History for Characters/BetterCallSaulLawyers

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!!Francesca Liddy
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/liddy_francesca.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"And who is this 'Saul Goodman'? You?"'']]
!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Tina Parker
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Series/BreakingBad'' | ''Series/BetterCallSaul''

->''"I was thinking of going over to Cracker Barrel, because they've got such great air-conditioning."''

Jimmy and Kim's new secretary after they start their own firm.
----
* BreakTheCutie: Immediately starts breaking bad when Jimmy forces her to make a fake phone call to a retirement home, as best shown when she coldly rejects Jimmy's demand to clean up after an unruly client.
* CallForward: She'd previously appeared in ''Breaking Bad'', still Jimmy's secretary in his new life as Saul.
* DramaticIrony: Her pleasant, warm personality and friendly relationship with Jimmy is a far cry from the Francesca we'll come to know in ''Series/BreakingBad'', in which she's bitter, apathetic, opportunistic and makes no secret of her dislike for Saul.
* JadeColoredGlasses: As Jimmy slides into cynicism in his transformation into Saul, his behaviour and that of his clients have the same effect on Francesca.
* SmallRoleBigImpact: During her last phone call with Gene, [[spoiler: she mentions to him that she spoke with Kim Wexler briefly. This information sets off a chain of events that lead to Gene/Saul/Jimmy's arrest, as well as Kim's confession of her and Jimmy's actions toward Howard, in itself leading to Jimmy in jail, but with Kim in his life and more hopeful than he's been in years]].

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MatthewWayne

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* EvilPowerVacuum: As revealed in Season 6, he eventually [[spoiler:left the DA's office and began working in private practice as a sleazy, bus-bench-advertising defense attorney--filling the exact same gap in the market that Saul left when he fled Albuquerque]].

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'''Lawyers''' ([[Characters/BreakingBadSaulGoodman Jimmy [=McGill=]/Saul Goodman]], [[Characters/BetterCallSaulKimWexler Kim Wexler]], [[Characters/BetterCallSaulChuckMcGill Chuck McGill]], [[Characters/BetterCallSaulHowardHamlin Howard Hamlin]]), [[Characters/BetterCallSaulLawEnforcement Law Enforcement]], [[Characters/BetterCallSaulCartel Juarez Cartel]] ([[Characters/BetterCallSaulNachoVarga Nacho Varga]], [[Characters/BreakingBadHectorSalamanca Hector Salamanca]], [[Characters/BetterCallSaulLaloSalamanca Lalo Salamanca]]), [[Characters/BetterCallSaulLosPollosHermanos Los Pollos Hermanos]] ([[Characters/BreakingBadMikeEhrmantraut Mike Ehrmantraut]], [[Characters/BreakingBadGustavoFring Gustavo Fring]]), [[Characters/BetterCallSaulOmaha Omaha]], [[Characters/BetterCallSaulPettyCriminals Petty Criminals]], [[Characters/BetterCallSaulOtherCharacters Other Characters]]-]]]]]

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'''Lawyers''' ([[Characters/BreakingBadSaulGoodman Jimmy [=McGill=]/Saul Goodman]], [[Characters/BetterCallSaulKimWexler Kim Wexler]], [[Characters/BetterCallSaulChuckMcGill Chuck ~~McGill]], [[Characters/BetterCallSaulHowardHamlin Howard Hamlin]]),~~ McGill]]), [[Characters/BetterCallSaulLawEnforcement Law Enforcement]], [[Characters/BetterCallSaulCartel Juarez ~~Cartel]] ([[Characters/BetterCallSaulNachoVarga Nacho Varga]], [[Characters/BreakingBadHectorSalamanca Hector Salamanca]], [[Characters/BetterCallSaulLaloSalamanca Lalo Salamanca]]),~~ Cartel]], [[Characters/BetterCallSaulLosPollosHermanos Los Pollos ~~Hermanos]] ([[Characters/BreakingBadMikeEhrmantraut Mike Ehrmantraut]], [[Characters/BreakingBadGustavoFring Gustavo Fring]]),~~ Hermanos]], [[Characters/BetterCallSaulOmaha Omaha]], [[Characters/BetterCallSaulPettyCriminals Petty Criminals]], [[Characters/BetterCallSaulOtherCharacters Other Characters]]-]]]]]

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See [[Characters/BetterCallSaulHowardHamlin his page]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Francis Scheff]]
!!Francis Scheff
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/franci.PNG]]
!!!'''Portrayed By:''' James Dowling

An older lawyer working at HHM and participating in the Sandpiper case.

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See [[Characters/BetterCallSaulHowardHamlin his page]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Francis Scheff]]
!!Francis Scheff
[[quoteright:250:https://static.!!Howard G. Hamlin
%%
%%Image kept on page per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1653783766065487700
%%Please don't change or remove without starting a new thread.
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!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Creator/PatrickFabian
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Series/BetterCallSaul''

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/franci.PNG]]
!!!'''Portrayed By:''' James Dowling

An older lawyer working at HHM org/pmwiki/pub/images/bcs_howard.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''"You've mistaken my kindness for weakness. I'd like to think that tonight made a difference. I'd like to think that this ends it... Probably not."'']]

->''"Want to know what I believe? I believe that you're way out of your depth in this matter. So the next time that you want to come in here and ~~participating in~~ tell me what I'm doing wrong, you are welcome to keep it to yourself. Because I don't care."''

Howard Hamlin is a name partner toeing the ~~Sandpiper case.~~company line for hugely successful Albuquerque law firm Hamlin, Hamlin & [=McGill=]. Howard is one of life's effortless winners, his position as the unyielding avatar of the legal establishment attracting respect and hostility from everyone in his field. Despite his cold exterior, Howard does have a soft spot for hard workers and people trying to better themselves... as long as they don't tarnish the firm with his name on it.

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* DamnedByFaintPraise: Jimmy bumps into him in the series premiere but only comments that he's 'well groomed.'

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* ~~DamnedByFaintPraise:~~ TheAce: Part of the reason why Jimmy ~~bumps into~~ hated him in Season 1 before the big reveal was due to his belief that Howard's wild success is one that he doesn't really deserve. He's not entirely wrong: Big Pappa Hamlin ''did'' pull strings to get his little boy to be the perfect partner for the firm... but, [[BrokenAce Howard may well not have as much joy out of the whole package as Jimmy originally assumed, given he was most likely railroaded into it]].
* AlliterativeName: '''H'''oward '''H'''amlin
* AmoralAttorney: Jimmy believes that Howard is willing to do anything to prevent Chuck from exercising his right to sell his share of the firm. Jimmy is also convinced that Howard has a personal grudge against Jimmy and repeatedly goes out of his way to hold him back. In reality, Howard may be quite a bit of a jerk, but he's only actually doing Chuck's bidding in holding Jimmy back. By the end of the series ~~premiere but~~ Howard is the only ~~comments~~ main character to have ethically practiced law.
* AnguishedOutburst: [[spoiler:Howard's final conversation with Jimmy and Kim is him throwing off any of his tolerance and affability he had and drunkenly ranting at the two for ruining his life. In addition to anger and disappointment, it's clear that he is also sad and broken, especially when he outlines that [[BrokenPedestal Kim]] is ''worse'' than Jimmy in that regard...]]
-->'''Howard''': [[spoiler:You two are soulless. Jimmy, you [[ChronicVillainy can't help yourself]]. Chuck knew it. You were born that way. But you? [to Kim] One of the smartest and most promising human beings I've ever known... [[CutLexLuthorACheck and this is the life you choose]]]].
* ArchEnemy: Jimmy despises him and is convinced that a personal vendetta between the two of them is the source of most of Jimmy's problems. In reality, it's Chuck who is pulling Howard's strings. Howard admits at the end of Season 1 that he's ~~'well groomed.'~~actually fond of Jimmy and helps him land an interview for a good job. At least until the commercial fiasco and Mesa Verde forgery. He becomes this for Kim and Jimmy for Season 6.
* ArmorPiercingResponse: To Kim in Season 5, "You know who really knew Jimmy? Chuck.".
* TheAtoner: Is fully aware of how much BystanderSyndrome he had with Chuck constantly hurting Jimmy, and makes various attempts to shield Jimmy from Chuck's wrath. Of course by season six he's had enough and decides Chuck was right and Jimmy's just doomed, but he still tries a "you never hit Chuck, hit me instead."
* BaitTheDog: After telling Kim a sincere story about his ControlFreak father and adding on a "good luck", he attempts to steal Mesa Verde as soon as she's out the door.
* BarefootSuicide: [[spoiler: His death is staged as a suicide by drowning in the ocean, with his shoes planted on the beach to make it look like he took them off before entering the water.]]
* BearerOfBadNews: He's rather anxious about having to tell Chuck about Jimmy being at Davis and Main, and how he didn't get in the way of that happening.
* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: Howard lets Chuck get away with so much shit because he feels indebted to this ParentalSubstitute, and is forced to realize that Chuck will use that feeling to control him and treat him like the FallGuy.
* BeingGoodSucks: Howard's not the most lovable guy around, but he does seem to keep quiet and take the heat for Chuck's keeping Jimmy out of HHM at least in part out of consideration for Jimmy's feelings. Even if it leads to Jimmy antagonizing him at every turn, he never really lets it get to him given the circumstances. When he helps Jimmy get a job at Davis & Main, Jimmy screws it up almost immediately, making HHM and Howard look bad professionally. He repeatedly and subtly tries to get Chuck to see that Jimmy ''isn't'' the all-mighty, corrupting Svengali-on-legs he likes to think of him as. Howard's not as insistent as he could be, however: and, Chuck isn't about to start listening, anyway. This means he repeatedly gets to see Chuck try to undermine his brother (and Kim) and gets caught up in it, even though he'd probably rather not be.
** His gesture of good faith (a bottle of Macallan and a warning) to Jimmy and Kim after [[spoiler:they destroy his career]] is rewarded with [[spoiler:a bullet to the head from Lalo Salamanca]].
* BenevolentBoss: Not always, but the best example would be when he willingly puts himself into debt to buy out Chuck, in order to force him to leave and save HHM's employees.
* BeneathTheMask: Howard has a very cultivated, calculated persona in professional environments that can come across as nearly robotic at times. [[WordOfStPaul Patrick Fabian]] imagines that Howard's interest in sports like swimming and biking [[spoiler: (which is shown in the photos of him at his memorial)]] is largely because he doesn't have to interact with anyone in this manner and just has to pay attention to the activity. It's only really after season three when we start to see glimpses of him without this persona and how he acts in private, first when he's in the throes of guilt and depression [[spoiler: following Chuck's suicide]], and then when he appears to have returned to a fairly mentally healthy state by the later seasons. While he comes across as more likable when not in his work persona, there's still a level of presentation in how he speaks, [[spoiler: if his strained interaction with his wife and inebriated confrontation between Jimmy and Kim are anything to go by]].
* BerserkButton:
** Impugning the firm's (and by extension, Howard's) reputation. He lets Kim knows how mad he is wine and dining all his clients for damage control after the whole chicanery with Chuck's trial and send her to the cornfield when she can't keep the Kettleman in the firm despite her best effort.
** He does ''not'' like being questioned about his decisions, particularly not by those that aren't senior partners as the top quote illustrate. He also gives Kim the silent treatment when Chuck brings her back from the cornfield after he sent her there, feeling like she went over his head when as partners there shouldn't be someone above.
* TheBeautifulElite: Is an upper-class SharpDressedMan who is classically handsome and noted as such by several characters.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Howard may have been affable and even tried to give Jimmy chances in becoming a better person, but once pushed enough, [[spoiler:he invites Jimmy to have a boxing match against him. [[CurbStompBattle It really doesn't go so well for Jimmy]], [[CurbStompCushion though Jimmy does land some hits]] Howard even lampshades the situation, thinking that Jimmy has "consistently mistaken his kindness for weakness".]]
* BigBrotherWorship: Unlike Jimmy, he's not actually Chuck's sibling. But he looks up to Chuck like a parent or a big brother, got demeaned and used by him, and while he better dealt with his feelings through therapy, he still carried the guy to his grave (they even play Chuck's theme when he's buried), [[https://www.amc.com/blogs/better-call-saul-qa-patrick-fabian-on-the-fallout-of-jimmy-and-kims-war-against-howard--1054061 terrified that Chuck wouldn't approve of whatever he's doing]].
* BitchInSheepsClothing: [[InvertedTrope An inversion]], as it turns out Chuck is the real one. But then played straight when Kim leaves the firm and tries to take Mesa Verde with her; Howard subtly manoeuvrers Chuck into doing everything possible to retain them. In his defense, it is his job to retain big clients by any (legal) means necessary, and Kim did bring them on board while working for the firm.
* BlamingTheVictim: In season three, he tells Chuck to stop fixating on his brother "because Jimmy's not worth it". Slightly justified, as Howard at this point still wants to believe Chuck is a KnightInShiningArmor, and if Chuck is hurting Jimmy, then he'd have to reckon with the awful way he's been treated too. By season six he's decided Chuck was right and Jimmy was doomed from birth, but that's seen as an understandable if wrong reaction to getting Jimmy's brother issues dumped on him for two and a half seasons.
* BrokenAce: As of Season 4, [[spoiler:the death of Chuck and his belief that it was his fault seems to be taking a serious toll on Howard. HHM is on hard times and he himself is a nervous wreck, plagued by insomnia and seeing his therapist twice a week]] Season 6 reveals that [[spoiler:his marriage to wife Cheryl has also [[AwfulWeddedLife been on the rocks]] for some time]].
* BoomHeadshot: [[spoiler:Courtesy of Lalo.]]
* BourgeoisBohemian :
** Aspires to be humble and zen but gets everything amusingly wrong. He has a depiction of the Buddha in his office--in the form of an expensive-looking original artwork. He orders plain, simple, healthy meals--as a regular customer of one of Albuquerque's most expensive restaurants. Best of all, he has a VanityLicensePlate which reads "[=NAMAST3=]"... on his [[CoolCar Jaguar XJ8]].
** It is hinted that his new-found kind and forgiving attitude towards Jimmy in season 5 is insincere, and may be motivated more by guilt, or by the suggestion of his therapist. In any case, that hug looks ''extremely'' awkward.
* ButtMonkey: From Season 2 onwards, Howard has to endure, in order:
** Jimmy tricks Chuck into making a clerical error that costs Howard's firm a major client, Mesa Verde.
** Howard is humiliated at Jimmy's bar hearing when Chuck's electromagnetic sensitivity is publicly revealed to be a mental illness.
** Howard's firm is being slapped with a rate hike by their malpractice insurer when they learn that Chuck, with his untreated mental issues, is practicing law.
** Chuck threatening to sue Howard when he suggests retiring from the firm to appease their insurer, which necessitates Howard being forced to buy Chuck out of his own pocket in order to save the firm. [[spoiler:In large part because of this, Chuck commits suicide]].
** Howard blames himself for [[spoiler:Chuck's death]] and baring his soul to Jimmy and Kim, who ends up throwing the guilt back in his face. He begins suffering from insomnia as the firm struggles to pay off [[spoiler:Chuck's estate]] and is forced to lay off staffers.
** After stabilizing the firm, Howard gives a sincere job offer to Jimmy (by now [[StartOfDarkness practicing as Saul Goodman]]), only for Jimmy to subject him to a series of humiliating pranks in response, first by throwing bowling balls at his car, then sending prostitutes to approach him during a business lunch with Cliff Main, and going on an over-the-top tirade at him in the courthouse. Then when Howard tells Kim about Jimmy's actions in a condescending tone and states that he thinks Chuck knew him best, [[spoiler:Kim laughs in his face [[FaceHeelTurn and resolves to destroy Howard's career]] via the Sandpiper case]].
** Jimmy and Kim proceed to [[spoiler:subject Howard to a series of frameups that leave Cliff with the impression that Howard is a drug addict. The scheme culminates in them engineering an incident where Howard has a public meltdown during a mediation session in the Sandpiper lawsuit that all but ruins his reputation.]] [[spoiler:And Howard can't even get through his ReasonYouSuckSpeech to Jimmy and Kim afterward before he is unceremoniously shot in the head by Lalo in Kim's living room.]]
** Even in [[spoiler:death the guy can't catch a break, being buried in a meth lab next to the man who killed him. To add insult to injury, his death is staged by Mike as a suicide that will publicly confirm Jimmy and Kim's untrue depiction of him as a cocaine addict.]]
* CainAndAbel: The Abel to Jimmy's Cain. Gould compared both of them to being like Chuck's sons, who shifted them into that dynamic, and Jimmy ends up tormenting Howard (along with Kim, who has her own issues) [[spoiler: resulting in Hamlin's death.]]
* CantGetAwayWithNuthin: For the most part, Howard repeatedly tries to steer Chuck away from his vendetta against Jimmy. However, the one time he attempts to use it to his advantage for the sake of the firm keeping Mesa Verde, it backfires ''massively''.
* CassandraTruth: He is, of course, telling the truth: [[spoiler:the whole incident at the mediation -- everything from the fake photos to the condition of Howard's eyes to the sudden disappearance of his private detective -- has indeed been engineered by Jimmy. But thanks to Howard's agitated behavior, it comes across as nothing more than paranoid conspiracy theories to Cliff, Schweikart, and everyone else in the room.]]
* CharacterDevelopment: Howard goes through quite a lot despite CommutingOnABus. He starts off as a slightly smug lackey of Chuck who isn't necessarily a bad guy, but he ''is'' something of a condescending doink. As seasons 1-3 progress, he gradually becomes disillusioned with Chuck, eventually standing up to him and ultimately ending their professional relationship and friendship. He then spends much of Season 4 in a haze of intense depression, having been humbled and ripped apart with needless guilt, but with therapy, he comes back in Season 5 stronger than ever. He shows himself to be more sincere, is standing on his own without Chuck, and no longer blames himself for Chuck's death. Comments that would have destroyed him previously roll off him, as do Jimmy's horrible pranks. By season six, there are hints of Howard eventually becoming somewhat vindictive towards Jimmy as he exasperatedly attempts to deal with Jimmy and Kim damaging his reputation and career.
* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: He often wears blue articles of clothing, particularly [[spoiler: after he learns how to deal with his grief from Chuck's death at the end of season three]].
* CommutingOnABus: Though he remains a series regular, his role in seasons 4 and 5 is essentially this. He's noticeably the only main cast character whose personal life we never see outside of work, at least not until near the midway point of season 6.
* ConflictBall: His habit of antagonizing a couple who respond vindictively (Jimmy and Kim) leads to his own demise and their respective [[StartOfDarkness starts of darkness]].
* ConspicuousConsumption: His expensive suits certainly send out a message, as do his [[CoolCar classic Jag]], BigFancyHouse, and taste for fine single-malt Scotch[[note]]a bottle of 35-year-old Macallan would set you back a five-figure sum- and that's if you can even find one for sale[[/note]]. It certainly doesn't go unnoticed by Jimmy:
-->'''Jimmy [=McGill=]:''' (to Chuck)"She worked her butt off to get Mesa Verde while you and Howard sat around sipping scotch and ''chortling''!"
* ContrastingSequelAntagonist: To Hank Schrader:
** Both are antagonists towards their respective {{Villain Protagonist}}s; however, Hank is a straight HeroAntagonist, while Howard is more of a VillainyFreeVillain due to going along with Chuck's schemes. Additionally, Hank takes on the chase for Heisenberg willingly, while Howard is only acting on Chuck's behalf and gets dragged into the resulting feud against his will.
** Hank is a highly respected DEA agent who rises through the ranks of his agency due to his skill and work ethic. Howard is already at the top of his field as a senior partner of a successful law firm, is a highly respected lawyer, and is an expert in client management, but it's indicated that he's largely as successful as he is due to his father's influence.
** Both of their rivalries with Walt/Jimmy are based on deception; Walt keeps his double life as Heisenberg a secret from Hank, while Howard hides Chuck's true hatred of Jimmy to direct the latter's ire onto him.
** Both have a partner in their profession that they've worked with for years. Howard has Chuck, but their relationship degrades over the show before [[spoiler:Chuck kills himself]]. Hank has Steve Gomez, and their friendship remains so tight that [[spoiler:Gomez goes rogue with him in the Heisenberg investigation, which causes them to die together]].
** Both of them struggle with mental illnesses due to the events of their shows; Hank suffers from PTSD from killing Tuco, while Howard suffers from depression due to his role in [[spoiler:Chuck's suicide]].
** Both of them recognize how intelligent their opponents are, but while Hank despises Heisenberg even before learning his identity, Howard still respects Jimmy as a person and even helps him land another job.
** Hank is HappilyMarried to Marie, while Howard's marriage is so broken that he's sleeping in another part of the house.
** [[spoiler:Both are ultimately shot in the head by villains that they didn't know existed and wouldn't have encountered if it weren't for Jimmy/Walt, both of whom are shocked by their deaths; they're also both KilledMidSentence. However, while Hank ultimately knew the risks of his profession, refuses to beg, and [[FaceDeathWithDignity faces his death with dignity]], Howard has no idea what he's stumbled in on until it's too late and is killed while trying to reason with Lalo for his life]].
** Both of their [[spoiler:deaths ruin the lives of Jimmy and Walt respectively, but in different ways - Hank's death soon becomes public knowledge and leads to Walt's identity as Heisenberg being exposed, while Howard's death being covered up as a suicide is what drives Kim away from Jimmy, cementing the latter's turn into Saul Goodman and thus his eventual exile to Omaha]].
** [[spoiler:Hank is fairly remembered postmortem as a hero who died taking down a powerful drug dealer, while Howard is falsely remembered as a disgraced drug ''addict'' thanks to Jimmy and Kim's scheme]].
** [[spoiler:Both men are buried in places undisclosed to their loved ones, but while the location of Hank's body is revealed by Walt to Skylar and this allows him to have a proper burial, Howard's body isn't discovered by the end of ''Better Call Saul'', most likely never will be, and thus Cheryl presumably never gets full closure even after learning the truth about his death. They're also both buried alongside someone else, but while Hank is buried with his partner, Howard lies eternally next to his killer.]]
** While Hank came from a regular background and worked his way up to his job as a DEA Agent on his own, Howard came from a very privileged background and, as much as he may not want to admit it, got his role at the firm partially due to his father. And while Hank had a fairly normal higher education in contrast to Walt having attended the more prestigous Caltech, Howard is all but stated to have attended an impressive law school while Jimmy went to a correspondence school while working in the mailroom.
** Their aesthetics and lifestyles are also polar opposites, both to one another and their main rivals. Hank is a regular kind of guy with a comfortably middle-class lifestyle in sharp contrast to the more refined Walt, who is a highly skilled scientist and has an immense secret fortune, while Howard is very wealthy and loves showing it off with his nice car and taste in expensive clothing in contrast to Jimmy who struggles with money at the start of the series. And while Hank is very physically capable due to his line of work and more than able to handle himself against the criminal element he encounters and was involved with the cartels and dealers on a daily basis, Howard is very much a NonActionGuy whose only direct and unintentional encounter with the world of the drug cartel [[spoiler:ends in his death.]]
* CreateYourOwnVillain: Whereas Chuck does this to Jimmy, Howard does this to Kim, primarily through his actions toward her in Season 2. He demotes her to document review because of Jimmy's actions in producing and airing a TV commercial without permission, leaves her there even after she brings in Mesa Verde as a client, and when Chuck goes over his head to re-instate her to her previous position, Howard flatly tells her not to plan on ever advancing beyond that position. This ends up driving her out of the company, and his general attitude of smug condescension over the next few seasons -- combined with her blaming him for [[spoiler:Chuck's death]] -- results in her being determined to utterly ruin him by the end of Season 5 (by contrast, Jimmy's content to just troll him and do whatever it takes to speed up the resolution of the Sandpiper Crossing case).
* CruelToBeKind: He repeatedly dashes Jimmy's hopes of ever being a part of HHM because he doesn't want Jimmy to know it's really his brother who doesn't want him there.
* DaddyIssues: His father was controlling, getting Howard to join HHM instead of letting his son go his own way like he wanted, and then he looks up to Chuck and does whatever he thinks that man would want. Even after Chuck's death he's still torturing himself trying to live up to his expectations.
* TheDandy: Very much so. He very rarely appears without a perfectly tailored suit and a few flashy accessories.
* DeadSparks: Howard and his wife Cheryl are evidently no longer in love but are not separated, and Howard claims that Cheryl refuses to discuss divorce or try to salvage the relationship. Instead, they just continue to go through the motions as a couple, sharing purely functional conversation and appearing at social events together when they both deem it appropriate.
* DeathByOriginStory: [[spoiler:He's shot dead by Lalo for being at the wrong place at the wrong time during his drunken rant against Kim and Jimmy. His tragic death ends up traumatizing both Kim and Jimmy, indirectly leading to Jimmy's final transformation into the amoral Saul Goodman.]]
* DeathGlare:
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RtOgIgDrvk Gives an epic one to Chuck after he declares, "I'm not CRAZY!".]]
** Blink and you'll miss it, but after not allowing Jimmy in at HHM during "Pimento", he gives a tired, annoyed side-eye when Chuck plays the supportive older brother.
* ADeathInTheLimelight: [[spoiler:"Plan and Execution" is probably the most Howard-heavy episode of the series. It ends with him getting murdered.]]
* DemotedToExtra: In Season 4 and 5, although he still gets main cast billing. The few scenes that he does have in these seasons are almost always very memorable, however. Averted in Season 6, where he once again becomes a prominent character.
* DespairEventHorizon: Averted, surprisingly enough. [[spoiler: Despite his reputation and career getting ruined almost beyond repair by Jimmy and Kim in "Plan and Execution", he remains absolutely resolute, completely assured that he ''will'' get past through his current situation and make sure that those two will be exposed for what they have done. His confidence and belief after all he's been put through is so strong and clear to see that one can honestly ''believe'' his words. Too bad Lalo chose to appear there and then...]]
* DesperatelyCravesAffection: He tries little loving things to help his marriage that Cheryl never notices, and Chuck was a parental figure, so even after his suicide, Howard is constantly afraid he's disappointing him.
* DesecratingTheDead: [[spoiler: Howard's UndignifiedDeath gets worse in 'Point and Shoot'. His reputation is irrevocably trashed as a man who got addicted to cocaine, cheated on his wife with prostitutes, messed up his career and then committed suicide because it's a story that's convenient for everyone else. Then he's buried in an amateur unmarked grave, which he's forced to share with his killer because digging two graves would be too much trouble for Mike.]]
* DidntSeeThatComing:
** When steering Chuck into taking back the partners from Kim, he evidently didn't foresee that Jimmy would be reckless enough in his revenge against Chuck regarding the forgery scheme. [[spoiler:He most certainly never imagined that Chuck would be so cruel as to threaten the firm itself, either.]]
** He clearly didn't foresee [[spoiler:'''''Lalo Salamanca''''' coming to Jimmy and Kim's house, which results in his death. To be fair, neither did Jimmy and Kim.]]
* DiesWideOpen: [[spoiler: After being shot by Lalo, we see Howard's lifeless body with his eyes open and his mouth ajar from having been killed mid-sentence.]]
-->'''Patrick Fabian''': [[spoiler:Some advice for my fellow actors on playing a corpse: If possible, die with your mouth and eyes '''closed'''. You'll thank me for this.]]
* DisneyOwnsThisTrope: Rightfully points out that Jimmy's new brand infringes his practice's trademarks due to matching many elements ''very'' closely, but still gets in on this trope through their legal use of "Hamlindigo Blue". You can almost hear the "registered trademark" afterward.
* DisproportionateRetribution: Is both the giver and recipient of this trope:
** He holds Kim totally responsible for Jimmy's commercial screw-up and basically refuses to trust her at all anymore because of this. When Chuck asks that she be brought back to the forefront, Howard refuses to talk to her -- at first.
** Kim and Jimmy in season six start a harassment campaign towards him in which he is [[spoiler: railroaded as a coke head, has his car stolen by Jimmy, and is ''drugged'' without his knowledge or consent by the pair. It's heavily implied that Kim is so insistent on doing this to Howard because of a deep-seeded resentment of him she's developed over the series.]]
* TheDogBitesBack:
** Chuck treats Howard rather poorly, dragging him kicking and screaming into his feud with Jimmy and disregarding Howard's concerns with thinly-veiled condescension. [[spoiler:But after Chuck threatens to ''sue HHM,'' Howard goes the extra mile to call his bluff and sends his ass packing, taking the opportunity to humiliate him by having the entire office applaud his 'retirement' while he's at it.]]
** After repeatedly having to deal with Jimmy's harassment in seasons five and six, [[spoiler: he challenges him to a boxing match that he easily wins and delivers a ''scathing'' TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to him and Kim after all the humiliation they've caused him.]]
* DoggedNiceGuy: Downplayed. Howard's implied to still hold feelings for Cheryl in his appointment with his therapist, making a visibly pained expression as he describes their relationship as "deadlocked." He attempts to repair his relationship to her but is rebuffed in a scene where he makes a latte for her with a peace sign drawn on its surface. His facial expressions during this strained interaction (which he makes specifically when he knows she's not looking at him) indicate he's hurt by her cold demeanor and apparent disinterest.
* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler: Averted. Howard's murder is staged as a suicide due to his [[MistakenForJunkie alleged drug problem]] and personal life.]]
* DrowningMySorrows: [[spoiler:He's heavily drunk when he meets Jimmy and Kim for the last time. It's because of just how much damage the two of them had done to him on a mental and emotional level throughout the show and figuring out that Kim is complacent with Jimmy's scams, he decides to tell them exactly what he thinks of them, with his drunk nature having a large influence on his anger.]]
* DudeWheresMyRespect: He is deeply hurt that after years of working together and being a loyal partner to Chuck, Chuck would rather treat Howard like a disloyal upstart and threaten to destroy HHM if he does not get his way. Howard feels that he deserves Chuck's respect and instead Chuck treats him like an unruly child that needs to be put in his place. Prior to this, Howard also fully supported Jimmy at HHM but acquiesced to Chuck's veto. When Chuck's revealed to be behind Jimmy's failed attempt to hire on at HHM, Howard points out that he always liked Jimmy.
* DyingCurse: Much like Nacho to Hector a few episodes ago, he tells Jimmy and Kim that their lives won't be okay after this. He's more correct than he knows. Jimmy ends up a paranoid meek colorless man in Omaha [[spoiler:before eventually being caught and sentenced to 86 years in prison]], while Kim [[spoiler:ends up with a decent but horrifically mundane life, wracked with guilt over her involvement in Howard's death, and later confessing her crimes to Cheryl, who is heavily implied to make sure Kim will suffer through all of it]].
* EveryoneHasStandards: [[spoiler:Wrongly believing that Jimmy and Kim are the ones in danger from Lalo rather than himself, he attempts to de-escalate the situation with his last words, and there seems to be some genuine concern in his voice when he asks "What's this about?" (as well as his glance at them when he realizes Lalo has a gun). He wanted them to pay for what they'd done, but he didn't want to see them hurt or killed.]]
* ExactWords: "[[BitchInSheepsClothing The partners]] have decided."
* ExiledToTheCouch: The degree to which Howard's marriage to Cheryl Hamlin has deteriorated by season 6. He actually sleeps in a guest bedroom separate from the main part of the house.
* TheFace: It is strongly implied that Howard is not a skilled litigator and would never have been made a name partner of a law firm if it wasn't for his father's nepotism. His main role at HHM is client development, which generally involves him wearing expensive suits and charming potential clients over expensive lunches -- or, in the Sandpiper cases, soothing his senior citizen clients' concerns over the lengthy legal process. Jimmy curtly tells him to use this when HHM threatens to go under:
-->'''Jimmy [=McGill=]''': You're a ''shitty'' lawyer, Howard, but you're a great salesman. So get out there and sell.
-->'''Howard Hamlin''': [[PrecisionFStrike Fuck you]], Jimmy!
* FallGuy: For Chuck in season one, as he has to play the bad guy in not wanting Jimmy to use his own name or be at HHM, while Chuck plays the comforting brother.
* {{Foil}}:
** To Chuck.
*** Chuck is idealistic, eloquent, and soft-spoken. He is also a BitchInSheepsClothing. Howard, on the other hand, is smug, superior, and egotistical. However, he makes it clear that everything he does, he does it for the sake of the firm. He doesn't keep Jimmy out of his law firm out of some idealistic belief or the fear that such a hire might be construed as nepotism like Chuck -- he merely follows Chuck's direction, since he views Chuck's loyalty and friendship as paramount.
*** Chuck is a brilliant man and a talented lawyer but seriously lacking in charm and social skills. Howard is less talented as a litigator but charming and confident with a knack for wooing new clients.
*** Chuck pretends to be on Jimmy's side whilst secretly sabotaging him professionally. Howard makes no such pretenses, but actually does seem to want Jimmy to succeed.
*** His treatment of Kim in Season 2 further underlines his difference with Chuck. Not only does he make his contempt painfully obvious to people who he thinks have wronged him, he actually has a professional reason to do so (Kim ''is'' the one who talked him into recommending Jimmy to Davis & Main, and so Jimmy's conduct reflects badly on Howard). Contrast this to Chuck, who prefers to slowly poison the career of those who he thinks have crossed him, and whose reasons for doing so are mostly personal.
*** Unlike Chuck in "Pimento", who [[DirtyCoward has to be cornered]] to say his true feelings, Howard has no problem telling Jimmy to his face exactly what he thinks.
*** For all Chuck's bluster at protecting HHM, Howard's the one who puts himself on the line for the firm, taking out loans and paying out of his own pocket to buy out Chuck's share. At the first hint that Howard disagrees with him, however, Chuck attempts to force himself on the firm, even if it leads to crippling insurance hikes.
*** [[spoiler:Both of them die when they're at their most demoralized, with Jimmy unwillingly having played a part in some way. Chuck committed suicide out of madness born from a combination of factors, including his mental sickness, being fired by Howard, and being defeated by Jimmy in a proper trial. Howard is killed by Lalo very suddenly when the latter shows up in the middle of Howard chewing out Jimmy and Kim, becoming collateral damage as far as Lalo was concerned.]]
*** A version of Chuck's theme also plays while Howard is [[spoiler: being lowered into the grave underneath the superlab]].
** To Jimmy [=McGill=]:
*** Jimmy and Howard are of a similar age and both look up to Chuck as an older brother and as an older colleague and mentor, respectively. The difference is that Chuck actually respects Howard and his abilities as a lawyer, while he refuses to see Jimmy as anything more than a "chimp with a machine gun" and repeatedly sabotaged his chances as a lawyer.
*** Howard is very well off financially [[spoiler: at least until he has to put himself in debt to make Chuck leave HHM]] and has a wealthy background, while Jimmy's very much in dire straits at the beginning of the series and has to struggle repeatedly to earn enough money.
*** Both Jimmy and Howard have a flair for eye-catching clothing, but while Jimmy is a FashionVictimVillain who prefers loud, tacky, and cheap-looking suits and ties, Howard is a SharpDressedMan prone to overdressing and ConspicuousConsumption.
*** Howard is significantly more emotionally honest with himself and introspective, and seeks therapy [[spoiler: to cope with Chuck's suicide]], while Jimmy sees it as a waste of time, and suppresses his emotions in any way he can as a coping mechanism to the point of becoming Saul Goodman.
*** Jimmy and Howard both function as [[TechnicianVersusPerformer the performer to Chuck as the technician]] at times, being more personable and sociable than the latter. However, Jimmy comes across as more genuine and likable while Howard can seem nearly robotic in his interactions with people. Ironically Howard is, for the most part, genuinely confident in himself in all the ways Jimmy isn't. It's implied that Howard's not a particularly talented lawyer but is "a great salesman", while Jimmy's shown to be very competent and knowledgeable in law despite his underhandedness.
*** Jimmy uses increasingly shadier and more underhanded tactics as he further embraces the Saul Goodman persona, and was never entirely above manipulating people to get what he wants even early into the series. Howard, meanwhile, never even gets close to considering such tactics and strongly adheres to legal means of adapting to and overcoming situations. [[spoiler: He even rents a boxing ring to challenge Jimmy to a fight so he can, as Jimmy states, "beat the shit out of him legally"]].
*** Both men are married, but while Jimmy and Kim have a warm and lovingly sexually active (albeit somewhat toxic) relationship, Howard and Cheryl have an icy and strained relationship and only go through the motions of presenting themselves as a couple when necessary and despite Howard's attempts at improving the relationship.
* {{Gaslighting}}: Is the recipient of this several times in the series by Jimmy and Kim.
** In season five, Jimmy denies the harassment he's subjected Howard to and calls him "unhinged" for correctly suspecting Jimmy.
** [[spoiler: Cliff Main incorrectly believes Howard is gaslighting him about his supposed [[MistakenForJunkie coke]] and [[NotWhatItLooksLike hooker]] problem due to his experiences with his son having a drug problem, unaware that this was entirely engineered by Jimmy and Kim to damage Howard's reputation.]]
** [[spoiler: When Howard confronts them after the mediation, Jimmy and Kim of course deny orchestrating a plot to humiliate him and behave like he's unjustifiably angry at them. Howard doesn't buy this for a second, and understandably calls them a pair of sociopaths afterward.]]
* GildedCage:
** HHM itself. While Howard is professionally successful and fabulously wealthy, it is implied that his talents don't really lie in the law and that he may have drifted into the family line. He didn't even have the freedom to start his own firm, as his father insisted on him forming HHM with him.
** Howard may own a BigFancyHouse, but within its walls, he is living an AwfulWeddedLife. The house has two separate wings- in which he and Cheryl live two separate lives.
* GoneHorriblyWrong:
** Howard wanted to retain Mesa Verde and used Chuck's vendetta against Jimmy to help him do it. [[spoiler:It results in Jimmy defrauding his firm, and leads to the professional and mental collapse (and eventual suicide) of his law partner.]]
** He wanted to give Jimmy a second chance at his firm. [[spoiler:This results in Jimmy and Kim targeting him for petty revenge, resulting in his defamation and his death at the hands of Lalo.]]
* GoodCannotComprehendEvil: Subverted. While it took him a bit to wrap his head around it, Howard quite brutally and accurately summarizes ''exactly'' why [[spoiler: Jimmy and Kim went out of their way to ruin his reputation]]. ''They'' might deny it and try to justify what they've done to themselves, but the audience knows that Howard is speaking nothing but facts.
--> '''Howard:''' I thought you did it for the money, but now it's so clear: ''screw'' the money, you did it for fun. You get off on it. Your like, Leopold and Loeb, two sociopaths!\\
'''Jimmy:''' Okay, that's enough!\\
'''Howard:''' Ah you know its true, you just don't have the guts to admit it.
* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: Howard has light blonde hair, and is revealed to be the most moral of the series' main characters and actively tries to improve himself by the latter half of the story.
* TheHeart: Howard is easily the most moral member of the cast and as such serves as the moral center of the legal side of the story, with even his only "bad" acts (lying to Jimmy on Chuck's behalf and sending Kim to the cornfield) being done to protect Jimmy's feelings as well as his firm. [[spoiler:Once Kim decides to ruin his life for a petty slight, it becomes clear that both she and Jimmy are crossing the line of no return, and the scheme getting Howard killed ruins both of their lives for good]].
* HeKnowsTooMuch: [[spoiler:He just so happened to be at the ''very worst place at the worst time'' when Lalo comes to pay Saul and Kim a visit. Howard is met with a bullet to the head for this as Lalo wants to make sure no one knows about his affiliation with Saul and Kim.]]
* HeroAntagonist: He is opposed to Jimmy, and the trope is played straighter than with Chuck. Most of Howard's actions are for business and what any reasonable lawyer would do in his situation.
** In Season 1, Jimmy is actually the one antagonizing him and Howard simply responds in kind. All of Jimmy's assumptions about Howard (blocking Jimmy's career and taking advantage of Chuck's condition) are also untrue.
** In Seasons 2 to 3, he works with his partner Chuck to try to maintain Mesa Verde as a client, and helps Chuck try to disbar Jimmy when he actually commits a crime (breaking and entering and destruction of property). When Chuck turns on Howard and tries to force the buyout of his shares to bankrupt the firm, Howard chooses to go into debt to protect the firm and it's employees. Once Chuck is pushed out of HHM, Howard stops antagonizing Jimmy and Kim and tries to bury any hostilities, though both reject him.
** In Season 6, Jimmy and Kim target Howard's reputation by framing him as a drug addict to his colleagues. Howard only hires a private investigator (and challenges Jimmy to a boxing match, which he was allowed to walk away from) after he discovers this harassment campaign. [[spoiler:Even after Jimmy and Kim outwit him and do permanent damage to his reputation, he only comes to their apartment to chastise them. There is no threat of doing anything illegal or violent, and in his last moments, even tries to defuse tensions with Lalo before being killed.]]
* HiddenDepths: Turns out, Howard is pretty athletic. [[spoiler:He's a very good boxer (which has some real-life basis, as boxing is a popular sport for people in white-collar jobs who need to relieve stress) and knocks Jimmy on his ass in the ring, and the pictures at his funeral reveal that he was also a recreational triathlete (with those pictures coming from Patrick Fabian's Instagram account). Patrick imagines that Howard took up swimming and cycling because they're exercises that don't require him to interact with people and put on his work persona]].
* HookersAndBlow: Jimmy and Kim attempt to frame him as a user of both. It's not remotely true, [[spoiler: but it works anyway.]]
* HowTheMightyHaveFallen: [[spoiler:His final appearance highlights this in a somber and depressing tone, with Howard having lost his prestigious reputation and positive connections with his fellow co-workers. Even worse, his fall from grace ends with him getting unceremoniously killed off whilst in the middle of a drunken rage against Saul and Kim for conspiring to ruin his life.]]
* {{Hypocrite}}: The flaw in the solid argument that Jimmy couldn't be hired due to nepotism is that Hamlin was dragged by his father into the firm, which gives precedent and shows that Chuck was the one forcing his hand. Notably, when Kim calls him on this during [[spoiler:Jimmy's disbarment hearing]], Howard looks genuinely impressed with her for pointing it out, indicating that he realizes the issue with the argument as well.
* HypocriteHasAPoint: After the jab at his nepotism argument Howard is ready to comment on how he recommended Jimmy to Cliff and Main which Kim wisely declines. Howard was hired into the firm because of his dad but he took the responsibilities seriously. Jimmy, for his part, didn't last a month before ruining all the goodwill his references gave him.
* InnocentBystander: [[spoiler:Despite being a major character for the entire show up until his last appearance, Howard's death is as sudden and anticlimactic as it is a bleak display of how he was collateral damage to Lalo's scheme and battle against Gus Fring.]]
* InnocentlyInsensitive: His incredibly privileged and sheltered upbringing has left him unable to relate to those less fortunate than himself, and he genuinely can't understand why the struggling likes of Kim and Jimmy often find his words so insulting.
** He considers his pet name for Jimmy, "Charlie Hustle" a compliment and can't see why Jimmy finds it so belittling to be referred to as essentially a scrappier, dodgier version of his honest and successful older brother.
** When Kim ''lays'' onto him [[spoiler:how humiliating Chuck's will is to Jimmy and asking if Howard discussed his "theories" with Rebecca as well]], Howard genuinely looks shocked at the implications of Kim's rant.
** When he asks Kim if her decision to [[spoiler:quit Schweikart and Cokely]] was influenced by Jimmy she asks him "Do you have ''any'' idea how ''insulting'' that is?". He genuinely doesn't.
* TheInsomniac: Begins to suffer from insomnia along with depression after [[spoiler: Chuck's suicide]].
* JerkassHasAPoint: When Kim grills him on the stand and demonstrates that it's true that Chuck didn't want to hire Jimmy for reasons personal to him, Howard counters that he ''did'' consider hiring Jimmy, and even after Chuck vetoed it, he helped get Jimmy a great job that he quickly screwed up. Kim backtracks as she realizes that this statement is true and not helping her case.
** He's 100% correct in realizing that Jimmy is just trying to get the Sandpiper case settled quickly because all he cares about is his own payday since Jimmy later resorts to petty manipulation and dirty tactics to trick the Sandpiper residents into settling as soon as possible. It doesn't help that at the time he was also busy trying to deal with Chuck's threats of legal action.
** He's absolutely right when he surmises that Jimmy's harassment of him in season five is largely due to the latter's inability to deal with his emotions over [[spoiler: Chuck's death]], and he's right to tell Kim that she should be concerned about the behavior Jimmy's exhibiting.
** Howard's final moments have him tell off Jimmy and Kim for trying to ruin his life, saying they did it for nothing but kicks and saying they're both terrible and perfect for each other. It's brutal, but both of them know it's also completely accurate [[spoiler: and both eventually confess with no self-justification]]. Howard might be wrong about them being sociopaths, but he's got every right to feel like that at this point.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: In the first couple of seasons, he is a MeanBoss to Kim, frequently butts heads with Jimmy, and seems more interested in his firm's future than Chuck's rights. The reality is a bit more complicated. His PetTheDog moment in the Season 1 finale also shows that some of his actions thus far had not been of his own choosing and that he's actually more sympathetic to Jimmy than he'd seemed. The heart of gold is shown again when he wipes Kim's scholarship debt in a PetTheDog moment. [[spoiler:It's demonstrated further in the careful, sympathetic way he treats both Jimmy and Kim in the wake of Chuck's death.]]
* KickTheDog:
** He crushes Jimmy's hopes of becoming successful by bringing the Kettlemans back into the fold.
** Also crushes Jimmy's dream of working as a lawyer in his older brother's prestigious firm -- while eating a piece of Jimmy's "Congratulations" cake, no less. While it was actually Chuck who didn't want Jimmy working at HHM, Howard's timing was rather tactless.
** After the stubborn and ignorant Kettlemans walk out on Kim, he blames her and takes away her office, relegating her to the dreaded "Corn Field."
** When Jimmy's commercial stunt ends up making him and the firm look bad, Howard puts the heat on Kim, relegating her to menial duties and refusing to reinstate her (even after she wins them an incredibly lucrative deal) until Chuck intercedes on her behalf. Even then, he's still incredibly cold to her.
* KilledMidSentence: [[spoiler:Howard encounters Lalo Salamanca in Jimmy and Kim's household, whilst Howard is in the middle of a drunken, angry rant and unaware that Lalo has now just seen him as someone whom he can't leave alive. He only realizes something is off when Lalo pulls out a gun, but Lalo offs him without letting Howard finish his speech...]]
-->'''Howard''': [[spoiler:I uh... I think I'm in the middle of something... There's really no need to-- ('''[[BoomHeadshot bang]]''')]]
* LastDisrespects: [[spoiler:He ends up buried next to his own murderer. Under a meth lab, no less.]]
* ManipulativeBastard: When Kim leaves HHM and seems ready to take the Mesa Verde clients with her, Howard deliberately "forgets" to tell Chuck that she's not actually law partners with Jimmy, knowing that Chuck will do everything possible to undermine their "joint" practice.
* ManOfWealthAndTaste: [[PlayingWithATrope Played with]]. Howard's suits may be eye-wateringly expensive and exquisitely tailored, but with their Hamlindogo Blue™ fabric and bold pinstripes they are a little on the loud side- and that's before he overaccessorizes them with his contrast collar shirts, cufflinks, knit ties, and collar pins. He's generally overdressed even by the standards of a white-shoe law firm[[note]]when working with less well-off clients it may even be inappropriate for a lawyer to wear such conspicuously expensive clothing- for example, a client who has shoplifted food they couldn't afford to buy may feel intimidated by such an outfit[[/note]]. He also drives a [[CoolCar classic Jaguar SJ8]] but the "[=NAMAST3=]" VanityLicencePlate isn't such a classy touch. Overall his tastes border a little on ConspicuousConsumption.
* MeanBoss: His treatment of Kim falls into this. He threatens to demote her because she loses the Kettlemans as clients when it is clear they are total idiots divorced from reality and that nothing Kim could have done would have satisfied them. He basically reassigns Kim to the other side of the office for something that was pretty much out of her control. She is then demoted to the Cornfield because of something that Jimmy did and then lied to her about. Mind you, he's not a totally irredeemable bastard: he does give her a good parting package when she leaves the firm and acknowledges her worth to her face, to boot -- but it doesn't stop him undercutting her via Chuck, of course.
* MistakenForJunkie: [[spoiler: A large portion of Kim and Jimmy's plan to damage Howard's career in season six is to cause his colleagues to believe he has a cocaine addiction. The plan is so effectively executed that Cliff refuses to believe Howard's correct assertions that they're responsible as just a way to excuse this apparent problem.]]
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: He's near tears when he greatly laments [[spoiler:kicking Chuck from the firm, believing that it led directly to his suicide]].
* {{Nepotism}}: Downplayed, he is a qualified lawyer and in fact would have preferred working for himself, but his dad forced him to found HHM and be one of the bosses. This makes Howard very protective of the firm.
* NeverFoundTheBody: [[spoiler: The implication by the end of the series. His death is staged by Gus' men as a drug-influenced suicide by drowning. His car is taken to a beach far from New Mexico, his shoes are thrown in the ocean, his wallet and wedding ring are left on the dash, and cocaine is scattered throughout the car - when he's really buried under Gus' super lab in Albuquerque. By the end of the series, his and Lalo's bodies still haven't been found and are highly unlikely to ever be as anyone who knew about their location are now themselves deceased.]]
* NervousTics: Howard has a tendency to rub his thumb in circular motions on his index finger as a subtle indication that he's nervous or distressed about something, [[spoiler: most notably after Kim literally screams at him for telling Jimmy about Chuck's suicide]].
* NiceGuy: When not being Chuck's puppet, Howard is actually a helpful, compassionate stand-up guy. Howard fully grows into this by Season 5 where he lets bygones be bygones and even outright offers Jimmy a job at HHM as an olive branch. Unfortunately for Howard, the bitter conman is way too broken from his feud with Chuck to even consider it. Howard doesn't retaliate to Jimmy's pranks, only responding by saying he's sorry that Jimmy's in pain about Chuck's death.
* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished:
** On the receiving end of this when he and Kim recommend Jimmy to Davis and Main, only for the UngratefulBastard to screw up and air a commercial behind Cliff's back and make HMM look bad by association.
** Later in Season 2, Jimmy humiliates Howard and HHM as collateral damage in his forgery scheme to 'help' Kim and get back at Chuck.
** In Season 3 he ''very'' kindly and politely suggests to Chuck that he retire from active legal practice and move on to a teaching position. Chuck's response is to sue HHM.
** Then in Season 4, when he bares his soul to Jimmy and Kim about the role he thinks he played in [[spoiler:Chuck's suicide]], Jimmy coldly piles on the guilt with the episode's WhamLine.
** And finally, in Season 5, another attempt to offer Jimmy a job within HMM leads to petty revenge plots to humiliate Howard, Kim helping to up the ante in Season 6, and ultimately [[spoiler: him getting killed by Lalo in the middle of ranting about how awful they are when Lalo unexpectedly pays the two a visit as well.]]
* NoSocialSkills: While he has the perfect partner persona perfectly nailed he comes across as condescending and snobbish even when he isn't trying to. It doesn't help that the other characters like Jimmy and Kim take really poorly his advices no matter how sensible because he comes across as the privileged boss that gave them griefs by Chuck's order or just to punish them. Even his wife hates his attempts at being charming.
* NotMeThisTime: Howard has demonstrated some Jerkass behavior toward Chuck and Kim, but it isn't entirely his fault that Jimmy can't get hired at HHM.
* NothingPersonal: While he's not alright with Jimmy being inducted into HHM, Howard approaches this front professionally, unlike Chuck, stating that Jimmy isn't an ideal choice for the firm, although Howard acknowledges that he has the capability to be a good lawyer. It's not until Howard, begrudgingly with Chuck's insistence, antagonizes Kim's career that he and Jimmy become more hostile with one another.
* OnlySaneMan: Definitely qualifies by Season 3. He has his firm stuck in a crossfire between two brothers and just wishes to move on and practice law. He's also the only one of the cast from season four who actually goes to therapy (Mike just tends to glower) and tries to make himself better, compared to Jimmy and Kim who have terrible coping strategies and get worse.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness:
** Chuck's claim that Howard betrayed him first makes Howard so angry that he outright aggressively calls it "bullshit", stunning Chuck into silence.
** In his season 4 appearances the normally calm, unflappable and immaculately dressed Howard seems stressed and even a little disheveled, and he reveals he is in therapy. The stress and guilt over [[spoiler:Chuck's suicide]] are obviously taking their toll. In the season 6 episode "Plan and Execution" he turns up at Kim and Jimmy's apartment drunk and extremely disheveled, signifying that things have gone seriously wrong for him.
* OutOfFocus: Season 4, despite still billing Patrick Fabian as a main cast member, has Howard's role dropping away to virtually nothing after the first couple of episodes, largely due to the show's focus moving away from the world of corporate law (outside of Kim's sub-plots) and more towards the various criminal activities of Jimmy, on the one hand, and Mike and Gus on the other. It becomes more clear in season 5 when he runs into Jimmy at the courthouse while Jimmy is waiting for a meeting with ADA Ericsen.
* OutsideContextProblem: [[spoiler:Lalo, someone he has no idea even exists, ends up killing him. While Howard is a major part of the legal side of the story, he has no connection to the Cartel side - up until Lalo happens to visit Jimmy and Kim while Howard is at their apartment. He only realizes the kind of thing he's stumbled in on after Lalo has clearly decided he has to go, and he's killed only about a minute later while still having no idea what's going on]].
* ParentalSubstitute: Gould called Howard like Chuck's surrogate son too, and Howard has some hidden resentment towards his actual father controlling his path, but openly looking up to Chuck.
* PayEviluntoEvil:
** Calling Jimmy transparent and pathetic is a bit crass, but still more than justified given the dastardly AlphaBitch-like plan Jimmy enacts later on in that episode.
** Instead of giving Chuck a retirement party, he loudly announces to his employees that Chuck is retiring, prompting loud applauding and flashy cell phone photos as Chuck is subtly led out of the building.
** ''Attempts'' to do this to [[spoiler:Jimmy and Kim, who have ruined his credibility by framing him as a drug addict, and swears to expose them for the conmen they are, but Lalo and his gun soon put a stop to that.]]
* PetTheDog: Several times. For a certified pain-in-the-rear, Howard gets a lot of fluffy moments.
** When he barks at Kim about not caring what she thinks, he immediately feels guilty and calls her back into his office to explain the truth of the situation. It's clear that the only reason he went off on her in the first place is that he was overwhelmed by having to play the bad guy on Chuck's behalf, especially in front of one of his most beloved protegees.
** The "Pimento" KickTheDog example above [[spoiler:is actually a subversion of that trope -- Hamlin is actually trying to spare Jimmy's feelings and respect Chuck's wishes, even though it makes him look bad by covering up the real reason that Jimmy can't advance -- his brother's mistrust]]. Moreover, after losing his temper with Kim for pressing him on the issue, he immediately realizes that he is being an ass and she is trustworthy, and then tells her the truth with nothing to gain by doing so.
** Played straight in the first season finale. He expresses awe when Jimmy hands him [[spoiler:the list of all of Chuck's needs and provisions, marveling at the lengths to which Jimmy went in order to successfully provide for Chuck ''by himself'' for ''over a year''. He's quick to assure Jimmy that Chuck will be cared for properly]]. In fact, he and Kim had a hand in asking Davis & Main to consider taking on Jimmy.
** In Season 2, when he stops by Chuck's house on a grocery run, Howard tells Chuck that he gave Davis & Main an honest description of Jimmy, including his past and diploma, but he also tells Chuck that he didn't bash him to a law firm that wanted to recruit him.
** He wiped out Kim's scholarship debt as a parting gift and expresses that he kind of envies her working solo. Granted, he did start the meeting off a little prickly (when he thought she was jumping ship to another firm), but seemed to genuinely warm up when what she was actually up to became clear. Then came the pat on the head.
** He also gives Chuck some good tactical advice on not taking the stand in the court case against Jimmy; sadly (sort of), Chuck doesn't listen.
** He [[spoiler:puts himself into debt to cash out Chuck]] in order to save HHM.
** He urges Jimmy not to look at Chuck's body in the coroner's van, phones Jimmy to have him approve the gushing obituary HHM plans to print before Chuck's funeral, and finally confesses to Jimmy and Kim about the role he thinks he played in Chuck's suicide. The last act quickly turns into an example of NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished when Jimmy throws Howard's guilt back in his face.
** When [[spoiler: Cliff Main confronts Howard about his [[MistakenForJunkie supposed drug problem]], he still thanks Cliff for caring about his well-being despite being clearly upset at wrongly being called out.]]
** [[spoiler: Despite ''everything'' Jimmy and Kim has subjected him to in season six, he still attempts to negotiate with Lalo for a peaceful resolution upon seeing his gun, incorrectly believing Lalo is threatening ''them''.]]
* ThePollyanna: With Chuck at first, spouting clichés over how he'll beat his illness and come back to work like nothing ever happened. He still doesn't like being the FallGuy though, and by season three his optimism has soured considerably.
* PrecisionFStrike:
** Chuck threatening to sue HHM is what finally gets Howard to take the gloves off.
---> '''Howard''': In what world is that anything but the deepest betrayal of our friendship?\\
'''Chuck''': I could argue that you're the one who betrayed me.\\
'''Howard''': That's ''bullshit.'' And you know it.
** Taken further when Jimmy insults him [[spoiler:for moping around in the aftermath of Chuck's death]].
--> '''Howard''': Fuck you, Jimmy.
* ReassignedToAntarctica: He's fond of this tactic whenever he blames Kim.
** He sends her to the east wing of the firm, which Jimmy dubs "The Cornfield," after the Kettlemans fire her for not keeping up with their impossible standards in court, extending her career progression by years.
** After Jimmy runs his unauthorized advert and makes HHM look bad in front of Davis & Main, he assigns Kim to doc review for her role in pushing Jimmy as a law firm partner.
* RedHerring: He's set up to be Jimmy's polar opposite and ArchNemesis. In reality, Jimmy's brother Chuck is the one who's been holding him back, not Howard. After the truth comes out and Kim and Howard help Jimmy get a job at Davis & Main, the two of them seem to be on better terms. Until Jimmy transfers all his brother issues onto Howard anyway.
* ReplacementGoldfish: It's implied, until he starts talking back anyway, that Howard is a replacement for Jimmy in Chuck's eyes. Howard's number is the only contact information the first hospital visit has despite Jimmy being Chuck's caretaker, and Chuck will treat him like a surrogate son/brother who he can appreciate (but still use) because Howard is both very clean and successful but also does what he's told and idolizes the older man.
* SacrificialLion: [[spoiler:After spending five and a half seasons as one of the most important characters in the legal side of the show, the first half of Season 6 culminates with Lalo [[BoomHeadshot shooting Howard in the head]], underscoring just how much danger Jimmy and Kim are in. His death also completely changes the lives of everyone left -- Lalo dies a few hours later, thus allowing Gus to complete the superlab uninhibited, while Jimmy and Kim end up divorcing due to the trauma, driving Kim to Florida and Jimmy into Saul Goodman]].
* ShadowArchetype: By Season 4 and 5, he ends up as one to Jimmy. [[spoiler:Both of them take Chuck's death harshly despite cutting ties with their former idol, with Howard believing he mainly caused the suicide while Jimmy silently lives with the guilt of playing a role through the insurance hikes he incited]]. Despite looking worse for wear, Howard eventually moved on and was able to grieve in a healthy manner after seeking professional help, while Jimmy bottled all of his feelings and let them push him into adopting the name of "Saul Goodman". Much of Jimmy's frustration with Howard throughout Season 5 stems from envy at seeing Hamlin being able to reconcile while he could not, despite their struggles sharing the same cause.
* SharpDressedMan: Howard is almost always seen in his expensive suits, and is always very well turned-out. In particular, he favors knitted ties. The one time that he is not seen wearing anything prestigious is when he boxes Jimmy.
* SilentScapegoat: It was actually Chuck who insisted that Jimmy never be hired as a lawyer for HHM while Hamlin makes it look like he's responsible. He later turns himself into a scapegoat for Chuck's death, believing it had everything to do with the way he pushed him out of HHM. He doesn't mention that Chuck's vindictive actions motivated Howard to do so, putting himself out of pocket in the process. He frames himself as a straight-up villain who drove Chuck to suicide, seemingly out of a genuine belief that this is what happened. To make matters worse, Jimmy allows Howard to take all that guilt on by himself, essentially making Howard into a scapegoat for a second [=McGill=] brother.
* SilverFox: He's well into middle aged and as Rick points out, he's not exactly the worst looking guy.
* SitcomArchnemesis: Howard and Jimmy develop into this by the later seasons, at a point where Jimmy is heavily involved with incredibly dangerous criminals. After the whole disbarment attempt by Chuck is over and HHM is now run by Howard alone, he offers Jimmy a position at HMM. This draws Jimmy's ire, who starts to pull pranks on Howard such as wrecking his jaguar car with bowling balls and embarrassing him in front of his business partners.
* SlaveToPR: Howard's extremely vain, and takes his reputation and that of HHM very seriously. He tries to avoid seeing Chuck committed or retired since it can mean debt-heavy payouts, [[spoiler:hiked insurance costs]], and loss of clients.
* SmugSnake: He often comes across as a smarmy and self-important rich guy, though this dissipates somewhat as the series progresses. Patrick Fabian states that, when playing Howard, he added the subtext that Howard is often judging others by how they dress and thinks about how the suits he wears are worth more money than other people's monthly salaries.
* TheSocialExpert: As TheFace of HHM his people skills are indispensable, especially as his law partner Chuck [[NoSocialSkills isn't so hot in that department]].
* SpearCounterpart: Essentially one to Kim. Both are blonde professional lawyers who put a lot toward their image and careers, and while they disapprove of their respective [=McGill=]'s antics, they'll let it slide whenever it's convenient for them.
* StepfordSmiler: He tells Kim (while trying to remain smiling) that he wanted to work solo too until his dad forced him to be the second H of the company. You get the impression he's 100% on the up and up at that moment, no "perfect partner" mask. He also keeps trying to talk some sense into Chuck, but Chuck clearly sees his feud with his brother as more important than anything (up to and including their firm) and seems to increasingly treat Howard as just another employee in the vein of Ernie. When Howard fails to talk Chuck out of personally testifying against his brother, beneath it all Howard is clearly becoming angrier and angrier.
** His general demeanor towards everyone is that of a professional, friendly but not familiar lawyer, and his insincere attempts to connect with people are often what alienates others in the first place. [[spoiler:In season 6, we see that even his wife gets this treatment, meaning that he can't take off his lawyer demeanor, even for the people he's closest to]]. It's telling how the few moments he lets it slip and expresses his true feelings (usually anger) serve as turning points in his character.
* StuffedIntoTheFridge: [[spoiler: Literally. Howard's body is stuffed into Kim and Jimmy's fridge by Mike's men to move the body from their apartment without suspicion. The last time Jimmy ever sees Howard is when he sees some of Mike's men literally folding his body into the fridge's tight space.]]
* SuicideBySea: [[spoiler: How Mike covers up Howard's death. He has his men leave Howard's car several states away with his wallet and wedding ring on the dashboard and cocaine residue on the upholstery, staging it to look like Howard drowned himself after being exposed as a drug addict. He notes that it's simply continuing the lie that Jimmy and Kim have already been spreading.]]
* SurroundedByIdiots: Or at least [[BunnyEarsLawyer very smart people acting like idiots]]. He just wants to practice law, and he's stuck in the middle of Jimmy and Chuck's escalating pissing match, though that's mostly Chuck's doing.
* TakeAThirdOption: Presented with the options of letting Chuck back in, letting Chuck bankrupt the company via the severance pay, and dragging HHM's name through the mud by litigating the case, he [[spoiler: pays Chuck's severance pay out of his own pocket instead. All nine million dollars]].
* TemptingFate: Before Jimmy's bar hearing, Howard tries to dissuade Chuck from testifying, reasoning that they already have a good case with his own witness testimony and reminding Chuck that HHM's reputation is on the line if he does take the stand. [[spoiler:Chuck's testimony is disastrous thanks to Jimmy's BatmanGambit.]]
** After confronting [[spoiler:Jimmy and Kim for playing him for fools and ruining his reputation, Jimmy expresses hope that Howard will be ok, Howard notes he has bounced back from worse and will bounce back again. Then Lalo comes and shoots him before he gets the chance to.]]
* ThisIsUnforgivable: He only truly turns against Jimmy when he finds out through Chuck's cassette tape that, yes, Jimmy ''did'' forge the Mesa Verde documents. He is also done with Chuck's orders when he has the audacity to sue the firm because Howard asked him to retire after being clearly past his prime.
* TogetherInDeath: [[spoiler: Played with in that Howard and Lalo have no relationship before the latter murders the former. Howard is buried in the same pit as Lalo Salamanca, his murderer, in the floor of Gus Fring's meth lab. The location of their shared grave isn't discovered by the remaining characters by the end of the series, and presumably never is.]]
* TooDumbToLive: [[spoiler: Downplayed. Even after seeing Lalo openly brandish a gun while standing right next to him, he makes no effort to heed Kim's warnings to leave and instead tries to talk his way into de-escalating the situation; in truth, he was still a liability as far as Lalo was concerned, so Lalo still probably would have shot him even if he had tried to run. Howard being intoxicated and terrified while trying to keep calm (as stated by the description of the scene in the script) both probably contributed to his inaction as well.]]
* TookALevelInKindness: By season five, he is ''a lot'' more charitable to Jimmy and even offers him a position at HHM, and has slowly shed the SmugSnake demeanor he possessed in the earlier seasons.
* ToughLove: He feels like he has to be the firm father figure to Kim because of her past, pushing her harder than anyone else because he believes in her. Unfortunately he's just a little too condescending too often, and in her mind this gives her an excuse to ruin his life.
* TragicHero: Howard can be a bit of a pretentious dick at times, but at the end of the day, he just wants to run his law firm like he always has. What he gets for this is a series of professional disgraces, [[spoiler:the guilt of a friend's suicide potentially being his fault giving him insomnia and depression, extreme financial debt, Jimmy and Kim ruining his life even while he thought they were on good terms, an ignominious death at the hands of a villain he had no reason to ever meet, and his legacy being that of a suicidal drug addict]]. Between one of the franchise's most moral characters and the series of traumas that causes him, he's a top contender for the most tragic character in the entire franchise.
* TranquilFury: Jimmy's billboard and commercial stunts both left him ''very'' upset. There's also the look on his face when Chuck plays Jimmy's confession tape for him. He's angry at Jimmy... but he also seems aggravated with ''Chuck'' for cutting him out of the loop to make his reaction to Chuck's 'resignation' more genuine. Howard has by this point realized that the rivalry between the brothers is beginning to affect his firm.
* TraumaCongaLine: As the series goes on, Howard's luck and reputation are constantly being pushed to the breaking point, courtesy of Jimmy, Chuck, and Kim later on, with Howard having to face being antagonized and belittled. [[spoiler:By the very end, he's a mental and emotional wreck, with his marriage being deteriorated and his reputation in HHM being in shambles. All Howard could do is give out a [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech scathing speech towards Jimmy and Kim]]. And as if this wasn't bad enough, Howard is then shot dead by Lalo when he suddenly walks in]].
* TurnTheOtherCheek: In season 5. After asking Jimmy to join [=HHM=], [[DisproportionateRetribution he gets his car destroyed, a surprise visit from prostitutes during a business meeting, and Jimmy blames his personal problems on him]]. Howard is willing to ignore all of that, as long as Jimmy gives him an answer--even if it's a no.
* UndyingLoyalty: To ''Hamlin, Hamlin, [=McGill=]''. Demonstrated when he paid Chuck's debt owed to him both out of pocket and via loans rather than let the law firm his father started going under.
* UndignifiedDeath: [[spoiler:He dies with a gunshot to the head unceremoniously. That, and with him being in a drunken, raging rant towards Jimmy and Kim, it's especially pitiful when considering that Howard was a well-respected, most dignified, and impressionable man to the public.]]
* UngratefulBastard: Jimmy believes that Howard has been purposefully exploiting Chuck by riding on Chuck's reputation for years while Chuck sits uselessly at home with a neurotic condition. In reality, Howard isn't quite aware of how bad Chuck's condition is.
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Believes himself to be one after [[spoiler:Chuck's suicide]], thinking that his decision to [[spoiler:force Chuck out of HHM]] was what triggered it. That may be true for the wrong reason, as it was Howard's decision to talk Chuck into luring Mesa Verde away from Kim that escalated the [=McGill=] feud to begin with.
** Is definitely this when asking Kim if [[spoiler:her decision to quit Schweikart and Cokely]] is influenced by Jimmy. Kim becomes so furious with this that [[spoiler:along with Jimmy, she ruins his career by framing him as a drug addict, which eventually results in his death at the hands of Lalo.]]
* VillainyFreeVillain: Howard is this throughout most of the show. He's not malicious by any means and he genuinely wants what's best for his law firm, but he finds himself at odds against Jimmy on countless occasions. Also, while not a bad guy, he can be pretty boorish at times, which rubs Jimmy and Kim the wrong way at several points.
* WellDoneSonGuy: Implied as part of his backstory mentioned above under Stepford Smiler.
* WhatTheHellHero: To both [=McGill=] brothers. He calls Jimmy out about trying to force a settlement with Sandpiper;
-->''"All you care about is your share of the payout. It's like talking to Gollum. You're transparent. And pathetic. You want a handout? Here. Huh? Next time why don't you bring a tin cup? It'd be more honest."''
** He then goes on to give a devastating one to Chuck after he attempts to sue HHM. He even follows it up in a way that is somehow both classy and vindictive: announcing Chuck's retirement, thanking him in front of everyone, and allowing him to leave the building to a chorus of applause all while knowing Chuck is in emotional turmoil over the fact that Howard has proven himself the morally superior and called his bluff.
--->'''Howard:''' 17 years. 18 in July, actually. All those years we built this place together. And all that time I've supported you. Looked up to you, deferred to you. Because I always thought you had the best interests of the firm in mind.\\
'''Chuck:''' I have!\\
'''Howard:''' Mnh. You ''did''. For a long time. But you've let personal vendettas turn your focus away from what's best for HHM. You've put your needs first. To our detriment.\\
'''Chuck:''' I don't think that's accurate.\\
'''Howard:''' And the moment that I mildly suggest, with empathy and concern, that maybe it's time for you to consider retirement... the first instinct you have is to ''sue me?!'' To sue the firm? Well, I I-I don't even know I-In what world is that anything but the deepest betrayal of everything we worked so hard to accomplish? In what world is that anything but the deepest betrayal of our friendship?
** He also gives a particularly scathing one to Jimmy and Kim in Season 6, after the two [[spoiler: enact an elaborate plan to make him look like a drug-addled lunatic and force HMM to settle on the Sandpiper case.]] He ultimately agrees with Chuck's assessment of Jimmy, says that Kim has "a piece missing" from her, and calls them both sociopaths.
* WorthyOpponent: For all that he may mistreat Kim and Jimmy, he clearly respects them as people, and even when they're on opposite "sides", he's the first person to admit to their brilliance with their jobs. Notably, Howard indicates that he wanted to take Jimmy into the firm after he heard Jimmy bootstrapped his way into a law degree, and he's clearly very impressed when Kim manages to force him to admit to the double standard of Howard being a partner at his father's firm while denying Jimmy entrance due to "nepotism". [[spoiler:Of course, when Jimmy and Kim respond to this by ruining his life as thoroughly as they possibly can, any trace of respect for them vanishes and he outright calls them sociopaths]].
* YesMan: Jimmy starts seeing him more as this after season one, as he does a lot of Chuck's bidding for the sake of the firm, while he tries objecting, as long as Chuck can sell his shares, he can't shut him down. That is, until the last episodes of season 3 when Chuck's vendettas begin to hurt HHM financially.
* ZeroApprovalGambit: Howard willingly plays the part of the bad guy to Jimmy and Kim to keep the truth from them about Chuck. Downplayed in that he's only purposefully being an ass on this ''one'' issue, but he certainly doesn't have to do it for Chuck's sake.

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[[folder:Francis Scheff]]
!!Francis Scheff
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/franci.PNG]]
!!!'''Portrayed By:''' James Dowling

An older lawyer working at HHM and participating in the Sandpiper case.
----
* DamnedByFaintPraise: Jimmy bumps into him in the series premiere but only comments that he's 'well groomed.'
[[/folder]]

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* SelectiveObliviousness: He's epically blind to what he doesn't want or expect to see. From the wrong case, files to not seeing Jimmy's blatant discomfort when he just ''keeps banging on'' about the car and house like a stuck record.

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* SelectiveObliviousness: He's epically blind to what he doesn't want or expect to see. From the wrong ~~case, files~~ case files, to not seeing Jimmy's blatant discomfort when he just ''keeps banging on'' about the car and house like a stuck record.

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* ForWantOfANail: Jimmy hired her entirely because she was the first applicant to show up and he wanted to get the business moving. This will send her down the road of losing her bubbly personality and becoming a bitter and jaded person still chained to crooked lawyer Saul.

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Placing spoiler over late-series events

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** When he's Jimmy's co-council during the ''United States v. Saul Goodman'' case, Jimmy does all of the heavy lifting, negotiating an extremely generous plea deal, then when Jimmy throws all of it away and confesses to his crimes during the plea hearing, Bill feebily tries to salvage the deal to no avail and even tries to withdraw from the case, also to no avail.

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** When he's ~~Jimmy's~~ [[spoiler:Jimmy's co-council during the ''United States v. Saul Goodman'' ~~case,~~ case]], Jimmy does all of the heavy lifting, negotiating an extremely generous plea ~~deal, then when~~ deal. Then after Jimmy ~~throws~~ [[spoiler:throws all of it away and confesses to his crimes during the plea ~~hearing,~~ hearing]], Bill ~~feebily~~ feebly tries to salvage the deal to no avail and even tries to withdraw from the case, also to no avail.

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* DumbassNoMore: Throughout the series, Bill isn't shown as a particularly professional or quick-witted individual, but he nevertheless has a successful enough career to launch his own law firm less than a year after Saul Goodman's downfall.

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* DumbassNoMore: Throughout the series, Bill isn't shown as a particularly professional or quick-witted individual, but he nevertheless has a successful enough career to [[spoiler:to launch his own law firm less than a year after Saul Goodman's ~~downfall.~~downfall]].

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* SwappedRoles: Downplayed, but Season 6 reveals that he's gone from the ButtMonkey of the courthouse to taking Jimmy's original role as a defender in private practice with ads on bus stop benches.

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* SwappedRoles: Downplayed, but Season 6 reveals that he's gone from the ButtMonkey of the courthouse to ~~taking~~ [[spoiler:taking Jimmy's original role as a defender in private practice with ads on bus stop ~~benches.~~benches]].

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[[folder:Jimmy [=McGill=]/Saul Goodman]]
See [[Characters/BreakingBadSaulGoodman his page]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Kim Wexler]]
See [[Characters/BetterCallSaulKimWexler her page]].
[[/folder]]

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[[folder:Chuck [=McGill=]]]
See [[Characters/BetterCallSaulChuckMcGill his page]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Howard Hamlin]]
See [[Characters/BetterCallSaulHowardHamlin his page]].
[[/folder]]

animationanalysis101

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* {{Foil}}: To Kim, in a variety of ways:
** Both women spend a large chunk of the series focusing their careers solely on Mesa Verde. However, while Paige is happy with this arrangement, Kim soon grows tired of it and longs for more pro bono client cases to work on instead.
** Kim is increasingly shown to be a ThrillSeeker and has a more mischievous and immoral side to her character, which is what draws her to Jimmy and to a life of illegal activity. From what we see of Paige, she is more straight-laced and rule-abiding.
** Both women wear a lot of skirts, make-up and high heels in order to present themselves as professional career women. However, Kim is more reserved about this and sees it as a necessity, actually being fairly tomboyish at heart, while [[TomboyAndGirlyGirl Paige wears much more make-up and jewelry and seemingly indulges far more in making herself look feminine]] (her short hair aside).

animationanalysis101

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* BoyishShortHair: She is a strong and assertive lawyer and career woman and has short hair. That said, she also wears copious amounts of jewelry, make-up, skirts, dresses, and high heel shoes, making this a very DownplayedTrope as Paige arguably leans more towards GirlyGirlWithATomboyStreak.
* GirlyGirlWithATomboyStreak: See BoyishShortHair and TomboyAndGirlyGirl.

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* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Downplayed. Both Kim and Paige wear a lot of feminine attire when on the clock as lawyers, but with Kim it's more reserved, while Paige wears significantly more necklaces, earrings, and other jewelry than Kim and wears skirts, dresses, and high heels even more often than Kim does. She seems to indulge more in wearing feminine clothes and accessories while Kim sees it more as a necessity. As far as we know, Paige also lacks the mischievous and rule-breaking side that Kim displays in the later seasons of the show. Kim and Paige could be seen as a TomboyWithAGirlyStreak and a GirlyGirlWithATomboyStreak respectively.

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That’s not why he was fired

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* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: [[spoiler:And how! Chuck fires him despite being a good caretaker and for the crime of being Jimmy's friend.]]

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* NiceJobBreakingItHero: [[spoiler:Ernesto breaking confidentiality led to Jimmy breaking into Chuck’s house and his license being suspended and a number of other bad things.]]
* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: ~~[[spoiler:And how!~~ [[spoiler:Downplayed. Chuck fires him despite being a good ~~caretaker and for the crime of being Jimmy's friend.~~caretaker.]]

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* CoolCar: Drives a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII. Which seems a bit odd for a mere paralegal to have, even if HHM might pay all their employees well (with Ernie probably getting a little extra for being Chuck's caretaker), coming off as a slight BigLippedAlligatorMoment

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* CoolCar: Drives a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII. Which seems a bit odd for a mere paralegal to have, even if HHM might pay all their employees well (with Ernie probably getting a little extra for being Chuck's ~~caretaker),~~ caretaker, but still...), coming off as a slight BigLippedAlligatorMoment

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* CoolCar: Drives a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII. Which seems a bit odd for a mere paralegal to have, even if HHM might pay all his employees well (with Ernie probably getting a little extra for being Chuck's caretaker), coming off as a slight BigLippedAlligatorMoment

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* CoolCar: Drives a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII. Which seems a bit odd for a mere paralegal to have, even if HHM might pay all ~~his~~ their employees well (with Ernie probably getting a little extra for being Chuck's caretaker), coming off as a slight BigLippedAlligatorMoment

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* CoolCar: Drives a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII.

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impracticaltroper

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'''Lawyers''' ([[Characters/BreakingBadSaulGoodman Jimmy [=McGill=]/Saul Goodman]], [[Characters/BetterCallSaulKimWexler Kim Wexler]], [[Characters/BetterCallSaulChuckMcGill Chuck McGill]], [[Characters/BetterCallSaulHowardHamlin Howard Hamlin]]), [[Characters/BetterCallSaulLawEnforcement Law Enforcement]], [[Characters/BetterCallSaulCartel Juarez Cartel]] ([[Characters/BetterCallSaulNachoVarga Nacho Varga]], [[Characters/BetterCallSaulLaloSalamanca Lalo Salamanca]]), [[Characters/BetterCallSaulLosPollosHermanos Los Pollos Hermanos]] ([[Characters/BreakingBadMikeEhrmantraut Mike Ehrmantraut]], [[Characters/BreakingBadGustavoFring Gustavo Fring]]), [[Characters/BetterCallSaulOmaha Omaha]], [[Characters/BetterCallSaulPettyCriminals Petty Criminals]], [[Characters/BetterCallSaulOtherCharacters Other Characters]]-]]]]]

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* NiceGuy: Portrayed as one of the more sympathetic, agreeable judges, and one of the easiest for a defense attorney to get a favorable outcome from. Jimmy expresses gratitude when she presides over any of his cases, while Gomez compares her to [[UsefulNotes/{{Vietnam}} Ho Chi Minh]] for her perceived liberal leanings.

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* ~~NiceGuy:~~ NiceGirl: Portrayed as one of the more sympathetic, agreeable judges, and one of the easiest for a defense attorney to get a favorable outcome from. Jimmy expresses gratitude when she presides over any of his cases, while Gomez compares her to [[UsefulNotes/{{Vietnam}} Ho Chi Minh]] for her perceived liberal leanings.

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->'''Portrayed by:''' Bob Jesser

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~~->'''Portrayed by:'''~~ !!!'''Portrayed By:''' Bob Jesser

Smeagol17

Changed: 4

May 11th 2023 at 9:46:37 AM

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----

randomtroper89

Added: 94

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May 11th 2023 at 1:09:28 AM

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[[folder:Other Lawyers at S&C]]

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~~[[folder:Other Lawyers at S&C]]~~[[folder:Lynne Pierson]]

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[[/folder]]

[[folder:Perry Trivedi]]

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[[/folder]]

[[folder:Alvin Reese]]

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[[/folder]]

[[folder:Phil Jergens]]

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\n[[/folder]]

[[folder:Stef Carvaines]]

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emeriin

Added: 260

May 6th 2023 at 10:45:07 PM

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* SympatheticInspectorAntagonist: She’s working with the knowledge she has, and while she has no idea that the deal she’s giving Jimmy is Chuck’s plan to bring him to heel, she thinks Chuck is the victim of his HairTriggerTemper brother and reacts accordingly.

emeriin

Added: 226

May 3rd 2023 at 8:00:23 PM

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* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: In season six she thinks Kim is an upstanding citizen who will listen to reason and an offer of a way out, unaware that Kim is the one who scammed her so hard with Huell and really doesn’t like her.

EyeBonito

Added: 142

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Apr 20th 2023 at 6:59:07 AM

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Disambiguated trope per Wick Cleaning Projects

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* {{Envy}}: He's ''massively'' jealous of Jimmy's position at Davis and Main, especially of the company car and the corporate housing.

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* GreenEyedMonster: He's ''massively'' jealous of Jimmy's position at Davis and Main, especially of the company car and the corporate housing.

emeriin

Changed: 101

Mar 10th 2023 at 6:30:50 PM

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everyone has said he gets out early

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* BreakTheCutie: Immediately starts breaking bad when Saul forces her to make a fake phone call to a retirement home, as best shown when she coldly rejects Saul's demand to clean up after an unruly client.

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* BreakTheCutie: Immediately starts breaking bad when ~~Saul~~ Jimmy forces her to make a fake phone call to a retirement home, as best shown when she coldly rejects ~~Saul's~~ Jimmy's demand to clean up after an unruly client.

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* SmallRoleBigImpact: During her last phone call with Gene, [[spoiler: she mentions to him that she spoke with Kim Wexler briefly. This information sets off a chain of events that lead to Gene/Saul/Jimmy's arrest, as well as Kim's confession of her and Jimmy's actions toward Howard, in itself leading to Jimmy spending likely the rest of his years in prison]].

to:

emeriin

Added: 149

Feb 6th 2023 at 10:37:49 PM

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* ParentalSubstitute: Maybe Kim's OnlyFriend outside of Jimmy, and even when Kim acts out, behaves like the firm but loving hand Kim's mom never was.

emeriin

Added: 494

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Jan 23rd 2023 at 7:12:53 PM

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writers said he's Jimmy until the end of Fun and Games

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* CrusadingLawyer: Up against Saul Goodman defending Lalo Salamanca's violent streak and murder of Fred Whalen, and she goes through whatever it takes to get Lalo.

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* CrusadingLawyer: Up against ~~Saul Goodman~~ Jimmy defending Lalo Salamanca's violent streak and murder of Fred Whalen, and she goes through whatever it takes to get Lalo.

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* SassyBlackWoman: Brushes Saul off after he makes a big show at her and Detective Roberts, and demands Lalo face severe charges during the court hearing. Later, she tries to get the real identity and background of "Jorge de Guzman" with snide delivery, but Saul won't budge.
* WrongGenreSavvy: She's intent on getting Lalo behind bars or worse, but unfortunately gets out-maneuvered by Saul using arguments [[spoiler:supplied to him by Fring through Mike]] that get Lalo out on bail. Just as she's arguing him to be a flight risk, Saul claims he has "deep ties" to Albuquerque with actors paid to pretend to be his family. When the delivery of $7,000,000 lets her investigate further, Lalo mentions he'll be in Mexico before they can really get him.

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* SassyBlackWoman: Brushes ~~Saul~~ Jimmy off after he makes a big show at her and Detective Roberts, and demands Lalo face severe charges during the court hearing. Later, she tries to get the real identity and background of "Jorge de Guzman" with snide delivery, but ~~Saul~~ Jimmy won't budge.
* WrongGenreSavvy: She's intent on getting Lalo behind bars or worse, but unfortunately gets out-maneuvered by ~~Saul~~ Jimmy using arguments [[spoiler:supplied to him by Fring through Mike]] that get Lalo out on bail. Just as she's arguing him to be a flight risk, ~~Saul~~ Jimmy claims he has "deep ties" to Albuquerque with actors paid to pretend to be his family. When the delivery of $7,000,000 lets her investigate further, Lalo mentions he'll be in Mexico before they can really get him.

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* HeroAntagonist: Her boneheaded handling of the Huell case notwithstanding, overall she's a dedicated public servant who is passionate about putting away dangerous criminals such as Tuco and Lalo. She eventually discloses to Kim that the DA's office have their eyes on Saul as well due to his Cartel ties.

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* JerkassHasAPoint: Attitude aside Huell did assault the cop, the sentence becomes way less excessive if you keep in mind Huell is a career criminal (he is in Calderas' notebook if for pickpocketing or intimidation services)and Jimmy is a scumbag lawyer (who dodged disbarment by hiding his major offense).

to:

* ~~JerkassHasAPoint:~~ JerkassHasAPoint:
** Attitude aside Huell did assault the cop, the sentence becomes way less excessive if you keep in mind Huell is a career criminal (he is in Calderas' notebook if for pickpocketing or intimidation services)and Jimmy is a scumbag lawyer (who dodged disbarment by hiding his major ~~offense).~~offense).
** Kim's priorities are fairly skewed in season six so doesn't listen, but Suzanne is right in that while Jimmy never ''wanted'' to be a Cartel lawyer, it's still a crime to knowingly defend a Cartel head.

emeriin

Added: 179

Jan 13th 2023 at 4:52:52 PM

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* MoralityPet: His main reason for existing seems to be showing Jimmy (Kim too) as kinder than his brother, who is only ever condescending to Ernie at best, openly cruel at worst.

emeriin

Added: 104

Jan 7th 2023 at 9:01:35 PM

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* SuckSessor: Chuck makes it patronizingly clear that he'd prefer his brother caring for him than Ernie.

OneEyeOrder

Added: 225

Dec 6th 2022 at 5:20:01 PM

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* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: By pointing out that Jimmy would need to be fired without cause to keep his bonus, he unintentionally gives him the idea to get himself fired by donning what would become his Saul Goodman persona.

thetragicfoolbus

Added: 154

Dec 3rd 2022 at 3:54:06 PM

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[[caption-width-right:350:''"I meant every word I said."'']]

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[[caption-width-right:250:''"It's wrong. You know it's wrong. And I think Jimmy does too."'']]

MusicManSamwise

Added: 634

Nov 14th 2022 at 1:35:01 PM

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[[/folder]]

!US Department Of Justice (SPOILERS)

[[folder: George Castellano]]
!!George Castellano
->'''Portrayed by:''' Bob Jesser

A United States Attorney who is in charge of prosecuting Saul Goodman.

* BreakTheHaughty: He initially seems quite confident that his case against Saul will succeed in sending him to prison for a long time, but Saul's shrewd negotiating tactics embarrass him into agreeing to a much shorter sentence.
* TheHorseshoeEffect: Just as Saul Goodman was famously reluctant to actually go to trial during his career, Castellano prefers to make easy plea deals rather than risk spoiling his 100% conviction record.

WK-PQ

Added: 53

Nov 2nd 2022 at 7:16:51 PM

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* CoolCar: Drives a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII.

History Characters / BetterCallSaulLawyers