Episode notes
Mickey Haller knows his client Russell Lawson killed Martha Renteria, but attorney-client privilege keeps him silent. Following advice from mentor Legal Siegel, Mickey engineers a trap: he arranges for sex worker Gloria Dayton — the one witness who can identify Russell — to be released and placed under police surveillance, betting Russell will move to eliminate her. Meanwhile, paralegal Lorna confronts the law school dean who sexually harassed her years ago, and Mickey trades cartel intelligence to his ex-wife Maggie to secure Gloria's cooperation. Russell takes the bait, attacks Gloria at her apartment, and is arrested mid-crime — breaking privilege by committing a new offense. Jesús Menendez's wrongful conviction is dismissed with prejudice. The episode closes with Mickey's next client crisis already arrived: Lisa Trammell, the chef he's been representing and sleeping with, has been arrested for murdering developer Mitchell Bondurant.
Understanding this episode requires knowing how attorney-client privilege can be both a trap and a weapon. Russell exploited it deliberately to paralyze Mickey; Mickey exploited Russell's own predictability to render it moot. The parallel storyline with Lorna frames the same dynamic — two people reclaiming agency from figures who assumed institutional power would keep them compliant. The Bondurant arrest resets Mickey's situation entirely, shifting the season from clearing an innocent man to defending someone whose guilt is an open question.
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