Paul Lewiston
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| Paul Lewiston | |
|---|---|
| Boston Legal character | |
 René Auberjonois as Paul Lewiston |
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| First appearance | "Head Cases" October 3, 2004 (Boston Legal, Season 1) |
| Last appearance | "Oral Contracts" December 4, 2007 (Boston Legal, Season 4) |
| Created by | David E. Kelley |
| Portrayed by | René Auberjonois |
| Episode count | 68 |
| Information | |
| Gender | Male |
| Age | 68 |
| Occupation | Lawyer |
| Title | Managing Partner of Crane, Poole & Schmidt and Legal Advisor |
| Children | Rachel Lewiston |
| Relatives | Fiona Lewiston (grand daughter) |
| Address | Boston |
Paul Lewiston is a fictional character in the ABC Television Network series Boston Legal. He is portrayed by René Auberjonois.
Paul is a widower; prior to the beginning of the series, his wife died after a lengthy struggle with cancer. The experience took a heavy toll from Paul, and although he has put the worst of it behind him, the memories still haunt him from time to time. The experience was so profound for him that he eventually urged Denise Bauer to break off her relationship with Daniel Post, a man with terminal lung cancer, telling her that seeing a loved one die in such a way is almost unbearable.
Paul is the managing partner and legal advisor of the firm. He is the firm's workhorse, overseeing the more mundane day-to-day operations of a high-powered law firm such as maintenance and accounting while his litigator co-workers do the more visible in-court work. In fact, it has become a common directorial technique to avoid showing Paul doing any litigation or actual legal work. Paul is also an expert on Asian markets and has taught law in the past as a college instructor. Paul has been friends with Denny Crane for years, as they used to "criticize each other's openings and closings" on the firm's balcony. As managing partner, Paul is usually responsible for "damage control" in a crisis, acting to preserve the firm's good name and protect it against outside or internal threats of litigation, most often when Denny has said or done something outrageous. In one recent episode, he demanded that Brad Chase sign a "love contract" to safeguard the firm against legal action arising out of Brad's interoffice romance with Denise Bauer, and fired him when Brad refused.
With his no-nonsense demeanor and intensely professional attitude, Paul serves as the primary "straight man" at Crane, Poole & Schmidt and is often frustrated by the unethical and erratic behavior of both Denny Crane and Alan Shore. Paul has threatened to fire Alan on numerous occasions, once being while Alan considered eliciting testimony from a doctor that would harm the firm's own client, and again when Alan himself was on trial for paying a man to engage in a barfight on his behalf. On the other hand, he is often portrayed as representing business interests before social justice. After Denny's short-lived marriage threatened to bankrupt the firm, Paul considered giving up his partnership and starting a new law firm with Denise, before the issue was resolved. Denny Crane once offered to make him a named partner, but he declined, citing responsibilities for his granddaughter.
Paul has an adult daughter, Rachel, from whom he became estranged after she became addicted to the recreational drug crystal meth. Recently, he began to reestablish his relationship with her, thinking her to be clean and sober now, only to learn that she has been actively abusing drugs again. In an ethically questionable and likely illegal move, he had her forcibly abducted from her apartment and taken to a rehabilitation facility (after giving her a chance to consent to going of her own will and being refused), where she currently resides. Paul has undertaken the care of Rachel's three-year-old daughter, Fiona, himself while Rachel completes her treatment. This has caused him to scale back his work for the time being, making him less of a presence at the firm.
In June 2007, The Insider reported that Lewiston was being written out of the show.[1] In July 2007, Reuters reported that Rene Auberjonois would continue to play Paul Lewiston in a recurring role.[2]
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