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[lawyer]

P L A Y E R I N F O R M A T I O N
Your Name: Kimi
OOC Journal: embody
Under 18? If yes, what is your age?: I'm 20something.
Email + IM: PM my personal journal or aim as spectrumrays
Characters Played at Ataraxion: N/A

C H A R A C T E R I N F O R M A T I O N
Name: Harvey Specter
Canon: Suits
Original or Alternate Universe: N/A
Canon Point: End of Season 1
Number: 011 » 001

Setting: Link to wikipedia page
History: Suits, like other USA Network show suffers from a severe lack of concrete history. Everything is rather vague so I have done the best with what is presented in canon and filled in the gaps with the most logical connections. So until Aaron Korsh says otherwise, this is what happens to Harvey Specter.

He's born to Gordon Specter and his wife (name unknown) and Harvey's childhood was not the happiest. Gordon was a jazz musician - a saxophonist and from what the audience is let to believe, a bleeding heart who believed in love at first sight. Harvey's mother was cheating on her husband for what we assume to be most of his childhood.

Either way, both of Harvey's parents seemed to be absent as he was growing up.

We assume that he went to university, graduated and ended up being a huge fuck up with a great mind. Somehow, somewhere, Jessica Pearson finds him and stations him in Pearson Hardman's mailroom.

He works his way up the ranks and eventually Jessica sends him to law school at Harvard. Harvey graduates and comes back to Pearson Hardman. Harvey apparently tries to quit a number of times during this trial by fire (It's never really clarified in the series whether this is true or Harvey's bluffing for the sake of keeping Mike) but Jessica Pearson is his mentor and starts him on the path to being Harvey Specter, shark.

Sometime between being made an associate and five years prior to the start of the series, he spends a stint at the Defense Attorney's office. He comes back and works his way up the PH ranks and familiar characters from the show such as Daniel Hardman, Louis Litt and Donna Paulsen make their appearance in his life around this period of time.

Five years before the start of the series, he is a senior associate. Jessica asks him to look into irregularities in PH's financials. He eventually finds out that Hardman has been sifting money from the coffers to have a mistress while his wife is suffering from cancer. Harvey catches him and outs him for his embezzlement, kicking him out from his position as managing partner.

On this caveat, Harvey is made partner in the firm. The same day he gets the news, his father dies from a heart attack.

Between the start of the series and when this happens, we assume that Harvey Specter is just generally being awesome and crushing balls to be New York's best closer.

Which brings us to the series start.

Welcome to Suits, the story of two lawyers with one degree between them.


Obligatory gif of the two protagonists, Harvey and Mike

The series Pilot begins when Harvey, in search for another version of himself when he makes Senior Partner (capitalised for emphasis), hires pothead genius Mike Ross while he's evading the cops in a drug exchange gone bust. Crazy, right? But Mike convinces him that he can school those Harvard douchebags, because he took the LSATs and passed. With flying colours. So Harvey decides to challenge him on his legal knowledge and after Mike showed suitable ballsiness, Harvey hired him. But not before telling him that he needed to 1) get a new suit, 2 ) stop smoking pot, 3) never speak to his douchebag of a friend Trevor again and 4) fake it until you make it (i.e. go to Harvard and learn what it's like to go to law school there).

Harvey gets in trouble for threatening to crush one of their client's balls into doing the right thing, Jessica Pearson assigns him a pro bono sexual harassment case that he has to handle personally. Instead, he pawns it off to Mike to give him some training. Between Mike's ability to emphasize with the and Harvey's amazing closing abilities, they end up winning the case.

It's a fairly self explanatory "case of the week" format for the rest of the season. Harvey and Mike take on various cases and often work separately on separate parts of the case, or separate cases all together. Occasionally they come together. Occasionally. Usually when Mike gets into trouble or when Harvey needs an audience to him being awesome.

The point that Harvey is being pulled from is the end of Season 1. Basically everything goes to shit when Harvey's old mentor from his time at the District Attorney's office, Clifford Danner turns Harvey when his office is investigated for burying evidence. Harvey, understandably is very conflicted because of loyalties to his old mentor. But at the same time, something rotten is in the DA's office and he can't stand for that. This leaves him in a state, a slow emotional shakeup that only gets reversed at the end of the Season when he corrects his transgression by freeing the innocent man he sent to jail at the time he left the DA's office. Ultimately it gets resolved but he is shaken, he's not quite the same hot shot gunslinger that we see at the beginning of the season.

Personality:

"So, I'd say the ball is in your court, but the truth is, your balls are in my fist. Now I apologize if that image is too pansy for you, but I'm comfortable enough with my manhood to put it out there."

If someone guy in a suit told you that straight to your face, how would you feel? Angry for his gall? Impressed with his bravado?

This, ladies and gentlemen is one of our first glimpses of Harvey Specter in the Pilot episode of Suits.

He's a highly competent man who is good at his job, who plays hard as much and works even harder. When he talks, you listen. You hang on every word he says whether it's over dinner or in the court room. When Harvey walks into a room, people turn to look at him as he enters. He'll give them a couple of moments to collect their jaws off the floor before speaking. He's considerate that way.

Harvey is a man of impeccable taste who plays as hard as he works. He has a penchant for ball sports, enjoying both baseball and basketball as seen by his collection of autographed balls in his office. He likes fast, expensive cars and strong alcohol (whiskey or scotch. everything else is juvenile.). A stylish slicked back man who is used to the best of everything. He is highly attractive and knows it, as women practically throw themselves at him due to his good looks and biting wit.

If you were to give Harvey Specter a D&D alignment, he would be a (mostly) Lawful Neutral character - someone with their own personal code interested in upholding the general order yet has enough brains and deviance in him to thrive and prosper. There are several instances where this shines through - he refuses to sleep with married women, for one. He gets conflicted when he has to make the choice between betraying his mentor from the time he worked at the Defense Attorney's office and restoring rightful justice.

Harvey's competitive streak coupled with his skills make him a very hard person to beat in court though he will insist on going to court only as a last result. He will have found out every loophole, even ones that the opposing side didn't know about yet. Every case that he takes will have been examined with microscopic precision and he is merciless in getting the best result possible for his client. He works very hard to ensure that he wins. Even if he has to use unconventional methods to do so.

So far we've established that Harvey knows the game (very well) and he's going to (damn well) play it. You would think that he would cheat to win. Well he does cheat in that he plays unconventionally but not so much that he would actually properly break the law to win. He merely bends them to his advantage and tests its flexibility. He will also play people to ensure that is the case. He's very good at reading people and knows where to press and where to flatter as necessary. Harvey's skill in being a lawyers stems from his acute awareness of how rules works and how to make it work for him. Not to mention the whole reading people deal. He's ruthless in wanting to win. Because if you win, everything's grand. If you lose, it isn't. And Harvey doesn't like it when he loses. He's been there before. He doesn't like it. He works hard and does everything in his power to ensure that it never happens again. Okay, so that means he's a tad controlling and overbearing at times to the point that he could be considered a life ruiner (Mike can testament to this). But the results speak for themselves. He always delivers.

His choice to hire Mike speaks volumes about him as a risk taker. When recruiting for a new associate, he told Donna, his secretary and right hand man he didn't just want a boring Harvard clone. He wanted another version of himself, someone with not just a bit of spark but a thunderstorm inside of them. This says a lot first and foremost about his own narcissism, as shown as he refers to Mike as a reflection of himself often enough, which is why he has a no tolerance for failure policy with Mike that he sticks to pretty hard. Mike is a genius pothead hipster with an eidetic memory but no law degree. A risk taker who had balls considering that the way he chose to avoid the cops was to go storm the interview room with the best lawyer in the city. Harvey sees echos of himself in Mike. So nevermind the fact he was running from the cops with a suitcase full of pot, Harvey hired him after he showed an amazingly good knowledge of the law. Amongst other things.

But despite putting on the appearance of being Mister Perfect Lawyer, Harvey's life isn't exactly all cracked up as it's meant to be. He has a hard time forming relationships with people. He doesn't really care for romantic relationships, often pursuing one night stands rather than stick with one person. Emotions are too messy and too dangerous for him to handle since despite all his planning, emotions can often overturn a well executed plan. Which is why Harvey prefers that they're not there, it's too much effort for him to care about people and most people aren't even worth him caring about. He has needs, he tends to them. If there's work to be done, he works his arse off. He's pretty much closed himself off in that respect and doesn't really show that he cares about anybody at all.

Which is why it's always comes as a surprise when he shows he cares, in his own strange twisted way. He is very protective of them, but he'd never show it unless push came to shove. The people he cares about the most are Jessica, Donna and Mike. Jessica is his mentor figure to whom he owns most of his success to. She pretty much stomped on his balls and he grew stronger from it. He would very much defend Jessica to the end and she would do the same for him. Donna is his partner in crime. He trusts her judgement and she just does everything for him. Donna is utterly indispensable to what he does and they have been through a lot together. (They have been "married" for seven years, Donna knows more about Harvey than anybody in the world and is proud of it.). For all his amazingness, he is a very isolated person with a limited pool of people he trusts.

Harvey's relationship with Mike is something special though. To accurately describe their relation, would require the use of looking at it from Mike's point of view. From Mike's perspective, Harvey is the embodiment of infinite possibility. Harvey gave Mike the chance of a lifetime that he never thought he would get. He also represents a kind of ideal that Mike could reach - highly successful. So there is that aspect. The other aspect involves the fact that Mike could be seen to balance out Harvey's emotional inavailability. For as much as Harvey is a closed book who is highly in control of his emotions, Mike is an open book who wears his heart on his sleeve. Mike reminds him to be human rather than some lawyer demi-god, which is always a plus. Harvey uses this to his advantage sometimes; Mike's ability to empathise with people can be useful. On occasion. Mike challenges Harvey and vice versa, their advanced intellectual capabilities allow them to bounce off each other and ultimately work better. Harvey is protective of Mike, even if Harvey does give Mike a very hard time. It's the kind of tough love upon which successful partnerships thrive upon.

So there we are, Harvey Specter. A complicated man, a difficult man but a man to admire.


Mike and Donna believe so too.

Abilities, Weaknesses and Power Limitations:
For all his demigod lawyering, Harvey is just a regular human so he does not have any supernatural abilities.

+ Kickass lawyer
+ Highly intelligent with a vast array of interests
+ A boxer with some degree of physical strength
+ / - Has this amazing ability to read people and uses it to his advantage
+ / - Ego the size of Jupiter
- Emotionally unavailable
- A jackass.

Inventory:
- Two (x2) autographed baseballs, the ones that are in his office
- One (x1) tailored three piece suit with tie.

Appearance: Harvey Specter is played by Gabriel Macht. Some people have problems with his face.

Age: This is a USA show and they are very vague on these kinds of details, but considering how long it would take for someone to go to law school and work their way up a law firm to a position of seniority, Harvey would have to be in his late 30s at the earliest. I would place Harvey Specter at 39. (Just for reference, Gabriel Macht is 40 years old.)

AU Clarification: N/A

S A M P L E S
Log Sample:

Harvey wanted a coffee. It was a ritual for him to go get one at 3 in the afternoon, when he was just an associate it used to be the cheap stuff that he brewed surreptitiously in the break room and drank at the speed of light before anybody noticed he was gone from his desk for more than five minutes. But as he progressed up the ranks in the firm, this ritual turned from a simple caffeine injection to a necessary time in which he could recollect his thoughts and reconstruct them.

The coffee was the same but the difference between now and then was that he was making more than enough money to have someone make the coffee for him. Black, no sugar. And get me one of those scones.

The barista looked stunned. Like he didn't know what to do with the fact that someone had just completely ignored his attempts at chitchat. Most people lapped it up at this time as most people who came at this time were bored and idling around usually. A guy like this normally appeared in the morning rush. Harvey shot him a glance as if to say he should do his job rather than gawp at him and his suit.

This silence lingered for a little moment longer, then the barista skittered off to prepare the order. It's the same each time he goes to a coffee place, he just wants a coffee served - not tell you about his life or how his associate is giving him a headache or how he's convinced his assistant is veering into the dark arts. Mainly because it's none of the barista's business.

When the poor fellow arrived back, Harvey had already laid out the exact amount on the counter. And just as abrupt as he came, he was gone.

He drank his coffee as he walked, thinking about the latest case he had been handed. It was a simple case of copyright infringement that could be settled out of court but protracted only by the fact that Mike was considering making it amenable to both sides so that neither lost out. The kid still had a lot to learn about not wearing his heart on his sleeve. If he tried to pull any stunts like that again, he would deliberately insert errors in the next brief he threw at him. Just to make sure he understood what being a pain in the ass was. He knows that every time he does it, Mike affects the air of being personally offended and looks inches away from a temper tantrum because he can't work out whether it's intentional or not. It's a permanent source of amusement for Harvey.

Harvey was nearly back at his office when he took a bite from the scone. It was hard and pretty much tasteless, a sorry lump of dough that had been left too long on display. Why Donna was eating them like there was no tomorrow, he'd never know. So he did nothing more than dump the pastry in the nearest trash can unceremoniously and made a mental note to himself to never try that again.

Comms Sample:
video;

[There's a man who clearly has eschewed the on board ship uniform in favour of staying in his three piece suit, which makes him stand out like anything. Life on the Tranquility hadn't been too kind of him so until he get his bearings, the suit is staying on for now. He doesn't look too happy, his mouth is formed into a thin line as he addresses the network.]

My name's Harvey Specter. I'm the immediate superior of Mike Ross, who I am led to believe has been cavorting around this ship like an idiot. You'll recognise him - blond hair, blue eyes and looks permanently sixteen with soft features.

Unfortunately he knows nothing about being in outer space.

[... Neither is Harvey but it's not like he's going to let that show as he keeps talking.]

So this is a small request from me.

[A beat.]

Don't help him out.

[There's a pause as he lets that sink in.]

He needs to learn on his own and he can't do that if all of you are rushing to help him the moment he makes kicked puppy faces. If you have any dire dire problems with this, then you can talk to me about it. Otherwise, that's it.

[Harvey shrugs, and closes the feed.]