Template:Episode Dirty Little Secrets is the fourth episode of the first season of Suits which was broadcast on July 14, 2011.
Overview
Harvey defends Jessica's ex-husband (Russell Hornsby). Meanwhile, Mike is assigned his first solo case, and his secret is almost discovered.
Synopsis
Louis and the associates play a Harvard trivia game after hours and Mike is in the lead by one point against his rival, Seth Keller. During the double point round, Mike fails to answer the question of the Harvard Law dormitory tradition of getting square pizza from Pinnochio's. However, Seth answers incorrectly to the question of supreme court justices that were from Harvard, forgetting Ruth Bader Ginsberg, who had transferred from Harvard Law to Colombia. Having won, Mike receives a pro bono case of his own. But Mike is uneasy about Louis and tells Harvey that Louis may know his secret, which Harvey brushes off.
Harvey spots Jessica and Quentin Sainz embracing in her office because she took his case. Harvey warns Jessica that Quentin's case is a failure waiting to happen after hearing media coverage over the millions killed from the ALS drug that his company manufactured to the public. He came to Jessica because he needed someone to believe in him and that they were onced married. Jessica then tells Harvey that she assigned him onto the case because Quentin's current girlfriend, the girl he cheated with on Jessica, did not want her on the case. Harvey has no interest in taking it because he fears that Jessica will interefere with his work.
Mike's case turns out to be a bedbug problem on a building owned by a man called Karinksi who won't do anything about the problem without proof. After filing a case to the housing department to take the situation to housing court, he visits his client, Frank, to inspect the apartment. They meet Karinski who threatens to kick Frank out for refusing to pay the rent, in which Mike states that it was legal if the apartment was inhabitable. However, he has yet to prove that in court.
Harvey meets with Quentin and his girlfriend Lisa about the company's ALS death drug. Quentin explains that 6 terminal patients with other various health issues used his drug as a scapegoat for the other drug companies. He also claims that the drug was proven safe for 8 years, and that the argument the media is putting out is baseless.
Harvey, Mike, and Quentin meet with Collin Church, a lawyer representing the legal dispute over the ALS drug. Collin refuses the settlement money, saying it should be much higher because his client was lied to by the company about the side affects and demands $250 million. When Quentin rejects the settlement, Collin reveals a poster with printed details of the side effects his clients had from using the ALS drug, threatening Quentin and Harvey that he intends to plaster them up. Harvey warns him that it's libel to do that, but Collin shows that he is willing to go lengths to receive the settlement he proposed. Harvey refuses to be exhorted by Collins and leaves the room with Quentin, but Collins makes sure that Quentin knows that he must receive the $250 million in four days or he will take action. After hearing that Harvey refused the settlement offer, Jessica becomes angry at Harvey playing the "bad lawyer" and using dead patients as a small fraction to the millions that lived in court.
Mike's first case in housing court is against a professional lawyer, Vivian Tanaka. He loses miserably, by first leaving a bad impression on the judge and failing to bring the required receipts for Frank's case. Louis lectures Mike, saying that the client he first brought in from the tennis courts helped save Mike's face from his loss in housing court and did little collateral damage to his reputation, but he expects Mike to win.
Harvey and Mike takes the case to the court and reveal that Collin not only failed multiple lawsuits against pharmeceutical companies by threatening to publicize the case, leading to settlement agreements, but he also recycled his plaintiffs in order to win. Collin backfires by revealing Quentin's financial instability and bankruptcy prior to his drug's release stating that there was financial motive for advertising fraud. The judge then rules that the case will be taken to court. After Harvey's loss at court, Jessica takes the case herself, disapproving his lack of faith in Quentin.
Mike and Rachel pose as two newly weds looking for a luxurious home in an upscale neighborhood apartment building owned by Karinski to uncover some secrets. Instead of getting their information form the realtor, they ask to talk with the other inhabitants.
Jessica and Quentin meet at Central Park to clear the air about their divorce. Jessica explains her disappointment in Quentin during the divorce and demands to know the rest of the secrets he has hidden from her in order for her to continue fighting for the lawsuit. She meets with Harvey later and they grab drinks. She reveals that Quentin is dying from ALS.
Harvey and Jessica meet with Lisa and made her confess that that she falsified drug trials to put it on the market to save Quentin. They then tell Quentin and give him options to make Lisa the scapegoat or fight with Collin and rebuild a new drug company. Instead however, Harvey issues a conference with the 6 patients with liver damage and Collin to propose a compensation for the side effects Quentin was unaware about. He decided that partial ownership of the drug company by the 6 patients could save lives by detecting the side effects and running tests to make sure it was safe.
Meanwhile, Mike recruits former tenants of Karinski's buildings to testify in court about the abuse they experienced living in his apartment building. He discovers from the photographs that the tenants gave him had similar carpets to that of Frank's. He and Harvey arrive at Karinski's home with a sample of Frank's apartment carpet. When Mike takes it out, Karinski flips out, knowing that the carpet was infested with bedbugs. Mike proceeds to reveal that Karinski actually created the bedbug problem i order to drive tenants out so he can remodel the apartment and rent it out for a much higher price. He reuses the bedbug carpet and installs it into other apartment buildings that he buys in order to create the same situation and profit. After Mike won the housing court case, fifteen other clients wanted to file similar complaints against Karinski and were willing to pay, surprising Louis.
Towards the end, Mike and Rachel joke about their fake marriage status and Mike takes a leap of faith and asks Rachel out on a date for their fake anniversary. However, Rachel rejects him because she doesn't date anyone from the office.