The Good Fight
Thursdays on Paramount+The Good Fight Season 5 Episode 3: "And the court had a clerk..." Quotes
Marissa: Things should get better, right? Something other than paperwork.
Carmen: Law of averages.
Benjamin: I don’t understand. Who are you?
Carmen: Carmen Moyo.
Benjamin: No, no, why are you important?
Carmen: I don’t think that I am.
Benjamin: Then why do I have my top client asking for you?
Carmen: Who’s that?
Benjamin: Mr. Wolf-Coleman.
David Lee: Your client is Wolf-Coleman? What does he need?
Benjamin: Last night the police searched his home for any evidence of rape. They believe they found something, and Mr. Wolf-Coleman wanted me to contact Carmen Moyo to represent him, so how did that happen?
Carmen: Is your client an acquaintance of Oscar Rivi?
Benjamin: The drug dealer, no.
Carmen: Is your client currently at Minard Correctional?
Benjamin: He was, yes. Why?
Carmen: I’m representing Mr. Rivi.
Wackner: Thoughts?
Marissa: Well, it’s copyright law. Nobody can copy unless they have the right.
Wackner: They both borrowed from “Emily in Paris.”
Marissa: Right, look, there’s no real money here. All they want is attention and to feel like they’ve won.
Wackner: End of “Wizard of Oz.”
Marissa: What?
Wackner: Scarecrow getting a diploma.
Marissa: Right, can you make one?
Wackner: I’m in Copy Coop. I can make anything.
Wackner: Be my law clerk.
Marissa: What, no. I have a job.
Wackner: Work here, part-time, full-time, your call. Flat flee, 10% of all the legal filings, unlimited use of the copy machines.
Marissa: Your honor, this is not a court. I don’t know what it is, but it’s…
Wackner: The future. Come on, be here.
Marissa: I can’t. I have a job. I want to pass the bar. I want to be a real lawyer.
Wackner: You know why all these people are here? Because the courts and the lawyers and the appeals have made justice unattainable, out of reach to anyone who doesn’t have a shitload of money to wait it out. That’s why Exxon beats out Mr. Nobody. Read Kafka’s “Before the Law.”
Marissa: Now I’ve got homework.
Wackner: It’s one page long. Don’t be a philistine. Justice is only just if it’s available to everyone.
Diane: If it’s one of the insurrectionists, then you need to tell the Feds.
Kurt: I’m not sure it’s him.
Diane: Who do you think it is?
Kurt: Someone I shoot with.
Diane: Oh my god, then it’s him.
Kurt: He didn’t talk that way. He wasn’t political. He’s a veteran.
Diane: Kurt, that’s the profile.
Kurt: And I don’t drop a dime because he fits a profile.
Diane: What is this, a schoolyard? Drop a dime. This man tried to hang the vice president. He tried to kill Nancy Pelosi.
Kurt: You don’t know that, and I’m not going to be responsible for naming names.
Diane: This isn't McCarthyism.
Kurt: Actually it is.
Diane: They stormed the Capitol.
Kurt: The Feds will threaten me with indictment if I don’t name names even if I’m not sure if they’re responsible, and then they will be asked to name names, and then everyone will get lawyers, and those are the only people who will benefit.
David: I want to save the country.
Liz: You want to save it?
David: Yes, don’t you?
Liz: Yes.
David: January 6th changed everything for me, my Road to Damascus moment. Do I have to explain that to Democrats?
Liz: No.
Julius: And I’m not a Democrat.
David: That’s my point. I came to realize we -- say the three of us -- have a lot more in common that we might think. We all love this country. I love this country. It gave my family a start. My dad, he started a small laundry business, sent his son to college, and I made something of myself. Too many people take America for granted. I don’t, and I suspect that you don’t either.
Liz: Well, I don’t think there’s a disagreement there. I think the disagreement is in the detail.
David: Well, let’s start with the details then.
Diane: I would like to report the name of one of the January 6 rioters I saw on your poster: Dylan Pike. No, I’d rather not leave my name. No, I don’t.
Kurt: May I help you?
Madeline: I sure hope so. I’m Madeline Starkey with the FBI. I’ll never get used to saying that. It sounds so melodramatic. My husband made a ringtone for my phone. I’m Madeline Starkey with the FBI.
Marissa: What do you need me to do?
Wackner: Well, my copyright certificates are catching on with the fanfiction crowd. I need you to process them.
Marissa: How much are you charging for these?
Wackner: I checked with the writer’s guild charge for script registration, $20.
Marissa: You’re kidding, and how many have you sold?
Wackner: Four-hundred and twelve.
Marissa: What?
Wackner: I know. It spread online.
Marissa: But these don’t mean anything. They’re just pieces of paper.
Wackner: What do you think U.S. copyright is? Mine is at least good for 71 years. That’s a year more than U.S.
Marissa: But a plagiarist can still steal a work.
Wackner: They can do that with the U.S. copyright. They just get sued in court like they would in my court.
Marissa: Oh my god.
Wackner: Marissa, I’m building something here. I want you to join me. I want your advice. I want your advice on cases. I want to bounce legal theories off you.
Marissa: What are your legal theories?
Wackner: I don’t know. That’s why I need to bounce them.
Diane: I’m your wife, which means that anything you tell me is privileged communication, so this is not the time to be the taciturn mountain man. Just tell me. Tell me everything.
Kurt: About?
Diane: Who did you take shooting?
Kurt: Veterans with PTSD. I volunteered to shoot with them on Saturdays. They’re not criminals.
Diane: Then just give the FBI their names and explain that.
Kurt: One of these veterans said he was going to DC and he wanted a tour of the Capitol. I called a congressional office to arrange it.
Diane: When was this?
Kurt: On January 5th.
Diane: Which congressperson?
Kurt: I’m not gonna say.
Diane: Kurt, I can’t tell anyone.
Kurt: I’m not gonna say.
Diane: OK, you’re not gonna talk to the Feds again. I’m gonna talk to them.
Kurt: You think I’m in trouble?
Diane: Yes, I think you’re a Trump official who trained an insurrectionist in firearms.
Kurt: I didn’t train…
Diane: And then arranged for them to scout the Capitol. I think that’s the definition of trouble.
Diane: Why are there hundreds of teddy bears in our reception?
Marissa: Is that a legal euphemism I don’t understand?
Diane: No, this was sent to you. It’s a Marissa bear.
Marissa: That doesn’t even look like me.
Diane: That would seem to beside the point. What is going on Marissa. Why are there hundreds of bears in our office?
Marissa: Let me find out.
Diane: If you’re finding out, you must have some suspicions, so…
Marissa: I offered some advice to a client who was buying a Build-a-Bear franchise. My guess is this was a thank you.
Diane: What client? You’re not a lawyer. Why do you have clients? Oh my god, this is about that Copy Coop court?
Marissa: I made sure it didn’t interfere with my responsibilities.
Diane: Marissa, no. By participating in that simulacrum of a courtroom you expose this firm to malpractice, sanctions, god knows what else.
Marissa: I’m just offering the judge some advice and helping him with his copyright office.
Diane: If you wish to continue your employment at this firm, you will never do anything like that again. Do you understand?
Madeline: Just to be formal, Kurt, I’m Agent Starkey with the FBI.
Diane: We understand. We don’t need the musical introduction.
