Is Suits Based On A True Story? Real Inspirations For Mike & Harvey Explained

July 30, 2024

Suits ran for nine seasons on USA Network and depicts the story of a New York City law firm – are the show’s characters based on real-life people?

Suits began with Mike Ross accidentally stumbling into a job interview with Harvey Specter, a recently promoted senior partner at a prestigious New York City law firm, and securing the job without having a law degree. Although Mike didn't graduate from Harvard, he was still the best candidate Harvey had seen all day, so he felt inclined to offer him the position. After witnessing the peculiar story play out onscreen during the pilot, some viewers must wonder if the premise of the USA Network series is inspired by a true story, or if the characters of Mike and Harvey are based on real-life people.

Suits premiered in 2011 and ran for nine seasons on the USA Network, with its series finale airing in September 2019. The procedural drama series starred Gabriel Macht as Harvey, Patrick J. Adams as Mike, Rick Hoffman as Louis Litt, Meghan Markle as Rachel Zane, Sarah Rafferty as Donna Paulsen, and Gina Torres as Jessica Pearson. The show was undoubtedly a success, having nine seasons under its belt, but let's go back to the beginning of Suits and examine how creator Aaron Korsh came up with the story for the USA Network series.

Suits Technically Isn't A True Story

Although one could only hope that the series premiere of Suits was based on events that might have happened in real life, Mike Ross' accidental venture into law isn't a true story, nor is his character based on a real person. Mike Ross is not an actual lawyer with a photographic memory who was expelled from college, took the LSATs for others in exchange for money, and happened upon a job as an associate at a law firm despite not having a degree to practice law. That probably wouldn't have been so easy for someone to do in the real world.

Hopefully, in reality, someone like Mike would have gotten another chance at taking the LSATs and got accepted into law school. One mistake shouldn't determine anyone's future (unless that mistake is something extreme like murder, of course). But if the characters in Suits were real people, Harvey likely wouldn't have offered Mike a job, and he would have to go back to taking tests for a living until he got caught. However, despite Suits not being completely based on a true story, the USA Network series was inspired by true events.

Mike & Harvey Are Inspired By Real Experiences From Suits Creator Aaron Korsch's Life

Before moving to Los Angeles and getting into the television industry, Suits creator Aaron Korsh worked on Wall Street as an investment banker. His experiences in finance inspired the idea for the legal television drama. According to USA Insider, Suits originated as a series based in the finance world, not at a law firm. Korsh created these characters and placed them in a Wall Street setting before transitioning them over to the world of law. The creator had his time on Wall Street in mind while writing the television show, and it was those experiences that influenced the story and characters.

When Korsh worked as an investment banker, he only did it because he was good at it, not because it was his passion. His talents impressed a man named Harvey, who also worked in finance, so fans should be able to put two and two together. Mike's character is inspired by Korsh, while Harvey's character is inspired by the man who Korsh encountered while working on Wall Street. Somewhere along the way, the early drafts of Suits shifted from finance to law, and a hit television show was born.

How Accurate Is Suits To Real Law Firms & Legal Cases?

Suits creator Aaron Korsh never worked inside a law firm or represented a client in court. Despite this fact, the USA Network show seems to get as many parts of being a lawyer right as any television series can. Of course, multiple facets of Suits are dramatized for the sake of television. But the show manages to accurately portray a couple of aspects of real law firms and legal cases.

The characters were often seen performing extensive research to build their strategies for defending clients, and these practices are truthful to real life. The series also featured an accurate hierarchy system within the offices of Pearson Hardman. However, most aspects of Suits weren't based on reality — after all, it is a work of fiction.

Source: USA Insider