Mitch McDeere

Mitch McDeere is the central protagonist of the John Grisham novel The Firm as well as the 1993 film and the 2012 television series based on the book.

Mitch was portrayed by Tom Cruis in the 1993 film, and by Josh Lucas in the 2012 television series.

Novel/Film
The son of a coal miner and waitress, Mitch grew up in western Kentucky. A star football player he received a number of scholarship offers but was injured in the last game of his high school career. Western Kentucky University was the only school to not withdraw his scholarship offer so he went there. He played football as an infrequent starter, while managing to get straight As and graduate with a degree in accounting. He married his high school sweetheart Abby after graduation. He then went to Harvard Law School, graduating third in his class.

Mitch was then offered a job at the Memphis are Bendini, Lambert & Locke law firm, which he accepted. The firm paid off his student loans, provided a low interest mortage for him to buy a home, and leased him a luxury vehicle. He then passed the Tennessee Bar Exam. What Mitch did not realize was that he had basically joined a branch of the Chicago area Morolto crime family, that the firm was heavily involved in their white collar crime activities. The firm would often hire young financially strapped lawyers. By the time they were partners they would be compromised, and by retirement they would be so compromised that they could not talk. No one ever quit and the five lawyers that did try to expose the firm were all murdered.

After a young junior partner was murdered Mitch became increasingly suspicious of the firm. While on a business trip in the Cayman Islands he was seduced by a local so that firm security chief Bill DeVasher would have material with which to blackmail Mitch with - he took photos of the encounter.

The FBI pressured Mitch to provide evidence so they could take down the firm. He knew that if he ignored the FBI he would certainly go to prison when the firm was taken down, so he and Abby decided to assist the FBI. In the original novel he provided everything they wanted before taking money out of an account in the Cayman Islands used by the firm and fled overseas. As he had revealed information on legitimate clients as part of this, he breached attorney-client privilege, wrecking his legal career in the process. In the film he exposed an over-billing scheme to the FBI, giving the FBI a reason to take down the firm but leaving his legal career intact. Having convinced the Morolto brothers that he was just working to expose the illegal overbilling, they agreed to leave him alone. Mitch and Abby decided to return to Boston.

2012 TV Series
Mitch helped the FBI to bring down the Bendini, Lambert & Locke law firm for their work with the Morolto crime family. A number of mob figures were convicted of crimes as a result of the take-down. To avoid retaliation Mitch and his wife went into witness protection. After the Morolto mob boss died in prison Mitch and his family emerged from witness protection.

Living in the Washington area, Mitch started a small law firm. Another area firm named Kinross & Clark wanted to acquire that law firm, but Mitch was leery due to the shady nature of their firm. Mitch's law firm operated out of a former travel agency office, with his brother and his brother's girlfriend working for him. Mitch was leery of anyone watching him, and found it difficult to focus on his work as a result.

Mitch was still married to Abby, and they had a daughter named Claire.