The Rainmaker

My father hated lawyers.

All his life.

He wasn't a great guy. He drank

and beat up my mother, and me, too.

You might think I became a lawyer

to piss him off, but you'd be wrong.

I'd wanted to be a lawyer since I read

about civil rights lawyers of the 60's, -

- and the amazing uses they found

for the law. They did the impossible:

They gave lawyers a good name.

So I went to law school. It pissed my

dad off, but he was pissed off anyway.

In my first year, he got drunk and fell

off a ladder made by his own company.

He didn't know who to sue first.

He died a couple of months after that.

Some of my classmates knew they'd

be going from school to top law firms, -

thanks mostly to family connections.

My only connections were made in

the bars I worked in to pay my tuition.

I still had plans to shine the light

of justice into every dark corner, -

- but I needed a job, badly.

There's too many lawyers in Memphis.

This city's infested with them.

I don't think so.

What can be more embarrassing than

admitting you work for Bruiser Stone?

I mean, he's a lawyer, and they call him

"Bruiser". That's how desperate I am.

- Shut the door.

- No, not that. Not that, either.

Sure. Let's make it my house.

I pity the FBI technician who'll have to

extract the data from that conversation.

Live sharks in a lawyer's office.

It's a joke, get it?

- So Prince, is this the law student?

- Yes. I just finished my third year.

Couldn't you use him here?

I'll vouch for him. The boy needs a job.

He's tended bar at our clubs.

This would be a great place

for you to work, Rudy. A great place.

You'd see what real lawyers do.

It ain't exactly a salaried position.

- It isn't?

- My associates pay for themselves.

They generate their own fees.

Talk to me.

- How exactly does that work?

- You draw a thousand dollars a month.

You keep one third

of the fees you generate.

If you can't cover your draw at the end

of the month, you owe me the balance.

- Do you understand?

- Sounds fair to me, Rudy.

You'll make a lot of money.

That's the only way I operate.

And I'll get you a lot of good cases.

I have cases.

One is a will I'm drafting for an

older woman. She's worth millions.

My other case is an insurance case.

Great Benefit. You heard of them?

- You got these clients signed?

- I'm on my way to see them now.

- I helped them before, at a workshop.

- I want you to talk to Deck Shifflet.

He used to work with the big insurance

firms. He handles the big stuff here.

Deck!

- You got the paperwork on this stuff?

- In my car.

Hey, good-looking.

This is Deck Shifflet.

He'll get you plugged in.

Draw up a lawsuit against

Great Benefit, and put my name on it.

- We're gonna file it today.

- Thank you.

- You're gonna learn a lot.

- Rudy, I'm glad you came here.

- You're making good choices already.

- Close the door on your way out.

If there's somebody in an office,

you can't have it.

This is the bathroom.

Sorry.

- Are you an associate here?

- Sort of. Actually, I'm not a lawyer yet.

Bruiser asks me to review

the insurance cases.

I used to work for Specific Mutual.

I got sick of that, I went to law school.

- When did you finish law school?

- Five years ago.

I'm having a little trouble with

the bar exam. I sat for it six times.

- When do you take yours?

- In three weeks. It's that hard?

Yeah. I took it a year ago,

I don't think I'm gonna take it again.

This is Bruiser's library. If you want to

use the fridge, put your name on stuff.

Put that in for me.

Daisy, I made a mess here.

Pick that up, huh?

What happens when you go to court?

I haven't got caught. There's so many

lawyers, they can't keep up with us.

- Bruiser owns all this.

- Oh... nice.

You can't call it a firm,

it's every man for himself.

You'll learn.

- Are you moving?

- Evicted.

Here's the policy.

- What do you think?

- This is the armpit of the industry.

- What are their grounds for denial?

- They first denied it on principle.

Then they said that leukaemia, as a

pre-existing condition, isn't covered.

- Have all the premiums been paid?

- Every one, according to Mrs Black.

This is a typical debit insurance scam.

The blacks call it "streetsurance".

- So what do I do?

- You sign them all up.

- To J. Lyman Stone.

- All right.

- I'll help you on this one.

- Thank you, I appreciate it.

There's nothing more thrilling

than nailing an insurance company.

Mrs Black, Rudy Baylor. I'm handling

your case against Great Benefit.

- I met you at the law workshop.

- Come in.

I'm sorry about them crazy dogs.

I thought you was a Jehovah's Witness.

- Where's Buddy?

- In the car.

- Where's he going?

- Buddy isn't going nowhere.

He ain't right in the head.

War injury. Korea.

He could walk through a metal detector

buck naked, and the thing would go off.

- He's got a plate in his head.

- Oh... that's awful.

- How's Donny Ray?

- Well, good days and bad.

"Plate in head".

Maybe I can meet him later.

Great Benefit first denied your claim

last August, -

- when Donny Ray was diagnosed.

Why wait till now to consult a lawyer?

Stupid, I guess. I just kept writing them,

and they kept writing me back.

This here's the latest one.

"On seven prior occasions

we have denied your claim in writing. "

"We now deny it for the eighth time.

You must be stupid, stupid, stupid. "

"Sincerely...

...Everett Lufkin,

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