Mitch McDeere

Mitchell Y. McDeere
The Firm character
Tom Cruise as McDeere as seen for the poster of the film
First appearance	The Firm
Created by	John Grisham
Portrayed by	Tom Cruise (1993 film) Josh Lucas (2012 TV series)
Information
Nickname(s)	Mitch
Gender	Male
Occupation	Lawyer
Family	Mr. McDeere (father, deceased) Eva Ainsworth (mother) Ray McDeere (brother) Rusty McDeere (brother, deceased)
Spouse(s)	Abby McDeere (1988-present)
Relatives	Harold Sutherland (father-in-law) Maxine Sutherland (mother-in-law)
Religion	Methodist
Alma mater	Western Kentucky University (1988) Harvard Law School (1991)

Mitchell Y. "Mitch" McDeere is a fictional character and the protagonist of John Grisham's 1991 novel The Firm. Mitch McDeere is a Harvard-educated tax lawyer who has a certified public accountant credential. He is also the husband of Abby McDeere, a Western Kentucky University–educated elementary school teacher. The character was portrayed by Tom Cruise in the 1993 film adaptation of the novel, and most recently by Josh Lucas for Entertainment One Television's show also named The Firm.

He is regarded as "an old-school, self-made hero" by Entertainment Weekly critic Melissa Maerz. The novel sold 7 million copies and the movie, which starred Tom Cruise, grossed over $158 million ($262 million in 2013 dollars) domestically and $111 million internationally ($270 million worldwide in 1993 dollars). Additionally, it was the largest grossing R-rated movie of 1993 and of any film based on a Grisham novel. The film was released while Grisham was at the height of his popularity. That week, Grisham and Michael Crichton evenly divided the top six paperback spots on The New York Times Best Seller list.

Both the novel and the film recount the story of an upstart attorney who was hired out of college by Bendini, Lambert & Locke, a small tax firm in Memphis that is really part of the white-collar crime division of an organized crime family's enterprise. After graduating third in his Harvard Law School class, he became a whistleblower to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and brought down both the firm and the crime family. The TV series begins as the McDeere family emerges from witness protection to encounter old and new challenges. The television show picks up on the story of McDeere and his family ten years after the fictional setting of the 1991 novel and 1993 film.