Suits Season 1 Episode 5 - Part 1

Suits 1x5 - "Bail Out"- Part 1

Harvey goes to visit Travis, the cab driver his limo driver Ray got into a car accident with. Travis is an unrepresented person under MR 4.3. Harvey then goes on to try and dissuade the man from suing his driver, condescendingly offering him cash for his emotional suffering. Harvey's statements and actions may amount to legal advice, and so he seems to be violating rule 4.3, which states "...The lawyer shall not give legal advice to an unrepresented person, other than the advice to secure counsel, if the lawyer knows or reasonably should know that the interests of such a person are or have a reasonable possibility of being in conflict with the interests of the client." Here, however, his driver is not yet his client, and Harvey was only named as a witness and not as a party to the suit. Therefore, he is not representing anyone with adverse interests to Travis when he first meets him, and therefore this is not a violation of Rule 4.3. If he was representing Ray, this gets more tricky, and the struggle of dealing with pro se litigants can be very ethically messy. On the one hand, Harvey is merely posturing his case, but on the other hand, he is strong arming a pro se litigant. The comments explain that the rule does not prohibit a lawyer from settling with a pro se litigant, so on balance, most likely this would be ethically appropriate.

Violation of 3.7(a)
Later however, it is suggested that Travis the cab driver is going to add Harvey Specter as a defendant in the civil suit. Harvey tells Ray, his limo driver, that he will be defending both of them in the suit. The suit first named Harvey as a witness, and so at this time he is probably a necessary witness. Under Rule 3.7(a) "a lawyer shall not act as an advocate at a trial in which the lawyer is likely to be a necessary witness." There are three exceptions, but here, Harvey does not meet any of them. Therefore, it was a violation of 3.7(a) when Harvey took a case where he was likely to be a necessary witness.

Violation of 8.4(e)
Near the end of the episode, Harvey says, "The District Attorney happens to be number 3 on my speed dial." This is a clear violation of Rule 8.4(e), which explains that it is professional misconduct for a lawyer to "state or imply an ability to influence improperly a government agency or official..." Here, Harvey is implying that because he and the District Attorney are so close that he has an ability to improperly influence the District Attorney to hear and prosecute this case in Harvey's favor.