Reversal of Fortune - Confusion Over Terms in Legal Discussion
Minnie:
He says he doesn't have anything that'd help us.
Alan Dershowitz:
You with me?
Sarah:
Paydirt.
Raj:
What's paydirt?
Alan Dershowitz:
He's a lawyer. If he really didn't have anything, he'd give it to us. But there's something there, and he's going to fight like hell to hold onto it.
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Reversal of Fortune - Moral Dilemmas in Legal Defense
Alan Dershowitz:
We've got two big problems here. The case against him is very strong but more importantly is the absolute certainty that Claus is guilty, finding grounds for reversal won't be enough here. Judges on the Rhode Island Supreme Court will have to go home to their wives and explain to them why they reversed. To do that we have to totally obliterate the States case so that they have no other reason to affirm. Total victory or we are dead in the water. Now, I assumed you've all had a chance to go over the transcripts and materials, first impressions?
Alan Dershowitz:
Yeah, Minnie.
Minnie: [Stands up]
I think this whole case stinks! I think von Bülow stinks! He's obviously guilty of something pretty despicable and if we free him we become his accessories, accomplices after the fact. I'm really shocked with your reputation for defending the poor and oppressed that you've taken this case. I won't have anything to do with it, and I hope my fellow students won't either.
Alan Dershowitz:
Can I exercise my First Amendment right to free speech? If lawyers only defended innocent clients there would only be 12 defense attorneys and none of you would be able to find a job.
Minnie:
Why help guilty people get off?
Alan Dershowitz:
Oh you're sure he's guilty, 100% sure?
Minnie:
He had a lawyer. He had a trial. He was convicted.
Alan Dershowitz:
Are you sure he had a fair trial?
Minnie:
Come on!
Alan Dershowitz: [Minnie smiles in disbelief]
It's the basis of the whole legal system! Everyone gets a defense. So the system is there for the innocent person falsely accused. OK, say it's you OK? You decide you're gonna get a divorce, you're gonna divorce your husband. A week later you're accused of child abuse. Oh, no don't give me that people do it all the time. Suddenly you're alone it's a disaster. Everyone thinks that you are guilty. Even the mailman is looking at you a little funny. There's only one person who can help you. There's only one person who you can trust, your lawyer.
Minnie:
Yeah, okay, so, someone's got to defend Claus. But why you, why us?
Alan Dershowitz:
Look, you're my student, you, you have a choice. You don't have to do anything you don't want to do; that is your choice. The reason I take cases -- and here I'm unlike most other lawyers, who are not professors and therefore have to make a living -- I take cases because I get pissed off. And I am pissed off here. The family hired a private prosecutor: unacceptable! They conducted a private search! Now if we let them get away with that, rich people won't go to the cops any more. You know what they're going to do? They're going to get their own lawyers to collect evidence -- and then they are going to choose which evidence they feel like passing on to the DA. And the next victim isn't going to be rich, like von Bülow -- but it's going to be some poor schnook in Detroit who can't afford, or who can't find, a decent lawyer. I think it's a little more complicated than your simple moral superiority, hmm?
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Raising Helen - Choosing a Guardian for the Children
Helen Harris:
Dear Jenny, If you're reading this, you know that I'm gone. And I asked Helen to be the guardian for the kids.
Lindsay Davis: [voiceover]
And you're probably freaked about it. Yes, it's a surprising choice, considering that you are the most incredible mother I've ever known. If you find this letter odd, understand that my "always be prepared" Paul convinced me to write it now while our children are young. You must know from experience that when it comes to picking somebody else to raise your kids, no one seems right. No one is you. And so you choose someone who is most like you. Someone that will give the kids a taste of their real mom, the mom they lost and never really got to know. In so many ways, we are so much alike, that's why I chose Helen. Of course, she'll have lots of fights with the kids, yet she'll find a way to make up. I know sometimes she messes things up and makes big mistakes. On the other hand, she also makes big comebacks. Respect her Jenny. Give her a shot. We're family and I'm counting on you to keep everyone together. I know, Helen will certainly need some help learning how to be a mother to my kids, but I've got you for that. And who could be better? After all, you raised Helen, you'll teach her how to be a mom. Just like you taught her how to tie her shoes. I can still hear you telling her, "The bunny goes around the tree, and into the burrow...
Helen Harris: [watches Sarah tie her shoe]
Pull tight.
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Georgia Rule - A Reflection on Parenting and Age
Lilly:
Come on mother there was a time when you would pull me out by my hair for drinking.
Georgia:
I'm to old for that and so is your hair.
Lilly: [laughs]
(to self.) That was good.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.