Daniel Anthony L.

Cabrera
IV-ALM
THE CLIENT
Part I- Introduction and Plot
The movie started with Mark Sway and his brother Ricky traversing the woods in order to smoke
a cigarette when they eventually saw a guy about to kill himself by inserting a hose in the
exhaust of the vehicle in order to compress the gas inside the vehicle of where he is expected to
die out of suffocation. Mark realized that the man was about to kill himself so in order to avoid
this, he sneaked into the bushes and removed the hose from the exhaust of the car countless times
until the man discovered that Mark was being an obstruction to his impending death. He grabbed
Mark by the arm and put him inside the vehicle in order to get killed by the gas with him. This
was the part where the man told Mark that his name was Jerome Clifford who is an Attorney at
Law, his client is Barry “The Blade” Muldano (Mafia) and that he knew where the body of
Senator Boyd Boyette is buried. It was alleged that Muldano killed Senator Boyd and kept it in
the garage of Atty. Jerome Clifford. Eventually Mark was able to escape the vehicle through the
use of slight of hand and deception however Jerome realized his mistake and followed Mark into
the woods. Eventually, Atty. Jerome Clifford killed himself with a gun when he could not find
Mark. Ricky, Mark’s little brother got traumatized and eventually got hospitalized. The Federal
Bureau of Investigation launched a campaign in order to find the body of the senator Boyd.
Though there may be allegations of how the mafia was involved in this issue, this cannot be
proven true unless and until a witness testifies for the greater good. Since Mark was so confused
of the situation that he is going through he went to the office of Atty. Reggie Love in order to ask
for help about having knowledge of the Senator’s dead body however he does not fully trust
Reggie Love and initially lied about what really happened in the woods. Mark does not want
Reggie to know of the location of the dead body because she might get involved but he failed to
realize that Reggie has been representing him during his interviews and has been protecting him
against Atty Roy who has been harassing him in order to know the location of the dead body.
The Mafia tracked Mark down in order to find out what Atty Clifford told him about the dead
body. He was even offered a ride in a car as well as a cigarette however Mark was unyielding for
he knew that there was something suspicious about their actions and intentions. Mark eventually
realized that he could not hide what he knew and eventually told the Federal Bureau of
Investigation about what Atty Jerome Clifford told him through the insistence of Atty Reggie
Love. Because of what he did, the FBI, Atty Roy and Atty Reggie was able to provide Mark and
his family a witness protection program as well as new identities in order to start a fresh and
peaceful life. Before Mark rode the plane provided by Atty Roy, he told Atty Reggie of the exact
location of the rotten body and gave her a last hug before they part ways.
Part II- Brief Summary
Mark Sway got involved with the Mafia and with the death of Senator Boyd through Atty Jerome
Clifford who was not in his right mind during the time that he tried to kill himself in the woods.
Mark temporarily stopped Atty Jerome’s suicide but he was caught by Jerome and was placed
inside the car to die as well. Jerome told Mark that he was an Attorney of the notorious mafia
Barry Muldano and that they were the ones who killed Senator Boyd and placed the dead body in
the garage of Atty Jerome Clifford. Eventually the FBI, Atty Roy who is the district attorney and
Atty Reggie Love who has been practicing law for 2 years were involved in order to achieve
justice and peace for the family of Mark Sway and the death of Senator Boyd.
Part III- Analysis
A. Legal Conflict (Identify the legal conflict in the film and explain)
The legal conflict in the film is when Mark Sway knew about Senator Boyd’s dead body
through Atty. Jerome Clifford who is the lawyer of the Blade (Mafia) in the film. Mark
was still too young to get involved with the death of a politician or to get involved with
an investigation in order to achieve justice to the death of someone. The extent that Mark
should be doing is enjoying his childhood and the resolving his inner demons and
curiosity.
B. How did the main character resolve that legal conflict?
Mark Sway, who was thinking ahead of what may or might happen, looked for an
Attorney to resolve the conflict that he was experiencing. He could not divulge
information to anyone as he may please for his life will be put into imminent danger.
Luckily, Atty. Reggie Love went beyond the call of her duty to help and protect Mark
and his family from the mafia and from the FBI.
C. Would you have done anything differently?
Yes. If I were in the situation of Mark Sway, I will report the incident immediately to the
proper authorities in order to avoid the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Mafia to
have a cause of action to exhaust me for information and to threaten my well-being. This
act will help the FBI save time and increase the chance of discovering the body of
Senator Boyd and arresting those who are responsible for his death. This act of reporting
immediately will also convince the Mafia not to pursue Mark for he will be protected
under the witness protection program the moment the FBI finds a cause of action for
Mark to be subjected to this privilege.
Part IV- Conclusion
A. Assess the film in so far as its effectivity in resolving the legal and ethical
conflict involved.
The film was partially effective in resolving the legal and ethical conflict involved in terms of
how Mark courageously went to an Attorney to resolve his conflict for anyone if not everyone is
entitled to an Attorney or to a defense. However, it is up to the Attorney if he or she would
accept the pending client for there are considerations that must be taken and one of which is how
much the client could pay for the services that an Attorney will render and how heavy or difficult
the case is. In this film, Atty. Reggie Love went beyond the call of her duty as an Attorney by
unconditionally helping and providing for Mark Sway who has basically nothing to offer to
Reggie. There was something that struck her to accept the case of Mark Sway in order to achieve
the peace of family and justice to the dead Senator. She even did not know initially that the case
of Mark Sway involves mingling with the issues of the Mafia of their alleged killings of Senator
Boyd. In this case she is risking her life for the greater good but this altruistic act is not normally
exercised in real life.
B. Is the legal and ethical conflict resolved differently in real life?
Yes. Normally, people involved in Mark Sway’s situation would not report the incident to the
proper authorities for it would be equivalent to sacrificing their lives at the expense of social
justice. People will prefer to be so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. If the situation of this
film was brought into real life, lawyers in the private sector would not take this case at their
expense. They will not be risking their lives to achieve justice over someone that they barely
even know and over someone who will not be able to fully compensate the sacrifices and the
work that they will be doing for Mark.