Summary
- Both Harvey and Louis are highly skilled lawyers in Suits, but Jessica prefers Harvey because he is more like her - calculated, pragmatic, and able to separate personal emotions from professional responsibilities.
- Despite favoring Harvey, Jessica should give Louis the credit he deserves as he has great skills and more billables than Harvey. He also excels in training company associates despite his insecurities.
- Jessica initially sees Harvey as her successor, but in reality, the true prodigy in Suits is both Harvey and Louis when they work together, balancing each other out and winning cases. Jessica should have considered Louis as a protege from the start.
Both Harvey Specter and Louis Litt are valuable lawyers in Suits, but Jessica Pearson clearly favors one and her reason is personal. Premiering in 2011, USA Network's legal drama may be widely known as Meghan Markle's last acting gig before retiring and marrying Prince Harry, but the show is getting new acclaim after it made its Netflix debut. Aside from old fans who are re-visiting Suits, it's also garnering a new generation of fans who are first learning about Pearson, Hardman, and all their subsequent iterations over the projects almost decade on the air.
Suits has gone through some casting reshuffles over the years. However, its earliest seasons arguably feature its best ensemble. The show's primary relationship may be centered on Harvey and his chosen protege, Mike Ross, but there are other fun dynamics in the legal series. The events of the show primarily take place in the law firm, which allows for office politics to play a key role in the series' overall storytelling. Pearson, Hardman's original rivalry is between Louis and Harvey, and while she's supposed to be neutral in the matter of being a managing partner, Jessica tends to take the side of the latter.
Harvey & Louis Are Both Great Lawyers In Suits
By the time Suits starts, Harvey and Louis are already established lawyers in Pearson, Hardman. However, the events of the series are kicked off by the former's impending promotion to become Senior Partner. The show makes it clear that there's a rivalry going on between the pair — something that almost everyone around them is impacted by. In many instances, their competition even gets in the way of doing a good job for their clients and the firm. Harvey is typically projected as the primary lead of the series, and there's an assumption that he is so much better than Louis by dubbing him "New York's Best Closer."
That being said, that isn't exactly the case. While Suits likes to mock Louis, usually portraying him as a cartoon character, he is also a superb lawyer, with his own specialty —Corporate Finance. Harvey has always known this, and would usually reach out to him if they are dealing with a sensitive case that involved numbers, if they aren't in any kind of squabble. Aside from that, Louis also does a great job training the company's associates despite his unorthodox way. Oftentimes, Louis fumbles when his insecurities get the best of him.
Jessica Favors Harvey Over Louis Because He Is More Like Her
Despite both Harvey and Louis have their strengths and weaknesses, it's clear that Jessica has a soft spot for the former in Suits. While favoring Harvey isn't exactly a bad thing, considering how effective he is in his job, the fact that Louis supposedly has more billables than him explains why he is always so frustrated at both of them. At the very least, Jessica should give Louis the credit he so deserves instead of always reprimanding him every time he complains about being treated unfairly.
However, Jessica's reasoning for favoring Harvey isn't purely based on his technical capabilities as a lawyer. She sees Harvey as her prodigy because she is more like her. Louis has great skills, but he is driven by his feeling. Being emotionally volatile, he can easily be manipulated. Harvey on the other hand, is more calculating and pragmatic, able to separate his personal woes from his professional responsibilities. He approaches things in the most logical way possible. He also tends to not show his emotions, which makes him similar to Jessica. She is cool and collected — something that plays a big part in her success.
Jessica’s Real Successor In Suits Isn't Who She Thinks It Is
Early on in Suits, Jessica sees Harvey as her successor. The fact that she has been integral in his ascend as "New York's Best Closer" suggests that she has long chosen him as her prodigy. This was long before Harvey ed Pearson, Hardman and he started a rivalry with Louis. Unfortunately, it just so happened that the highly eccentric lawyer was also in the firm at that time. This establishes that Jessica favoring Harvey all the time doesn't mean that she has a personal vendetta against Louis.
In reality, however, Jessica's real prodigy in Suits should be both of them. Together, Harvey and Louis are a formidable team. Granted that they can engage in petty fights that eventually turn into bigger conflicts, they have shown that they can set aside their differences, and when they do, they tend to win. Further proof that Jessica should have considered Louis as a protege is her initial skepticism about how Harvey can be too cold and indifferent. Pairing them up together could balance each other out.