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Michael Gets $80,000, But Screws His Firm And U North, What Happens Next

posted 8 years ago by brianapplequist
18 replies | jump to latest

Michael Clayton accepts the much needed $80,000 from his firm (as a supposed bonus), but later betrays the firm's client, U North, by deceiving Tilda Swinton's character into admitting terrible crimes and thus paying him off (to the tune of $5,000,000 or $10,000,000). By showing her he knows all of the dirty inside info about U North causing cancer in anyone even close to their vicinity, he convinces her to reveal highly privileged info on tape, unbeknownst to her. He uses this recorded information to vindicate Arthur and his own brother's reputation. By doing this he is left wide open against the confidentially clause for which he just accepted the $80,000 (and was therefore enslaved to the *beep* Barry). In addition he seems left open to lawsuits from his own firm, U North, and its subsidiaries, etc. Let me know how you think this would or should play out.

[–] hilaryjrp 8 years ago

Wow, almost ten years later and I'm reading this board twenty minutes after you post.  But I keep Michael Clayton in my IMDB Favorites, and I think the answer to your question is that confidentiality clauses don't extend so far as to allow for the concealment of crimes as severe as the fictional UNorth's.

Russell Crowe's The Insider (I think Clayton was kind of based on that story) wasn't nearly as good as this movie.

[–] nutmustardxx 8 years ago

Once they blew up his car all confidentialality clauses are null and void

[–] cstoll7003 8 years ago

Confidentiality? They tried to kill him!

[–] PlayView 8 years ago

If Micheal had exposed the contents of the red file he would be violating his confidentiality agreement but he uses it to make Karen talk. At that point she even says it is protected by attorney client privilege. However it was prepared by Arthur who dies under mysterious circumstance so it becomes police evidence.

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[–] McQueen1980 8 years ago

michael was definitely driven by the murder of arthur and he seemed to be the only one who knew that not only did unorth kill him but also tried to kill the lead character, michael clayton.

[–] psaxe-2 8 years ago

I think the murder of Arthur, (they will find the needle mark used to kill him) and the attempted murder of himself will protect Michael from lawsuits. Besides, Michael never went public with the memo, he just used it to get Karen to offer him a bribe.

[–] Sickboy000 8 years ago

It would be interesting to see what happened...

Can the memo still be used against uNorth?

Can uNorth still sue the firm?

Can uNorth just pin the murder/attempted murder on Karen and walk away?

What happens with the merger?

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

The merger is off, of course. The whole movie is about walking away from the dark side. That's of course the story with Marty and his other colleagues, too. Still covered in slime.