On a Monday morning in March, criminal defense attorney Michael Haller (nicknamed Mick or Mickey) is driving through North Los Angeles on his way to a meeting with a judge at court. He loves to feel the cold air blowing “off the Mojave in late winter […] It carries the taste of promise on it” (3).

Mick receives a call from Fernando Valenzuela, one of the many bail bondsmen Mick is professionally friendly with. Valenzuela lets Mick know that he has a client in need of representation: Louis Ross Roulet. Mick can tell that this client is a potentially huge moneymaker, but wants to know what the man has been booked for. This turns out to be attempted rape and aggravated assault. Valenzuela says that the police may have trumped up the charges, that it was likely just a drunken exchange in a bar gone bad, and that the female accuser is probably in it for the payout.

Because Louis has a family attorney, C.C. Dobbs, who is known for representing only the wealthiest clients in Beverly Hills, Mick is concerned that he may be involved in a set-up. Why would such a wealthy client take an attorney referral from Valenzuela rather than call his own family attorney? Mick is concerned that the Bar is trying to catch him paying off bail bondsmen in exchange for client referrals, but he decides to try to meet with Roulet anyway after his first appointment in court.