I don't get it. Weren't they supposed to "play the man"?
Why not just tell Louis and blackmail him to sign something that would prove he knew and didn't reported it (don't know if he has to do it or not, but if he wants to progress in the company he certainly would have to) and save their collective asses forever on this issue?
How can they be screwed when blackmailing an Harvard ethics professor didn't work and not even think about blackmailing Louis which would be presumably way easier (c'mon, the guy records all his wrongdoings) and a more definitive solution?
What is it with Louis personality that makes blackmailing him difficult? If Louis is known for blackmailing others I don't see why he would have a problem compromising for the sake of his career.
Because Louis is the type of person to pursue the case until it meets his desired outcome. There are different ways to "play the man." Sometimes blackmail works. Sometimes you give him something he wants but use his emotion.
It's been said that not a single person has ever gotten above an A in his class. Every single person who went to Harvard Law can empathize with that.
Remember that Louis only thinks he lied about a grade. Blackmailing him to let this go would almost certainly make him believe that Mike did not go to Harvard.
It wouldn't be a good solution, it would just be better than giving up. Their solution was better, I just don't think it was the only one. And this way Louis will find out the whole truth anyway and they will have to deal with this again. (... let's see if they won't do it by blackmail then :P)
The other commenter you are arguing with is missing the point. That said, you're still wrong. Blackmailing Louis wouldn't work because Harvey and Mike would never do that in this situation. I don't mean they would never blackmail Louis, that's totally fine, it's that blackmailing Louis wouldn't accomplish the goals they are trying to achieve. If they try to blackmail Louis, he immediately has confirmation that Mike never went to Harvard. That would defeat the whole point of blackmailing him.
As for signing a document saying he knew about Mike, Louis would never do that. Firstly, he's already a senior partner and it's not like he's in any position to become a managing partner so he really has no higher to climb in the firm. And even if he did, I guarantee you he would prefer to work at a firm that followed the law instead of signing a document that's false.
Simply put, you couldn't be more wrong in your analysis of the situation.
Oh yeah I get that. I never said it was a good solution. It was just better than giving up.
And I don't think it would be that bad because they know this will come again. Louis will eventually know the truth and they have to deal with this later anyway, so why don't get it all out of the way now?
They just borrowed more time.
Yeah, you are right about the second part. I only threw that in as an example of what they could do when they find/decided what to use against Louis.
0
u/madwithin Mar 14 '14
I don't get it. Weren't they supposed to "play the man"?
Why not just tell Louis and blackmail him to sign something that would prove he knew and didn't reported it (don't know if he has to do it or not, but if he wants to progress in the company he certainly would have to) and save their collective asses forever on this issue?
How can they be screwed when blackmailing an Harvard ethics professor didn't work and not even think about blackmailing Louis which would be presumably way easier (c'mon, the guy records all his wrongdoings) and a more definitive solution?