ...

holds international rights.

Television series

On June 25, 2019, it was announced that

David E. Kelley David Edward Kelley (born April 4, 1956) is an American television writer, producer, and former attorney, known as the creator of '' Doogie Howser, M.D.'', '' Picket Fences'', ''Chicago Hope'', ''The Practice'', '' Ally McBeal'', ''Boston Publi ...

had developed and written a television series based on the

Haller Haller is a surname of English and German origin. It is the last name of: * Albin Haller (1849–1925), French chemist * Albrecht von Haller (1708–1777), Swiss anatomist and physiologist, also notable for his contributions to botany * Albrecht v ...

series with a commitment from

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

. However, on May 2, 2020 it was announced that the pilot would not be moving forward.

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

subsequently picked up the series and ordered a 10-episode series of ''The Lincoln Lawyer'', with Kelley, on January 11, 2021. Despite the same name of the

eponym An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

ous novel, the series is based on Connelly's second Mickey Haller novel, ''

The Brass Verdict ''The Brass Verdict'' is the 19th novel by American author Michael Connelly and features the second appearance of Los Angeles criminal defense attorney Michael "Mickey" Haller. Connelly introduced Haller in his bestselling 2005 novel ''The Lincol ...

''. Filming for the series began on March 31, 2021. On April 6, 2022, the series was given a May 13, 2022 premiere date.

Awards

The novel received much attention from the mystery community. It won the 2006

Shamus Award The Shamus Award is awarded by the Private Eye Writers of America (PWA) for the best detective fiction ( P. I. = Private investigator) genre novels and short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one si ...

and

Macavity Award The Macavity Awards are a literary award for mystery writers. Nominated and voted upon annually by the members of the Mystery Readers International, the award is named for the " mystery cat" of T. S. Eliot's ''Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats'' ...

for "Best Novel". It was also nominated in the 2006 Anthony Awards for the same honor. Additionally, in 2010 it was nominated in the "Best Mystery Novel of the Decade" category of the Barry Awards, although it lost to

Stieg Larsson Karl Stig-Erland "Stieg" Larsson (, ; 15 August 1954 – 9 November 2004) was a Swedish writer, journalist, and activist. He is best known for writing the ''Millennium'' trilogy of crime novels, which were published posthumously, starting in 2 ...

, author of ''

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo ''The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'' (original title in sv, Män som hatar kvinnor , lit=''Men Who Hate Women'') is a psychological thriller novel by Swedish author and journalist Stieg Larsson (1954–2004). It was published posthumously in 2 ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lincoln Lawyer 2005 American novels American novels adapted into films American novels adapted into television shows Novels by Michael Connelly Novels set in Los Angeles Mass media in Los Angeles County, California Macavity Award-winning works Shamus Award-winning works