The Firm

Mitch visits Avery’s chaotic office and is informed he must have the partnership agreement for Capps finished by Saturday. Before Mitch can consider what this means, he is called to Oliver’s office and reminded that he must not talk about work with anyone, even his wife. Back in his office, Mitch is interrupted by the arrival of his new furniture and must work in the library.

Abby is learning how to cook, so she is annoyed when Mitch fails to come home after she spent the afternoon making veal piccata. Mitch doesn’t come home until early the next morning. Abby serves him the veal piccata for breakfast.

Mitch goes to the office on Saturday and creates a fourth draft of “the Capps’ agreement” (95) that he presents to Avery. Mitch is told to finish the rest of the Capps’ case by the following Saturday at the same time he is given another case to complete in less than 30 days.

Mitch and Abby meet Oliver, his wife, and several other members of the firm for dinner at a restaurant Saturday night. While they are there, two men take their car, drive to their home, and place bugs in their phones and in the walls of several rooms of their house. When Mitch and Abby arrive home, a security guard listens to their conversation.

The partners are impressed with Mitch’s work but concerned by his progress in studying for the bar exam. Mitch asks Avery not to give him any more work until after the bar exam. Portraits of Marty and Joe are placed in the main library on the first floor of the Bendini Building. Mitch notices three other portraits and asks Avery about them, learning these three others are lawyers who worked for the firm who died. Two were in accidents and one committed suicide in the same office Mitch occupies. Mitch finds it strange that five lawyers would die in 20 years and later returns to write down the dates of their deaths.

Abby’s parents visit the Saturday after the bar exam. Mitch struggles to put up with them because they are judgmental. They refused to attend Mitch and Abby’s wedding because they did not approve of their daughter marrying a poor man. Now that Mitch is making good money, he resents their judgment even more.