A Time to Kill

“All I can think about is getting’ my hands on those bastards.” 

Carl Lee makes no secret of the fact that he wants to kill Cobb and Willard. He even tells Jake that he may want him as a lawyer if he manages to kill them. Jake reports the conversation to the sheriff but does not believe that Carl Lee will carry out his threat. Importantly, while Carl Lee knows he will need a lawyer if he acts, he also believes that Jake will be able to get him acquitted quickly. 

“You big stupid idiot, thought Jake. How could he be confident at a time like this?” 

After the shooting, Jake is confused by Carl Lee’s confidence in him. Carl Lee believes that it will be easy for Jake to acquit a black man for shooting two whites in the South, simply because they raped his daughter. Carl Lee’s confidence is based on his relative ignorance of the legal system that will try him. 

“This case could make me famous and us a million bucks, in the long run.” 

The challenge of Carl Lee’s case excites Jake; he is also hungry for the publicity and opportunities the trial promises to bring. Jake is an ethical lawyer, but he is also eager to increase his profile. The practice of law is a passion, a duty, and a commercial enterprise for the attorneys in the novel, although some take a more mercenary, cynical approach than others.