Trials are too important to be left up to juries.
— Surely the holy inquisition need not sully its hands with a common whore? It is a matter for the state, don't you think?
— I leave this woman to Venice which richly deserves her.
He who is his own lawyer has a fool for a client.
Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven.
— I believe you testified you backed away from Aaron Wharton.
— That's right.
— Which direction were you going?
— I always go backwards when I'm backing up.
It doesn't matter how well you do. It's how well you follow their rules.
The one place where a man ought to get a square deal is in a courtroom, be he any color of the rainbow, but people have a way of carrying their resentments right into a jury box.
As you grow older, you’ll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but let me tell you something and don’t you forget it — whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is trash.
— What? We're under oath.
— No, we're not. Do you even know what an oath is?
— Uh, yeah. Courthouse. We're under it.
The man who passes the sentence should swing the sword.
Trial moves rapidly on when the judge has determined the sentence beforehand.
— Valerie McCabe, Yale '91. I've got a special rate for visitors, and I know I can win your case.
— You don't even know my case.
— The Madison case? Nuisance suit. Happens to visitors all the time. Fact is J. J. Madison doesn't even have a cat. He's allergic. I could have it thrown out in no time.
— Wait, he never had a cat? So, why's he going to sue somebody for it?
— Because he can. Every adult citizen of Morlaw is a lawyer, so everybody sues everybody else. It doesn't matter if there's a cause. It's how we ensure that everyone makes a living off their profession.
— Yeah, but that's insane.