Lionel Hutz

The Simpsons character
Lionel Hutz
Gender	Male
Hair color	Brown
Job	Lawyer, Shoe repairer and Realtor
Relatives	Ex-wife: Selma Bouvier
First appearance	Bart Gets Hit by a Car
Voice actor	Phil Hartman†

Lionel Hutz (b. 31st July 1963) is a fictional character from the animated TV series The Simpsons, voiced by Phil Hartman. The local lawyer, Hutz' first appearance was in the second-season episode Bart Gets Hit by a Car, and his final speaking role was in the ninth season's Realty Bites.

Character

He is an inept ambulance chaser and, to quote Lisa, a "shyster" whom the Simpsons nonetheless repeatedly hired as their lawyer (a fact remarked on by Marge in a typically self-aware aside). At one point, he was a student at Harvard University, although it is unknown if he graduated, or if whether his bachelor's degree or J.D. were earned at the institution. His legal practice, located in a shopping mall, was named "I Can't Believe It's A Law Firm!". He often tried to entice potential clients with free gifts, including a "smoking monkey" doll and a business card that "turns into a sponge when you put it in water."

Hutz was characterised as both an incompetent lawyer with little or no knowledge of the actual law^[1] and an unethical individual in general; for instance, in the season 4 episode Marge in Chains he described the following as his auto accident:

Well he's had it in for me ever since I kinda ran over his dog... Well, replace the word "kinda" with the word "repeatedly," and the word "dog" with "son.".

Hutz was a recovering addict; also in Marge in Chains, he hastily left the courtroom after handling a bottle of bourbon in order to consult his sponsor, musician David Crosby. He referred to bourbon as "brownest of the brown liquors" and offered Marge and Homer a shot at 9AM, explaining that he "hadn´t slept in three days."

Beyond the law, he also tried his hand at selling real estate in Realty Bites. Hutz was briefly married to Selma Bouvier, although this storyline was not shown in an episode. When Homer hired him to babysit the Simpson children, he had renamed himself Miguel Sanchez following some trouble that prompted him to change his identity. At some point, he apparently went by the alias Dr Nguyen Van Phuoc, a Vietnamese name.

Cases won

Although Hutz loses almost all of his cases, he did win several cases for the Simpsons, for instance representing Homer in his case against Captain Horatio McAllister and the Frying Dutchman restaurant over its "All You Can Eat" offer. While the Blue Haired Lawyer tried to show that Homer's eating was far beyond what could reasonably be expected out of an all-you-can-eat offer, Hutz won by putting Marge on the stand and having her reveal the desperate actions she and Homer took after they were kicked out of the restaurant. At Hutz´ urging, Marge perjured herself by claiming in court that after searching for another All You Can Eat fish restaurant until 3AM, Homer and Marge "went fishing." Captain McAllister was then forced to settle out of court with Homer.

Another case he won for one of the Simpsons was when Bart discovered that an old tramp named Chester J. Lampwick was the real creator of Itchy and Scratchy, which was proved by an old drawing by Lampwick. Roger Myers (who had falsely claimed credit for the creation) then had to pay him $800 million, which forced the Itchy & Scratchy Studios to close down for a short time.

Retirement

The character was retired after Hartman's murder in 1998, as well as his other main character Troy McClure. Since the Simpson family frequently appears in court,^[2] other characters have represented the Simpsons in legal matters since the retirement. For example, in Sweets and Sour Marge, the equally-incompetent Gil stepped in. Blue Haired Lawyer has also served as the family's attorney. Lionel Hutz still appears infrequently in clip shows and flashbacks, as well as crowd scenes, but only in non-speaking roles. He and McClure also still appear regularly in Simpsons Comics, because a voice actor is not needed. Matt Groening's other show, Futurama, features a similarly incompetent lawyer character, The Hyperchicken.

Notes

1. ^ From Marge in Chains:

   Hutz: And so, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I rest my case.

   Judge: Hmm. Mr Hutz, do you know that you're not wearing any pants?

   Hutz: DAAAA!! I move for a bad court thingy.

   Judge: You mean a mistrial?

   Hutz: Right!! That's why you're the judge and I'm the law-talking guy.

   Judge: You mean the lawyer?

   Hutz: Right.[1]

2. ^ Often enough for Lisa, in The Parent Rap to be on a first-name basis with a court officer.

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