Trama

Defence lawyer Mick Haller lands a case defending a wealthy realtor's son who is accused of raping a prostitute. Believing his client to be innocent, Haller soon finds evidence that proves otherwise.

Mick Haller is a defense lawyer who works out of his Lincoln. When a wealthy Realtor is accused of assaulting a prostitute, Haller is asked to defend him. The man claims that the woman is trying to get some money out of him. But when Haller looks at the evidence against him, he learns that this case might be linked to an old case of his.—rcs0411@yahoo.com

Mickey Haller, a charismatic criminal defence attorney who works in LA County, California, has installed a proper office in the backseat of his glossy, pitch-black 1986 Lincoln Town Car. Having built a career defending petty criminals, Mickey will find himself neck-deep in trouble when Louis Roulet, a wealthy Beverly Hills playboy accused of aggravated assault and battery, enlists Haller's help to get him off the hook. Now, more and more, this seemingly open-and-shut case turns into a deadly search for the truth. Can the Lincoln Lawyer survive what rapidly develops into something more sinister?—Nick Riganas

Criminal defense attorney Mickey Haller (Matthew McConaughey) operates around Los Angeles County out of his black Lincoln Town Car, chauffeured by Earl Briggs. Haller has spent most of his career defending garden-variety criminals, including for Eddie Vogel (Trace Adkins), leader of a biker gang.

Haller is a smooth operator, but also brutal. He extends the incarceration of his client Harold Casey because he refused to pay his fee. Haller argues to the judge to postpone the case hearing indefinitely, as he was having trouble locating a key witness. This means that his client remains in jail till the hearing is concluded. Lorna (Pell James) is Haller's assistant.

Turns out, Harold works for Eddie and Haller demands that Eddie pay him $10,000 to fly in a key expert witness from New York (who would look at the DEA camera footage and testify that the DEA broke the rules by flying too low on Harold's farm). This was also a hoax, as there was no expert flying in, as the best camera experts live in Hollywood.

Haller lands the case of his career: Louis Roulet (Ryan Phillippe), a Beverly Hills playboy and son of real estate mogul Mary Windsor (Frances Fisher), is accused of the brutal beating of prostitute Reggie Campo (Margarita Levieva) and surprisingly, chose Haller specifically for the case based on a previous case he had read about. The bail for Roulet is set at $1 million. The Roulet family lawyer is Cecil Dobbs (Bob Gunton). Louis made $600,000 in income the previous year.

Haller's ex-wife Maggie is the prosecutor on the Roulet case. Maggie asks for no-bail, but the judge releases Roulet as he had no priors and orders him to wear an ankle bracelet. Haller sets his fee at $100,000, $550 per hour and another $100,000 if the case goes to trial. The clock starts over if there is an appeal.

Haller thinks Roulet is innocent, having simply been at the wrong place at the wrong time. Roulet insists on taking the case to trial at the earliest. Roulet says that Reggie approached him at a bar and left him her address. Reggie was with a date. Roulet got to Reggie's apartment and waited for the date to come out, who was driving a blue mustang. Roulet says that he entered Reggie's apartment after she opened the door and then she hit him with something when his back was facing her. Roulet claims that when he came to, he was held down by a homosexual couple from across the hall, and Reggie was telling the police that Roulet threatened to sexually assault and kill her.

According to Reggie, she never saw Roulet at the bar. He appeared at her apartment and barged through the door. Roulet assaulted Reggie and threw her all over the apartment. His prints were found on a knife. Reggie hit Roulet on the head with a bottle of Vodka and that's when Roulet fell unconscious.

Haller and his investigator Frank Levin (William H. Macy) analyze the pictures and evidence, notably the injuries the victim sustained. It bears a similarity to a past case of Haller's that landed a previous client, Jesus Martinez (Michael Pena), in prison for life for murdering a Donna Renteria, despite always proclaiming his innocence.

Haller has a daughter Hayley (Mackenzie Aladjem) with his ex-wife, prosecutor Maggie McPherson (Marisa Tomei), who has never appreciated Haller's efforts on behalf of guilty clients. Haller begins to wonder if he should have tried harder on behalf of Martinez instead of convincing him to plead guilty in exchange for avoiding the death penalty.

Martinez becomes agitated when Haller visits him at San Quentin and shows him Roulet's picture. Haller begins to suspect that Roulet could be the real killer in the Martinez case, but bound by attorney-client confidentiality rules, he cannot tell the police what he has learned. His own hands tied; Haller tells Levin to investigate Roulet.

When he gets back home, he sees that someone broke into his house. He stumbles upon Roulet, who learned that Haller visited San Quentin earlier. Roulet nonchalantly admits to committing the murder for which Martinez was convicted, and that he chose Haller as counsel in order to bind Haller by attorney-client confidentiality rules and keep him from talking about either case. He also makes veiled threats towards Haller's daughter.

Levin is shot to death after leaving a voicemail message claiming that he has found Martinez's ticket out of jail. The murder weapon used in Levin's murder is a .22 caliber pistol. Haller rushes to his home to find his .22 Colt Woodsman is missing from its carrier box. Haller is suspected of killing Levin because the police discover that the Colt Woodsman is registered to Haller. Haller believes it was stolen by Roulet after he broke into Haller's home.

Obliged to do his best for his client, guilty or not, Haller ruthlessly cross-examines the prostitute and discredits her in the jury's eyes. However, Haller sets up a known prison informant, Dwayne Jeffrey "DJ" Corliss (Shea Whigham), with information on the previous murder. When the informant testifies, Haller discredits him and the state later moves to dismiss all charges in the current case. Roulet is set free, but the police then arrest him immediately for the previous murder based upon testimony Haller had coaxed out of the informant.

Haller acquires a Smith and Wesson pistol from his driver, Earl (Laurence Mason), as a precaution against any retribution he may face. Roulet is released due to lack of evidence and sets out immediately to kill Haller's wife and child, but Haller finds out in time to get them out of the house. He is waiting as Roulet arrives and Haller draws his gun. Roulet mockingly tells Haller he won't be able to guard his family this way every day. Just then, a group of bikers whom Haller has previously represented starts bashing Roulet's Maserati and they brutally beat Roulet. As Haller walks away, he says: "The hospital, not the morgue." He gets a call from Maggie that a parking ticket was issued to Roulet near the house of the previous murder victim, strong evidence against Roulet in his pending murder trial that will support Martinez's release.

Upon arriving home, Haller discovers Roulet's mother, Mary Windsor (Frances Fisher), inside. She shoots him with the Colt Woodsman, the same one that killed Levin, confessing that she committed that murder to protect her son. Haller, wounded, draws the Smith and Wesson pistol that Earl got for him and shoots Mary Windsor, killing her.

Upon being discharged from the hospital, Haller learns that Martinez has been released and the District Attorney will seek the death penalty against Roulet. Haller rides off to his next case: the biker gang, which he takes Pro Bono because of their previous help.