The Lincoln Lawyer: Not guilty your honour

We’ve just finished watching the first season of the television series The Lincoln Lawyer.

It follows the 2011 Matthew McConaughey film of the same name and of course the excellent Michael Connelly book on which they are based.

Created for television by David E. Kelley and developed by Ted Humphrey it’s about a Los Angeles lawyer Mickey Haller who’d rather work out his car than spend time in an office, giving him time to go surfing.

That’s the premise anyway. In reality he seems to spend a lot of time in court and in his office, and rarely hits the beach — but he does have a Lincoln — in fact he’s got three of them including a beautiful convertible that he inherited from his lawyer father.

In the first episode lawyer Jerry Vincent, an old friend of Haller’s is shot dead in a parking garage, and the killer steals his briefcase.

Haller is stunned to discover he has inherited his dead colleague’s entire caseload, including a high profile case involving a millionaire video game designer accused of murdering his wife Lara and her lover.

Taking over Jerry’s office, Mickey and his paralegal/second ex-wife Lorna Crane refuse to let police detective Raymond Griggs search Jerry’s files.

Mickey meets Trevor, who is determined to go to trial in one week, and takes the case of Izzy Letts, a former drug addict accused of stealing a necklace.

A recovering addict himself, Mickey gets Izzy’s charges dropped and hires her as his driver.

His first ex-wife, prosecutor Maggie McPherson, is wary as they work toward joint custody of their teenage daughter, Hayley.

Mickey hires Lorna’s boyfriend, Cisco, as his investigator and they visit Trevor’s home, the scene of the murders, where Cisco reveals that he and Lorna are engaged.

Mickey convinces Trevor to hire him as his attorney, and he and Izzy discover they are being followed.

The Lincoln Lawyer stars Manuel Garcia-Rulfo as Mickey Haller, a defence attorney in Los Angeles who often works out of a chauffeur-driven Lincoln.

Neve Campbell as Maggie McPherson, Mickey’s first ex-wife and a criminal prosecutor.

Then there’s Becki Newton as Lorna Crane, Mickey’s second ex-wife and his legal assistant.

Others include Jazz Raycole as Izzy Letts, a former addict and client of Mickey in an assault and theft case and now working as his personal driver to pay off her legal fee.

Aussie Angus Sampson plays Dennis “Cisco” Wojciechowski, Mickey’s raspy-voiced mate and go-to investigator (and Lorna’s fiancé),

Putting in an appearance as the baddie in the first season is Christopher Gorham as Trevor Elliott, a billionaire video game developer suspected of a double murder.

The other star of the show is the big, beautiful convertible that Haller drives, a fourth generation, four-door 1963 Lincoln Convertible with rear doors that open backwards to provide easier access to the rear seats.

It’s powered by a 430 cu in (7.0-litre) MEL V8 that produces 239kW of power and 630Nm of torque that drives the rear wheels through a three-speed automatic.

One of these babies if you can find one in good nick will set you back more than $200,000.

Nitram: So, that’s what it’s all about?

Haller is also frequently seen in one of two SUVs, either a Lincoln Aviator or Navigator SUV where he does his best thinking, driven by his driver Izy.

The Lincoln Lawyer is bright and breezy and consistently entertaining, and had us coming back for more.

So far there’s three seasons and 30 episodes.

You can catch The Lincoln Lawyer on Netflix.