Fictional Attorney of the Month: Cliff McCormack

I confess that I love the television series Veronica Mars. And while most of the revolves around sleuthing detectives and high school drama, there are nontrivial portions dedicated to law. And as Veronica Mars, the movie, has started filming this month, one of the lawyers who'll appear in the film is the Fictional Attorney of the Month.

Cliff McCormack is the public defender in Neptune, California. He comes across as a little sleazy and occasionally hedonistic, but he's always ready to zealously represent his clients. And Daran Norris is a phenomenal actor for this role. (I don't simply say that because he followed me on Twitter.) His deadpan delivery and keen sense of sarcasm make him a delight.

One choice self-deprecating quotation from the series: when described as an "ever-loving lawyer" who represented an accused murderer who confessed and sits on death row, Cliff responds, "Yes, me, his $20 an hour public defender. Dershowitz, Cochrane, and Shapiro were offering up their limbs, and he comes here for representation. I failed criminal law and I still know that can't be good. "