Lionel Hutz

Lionel Hutz 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 claims to have graduated from Princeton School of Law, although Princeton Law School closed in 1852. His legal practice, located in a shopping mall, was named "I Can't Believe It's A Law Firm!" and also offered "expert shoe repair". 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 characterized as both an incompetent lawyer with little or no knowledge of the actual law and an unethical individual in general; for instance, in the season 4 episode "Marge in Chains" he described the following as his "problem" with Judge Snyder:
 * 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. Also, Hutz referred to bourbon as "brownest of the brown liquors" and offered to share with Marge and Homer "a belt of scotch" at 9AM, explaining that he "hadn't slept in 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. While baby sitting the Simpson children, and burning papers in the fireplace, Lisa asks,"Mr. Hutz, why are you burning those papers?" To which he exuberantly replies, "Lionel Hutz no longer exists, say hello to Miguel Sanchez!" Apparently at some point, he 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 tearfully admitted that after searching for another All You Can Eat fish restaurant until 3AM, Homer and Marge "went fishing." The jury, composed entirely of morbidly obese citizens, became empathetic with Homer's plight. (One juror noted, "That could've been me!"). 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, which was proved via the signature and note on an old drawing by Lampwick. Roger Myers (who had falsely claimed credit for the creation) then had to pay him $800 billion, which forced the Itchy & Scratchy Studios to close down for a short time. This victory was not indicative of Hutz' capabilities as an attoney, as the legal victory came only after Bart's realization that the evidence was in the Android's Dungeon. Hutz, in order to stall the trial while Bart retrieved this evidence, called all of his surprise witnesses, including a ventriloquist, Santa Claus in a cast on crutches, and the McGuire twins on their famous motorcycles, among other witnesses.

Hutz additionally represented Homer in "Treehouse of Horror IV", against the Devil (Ned Flanders). At issue was the rightful owner of Homer Simpson's soul. In a hastily assembled courtroom in the Simpsons' living room, before a jury of the damned, Hutz discussed competently the nature of a contract, although his argument ironically was harmful to Homer. Despite the fact that the contract between Homer and the Devil clearly awarded Homer's soul to the Devil upon Homer's consumption of the 'forbidden donut', the jury ruled that Homer had in fact given his soul to Marge years earlier, and thus the soul was not his to give to the Devil. In retribution for losing the court case, Homer was cursed by the Devil and his head was turned into a giant donut. The case was not won so much for Hutz's skill as an attorney, but by Marge's introduction of the relevant evidence (a photo with a note from Homer on the back, granting his soul to Marge). In a purportedly-deleted scene for this episode, as subsequently seen in The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular, Hutz's slogan was "Cases won in 30 minutes or your pizza is free". After he thinks he has lost the case, he gives the Simpsons their pizza. However, Marge informs him that they did win. Then, he tells them that the box was empty anyway.

Retirement
After Phil Hartman's murder in 1998, Hutz and Hartman's other main character Troy McClure were retired. Since the Simpson family frequently appears in court, 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. The 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. Hutz and McClure still appear in Simpsons Comics, as a voice actor is not needed.