Mickey got himself from one conflict of interest into another in a day.
Lisa’s case began on The Lincoln Lawyer Season 2 Episode 3 as Mickey learned of the particulars and tried his own opinions to decide the best way to approach representing her or if he should represent her.
The biggest issue with this case was that there was a preexisting relationship between Mickey and Lisa, and as a result, there was a conflict of interest.
On one side, Mickey was a lawyer and had the discretion to decide which case he wanted to represent.
On the other side, he had a pretty intimate relationship with the client before her arrest. If he has feelings for her, that could greatly compromise his ability to represent her properly.
It could also have him in legal crosshairs as people who have feelings for another person are not known to be the best decision-makers where that other person is concerned.
It is a problem Lorna noticed and made her objections known. But there was only so much she could do.
Lorna: I don’t wanna say this out loud, but sometimes the simplest answer is the right one. Maybe Lisa did it.
Mickey: Why wouldn’t you say that out loud?
Lorna: Because you’ve never represented someone you’ve slept with, and we’re all watching what we say around here. because you’re not exactly unbiased.
This problem was at par with what we discussed earlier in The Lincoln Lawyer Season 2 Episode 2 review about the nature of relationships.
As it stood, Lisa and Mickey had a romantic relationship, and adding a professional angle to it would make for murky affairs.
There was a choice to make.
When Mickey arrived at the police station to check on his client, his behavior was concerning. It’s not uncommon for lawyers and police officers to detest each other, but each knows to tread easily because you never know where to meet another person while working.
Mickey seemed irrational, irate, and frankly scared.
He had to exchange a few favors here and there, but he finally saw Lisa.
But before that, he did something that hinted that he might not be as compromised as we thought.
I’m unsure if asking for interview footage is part of his process, but that was smart. It would allow him to watch Lisa’s behavior naturally before she knew of Mickey’s presence and see whether she acted any differently.
That footage would inform how he would approach representing her. For a lawyer to get someone the not guilty verdict, they must know whether the client is innocent of the crime they have been accused of.
Learning of the innocence or lack thereof of the client should not change what the lawyer is there to do, but it can inform the approach they take.
The first mistake he made in the Trevor Elliot case on The Lincoln Lawyer Season 1 was forgetting that clients can lie, and he wasn’t about to make the same one with Lisa Trammel on The Lincoln Lawyer Season 2.
Given all the history between Lisa and Mickey, he genuinely approached this better than most lawyers would.
He drew a line in the sand between the different natures of their relationships and stuck to one side. He chose to keep it professional.
Lisa: I’m not a murderer. You believe me, right?
Mickey: Lisa, I’m your attorney right now. I’ll tell you what I tell every client. It doesn’t matter what I think. It’s irrelevant.
As a professional relationship, he was able to help Lisa the best he could. He gave her proper advice without letting his feelings get in the way. He avoided convincing himself she was innocent until he was sure she was.
He might have slipped up when she visited him, but maybe he didn’t. We will have to wait and see.
And to prove that he was right in keeping it professional, the world watched through Henry.
Mickey was very suspicious of Henry, but I was unconvinced Henry was up to no good. He was doing his job of following the story wherever it took him.
If there is anything we have learned from content creators, it is that content is king. Anything for content, even if that involves staking out a lawyer’s house.
Henry: Henry Dahl. Nice to meet you.
Lisa: Henry’s a podcast producer. He interviewed me a few months back for a story about gentrification.
Mickey: Podcasts?
Henry: You might’ve heard of Murder on the Hudson. It was in The New York Times’ top 10 for three months. It was a huge hit.
The Lisa Trammel case saw Mickey meet the next DA he will be locking horns with for the foreseeable future. And she was exactly like him, except she didn’t represent rich people.
The dynamic between Mickey and Andrea was a great one as none were afraid of the other. It will make for an exciting hearing as the case goes on.
They were off to a great start, with Andrea making it hard for Lisa and Mickey after she argued strongly that the judge set bail at a high amount.
Andrea: Judge, the defense would like to paint his client as some folk hero, but that doesn’t change the fact that the victim filed a temporary restraining order against her. This is a dangerous individual.
Judge: I’ve heard enough. We’re splitting the difference. Bail will be set at two million dollars.
In his personal life, things were going great with Maggie until they weren’t.
I called it in The Lincoln Lawyer Season 2 Episode 1 review. There was too much at stake in their relationship for them to keep interacting so much.
The biggest thing was their daughter; they should protect their individual relationships with her at all costs.
A simple exchange of niceties should be enough if they meet somewhere in the court.
Mickey did a better job of hiding that he was hurt when he learned that Maggie was moving on with someone else. She didn’t feel the same when she knew of Lisa.
Because Mickey had played dirty when he learned that Andrea and Maggie knew each other and were discussing the case, what’s to stop Maggie from doing the same with the information she learned about Mickey and Lisa’s relationship?
Who could blame her if it slipped out casually during a conversation with Andrea?
Lorna put two and two together and realized Cisco had been lying to her. Can anything get past her?
She confronted him about him, and to his credit, he didn’t lie. The truth will usually set you free; in his case, it did. Of course, he felt guilty for lying to her, so he tried to rid himself of the guilt by scaring Dean Wheaton. You can get more in our The Lincoln Laywer episode guide.
Izzy reconnected with Ray, and they went out to dinner. Mickey was clearly not for this relationship because it reminded him of everything he might be doing wrong with Lisa.
“Conflicts” did just that. It set up the main conflicts for the season, both professionally and personally.
Lisa’s behavior in the courtroom was a bit weird, making me think she must be hiding something.
What about you? Did you believe she was innocent?
Hit the comments.
Denis Kimathi is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. He has watched more dramas and comedies than he cares to remember. Catch him on social media obsessing over [excellent] past, current, and upcoming shows or going off about the politics of representation on TV. Follow him on Twitter.