Saul versus Levy from The Wire..
If god forbid I'm facing serious charges I'd feel lucky to have either on my side, but who do you got? Saul obviously has a flashier highlight real, but BB and CS stretch reality a little bit, whereas the Wire is more realistic.
Also I'm not talking about a crazy situation like picking up 7 million in Mexico- lol imagine Levy stuck out in the desert- but a trial taking place in the United States.
While he's definitely not colourful or charismatic enough to command his own show, he was just as smart and ruthless as the best of them. Unlike Jimmy, who often leads with emotions, Maurice is as cold and calculated as Gus.
Curious what others' opinions are of Maurice Levy, especially those familiar with the legal system.
(A) Did he break the law? Do we ever see him aid in the commission of a crime? Obviously lawyers have a right, and obligation, to act in the best interests of their clients within the confines of the law - so "covering up" crimes would have to include Levy committing a separate crime, correct? Does that happen? Or do we ever see him engage in an active criminal conspiracy to commit crimes?
(B) It can be debated if he was morally corrupt, or just acting in the best interests of his clients, but would any of his actions be considered foolish by the legal field? I think there are two parts to this question, if he broke the law, did he do it in a foolish way, so as he could easily have been compromised in an investigation? Or did he cover his bases "relatively" well? Second part, if he did / or in the cases where he did not break the law, did he do anything he didn't have to do as a lawyer, but would be considered ethically wrong by the legal profession?
Not a lawyer, so excuse my questions if they are not worded properly. I just like Maurice Levy as a character and am interested in how his actions could be construed in the "real" world?
Because at the end he tells Herc that he's so happy he gave Herc the number (Marlos) and that Herc gave the number to police. Says it resulted in him becoming a lot more lucrative. Did he give Herc the number
So the whole time was he just acting in front of Marlo? Pretending to put together pieces to make himself look like a better attorney or something?
Like it would be similar to Better Call Saul, could be interesting.
Part of what made Levy's character so compelling despite being a bad guy was that everything he did was legal. He provided defense and invaluable advice to drug dealers, as is their right as defendants and clients. In the show, he seemed to be an example of the superiority of well-paid, well-prepared private defense against tired, burned-out, likely underpaid and over-worked public prosecutors, leading of course to criminals often going free or getting light sentences. Despite being a bad guy, he was legal, smart, and sophisticated. The phenomenon he represents is a sometimes paradoxical yet an essential part of a justice system that allows defendants to hire attorneys outside of the government, for if the government-side of a criminal trial is a prosecutor whose job performance is judged by his conviction rate or something like that, surely nothing less than allowing defendants to properly and adequately defend their cases could possibly ensure a fair trial against such government prosecutors. Again, all of this makes Levy and the phenomenon he represents an extremely interesting and important figure.
But with the DiPasquale thing towards the end of season 5 (DiPasquale leaks confidential court documents to Levy for money, which Levy then passes on to his clients like Prop Joe), the show makes Levy unambiguously a criminal. Perlman uses this as leverage to get a deal out of Levy regarding the Stanfield case (the case against Stanfield was quickly falling apart since while the evidence against Stanfield on paper had come from a confidential informant, Levy (with the help of Herc) and Marlo were figuring out that the only way the police could have found all the info they had on Marlo was through an illegal wiretap), giving a very dramatic (but IMO flashy TV-drama and not very The Wire-like) finish to the story. But whatever, that's not what bothers me the most. What bothers me the most is that the show made Levy a criminal in the legal sense at the very end, endangering all the praise I give in the first paragraph that makes him such an interesting and compelling character.
I know Season 5 already gets a lot of flak for being unrealistic. I always gave it a pass because the fake homeless killer thing was kind of fun to watch because it gives McNulty and Freamon so much fun screen time, but I guess this is another strike against season 5 for me :(.
Round 1. The two lawyers switch places. The winner is determined by who can produce the best outcomes for their clients. Both are intrinsically motivated to win. edit
Atticus appears during season 1 of the Wire, he is brought on retainer for the Barksdale organization. He is allowed to advise his clients and defend them in court for all their trails.
Maurice Levy appears in Maycomb Alabama. He must defend Tom Robinson who stands accused of rape. Maurice has two weeks prep time before the trail.
Round 2. Fight to the death, both sides are unarmed, blood lusted and start in an open field. No prep time.
I ran in to Michael Kostroff (Maurice Levy) on my way to work today! I approached him while he was texting and apologized for bothering him. He was super nice and appreciative that I recognized his work. I didn't want to ask him for a picture, but I did tell him that he was part of my favorite scene in the show.
When Avon got home, Levy was sitting with the other guys in the club talking shop with String and Avon about everything that was going on. But in 3x11 Levy and String meet outside and Levy goes over the documents and gives String a reality check.
Levy says that he wished String had talked to him about this sooner, but wouldn't Levy be aware what was going on by that conversation in the club?
Seems like he's trying to convince everyone an issue doesn't exist.
http://www.businessinsider.com/ana-client-agency-relations-2015-report-kickbacks-rebates-2015-4
