system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: People in American movies often say "call my lawyer", does that mean that they already have a lawyer ?
gpt
Most people in those movies are in a business, and yes they have a contract with a firm. Now remember this is Hollywood, so it is not a staple to real life. In truth keeping lawyers on retainer is quite costly and most people in America do not have one. And back to the movies it is just a lazy way for writers to end a confrontation with out having to go in depth and continue the story.

In a criminal environment then every one who can not afford a lawyer is assigned one from the court. So yes they all do have lawyers. Alas public defenders are not the best way to go, considering most are over worked and working for way less then what they would normally would be paid. In the real world this causes quite the inequality between the have and have nots, because in American court, its not about being guilty, its about how well you can abuse the system to get away with it. Hope this helps.