Goldberg, Ligner & Shyster

Goldberg, Ligner & Schyster's office at The Exchange in Algonquin, GTA IV.

Goldberg, Ligner & Shyster (GLS) is a Liberty City-based law firm featured in Grand Theft Auto IV.

Description

Co-founded by Tom Goldberg and Patrick Ligner, Goldberg, Ligner & Shyster centers its operation around legal actions against what it describes as "corruption and vice in the highest echelons of society", having, among other, participated in litigation involving Betta Pharmaceuticals (2001), Pirate Music (2004), and Rusty Brown's Ring Donuts (2006); its high profile nature makes it well known among the legal circle, as well as various high ranking individuals, companies and organizations. The firm also touts itself as choosing not to demand legal fees for its services if it is "pro bono publico" (for the public good). By events in GTA IV, the firm has three partners: the aforementioned Tom Goldberg and Patrick Ligner, and Dick Shyster. The firm also has a website: www.goldberglignerandshyster.com.

In addition to legal work, GLS donates part of its revenue to "Goldberg's Guys", a recently-formed charity organization which primarily helps disadvantaged boys learn to swim - Tom Goldberg is known to be actively involved in the organization's activities.

In GTA IV's storyline, Francis McReary, a corrupt LCPD police officer, had been uneasy by the possibility of GLS acting against him. In response, he instructs Niko Bellic to infiltrate the firm by masquerade as a job applicant, retrieve evidence that incriminates McReary, and kill Goldberg. Following Goldberg's death, Shyster is mentioned to have taken over many of Goldberg's cases.

Kiki Jenkins, one of Niko's internet girlfriends in GTA IV, and Dave Grossman, a friend of Billy Grey in The Lost and Damned, are also known to work for the firm.

Offices of Goldberg, Ligner & Shyster

Goldberg, Ligner & Shyster bases its operation on the ground levels of "44 Amethyst Street" at The Exchange in Algonquin, Liberty City. Its office boasts an interior that features a sleek three-storey lobby, as well as three office rooms; two are supposedly utilized by GLS's employees, while one is used by Goldberg himself during "Final Interview". It is unknown where in the office Ligner and Shyster work.

The player can in fact access the lobby area at any point of the game. The lobby can be entered via two entrances: The main entrance, as implied by its address, at the Amethyst Street-Bismarck Avenue intersection that connects to the upper lobby, and two secondary entrances from the South Parkway (and a Castle Gardens station entrance) and Bismarck Avenue that grants access to the lowest portion of the lobby. The office areas, which also houses two elevators access points, are only accessible during "Final Interview".

Trivia

In "Wrong is Right", the player will have access to Oleg Minkov's laptop, which contains an e-mail from ligner@goldberglignerandshyster.com that suggests that GLS, or at least "Ligner", is involved with the United Liberty Paper Company. Interestingly, the sender's name is not Patrick Ligner, but another name. This may suggest he uses a fake name, another person involved had access to Ligner's account, or that it may had been Ligner's earlier given name during development of GTA IV.
Strangely, even after Goldberg is killed, the website still shows his name and photo and makes no mention of his death.
The interior of GLS features a row of three portraits that supposedly depict the firms' three partners. Although the portraits of Ligner and Shyster are identical to those from GLS' official website, the Goldberg depicted is completely different, appearing to be fatter, balding and wearing a Jewish hech cap. The three character models on the portraits are in fact derived from regular pedestrian models in the game, and implies the developer had intended to use the "hech cap lawyer" model for Goldberg during development, but did not update his portrait after he was redesigned.
- The exact model names of the three partners are as follow:
  - Goldberg ("beta"): m m lawyer 01
  - Goldberg (redesigned): m m lawyer 02
  - Ligner: m y goon 01
  - Shyster: m m pmanhat 02

Gallery

Dick Shyster.
Patrick Ligner.
Tom Goldberg.
Goldberg, Ligner & Shyster lobby interior.

Goldberg, Ligner & Shyster lobby interior.

External links

Goldberg, Ligner & Schyster on Rockstar's site.