It's a plot that seems to come straight out of a John Grisham novel. After all, it had all the major elements: a conspiracy, a corrupt corporation, but above all a lawyer examining his inner conscience to decide to break with the status quo and expose its leaders. In fact, you could say that the film Michael Clayton (2007) was a modern John Grisham film that never was. To be sure, Michael Clayton is a quintessentially Hollywood film with a quintessentially Hollywood ending where good beats evil and truth triumphs over obfuscation. This does not mean, however, that it should be dismissed so easily. The Michael Clayton film still raises many ethical questions within the legal profession. Namely, the film explores the concept of attorney-client privilege and, through its plot and rich storyline, questions the very notion. However, it's easy to forget that the film is a pure work of fiction; and while he does an adequate job of pointing out the downsides of attorney-client privilege, his assertion that privilege should be eroded when the attorney knows his client is lying, is every bit as fanciful as the scenes are which take place in the film. movie. “I am not a miracle worker; I’m a janitor,” remarks Michael Clayton in one of the film’s opening scenes. An apt phrase as Clayton has been sent to subdue a colleague named Arthur Edens who is suffering from a manic depression – stripping naked in the middle of a deposition and running naked through the parking lot. Visiting Edens in prison after the incident, the sighs of depression showed no sighs of relief. In the middle of a conversation with Clayton, Edens launches into a tirade, eventually asking...... middle of paper...... everyone has a job to do. Lawyers are – and should not be – an exception to this rule. Works Cited Freedman, Monroe H. and Abbe Smith. Understanding lawyer ethics. New Providence, NJ: LexisNexis, 2010. Print. Kairys, David. “Legal education as training for the hierarchy”. The Politics of Law: A Progressive Critique. By Duncan Kennedy. New York: Basic, 1998. 54-75. Print.Keefe, Patrick Radden. "Michael Clayton's devastating criticism of the legal profession. - By Patrick Radden Keefe." Slate Magazine. Washington Post. Newsweek Interactive Co. LLC, February 19, 2008. Web. March 10, 2011. Shanahan, Sara Jane. "Another View: The Erosion of Attorney-Client Privilege - NYTimes.com." NYTimes.com. The New York Times Company, November 2, 2009. Web. March 10, 2011. Simon, David. “Client attorney privilege applied to corporations.” Yale Law Journal 65.7 (1956): 953-90. Print.