Saul Goodman, the Real Lawyer, Is Nothing Like His Namesake Character on "Breaking Bad"

S'all good, man -- unless you're calling real-life Washington D.C. lawyer Saul Goodman on a busy Tuesday afternoon to ask dumb questions like, "Any funny stories because you share the name of a shyster lawyer on a popular TV show?" Turns out the "Breaking Bad" character's namesake, an honored and...

By Ray Stern

October 24, 2012

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S'all good, man -- unless you're calling real-life Washington D.C. lawyer Saul Goodman on a busy Tuesday afternoon to ask dumb questions like, "Any funny stories because you share the name of a shyster lawyer on a popular TV show?"

Turns out the "Breaking Bad" character's namesake, an honored and experienced insurance lawyer with Covington and Burling LLP, is all-business. And he hasn't been catching up on missed episodes of the show, like we've been doing lately.

"I've never seen it," Saul says stiffly after he makes the mistake of picking up his phone. He acknowledges he's heard of the show and the fictional lawyer, though he "has no stories" for us.

On the show, Saul Goodman represents the worst of his profession: a chatty, unctuous sleazeball who would do almost anything for the right fee.

The real lawyer "has more than twenty years of experience in representing policyholders on complex coverage matters," his website states. He's a busy guy, and tells us he's on the other line and has to go.

"I thought you were a client calling," he confesses.

Nope. Just a fan.

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Ray Stern is the former news editor of Phoenix New Times. He worked as a newspaper reporter in Arizona for more than two decades. He's won numerous awards for his reporting, including the Arizona Press Club's Don Bolles Award for Investigative Journalism.