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Chris Vognar

Lawyers, Guns and Money: Roman J. Israel, Esq — An Occasional Series on Movies, TV and Other Stories About Lawyers and the Law 

The title character of Roman J. Israel, Esq. is a sort of walking anachronism, a man out of time in more ways than one. A civil rights lawyer who never entered the modern era, he rarely leaves his cluttered Los Angeles office, preferring to let his much smoother partner operate as the firm’s public face. His boxy suits and unkempt hair suggest a man who doesn’t care a lot about what others think. Then his partner dies suddenly, leaving his cases to a well-coiffed (and white) pragmatist. Roman decides he might just want a piece of the pie. And he’s willing to make some very bad decisions to get it.

March 15, 2024 Chris Vognar

Lawyers, Guns and Money: An Occasional Series on Movies, TV and Other Stories about Lawyers and the Law

The Insider is not a movie about the law per se. Like most Michael Mann movies, it’s about men engaged in an operatic, high-stakes dance with each other and with their fates, coming together and splitting apart in a flurry of paradoxically macho sensitivity. It’s about the sacred bond between a journalist and his source, and the troubling divide between the noble work journalists do and the corporate interests of their employers. As such it’s one of the great journalism thrillers; there’s no heresy in mentioning The Insider in the same breath as All the President’s Men. But there is, in fact, a lot of law in The Insider, and a fair number of lawyers.

October 26, 2023 Chris Vognar

Lawyers, Guns and Money: An Occasional Series on Movies, TV and Other Stories About Lawyers and the Law

Michael Clayton (2007, Dir. Tony Gilroy)

Is Michael Clayton a lawyer movie? It’s a fair question, given that the main character isn’t really a lawyer. He operates in the dark corners of the legal profession, trying not to get too dirty, until he reaches a point where he can no longer look at himself in the mirror. Played by George Clooney, Michael Clayton isn’t the kind of movie to supply an unequivocal happy ending. Having settled accounts, Michael climbs into the back of a New York City cab, hands the driver some money and tells him to drive — anywhere. The credits roll over Clooney’s pensive face.

August 17, 2023 Chris Vognar

In Netflix’s Lincoln Lawyer, Law is a Source of Fun – and Storytelling Style

Created by David E. Kelley, adapted from the Michael Connelly novels, The Lincoln Lawyer series piles up legal and ethical dilemmas in the service of drama and suspense. The key ingredient: Manuel Garcia-Rulfo's Mickey Haller, a Los Angeles defense attorney who stays likable even when he seems to slither as much as he strolls. Texas entertainment and arts critic Chris Vognar provides a peek into Season 2, which resumes Aug. 3. 

August 1, 2023 Chris Vognar

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Features

  • P.S. –  Texas Lawyers Expand Access to Courtrooms and Playgrounds - In this week’s edition of P.S., we spotlight legal initiatives to expand access to justice, as well as one firm’s community service work expanding kids’ access to playgrounds.  October 17, 2025Krista Torralva
  • My Five Favorite Books: Leigha Simonton (Member at Dykema and Former U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas) - I have a secret hobby that only my close friends know: I advise high-school seniors (and younger students) about college admissions, including helping them create a list of schools that would be good fits for their interests and aspirations as well as their family’s pocketbooks. This unpaid side-gig started years ago, when my oldest daughter began high school and I decided to try to “hack” the college admissions game. I don’t mean that I plotted to get her into a U.S. News top 10 school — no, I defined “winning” as finding a school that would allow her to flourish in college, set her up for success after college (success as defined by her, not me), and be somewhere our family could afford on what was then two government salaries. Here are my Five Favorite Books: College Application Edition. October 15, 2025Leigha Simonton

GCs, Lawyers & Firms

  • Midwest Law Firm with Texas Offices Merges with Northeast Firm - Cincinnati-based Frost Brown Todd, which has operations in Dallas and Houston, announced Wednesday that it is merging with the Newark-headquartered law firm Gibbons. The merged firm will be called FBT Gibbons and will have about 800 lawyers in 25 offices across the country.
  • White & Case Adds Energy M&A Dealmaker in Houston
  • Norton Rose Hires Veteran Finance Partner from Winston & Strawn
  • Invitation Homes Selects Former SEC Associate Director as VP of Litigation and Investigations
  • Houston Trial Firm Boosts Associate Salaries
  • SALSA Names New Executive Director
  • New GE Vernova GC of Wind Energy Dionne Hamilton: ‘We’re Working to Make the World a Better Place’
  • Ross & Smith Announces Partnership with Full-Service Maryland Firm
  • Martin Sosland, Candice Carson Join Vartabedian Hester
  • Banks Brings Decades of Experience to Husch Blackwell’s New Biz Dev Leadership Role
More GCs, Lawyers & Firms

Lawyers in the News

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Chip Babcock
Chris Bankler
Jamie B. Beaber
David J. Beck
Bill Benitez
Jessica Berkowitz
Brent Bernell
Tyler Bexley
Shawn Blackburn
Michael Blankenship
Jeffrey Brill
Anita Brown
Ian Brown
Stuart Campbell
Jack Chadderdon
Paul Clement
Erin Nealy Cox
Scott Craig
Kevin Crews
Shamus Crosby
Hannah M. Crowe
Geoffrey Culbertson
Sean Cunningham
John Daywalt
Rajiv Dharnidharka
James Ducayet
Brian K. Erickson
Scott Everett
Weiru Fang
Elizabeth Freeman
Tad Freese
Melanie Fry
Geoff Gannaway
Paul Genender
John J. Gilluly III
Rodney Gilstrap
Andrew Gorham
John Greer
Joseph Grinstein
Matthew Haddad
Colleen Haile
Breen Haire
Shahmeer Halepota
Dionne Hamilton
Troy Harder
Rusty Hardin
Michael Hawes
Nathan Hecht
Stephen Hessler
Hillary Holmes
Marc Jaffe
Lauren Jenkins
David Jones
Atma Kabad
Susan Kennedy
David Kinder
Justin King
Allan Kirk
Melanie Koltermann
Doug Kubehl
Joe Laurel
Sang Lee
Steven Lockhart
Arthur Lotz
Barbara Lynn
Mike Lynn
Nora McGuffey
Stephanie McPhail
Mark Melton
Jeri Leigh Miller
Kimberly A. Moore
Mark Moore
Shelby Morgan
Alia Moses
Davis Mosmeyer III
Darren Nicholson
Eamon Nolan
Ivy Nowinski
Holland O’Neil
George Padis
Ian Peck
Jonathan Platt
Chase Proctor
Doug Rayburn
Joel Reese
Kevin Richardson
Andrew Rodheim
Seth Rubinson
Mazin Sbaiti
Ana Sanchez
Vincenzo Santini
Jeffrey Scharfstein
Robert Schroeder III
Scott Seidel
Steven Sexton
Ahmed Sidik
Robert Slovak
Emily Smith
Melissa R. Smith
Jonathon Soler
Robert Soza
Lande Spottswood
Craig Stanfield
Justin Stolte
Josh Teahen
Kelly Tidwell
Linda Tieh
Rafael B. de Toledo
Monica Uddin
Rhett Van Syoc
Rahul Vashi
Gabe Vazquez
Patrick Venter
Sarah Walden
Kandace Walter
Kyle Watson
Mikell Alan West
Noël Wise
Meng Xi

Firms in the News

Hover right to show full list

AZA
Baker Botts
The Bandas Law Firm
Beck Redden
Boies Schiller Flexner
Bracewell
Bradley Arant
Burns Charest
Clement & Murphy
Condon & Forsyth
DLA Piper
Dykema
Foley & Lardner
Gibson Dunn
Gillam & Smith
Haynes Boone
Holland & Knight
Jackson Walker
King & Spalding
Kirkland & Ellis
Latham & Watkins
Lynn Pinker
Mayer Brown
MoloLamken
Pamela Welch PLLC
Patton Tidwell Culbertson
Paul Hastings
Porter Hedges
The Probus Law Firm
Reese Marketos
Rusty Hardin & Associates
Sbaiti & Company
Sidley Austin
Simpson Thacher
Skadden
Squire Patton Boggs
Sullivan & Cromwell
Susman Godfrey
Troutman Pepper Locke
Vinson & Elkins
Weil
Willkie
Winston & Strawn

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