A law firm brings in its "fixer" to remedy the situation after a lawyer has a breakdown while representing a chemical company that he knows is guilty in a multibillion-dollar class action suit.
Michael Clayton, a high-priced law firm's fixer, leaves a late night poker game, gets a call to drive to Westchester, and watches his car blow up as he's taking an impromptu dawn walk through a field. Flash back four days. He owes a loan shark to cover his brother's debts (Michael's own gambling habits have left him virtually broke). His law firm is negotiating a high-stakes merger, and his firm's six year defense of a conglomerate's pesticide use is at risk when one of the firm's top litigators goes off his meds and puts the case in jeopardy. While Michael is trying to fix things someone decides to kill him. Who? Meanwhile his son summarizes the plot of a dark fantasy novel.—<[email protected]>
Michael Clayton is Mr. Fix-It for his law firm, Kenner, Back and Ledeen. A former District Attorney, Clayton uses his contacts in the police and the criminal justice system to bail out the firm's wealthy corporate clients. When one of the firm's senior partners, Arthur Edens, has a nervous breakdown while taking a deposition in a lawsuit against a major agrochemicals company, Clayton is dispatched to bring him home. What Clayton soon learns is Edens not only has doubts about defending the lawsuit but that the company may be acting on its own to ensure a positive outcome.—garykmcd
Forty-five year old divorced father Michael Clayton, formerly a respected litigator, has long been the "fixer" for New York law firm Kenner, Bach, and Ledeen. Likening his work to that of a janitor, he cleans up the messes of the firm's clients as well as that of the firm itself. He knows that he cannot do this job forever, especially as he is getting burnt out and as the firm is going through a merger, he not having an official job title describing what he does to the other firm. As a fall-back, he had gone through the process to open a bar with his brother Timmy, but is now $80,000 in debt to a loan shark as Timmy, a drug addict who has since gone into hiding, used their money to fuel his drug habit. Despite being the best at his job, Michael seems unable to fix his own personal problem. The latest issue he faces at work concerns Arthur Edens, the senior and best litigator in the firm. A manic-depressive whose condition is largely managed by medication, Arthur has been working solely on a case for U-North, an agro-conglomerate, for the past six years. It is a $3 billion class action lawsuit against U-North. Arthur largely works with Karen Crowder, U-North's general counsel, she a woman who highly controls what others see of her. The issue is that Arthur, off his meds and in a manic state, starts to strip naked while in a deposition meeting in Milwaukee. Beyond needing to fix the problem that Arthur has created, Michael has to figure out if his rantings were that of a madman, or if there was some other end to which Arthur is working. In his dealings with Arthur, with the highers up at the firm, and indirectly with U-North and Karen, Michael may come to some understandings about what is fully going-on, but not without some further risk to his own livelihood as well as his life.—Huggo
As the catastrophic psychological meltdown of his brilliant veteran lawyer mentor imperils a crucial case of one of New York City's leading corporate law firms, world-weary legal fixer Michael Clayton has his work cut out for him. And with dangerous loan sharks breathing down his neck and the chemically imbalanced executive posing a threat to the company and himself, Clayton must put his impressive skill set to good use to clean up the mess and get the case back on track. However, when a key player threatens to bring to light incriminating evidence, Clayton will have to confront a gloomy conscience crisis. Is Michael Clayton prepared for a rude awakening?—Nick Riganas
Michael Clayton (George Clooney) is a "fixer" from the prestigious New York City law firm Kenner, Bach, and Ledeen, using his connections and his knowledge of legal loopholes for his clients' benefit.Meanwhile Michael's firm Kenner, Bach, and Ledeen is on the verge of settling their case with U-North and the media gets a whiff of it. The CEO of the firm, Marty, calls Karen to take care of the situation.
After leaving an underground poker game, Michael deals with a wealthy client's Mr. Greer (Denis O'Hare) hit and run, who struck a pedestrian with his vehicle in Westchester County. Michael suggests that Greer hire a local trial lawyer, but Greer is offended that Michael is not offering to take care of the case himself. Greer says that he has been a client with Kenner, Bach, and Ledeen for 12 years and wants preferential treatment. Michael retorts that Greer will have to face trial, and all he is trying to do is to ensure that the mess doesn't get bigger than it already is.
Driving home, Michael sees three horses atop a hill with barren trees. He stops, gets out of his car and approaches them. Behind him, a bomb detonates in his car.
Four days earlier, one of the firm's leading attorneys, Arthur Edens (Tom Wilkinson), has a bizarre outburst in the middle of a deposition in Milwaukee involving in a six-year multi-billion-dollar class action lawsuit against U-North, an agricultural products conglomerate. Arthur's episode came in the middle of a deposition in the lawsuit, threatening the firm's reputation. Michael bails Arthur out of jail in Milwaukee after learning Arthur is no longer taking his medication. Arthur escapes from his hotel room during the night and returns to New York.
Michael approaches Marty Bach (Sydney Pollack), the firm's managing partner, requesting a loan to cover a failed investment in a restaurant Michael made with his never-do-well brother Timmy (David Lansbury). Marty suggests Michael will be rewarded if he fixes the situation with Arthur and warns the firm will be finished if he fails.
Meanwhile, Karen Crowder (Tilda Swinton), U-North's general counsel, discovers that Arthur had come into possession of a confidential U-North document detailing the company's decision to manufacture a weed killer that it knew to be carcinogenic and caused the hundreds of deaths that sparked the lawsuit.She brings this to the attention of the CEO, Don Jeffries, whose signature is on the memo. Don puts her in contact with two hit men.Karen asks the 2 men Verne (Robert Prescott) & Iker (Terry Serpico) to follow Arthur and plant bugs in his apartment and phone.
Michael finds Arthur on a Manhattan Street and confronts him about calls he made to Anna Kaiserson (Merritt Wever), the plaintiff being deposed during his episode. Arthur realizes his calls are being monitored. Over the phone, Arthur is enthralled by Michael's son Henry (Austin Williams) describing his favorite fantasy book, Realm & Conquest, in which themes of fate, alienation and treachery are prominent. Arthur calls his own voicemail at the firm and says he will go public with the memo.
When Karen realizes that Arthur is building a case against his own client, Karen asks that he be permanently incapacitated. They assassinate Arthur in a manner designed to resemble natural causes.
Michael is saddened by the news of Arthur's death but becomes suspicious upon learning that U-North was planning a settlement just a few days before and that Arthur had booked a flight for one of the plaintiffs, Anna.He finds Anna and learns that she told no one of her conversations with Arthur, yet the firm somehow did know. With help from his brother Gene (Sean Cullen), a police officer, Michael breaks into Arthur's apartment, which is sealed as a crime scene. Michael finds Arthur's dogeared copy of Realm & Conquest, pausing to consider an illustration of a horse on a hill with barren trees, and several pages highlighted and annotated by Arthur.
A receipt from a photocopy shop is stuck in the book. Two police officers arrive on a tip from the hit men, who have been trailing Michael. Michael is arrested, but Gene bails him out.
Upon investigation, he discovers that Arthur had ordered three thousand copies of the confidential U-North document. Michael takes a copy with him, but the two hit men are tailing him and inform Karen of the situation. Michael is about to show his boss, Marty Bach (Sydney Pollack), what he has discovered, only to be offered a renewal of his employment contract as well as an $80,000 bonus he had requested to cover his debt, although it comes with a confidentiality agreement to prevent him from ever shaking down the firm.
On the night of the poker game, the hit men rig Michael's car with a bomb. Michael receives a phone call summoning him to the meeting with the client in Westchester County who had committed a hit-and-run, as seen at the start of the movie. He is being followed by the two men, but they have trouble tailing him. The surveillance team, still off but near Michael's trail, detonates the remote bomb while he is out of the car; to view the horses on the hill just as in the book his son wanted him to read. An unharmed but surprised Michael runs back to his car and throws his personal effects inside, faking his own death.
Later, at a U-North board meeting, Karen proposes approval of a new settlement agreement. Michael is waiting for her when she exits the conference and informs her that he has access to copies of the U-North memo and that he knows about her role in Arthur's murder. He goads Karen into offering him $10 million for his silence. Karen reluctantly agrees, prompting Michael to reveal the phone in his pocket that has conveyed their conversation to the police. As he walks away, Karen falls to her knees in shock while detectives rush forward to arrest her. Michael leaves the building and hails a cab; he passes the driver 50 dollars and tells him to "just drive."
