The Firm Quotes
"He had the brains, the ambition, the good looks. And he was hungry; with his background, he had to be."
"He drank an occasional beer, but drinking was expensive and he had no money."
"He declined, and made the highest grade in the class."
"He said No and left when everyone began snorting."
"He was now a seasoned veteran in the search of employment, and he knew they wanted him."
"We don't hire too many people; about one every other year."
"We offer the highest salary and fringes in the country, and I'm not exaggerating."
"The firm recruited, and remained lily white."
"The smile vanished and he regained his composure."
"No associate of this firm has ever flunked the bar exam."
"Our goal is simply to ensure a generous pension and make early retirement an option."
"We work hard, Mitch, and we recognize the value of leisure."
"We want you happy. We take pride in our zero turnover rate, and we go the extra mile to keep careers on track."
"It's easy to pad a file when your client is a multimillionaire who wants to screw the government and wants you to do it legally."
"It's supposed to be an honorable profession, but you'll meet so many crooked lawyers you'll want to quit and find an honest job."
"A certain amount of cynicism. This business works on you. When you were in law school you had some noble idea of what a lawyer should be."
"The money makes up for it. It's amazing how much drudgery you can endure at two hundred thousand a year."
"Sleep was a nuisance. He would be the first lawyer to arrive at the Bendini Building on this day, and every day until he became a partner."
"How many of them would be rich in ten years? He smiled, and felt good. Harvard was a million miles away."
"The great firms have been built by padding files. It's the name of the game."
"We're nothing but hired guns. Mouthpieces for sale to the highest bidder, available to anybody, any crook, any sleazebag with enough money to pay our outrageous fees."
"Nobody punched a clock, the partner explained. Come and go as you please. Just get the work done."
"You think I like it, Ollie? What do you want us to do? Sit back and let them talk?"
"We're all human. I didn't want to do it, but Lazarov said do it."
"They should've kept quiet, driven their little fancy cars and played big-shot lawyers."
"Even McDeere. I think Tarrance will try again, and he might start at the bottom this time."
"Contracts and the Uniform Commercial Code go hand in hand."
"It's much more important than law school. We take it very seriously."
"Sometimes they worked around the clock, slept at their desks."
"The human body was not meant for such abuse."
"This is your daily log. You are to record the hours spent studying for the exam and the subjects studied."
"The rookies were indeed amazing. Eighteen, twenty hours a day, six days a week."
"It's a violation of our ethics if we discuss our client's business."
"If I wanted money, I would've gone to medical school."
"Just curious. This firm has had its share of tragedy."
"An employee with no license is of no use to this firm."
"We have a committee to monitor your progress from now until you sit for the exam."
"Our clients are our only assets, so we kill ourselves for them."
"Your eyes are beginning to look like Nathan Locke's."
"You look tired. Why don't you go home early?"
"What is it?" he asked meekly, looking helplessly at Avery.
"It's a plaque which we prepared in anticipation of this day."
"It's undoubtedly the most beautiful language."
"I'm undecided about whether to go to Sicily or the Greek isles."
"Great idea. Send me some tapes in Australian and a dictionary."
"Three things. Number one, don't trust anyone."
"I've got a lawyer buddy whose wife is fooling around, but he can't catch her."
"As long as I produce around here you should be happy."
"And when I get tired of dominoes, well, who knows what I'll do."
"I have an aversion to communicable diseases. Get lost."
"You are very beautiful. And you have a beautiful body."
"No one will ever know. No one will ever know."
"The rules never change. They're cast in concrete. Carved in granite. Etched in stone."
"I'm not a Holy Roller, and I'm not shocked. I'm not one to judge—I've been judged all my life."
"But there is a hell of a lot more to life than a big yard and a Peugeot."
"If The Firm had a rich client who was shady and worthy of FBI scrutiny, why would the FBI pick me, the rookie, the one who knows the least, and begin following me?"
"No way. I'm a lawyer and sworn to secrecy about the affairs of clients. Everything I know about a client is strictly confidential."
"We have to be careful, Abby. We must continue to live as if we suspect nothing."
"This is crazy, Mitch. I guess we're supposed to run out in the backyard to have a conversation."
"Merry Christmas," he said to himself. "Merry Christmas," he said to the dog.
"No lawyer has ever left your law firm alive."
"There's no way out. It's the Mafia, Mitch. Those guys don't play games."
"If you stay you make a million and retire young with your family intact."
"Who would suspect a small firm in Memphis, Tennessee?"
"We can't sit back and wait for them to pick off our boys."
"You're making more money than you could possibly make anywhere else."
"They could better spend their time investigating our clients if they suspect wrongdoing."
"I think we've been caught. I just saw a goon walk past the store and look in."
"You've been hurt by every person you ever cared for, except Abby."
"The Mob never forgets, Director. You know that."
"You can come and go as you please. After dark the security guard at the Front Street door will let you pass."
"He was too busy for any of them, except Lamar."
"For three and a half hours, he raced along Interstate 40 with his eyes on the rearview mirror."
"No way. No one followed you out of Memphis, and we detected nothing in Nashville. You're clean as a whistle."
"Perhaps a year from now the next new associate would be sitting here and watching the saddened partners talk about young Mitch McDeere."
"You either take the money and run, or you play big-shot lawyer and bet that we never infiltrate."
"If I gave them to anyone I'd be permanently disbarred. So when I give them to you, I want the first million."
"He wanted two million. Plus a couple of other items."
"After an hour of important talk and good food, the lunch began breaking up."
"For a few brief moments, the sky was a canvas and the sun splashed its awesome array of colors with bold strokes."
"Be careful," she said. "I'll go to the bank, then stay on the beach near the condo."
"You're too busy to talk, Mitch. I've been trying to talk for six months, but you can't hear me."
"Drink it up, big boy," she said to herself. "I'm ready for bed."
"It's either trip number fifty-one or fifty-two. She had lost count."
"He woke up, Abby!" she reported in panic. "He woke up, then passed out again."
"She was scared, sitting there in bed with a nude man who would kill her if he knew."
"For this career rogue and bad boy, there had been many hangovers. But none like this."
"The woman was impressed. Suddenly, he remembered that he was great last night."
"In spite of the pain and nausea, in spite of the lead boots and bowling-ball head, he was proud of himself."
"It was over now, for the most part, and they had committed the perfect crime."
"Like all the natives, he operated on Cayman time. No hurry, mon."
"The fear of missing a deduction or a write-off or some extra depreciation that would cost a rich client an extra million or so."
"Fear of not finishing by the fifteenth and being forced to file extensions and incurring penalties and interest."
"Today is the first time in my life I've ever thought about dying. And if you don't think about death, you don't appreciate life."
"You'll ruin your marriage and kill yourself if you work more."
"Wait till I tell the other girls. They all think you're so cute and macho. When I tell them you're a wimp, they'll be shocked."
"Roam the concourses of these airports. Live in these airports. Eat in these airports."
"It's a long shot, but what have we got to lose?"
"For two hours, they jabbered in Spanish as the bus rolled along to Montgomery."
"Just routine surveillance, they were told. If you lose him, no big deal. But try not to lose him."