[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

I think it's far more likely that Chuck ends up institutionalized than dead. The ending of the episode this week further drove home the psychosomatic nature of his illness, and since he knows he was fine before Jimmy said something to him, it's likely that it will further reinforce the inconsistency of his illness to himself, lumping self-doubt on top of psychosis.

Also, using his printing code will likely be used as an excuse from cashing Chuck out, as HHM can say that he was capable of working, as evidenced by the code usage. Thus their pittance of a pay-off will be seen as justifiable because Chuck "could" work, but chose not to.

So, Chuck ends up 1) institutionalized and 2) without any remuneration from the firm he built.

On top of that, Jimmy will lose the right to use his name, as foreshadowed earlier this season, and based on what he's seen, there's not really much of a reason not to become a criminal lawyer, because where does being upstanding get you?

TL;DR - long and boring stuff:

Spoiler!

The buyout thing is an interesting one.

In a standard legal partnership, Chuck would be entitled to a literal 1/3 interest of the value of the firm if they bought him out of it. That would include goodwill value and all kinds of fun shit. The 'pittance' of a buyout wouldn't be - it would be easily in the millions of dollars and if the firm is as advertised by the show, potentially tens of millions of dollars. There are companies that specialize in appraising businesses and I'm sure they'd put a nice sum on a high-dollar corporate firm.

I agree, using Chuck's code was a really bad move in that it absolutely shows Chuck working in his capacity as a partner at HHM. I've never known of any partnership agreement that allows for freelancing outside of the firm, especially in a field that the firm would occupy (as a general practice litigation firm, that's pretty much anywhere). If nothing else, the malpractice exposure prevents it - he's still protected by a malpractice policy issued by HHM and if he ended up in a malpractice suit or some kind of malicious prosecution counter-suit, HHM would arguably be on the line now.

Hell, even if the agreement allows for it, he's arguably violated his duty of loyalty by diverting the opportunity (and obviously the assets). At that point he could be forced turn over any profits that come from it to HHM, though that wouldn't necessarily speak to Jimmy's half. That's why I don't think HHM can completely horn in here - somehow Jimmy likely gets completely hung out and it's hard for that to happen just by involving Chuck, even as an HHM partner. These were still Jimmy's clients first - he'd be entitled to a big chunk if he stayed on as co-counsel, even if Chuck's labors were awarded to HHM.

It really would get incredibly nasty but that's kinda why I think it won't happen. It's the kind of shit that could/should hijack that show and suddenly it becomes an actual legal drama instead of a character study that happens to involve a lawyer. Obviously that isn't the direction they want to go with this show.

The cleaner out is to simply have Chuck die and his estate go to charity or something. At that point Jimmy wouldn't get the substantial buyout that Chuck is due via any kind of inheritance. He couldn't stand up to HHM because even if he has the chops, he doesn't have the resources. And HHM would have an easy avenue to substituting Hamlin as counsel (who could then force out Jimmy or buy him out cheap).

Then again, these guys are way better writers than me so it's seems likely that they'd avoid writing themselves into a corner.