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canyonwalkerOne of the story arcs in the later episodes of season 3 of Better Call Saul is that Jimmy schemes to get paid out on a class action lawsuit he helped build. This is part of a larger arc running since the first season when Jimmy tried dabbling in elder law. At first he thought it would be an easy gig, writing basic wills for old folks. Then he figured out that one client was being financially abused by the care home she lived in. When he sensed that the fraud was systemic he grew it into a class action lawsuit that eventually encompassed hundreds of plaintiffs across multiple homes in multiple states, with two big law firms working the case from the plaintiffs' side.
In episode 3.09 Jimmy learns that the defendant in the case, the chain of care homes, has offered to settle. He's no longer involved in the case as a lawyer, but the "finder's fee" share he negotiated would come to just over $1 million— if the plaintiff(s) accept the offer. Jimmy is hurting for money after being suspended so he tries persuading Howard Hamlin, head of HHM, to settle. Howard tells Jimmy to pound sand, confident they'll get more if they hold out. So Jimmy turns to Irene, the lead plaintiff in the case, to convince her to take the settlement even though her lawyer advised not to.
It bears noting at this point that Jimmy did better with his elderly client base than most other lawyers because he spent time with them, building relationships and showing them he cared— or making them think he cared. With con-artist Jimmy it's never clear where the line between sincerity and act is. When he was originally working with them it seemed like 70/30 sincerity. Now it's clearly 100% act with Irene as Jimmy just wants to cash out.
Across episode 3.09 Jimmy orchestrates a campaign of social pressure against Irene. He makes it look to her friends at the home— who are also plaintiffs in the class action case— that she's wealthy and is holding out for a big payday, depriving them of getting their much needed settlements now. Irene's friends start freezing her out. She gets excluded from their walking group and finds nobody will set next to her in the dining hall anymore. It's kind of like geriatric mean girls; but it's also Jimmy who's manipulating the situation. Irene feels that everyone hates her for declining the first settlement offer, so she reverses course against HHM's recommendation and agrees to settle.
Jimmy is ebullient about his $1,000,000+ end of the settlement. But when he visits Irene in episode 3.10 to see how she's doing with her substantial portion of the settlement, he finds that she's still miserable. All her friends are still against her! The mean girls dynamic that Jimmy fomented is still there. The other women have reasoned that Irene only took the settlement to placate them and thus isn't a true friend but merely an opportunist. Of course, it's Jimmy who's the opportunist. Irene was merely the fool he played in his latest game.
Chuck's patronizing words, "That's what you do, Jimmy: you hurt people," might have been echoing through Jimmy's head at that point. They certainly were in mine. Would Jimmy treat Irene like the mark in every other con he ran, and forget about her now that he had his money? No; it turns out Jimmy still has a conscience!
Jimmy feels genuinely bad that he caused Irene's friends all to turn against her. He tries meeting with them individually to sing her praises, but they won't budge. His previous manipulation worked too well. So Jimmy orchestrates one more con... except he makes himself fool. He has a lawyer from HHM come in and berate him for his manipulation. He sneers about how he planned the whole thing and duped Irene. And he does it all while "accidentally" speaking on an open microphone broadcasting in the activity room where Irene and all her peers are waiting.
Jimmy throwing himself under the bus works. His credibility with this client base is completely shot, but Irene gets her friends back. It shows that Jimmy does still have some humanity. He's not yet the completely amoral, criminal, criminal lawyer we meet as Saul Goodman in Breaking Bad.
In episode 3.09 Jimmy learns that the defendant in the case, the chain of care homes, has offered to settle. He's no longer involved in the case as a lawyer, but the "finder's fee" share he negotiated would come to just over $1 million— if the plaintiff(s) accept the offer. Jimmy is hurting for money after being suspended so he tries persuading Howard Hamlin, head of HHM, to settle. Howard tells Jimmy to pound sand, confident they'll get more if they hold out. So Jimmy turns to Irene, the lead plaintiff in the case, to convince her to take the settlement even though her lawyer advised not to.
It bears noting at this point that Jimmy did better with his elderly client base than most other lawyers because he spent time with them, building relationships and showing them he cared— or making them think he cared. With con-artist Jimmy it's never clear where the line between sincerity and act is. When he was originally working with them it seemed like 70/30 sincerity. Now it's clearly 100% act with Irene as Jimmy just wants to cash out.
Across episode 3.09 Jimmy orchestrates a campaign of social pressure against Irene. He makes it look to her friends at the home— who are also plaintiffs in the class action case— that she's wealthy and is holding out for a big payday, depriving them of getting their much needed settlements now. Irene's friends start freezing her out. She gets excluded from their walking group and finds nobody will set next to her in the dining hall anymore. It's kind of like geriatric mean girls; but it's also Jimmy who's manipulating the situation. Irene feels that everyone hates her for declining the first settlement offer, so she reverses course against HHM's recommendation and agrees to settle.
Jimmy is ebullient about his $1,000,000+ end of the settlement. But when he visits Irene in episode 3.10 to see how she's doing with her substantial portion of the settlement, he finds that she's still miserable. All her friends are still against her! The mean girls dynamic that Jimmy fomented is still there. The other women have reasoned that Irene only took the settlement to placate them and thus isn't a true friend but merely an opportunist. Of course, it's Jimmy who's the opportunist. Irene was merely the fool he played in his latest game.
Chuck's patronizing words, "That's what you do, Jimmy: you hurt people," might have been echoing through Jimmy's head at that point. They certainly were in mine. Would Jimmy treat Irene like the mark in every other con he ran, and forget about her now that he had his money? No; it turns out Jimmy still has a conscience!
Jimmy feels genuinely bad that he caused Irene's friends all to turn against her. He tries meeting with them individually to sing her praises, but they won't budge. His previous manipulation worked too well. So Jimmy orchestrates one more con... except he makes himself fool. He has a lawyer from HHM come in and berate him for his manipulation. He sneers about how he planned the whole thing and duped Irene. And he does it all while "accidentally" speaking on an open microphone broadcasting in the activity room where Irene and all her peers are waiting.
Jimmy throwing himself under the bus works. His credibility with this client base is completely shot, but Irene gets her friends back. It shows that Jimmy does still have some humanity. He's not yet the completely amoral, criminal, criminal lawyer we meet as Saul Goodman in Breaking Bad.
