Roman J. Israel, Esq.

Roman J. Israel, Esq. is a meticulous, idealistic civil rights attorney who has spent decades working behind the scenes at a small Los Angeles firm, earning a modest $500 a week drafting legal briefs while his partner William Jackson served as the public-facing courtroom advocate. Roman possesses a photographic memory and uncompromising convictions, particularly around the injustices of plea bargaining in the American criminal justice system. When Jackson suffers a fatal heart attack, the firm is forced to close. Jackson's former protégé, the successful and pragmatic attorney George Pierce, offers Roman a position at his large, well-resourced firm. Roman initially refuses, clinging to his principles and uncomfortable with Pierce's more commercially oriented approach to law. After failing to find comparable work elsewhere, however, Roman relents and joins Pierce's firm. There he struggles to adapt, clashing with senior partners over his blunt manner and unconventional behavior. While representing a murder defendant named Derrell Ellerbee, Roman learns that Ellerbee has information identifying the actual shooter in the case — a man named Carter 'CJ' Johnson. Roman attempts to leverage this information in plea negotiations with the prosecutor, but the deal falls through. Ellerbee is subsequently murdered in prison, branded an informant, leaving Roman shattered and disillusioned. Around the same time, Roman is mugged, deepening his sense of despair. In a moment of moral collapse, Roman illegally discloses Ellerbee's confidential tip about Johnson's whereabouts to collect a $100,000 reward, then uses the money to indulge in luxuries he had always denied himself. Pierce, meanwhile, reflects on the impact Jackson had on his own thinking and approaches Roman with an apology, offering him a leadership role overseeing the firm's expanded pro bono practice. A civil rights activist named Maya also enters Roman's life and asks him out. Just as Roman begins to rebuild his sense of purpose — reconnecting with Maya and committing to Pierce's offer — he is assigned a new murder client who turns out to be Johnson himself. Johnson quickly realizes Roman was the one who betrayed his location and threatens him. Consumed by guilt, Roman returns the reward money along with a written apology. He reconciles with Maya and Pierce, reaffirms his commitment to justice, and announces he intends to turn himself in to police for his ethical breach. As he walks toward the police station, he is shot and killed by one of Johnson's associates. In the aftermath, Maya reinvigorates her activist work, and Pierce files Roman's long-drafted civil rights legal brief under both of their names.

Sources: Wikipedia