Shadowing Practice: Mike's Hearing to Become a Lawyer Commences | S06 E16 | Suits - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Before we get started, I'd like to point out these interviews are normally for us to quickly approve standard applicants to the bar.

However, Mr. Ross is no standard applicant.

Therefore, we will convene for as long as it takes before ruling on his application.

Now.

Mr. Chairman, if I may, last winter, Mr. Ross pled guilty to defrauding the citizens of New York.

Therefore, I propose we reject his application right now, because Mr. Ross is a felon, and the New York bar does not accept felons.

Mr. Chairman, with all due respect, to the new board member, you do.

Not only does the bar accept felons, but years ago, this very committee admitted Neil Wisner, a man who spent years in prison for attempted murder.

Now, Miss Gibbs may think my crime is worse than attempted murder, but I don't think it's worth throwing away 140 years of precedent by not even allowing me to make my case.

I guess what I'm saying is not only do I admit what I did,

But I regret it with every fiber of my being.

And I'd like to apologize to my clients, my former colleagues, and finally to the fraternity of men and women

that I have wanted to be a member of since I was a child.

Well, that was a moving statement.

I just have one question.

If you regret what you did so much, why weren't you willing to serve your full sentence?

I wasn't unwilling.

I was offered a deal to help convict a known criminal and I took it.

You were offered a deal to get out early and you took it.

I protected an innocent man.

What you did was insinuate yourself into your roommate's life, gain his trust and pretend to be his friend.

True or false?

You're taking it out of context.

The context is you portrayed yourself as one thing when really you were another, which is what you did the entire time you pretended to be an attorney.

And what I believe you are doing to this body right now.

Mr. Chairman, if she's going to impugn his character while he's speaking, then he's entitled to let someone else speak for him.

This isn't a trial.

We don't allow character witnesses here.

Actually, you do.

Article 416A.

Applicants are allowed a witness as a rebuttal for an accusation leveled by a committee member.

That article hasn't been cited in 30 years.

Maybe that's because no applicant has ever had to stand before the person who put them away.

You make a point.

We'll pick this up first thing in the morning with your witness.

Thank you.

Rachel, that was exactly what I needed.

If you hadn't done that...

I know, but right now I'm more concerned with it that she's turning them against you.

Which means even after Harvey kicks her off, Seidel's job isn't gonna be that much harder.

We only have one shot at having someone speak for me.

Mike, come on.

We gotta get back to the office and start going through everyone it could be.

We'll make a list of pros and cons.

Rachel, I know who it is.

When I first met Mike Ross, I thought he was like every other criminal I work with.

An entitled fraud who spent his life cutting corners.

But I'm here to tell you, he went in prison, one man, and he walked out another.

And in my professional opinion, he has the integrity to serve his community as a lawyer.

Well, I don't doubt your sincerity, Mr. Rowe.

Just because he was able to fool you doesn't mean he's going to be able to fool this board.

It's Dr. Roe.

And I'm glad you were the one who responded to my statement.

And why is that?

Because you tried to paint a false picture of his release.

And I'm here to set the record straight.

The record is straight.

And you're not qualified to talk about the deal that he made.

No, we're going to hear this.

Thank you.

It's true Mr. Ross entered into an early release agreement.

But it's also true that he stayed in longer than he had to to keep his cellmate safe.

And while he was there, he risked his own life to prevent a violent man from falsely obtaining parole.

And for all we know, he did that for self-serving reasons.

And for all I know, that's what you're doing right now.

You're out of line.

I'm not the one under examination here.

Neither am I.

I am a prison psychologist.

And in my experience, self-serving men do not risk their lives to help people.

I don't call defrauding your fellow man helping people.

And I certainly don't call it having integrity.

With all due respect, ma'am, I'm done wasting my breath on you.

Because the purpose of this hearing was to determine if Mike Ross had reformed.

But you don't seem to be interested in that because you've already made your mind up.

Maybe I have.

Then maybe you shouldn't be on this committee.

Because as I said, in my professional opinion, the world could use a lawyer like Mike Ross.

And if you're looking for my personal opinion, he has more integrity in his little finger than you have in your whole body.

Mr. Ross, we are prepared to hear your final statement.

Before we do, I have one last question.

Mr. Ross, you say you're a changed man and you care about the truth,

but I want to know if you're capable of telling the truth.

So I'm going to ask you a question, and I suggest that you consider your answer very carefully, because as far as I'm concerned, your answer will determine whether or not you become a lawyer.

During your time at Pearson Spector Lit, did anyone there have knowledge of the fact that you were a fraud?

Mr. Ross, did anyone else know?

I knew.

And if you're looking for a scalp, you can have mine.

But I was under the impression that this hearing was not about my old firm, but whether or not Mr. Ross should be a lawyer.

I say he should.

It doesn't matter what you say.

He's already had someone testify for him.

I'm not here to talk about him.

I'm here to talk about someone else.

Someone else has nothing to do with...

I'd like to hear this.

Fifteen years ago, a young woman was arrested for illegally obtaining prescription drugs.

Turns out she had chronic pain and didn't want to drop out of med school, possibly never to return.

So she stole a couple of prescription pads from the hospital where she was interning.

100

A crime with a mandatory sentence of seven years.

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But instead of throwing the book at her, the prosecuting attorney showed mercy, had the charges knocked down to a misdemeanor,

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recommended probation, and sealed the records.

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That's a touching story, but I don't see what a random attorney has to do with these proceedings.

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She's not talking about a random attorney.

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She's talking about me.

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Just because I showed compassion once doesn't mean he deserves it now.

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Maybe he doesn't.

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But that young woman is now an ER doctor.

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She saves lives.

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And the world's a better place because you saved hers.

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Thank you, Ms. Pearson.

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Mr. Ross.

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I don't think I can add anything to that.

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I've made my case.

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I leave the choice to you.

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Then this hearing has concluded.

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We will deliberate and let you know our decision by day's end.

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Thank you.

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So what do we do now?

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They said they would let us know by the end of the day.

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So, we'd wait.

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Well, it is the end of the day, which means...

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Doesn't mean anything, Louis.

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Whatever's going on in there, Seidel's gonna fight like hell.

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It's not gonna make a difference.

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She's never gonna change her mind.

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I think she will.

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What do you mean?

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I mean, that story wasn't any old story, and that woman wasn't really a woman.

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It was a man named Joseph O'Neil.

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And it was Walter Sampson's godson.

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So she did call in a favor?

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Yeah, she did.

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Then we need to get her kicked off that board.

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No, Harvey, we don't.

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Because I didn't fly all the way down here to strong-arm that woman.

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And I know the story of the wind and the sun.

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What the hell are you talking about?

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She's talking about Aesop's fable, which basically says that if you want a man to take off his coat, you don't blow it off.

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You make him feel warm, and he'll take it off on his own.

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That's not a strategy.

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It's a prayer.

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Louis, I already admitted that I knew about Mike, and I reminded her of her own compassion.

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That's the best we're going to do.

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You know they could disbar you for that.

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In New York, they might.

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In Chicago, nobody's gonna care.

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Thank you, Jessica.

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Don't thank me.

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Thank Harvey.

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He's the one that called me.

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Seidel.

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Hello.

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I'll tell him.

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Thanks for calling.

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You're in.

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Oh my god, it happened.

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I'm gonna go get us some champagne.

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Thank you so much.

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Thank you for flying it.

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How would I miss this with the world?

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Thank you.

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This video has 162 sentences and 1563 words to shadow. The speech runs for 9:38. The speaker talks at a natural 162 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 83% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.

Key vocabulary in this video

15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
applicant noun	/ˈæp.lə.kɪnt/	One who applies for something; one who makes a request; a petitioner.
integrity noun	/ɪnˈtɛɡɹəti/	Steadfast adherence to a strict moral or ethical code.
obtain verb	/əbˈteɪn/	To get hold of; to gain possession of, to procure; to acquire, in any way.
fraud noun	/ˈfɹɔːd/	The crime of stealing or otherwise illegally obtaining money by use of deception tactics.
regret verb	/ɹɪˈɡɹɛt/	To feel sorry about (a thing that has or has not happened), afterthink: to wish that a thing had not happened, that something else had happened instead.
pretend verb	/pɹəˈtɛnd/	To speak or behave so as to give a false or simulated appearance.
prescription noun	/pɹəˈskɹɪp.ʃən/	A written order from an authorized medical practitioner for provision of a medicine or other treatment, such as (ophthalmology) the specific lenses needed for…
compassion noun	/kəmˈpæʃ.ən/	Deep awareness of the suffering of others that people have to the point of them being motivated to relieve such states.
finger noun	/ˈfɪŋɡɚ/	A slender jointed extremity of the human hand, (often) exclusive of the thumb, and the corresponding part, irrespective of including a thumb, in many other…
carefully adverb	/ˈkɛɹf(ə)li/	With care; attentively, circumspectly.
violent adjective	/ˈvaɪ.ə.lənt/	Involving extreme force or motion.
innocent adjective	/ˈɪnəsənt/	Free from guilt, sin, or immorality.
prayer noun	/pɹɛɚ/	A practice of communicating with one's God, or with some spiritual entity.
steal verb	/stiːl/	To take illegally, or without the owner's permission, something owned by someone else without intending to return it.
citizen noun	/ˈsɪtɪzən/	A resident of a city or town, especially one with legally recognized rights or duties.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Meaning
get back to verb	Return to (an activity)
get out verb	To leave or escape.
go through verb	To travel from one end of something to the other.
kick off verb	To make the first kick in a game or part of a game.
point out verb	To identify among a group of similar subjects, or in a scene where the subject might not be readily seen or noticed, with a gesture of the body.
take off verb	To remove.
throw away verb	To discard (trash, garbage, or the like), to toss out, to put in the trash.
turn out verb	To end up; to result.

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 67 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, don't, you're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “sh” and “zh” sounds: prescription /pɹəˈskɹɪp.ʃən/, compassion /kəmˈpæʃ.ən/, impression /ɪmˈpɹɛʃn̩/, examination /ɪɡˌzæm.ɪˈneɪ.ʃən/, champagne /ʃæmˈpeɪn/
Long words — get the stress right: integrity /ɪnˈtɛɡɹəti/, examination /ɪɡˌzæm.ɪˈneɪ.ʃən/, apologize /əˈpɑləˌd͡ʒaɪz/, mandatory /ˈmæn.dəˌtɔɹ.i/, illegally /ɪˈliːɡəli/

How to practise with this video

Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like applicant, integrity, obtain.

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

Structure	In the video
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	have wanted · hasn't been cited · has ever had
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	was offered · were offered · are allowed
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing	man who spent · another, which is · person who put

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

Shadowing Practice: Mike's Hearing to Become a Lawyer Commences | S06 E16 | Suits - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

Key vocabulary in this video

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Pronunciation to watch

How to practise with this video

Grammar in this video

What is the Shadowing Technique?