Louis Marlowe Litt, Esq. is a lawyer and name partner at Pearson Specter Litt. He was promoted to the position of senior partner at Pearson Hardman by Daniel Hardman prior to the latter's dismissal from the firm,[1] and retained his position after the subsequent merger with Darby International. Louis was in a relationship with Sheila Sazs and they were due to be engaged; however their relationship ended due to a disagreement of having kids or not. Louis initially resigned from Pearson Specter to prevent Jessica or Harvey from firing him after he embezzled money for Charles Forstman, but after discovering that Mike Ross was a fraud and that the others covered it up, he attempted to use that information to blackmail Jessica into making him a name partner at Pearson Specter, thus forming Pearson Specter Litt.
Background
Louis was a senior associate when Harvey joined the firm, after leaving the District Attorney's Office. When Fairchild, a former senior partner, had passed away, Louis came up with the idea that instead of having Hardman promote another junior partner to the position of senior partner, that he promote Harvey & himself from senior associates to junior partners, and that one day the firm might be called "Pearson Hardman Specter Litt". Hardman agreed on the condition that whoever got McKernon Motors would be considered for partnership. Harvey manages to convince Avery McKernon to let him represent him, telling him that he is loyal and that he would never drop them, but Hardman tells Harvey to drop him since another automotive company triple the size of McKernon wanted the firm to represent them. When Harvey refuses to drop them, he ends up losing a court battle on McKernon's behalf when the opposing counsel manages to counter him at every turn. Although Harvey initially suspects Hardman leaked his game plan, he later finds out it was Louis, who did it to gain junior partnership from Hardman. This incident is what causes the rivalry between the two lawyers.
As a junior partner, Norma was made his secretary, something that Louis initially disliked. His position at the firm was put under threat, however, when Harvey, under orders from Jessica, discovered evidence which seemed to suggest that Louis had been stealing from the company. It was later revealed however, through Louis' own indirect assistance, that it was in fact Daniel that had been stealing money, and he had set Louis up to take the blame for his misdeeds.
Louis was born and raised in Scarsdale, New York. He graduated Summa Cum Laude* (contradicted in another episode where he says he graduated magna cum laude) from Harvard University, achieving the Order of the Coif. He is an expert at Corporate Finance and is well known for his superb training of the associates.
History
Season 1
The show begins with Louis Litt, a junior partner at Pearson Hardman, telling Jessica that there is a problem with Gerald Tate, and her telling him to get Harvey. On the first day of Mike's job, Louis fires an associate (in reality a mailroom worker) in front of Mike, sending the message that Mike should be afraid of Louis.
Louis takes Mike to the tennis club and forces Mike to get stoned with Tom Keller, who doesn't want to be Louis' client due to the fact that he finds Louis a tad eerie. Louis then blackmails Mike with a fake drug test.
Louis tries to be like Harvey and works to have a friendship with Donna. His relationship with Donna is backed by the fact that in season 3, Donna rushes to the hospital to be with him after he has a heart attack in court.
Season 2
Daniel gave Louis the one thing Jessica didn't - senior partnership
Upon Daniel's return to the firm, Louis is unsure who to work for, claiming he needs to follow a chain of command. Jessica tells him that he responds to her, but as she clearly favors Harvey over him, Daniel uses that to his advantage, building a rapport with Louis. In return, Louis begins to work for him and even screw Harvey, Mike and Jessica over. In order to usurp control once more, Daniel needs to be voted in as the new managing partner, and decides to get Louis' vote by promoting him to senior partner, something Jessica never did.
Louis becomes loyal to Daniel, and so Harvey tries to make Louis realize that Daniel is simply buying his vote by proving to him that when Daniel stole from the firm, he set up Louis to take the fall. Louis rejects Harvey's attempts to make him vote for Jessica instead, and when Harvey realizes he wants Jessica to tell him he deserves his promotion as well realize his value in the firm, he offers his office up. Louis, however, snaps at Jessica as well, although not before storming into Daniel's office and demanding why Daniel would set him up as a patsy. When Daniel tells him that he did it because Louis seemed like the perfect fall guy, with his financial expertise, as well as adding that he wouldn't care if Louis had his legal career ruined or even went to jail, along with the fact that he'd do it again, their relationship sours a bit. Louis ends up voting for Daniel anyways, and Daniel regains control of the firm.
Daniel asks Louis for a way to fire Harvey, and after Louis tries snooping in Harvey's office for dirt, he is caught and nearly punched by Harvey, who happens to be stoned. Louis, smelling the weed, has Daniel Hardman initiate a drug policy for partners, knowing that Harvey would either have to take the drug test and fail, or refuse to take the test overall, both which carry grounds for dismissal. Harvey, however, adds that the by-laws state that he can call a partners meeting to discuss the policy as pursuant to his rights as a senior partner.
Every senior partner votes for Daniel's dismissal, Louis included.
During the partners meeting, Daniel attempts to have Harvey dismissed for taking drugs, but Harvey counters that he got high because he had to work for Daniel. When it comes to a vote, however, only 3 people vote that Harvey should be fired, Louis choosing not to vote, and so Harvey stays. Jessica and Harvey bring up the fact that the CM memo settlement they were all fighting for was in fact orchestrated by Daniel Hardman in a ploy to get rid of Harvey as well make Jessica surrender her leadership position, a fact Louis was unaware of. When Jessica tells Daniel that fraudulently suing his own firm is a violation of their by-laws and therefore grounds for dismissal, every senior partner votes Daniel be kicked out, Louis included.
Season 3
While proving that he loves Sheila Sazs, he finds her in the Harvard file room and when she leaves him alone to call her mother to tell her mother that Louis stopped being such a "pussy", Louis looks through the files, after being expressly told not to. Louis finds first Harvey's Harvard file and then looks for Mike Ross', dismayed when he realizes it's not there and that he can't tell Sheila about it because then he would have admitted to breaking her trust in the first place. Louis has a heart attack during a court proceeding and is rushed to the hospital, surviving the minor heart attack. Donna rushes to his side, telling him that everything would fall apart without him working at the firm, therefore he is not 'allowed' to die. While in the hospital, Louis is writing vows to Sheila and she gets upset with him for 'working' when he is supposed to be resting and then Louis explains that he wasn't working on work, but on something for her and he proposes to her right then and there in the hospital room and she accepts. It isn't until later, after he's been released from the hospital and is back at work and has asked Harvey to be his best man, that he finds out that he and Sheila want separate things in their lives and they end up calling the engagement off.
Season 4
Louis resigned from Pearson Specter because he didn't want to put Harvey or anyone else in a position to fire him. It started when he unwound the Wexler stock purchase, despite Jessica telling him to tell Harvey first.. Then, he made an illegal deal with Forstman in which he wired the money overseas to avoid paying taxes and the SEC was about to find that out since Pearson Specter was ordered to release all of the documents regarding the Gillis Industries takeover.
In the episode "This Is Rome", events take a shocking turn since Louis figures out for certain the Mike Ross never went to Harvard. He found out because he failed to recognize a golden key which every Harvard graduate who achieves "Order of the Coif" gets. Since Mike's transcript showed that he graduated Magna Cum Laude, he achieved Order of the Coif, so he should have recognized it if he really were a Harvard graduate and got one of them. Louis also checked his credit reports and found that he was based in New York during his supposed years at Harvard Law,and he also was not in the Harvard yearbook.
Louis then loses his composure and becomes very angry towards Donna & Jessica. He was yelling at Donna because he found out that she had been lying to him about Mike ever since he arrived. He was in absolute full rage when he shouted at Jessica, because she covered up Mike being a fraud, while when she did not cover up Louis's dirty deal with Forstman, The very last line, he says he can now have "Pearson Specter Litt", which is name partner.
Louis's suspicion about Mike not going to Harvard law started last year when he noticed that Mike Ross did not have a file in the Harvard file room, and when he ordered a copy of his transcript, his suspicions grew as he noticed he received an "A+" in Professor Gerard's class, which historically no one has ever received taking his class.
After Season 4 returns, Harvey is seen driving back to the firm and once he enters Jessica's office, she reveals to that Louis knows, and that he's using the secret to be name partner. Harvey tells Louis that Jessica will have to wait to put his name up on the wall since he resigned just recently, however Louis goes around telling people, such as Katrina Bennett and Robert Zane, that he is now a name partner, and also has Jessica have a ceremony set for him. Jessica tells Louis that he will only be name partner if he signs an affidavit that states that he is a co-conspirator to hiring a fraud. Louis refuses to sign it, but Jessica brings up the fact that Louis went around telling people that he is now a name partner and even had the partners gather around the lobby for a ceremony. Knowing how much he wants to retain his name partnership, Louis reluctantly agrees and signs it. Jessica admitted to Harvey that she planned this whole thing only seconds after Donna told Jessica that Louis knew.
Relationships
Harvey Specter
Louis harbors an intense jealousy towards Harvey for making senior partner so early, after Harvey spent his time junior to Louis (who achieved junior partnership while Harvey was still only a senior associate), and their rivalry forms a major part of their relationship. When Donna was fired for shredding documentation that might incriminate Harvey, Louis jumped at the chance to assist in a mock trial at the firm in order to help Harvey and possibly Donna as well. Despite their heated relationship, Louis himself later takes the stand to defend Harvey, much to the surprise of everyone.
In spite of his jealousy, Louis holds a deep respect for Harvey, which he admits in the mock trial under the questioning of Jessica. Louis once compared his relationship with Harvey to that between Ralph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog from Looney Tunes; stating that whilst they were enemies at work, at the end of the day they left on amicable terms. The clash of Louis and Harvey is therefore evident insofar as Harvey is everything Louis has desired to be. That is, the attractive, suave and socially respected wunderkind. It is the frustration of following always in Harvey's shadow and not as an equal that causes the perpetual rift between them. However, beyond social status, the two are very similar both in intelligence and ability to practice law in their areas of expertise. This type of relationship is effective as it allows for both comedy and drama simultaneously. Louis' devious but mostly harmless nature can arouse both amusement and compassion in the viewer. Similarly, Harvey can humorously insult Louis and equally sympathize when it matters most. Ultimately, Harvey and Louis will forever have polar opposite personalities but it is the underlying mutual respect that precludes a rift from becoming a gulf.
Jessica Pearson
Jessica does not appear to be especially close to Louis. Louis is often angered by how Jessica favors Harvey over him and often questioned her decision to promote Harvey to senior partner before him. Despite this, Jessica and Louis have a good working relationship, though it somewhat wavered when Louis sided with Daniel Hardman during his reign. When Louis was planning on leaving Pearson Hardman, Jessica tells him that she considers him a valuable employee to the firm and does not want him to resign. Despite her relationship with Harvey, she often rebukes him when he does unorthodox things to Louis. After Louis has his heart attack, Jessica confides in Louis that even though they don't always see eye to eye and he often questions her when she assigns specific cases to himself or to Harvey, that she thinks of Louis as family.
Mike Ross
Louis often shows jealousy towards Mike due to his close relationship with Harvey. However, it is clear that he recognizes Mike's ability and they have formed a strong partnership on every occasion they collaborate. More importantly, Louis is not intimidated by Mike and thus a more open friendship is evident between the two; though neither of them would outright admit to labeling it as such. Mike is in a difficult position of being Harvey's right-hand man and hence, on the 'inside', yet still seeing merit in Louis, an 'outsider', and enjoying his company. Despite Louis' choices with the Pearson Hardman civil war, his and Mike's relationship has survived intact. After Mike was beaten up by Tess' husband, Louis immediately tended to Mike's injuries with his own first-aid supplies, and then proceeded to use his financial expertise to help with Trent's case, despite planning to hand in his resignation letter to Jessica the next morning.[2]
Daniel Hardman
Louis has only a superficial admiration for Daniel Hardman. He essentially used Daniel as much as Daniel did him, i.e. for promotion to Senior Partner, due to Jessica's extensive investment in Harvey which left Louis continually feeling neglected. It was later revealed that Hardman was just using Louis to takeover the firm from Jessica and did not care about him. Once he learned about the extent of his actions, Louis voted to dismiss Hardman from the firm and backed Harvey in the final vote. He later regrets voting for Hardman, due to the strain it causes on his relationship with both Harvey and Jessica. However, at the end of "Blood in the Water", they both make clear that he is a valuable and wanted asset to the firm. Daniel and Louis do not have a relationship per se, they were simply a means to an end for one another, and nothing more.
Sheila Sazs
Sheila and Louis's relationship started off rocky, Sheila was not committed to moving to New York, though Louis convinced her to after he told her that his close friends live there. Eventually, they started dating and became extremely close to each other. In the episode Heart Burn, Louis proposes to Sheila asking if she will marry him on his hospital bed, she accepts and they are due to be engaged. Louis then asks Harvey to be his best man, which he accepts the offer in his office. However, the engagement was cancelled after Louis and Sheila ended their relationship at the end of the episode. They ended things with each other because they had a disagreement about having kids. Louis really wanted to have kids, but Sheila did not.
Esther Litt
Louis' younger sister, Esther comes to the firm to see Louis for some advice on her divorce from her husband. She and Harvey meet and flirt before either knows who the other is. Esther insists on Harvey representing her and Louis reluctantly arranges it but is worried of Harvey seducing her. It appears the two have a tense relationship but Louis is clearly protective of his sister and truly cares for her and wants her to be okay.
Trivia
- He had braces 5 years before Mike was hired to join Pearson Hardman.
- He had a MySpace account.
- He loved his cat, Bruno, and was completely devastated when Bruno died.
- He was a Junior Partner when Harvey was still a Senior Associate, a position he gained by giving Harvey's game plan for his trial to the opposing counsel.
- He has a Dictaphone that he keeps as a diary.
- He uses the catchphrase Litt Up, which he also got registered as a trademark.
- He likes ballet.
- He enjoys mudding.
- He plays tennis.
- He likes Donna and was upset at Harvey for letting her go.
- He had a special suit (Brioni) saved in his closet for when he became senior partner.
- Louis had a crush on Monica Eton.
- Louis appears to have a crush on Donna, Harvey's assistant.
- Louis did not have any friends as a child and was bullied in school. He was also home schooled until he was 10 years old.
- Louis' assistant was Norma, whom we never saw, and he had a love / hate relationship with her. After her death, Donna became his assistant, a choice that left Harvey heartbroken.
- Louis' apartment is on 601 E 59th Street, New York City (according to the address wrote on envelopes of letters sent to Nigel Nesbitt's cat Mikado).
References
- ↑ Asterisk (August 16 2012). Season 2, Episode 9.
- ↑ Blood in the Water (January 24, 2013). Season 2, Episode 12.