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Thomas "Tommy" Bratton was a founder, name and managing partner of law firm Bratton Gould, along with his partner Elias Gould.
After being forced to resign from his firm by Harvey Specter and Alex Williams as punishment for arranging the murder of prison guards and inmates, he attempted to take down Zane Specter Litt, despite being diagnosed with cancer and given two years to live, although he unexpectedly died of a heart attack before being able to do so.
History
- "I'm coming at you for what's owed to me, which is compensation for the firm that I lost."
"How about you compensate the families of the people that you had killed? Because the only thing that you are owed are a pair of prison stripes. And if you do this, I promise you'll get them."
"If I wanted empty threats, I would have brought this right to Harvey. But I didn't, because I wanted to be here to see the look on your face when you realized I'm going to take you all down, just like you did to me." - ―Thomas Bratton and Robert Zane
Thomas Bratton was a corporate attorney, a name and senior partner and the managing partner of Bratton Gould. After a senior partner position had been vacated, Bratton attempted to poach one from Skadden to fill the spot. However, Alex Williams, an associate the firm, convinced him that two junior partners were better than one senior partner, and offered himself and Harvey Specter for the position. However, as Harvey was employed at Pearson Hardman, Bratton was hesitant to agree, although he accepted Alex's deal after Alex convinced him that Harvey would leave Pearson Hardman, as Harvey had given his word.
However, Harvey broke his word to Alex and chose to remain at Pearson Hardman. As Bratton had lost the attorney he had attempted to poach, he punished Alex by making him work ninety hour weeks and giving him unwinnable cases. Eventually, Bratton came to represent Masterson Construction and Reform Corp. Masterson was building prisons for Reform Corp. to operate, and the group were intentionally extending the sentencing on inmates to maintain that revenue. In order to alleviate labor costs, Bratton aided Masterson and Reform Corp. in their plan to increase their revenue by using prison labor; they would submit a waiver demanding to reinforce paid workers with prisoners, although in reality the prisoners were supplanting the laborers. In addition, the trio defrauded the state by inflating their labor costs by 80%. In order to avoid prosecution, Bratton used Alex, informing Alex that if he took over Masterson and Reform Corporation as their clients and submitted the waiver on his behalf, Alex would be welcomed back into his good graces.
Eventually, one of the prisoners died as a result of the labor, forcing Bratton, Masterson and Reform Corp. to cover it up, although one of the guards notified Alex. As Alex informed Bratton, Bratton had Frank Gallo murder the guard, rewarding him for the process. Bratton then implicated Alex, paying him bonuses with dates that correlated to every crime committed.[1]
Years later, after Alex left Bratton Gould to join Pearson Specter Litt, Bratton called Jessica Pearson for advice on how to go after the firm, which had been left to Harvey Specter and Louis Litt. As Harvey and Louis were fighting and Jessica knew that a conflict from the outside would force them to unite, Jessica gave him inside information on PSL's clients and suggested a divide and conquer strategy, which Bratton implemented. Knowing that they would lose, Alex paid Bratton a visit with a signed affidavit that claimed that he was solely responsible for the crimes committed for Masterson Construction and Reform Corp. and that Bratton was not involved whatsoever, which he offered to Bratton in exchange for Bratton signing an affidavit that Bratton Gould would not target Pearson Specter Litt for ten years, which Bratton agreed to and signed.[2]
After Mike Ross discovered Reform Corp.'s crimes, Alex, who had signed an affidavit claiming sole responsibility, interfered in the case. However, Harvey realized Alex was involved and Alex confessed the truth to him and later to Mike. In order to save Alex and have Bratton punished, Mike and Harvey colluded with Robert Zane. Mike and Robert convinced Gallo to testify against Masterson and Reform Corp. for the murders they paid him to commit, forcing Masterson and Reform Corp. to have Gallo murdered in his cell. However, Gallo's video-recorded deposition served as a death-bed confession that was admissible, which Robert and Harvey used to force Reform Corp.'s CEO into stepping down, paying a huge settlement and agreeing to cease prisoner labor. In addition, Harvey and Alex paid a visit to Bratton's office, where they demanded the affidavit Alex had signed and forced Bratton to sign a letter of resignation.[3]
With Bratton being forced to leave the firm, Elias Gould took over as managing partner. Bratton had been diagnosed with cancer and given only two years left to live, and chose to use his remaining life to take down Zane Specter Litt, filing a lawsuit claiming that Harvey of Pearson Specter Litt and Robert of Rand, Kaldor & Zane had committed collusion. As Eli sympathized for Bratton and wished to exact vengeance too, Eli allowed Bratton to have an office at the firm to work out of. However, Bratton died unexpectedly of a heart attack before his lawsuit gained any traction, prompting Eli to drop the suit and for Bratton's wishes to gain revenge go unfulfilled.[4]
