Lionel Hutz

Lionel Hutz, voiced by Phil Hartman, is a fictional secondary character from The Simpsons. Although he is known as an attorney, he has also worked as a babysitter, agent, bodyguard, unauthorized biographer, realtor, cobbler, shoe-repair man, and possibly a drug dealer. Hutz's first appearance was the second-season episode Bart Gets Hit by a Car, and his final speaking role was in the ninth season's Realty Bites.

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). His legal practice, located in a mall, was named "I Can't Believe It's A Law Firm!", a pun on I Can't Believe It's Not Butter. 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". In The Simpsons Hit & Run, a sign advertising his law firm offered an "Out-of-court settlement in 30 minutes or your pizza is FREE!".

Hutz was characterized as both an incompetent lawyer with little to 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 auto accident:
 * . . . I kinda ran over his dog. Well, replace the word "kinda" with "repeatedly" and the word "dog" with the word "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.

It should be noted, however, that Hutz did win at least some case for the Simpsons, for instance representing Homer Simpson 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. Captain McAllister was then forced to settle out of court with Homer. It should be noted that this (rare) legal victory was most likely achieved owing to the fact that the jury itself was comprised mainly of extremely overweight men.

Another case he won for one of the Simpsons was when Bart found out about the bum Chester J. Lampwick being the real creator of Itchy and Scratchy, which was proven by an old drawing by Lampwick. Roger Myers then had to pay him $800 billion, which forced the Itchy & Scratchy Studios to close down (for a short time).

Beyond the law, he also tried his hand at selling real estate in Realty Bites. Hutz was briefly married to Selma Bouvier Terwilliger Hutz McClure Stu, 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 Thoc.

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, 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 (Gil was introduced in Realty Bites, Hartman's last appearance as Hutz). Blue Haired Lawyer has also served as the family's attorney. Lionel Hutz still appears in clip shows and flashbacks, as well as crowd scenes, but only in non-speaking roles. He and McClure also appear regularly in Simpsons Comics, because a voice actor is not needed.