The Most Morally Repugnant TV And Movie Lawyers

Maury Levy (Michael Kostroff) in "The Wire"

Ever heard the phrase, "he's a player's coach"? Well, Levy is a "scumbag's attorney" and effectively a co-conspirator with the Barksdale drug organization who enables it to further crimes. Levy defends the group's kingpins, which is not a crime, but he advises them how to avoid police surveillance and when to "clean up messes" - i.e., kill people who might cause problems. Levy could declare moral bankruptcy.

Telling quote: "You are feeding off the violence and the despair of the drug trade. You are stealing from those who themselves are stealing the lifeblood from our city. You are a parasite who leeches off the culture of drugs..." (To which Omar replies, I got the shotgun. You got the briefcase. It's all in the game though, right?")

Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall) in "The Godfather" (Parts I and II)

Hagen is the German-Irish, mafia-protecting version of Maurice Levy (although Levy is really a later rendition of Hagen) who's loyal to the Corleone family to a fault. Among other moral transgressions, Hagen Esq. once visited the imprisoned Frank Pentangeli, a made man who had turned on Michael with the feds, and suggested that he kill himself to protect his family from retribution; Pentangeli slit his wrists.

Telling quote:  "I have a special practice. I handle one client. Now you have my number, I'll wait for your call. By the way, I admire your pictures very much."

Rankin Fitch (Gene Hackman) in "The Runaway Jury"

The movie is based on the same-named John Grisham novel, most of which contain a candidate for this collection of crooked lawyers. Fitch stands out because he's faux-attorney or "legal consultant" operating a clever scheme for the benefit of tobacco companies: he funnels in video from a camera he plants in the courtroom showing his client querying prospective jurors in order to manipulate the selection process to his client's favor. It gets much worse, as Fitch involves himself directly with the jurors and attempts to blackmail a few. Thank you for smoking!

Telling quote: "You think your average juror is King Solomon? No, he's a roofer with a mortgage. He wants to go home and sit in his Barcalounger and let the cable TV wash over him. And this man doesn't give a single, solitary droplet of sh*t about truth, justice or your American way."

Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckert) in "The Dark Knight"

Well for starters, Gotham's district attorney Dent is also "Two-Face." In his old day job he was an honest, justice seeking White Knight; after the tragedy that claimed half his face, he became a coin-wielding menace hell-bent on exacting revenge on the former police chief and his family, holding them at gunpoint. He's more of a sympathetic figure in the movie than he is in the comics and clearly he's no Joker, but Two-Face definitely checked his attorney's license at the door when he walked out of the hospital and started packing heat.

Telling quote: "You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain."

Eli Gould (Gene Borkan) in "Se7en"

Two attorneys appear in the 1995 crime thriller "Se7en" but we're talking about the one without a speaking role, i.e., the dead guy. We don't know much for certain about Eli Gould except (1) he was a wealthy attorney (2) whom the killer bled to death for the sin greed. "You guys must have been secretly thanking me for that one!" said the killer. As for the why - apparently the lawyer helped a pedophile beat a conviction for rape of a minor; indeed our justice system guarantees everyone his day in court and it isn't certain that Gould himself committed any atrocity but we're going to take the deranged serial killer's word for it.

Telling quote: "Greed." - written in Gould's own blood on the floor of his office.

Miguel Prado (Jimmy Smits) in "Dexter"

Since we arrived at the intersection of serial killers and lawyers... there's the matter of Miguel, the Miami assistant district attorney who begins as Dexter's confidant and first real friend, and ends up murdering with him. Some hobbies are best enjoyed alone. Miguel abuses the power of his office, stabs and kills a hit man, and kills an innocent woman (attorney Ellen Wolf) during his downward spiral that concludes on Dexter's table.

Telling quote: "I'll do what I want to whom I want, to whomever I want! Count on it!"