Suits: Louis Litt (ESTJ)

Te:

“See, I arranged for you to see that, because we pay our associates very well, and we provide the opportunity for unlimited advancement, but in return, we expect results. Have I made myself clear?”

“When I ask you a question, I just expect an answer.”

“You want to go to the bathroom? You don’t bother coming back. By the way, that goes for personal phone calls, emails and texts. I detect a whiff of slacking, you are done. Get it?”

“The only commandments you need to focus on come from me.”

Louis is a very structured individual, who is respect the chain of command. He desires positions of authority and wants nothing more than to become a senior partner in the firm. He takes a very strict approach with the associates that he is over and enjoys bossing them around. For example, when new associates first arrive, he arranges for them to see another “associate” fired in order to assert his authority and lay down the law. (Of course, it’s all fake, but he doesn’t let them in on that fact.) Everything he says often comes out as an order, and he frequently uses extreme wording or threats to get his point across, as seen in the quotes above.

He is very results-oriented. It is mentioned throughout the show that he is one of the hardest working individuals in the firm, bringing in more billables than the other members of the firm. He expects 100% dedication from his colleagues and isn’t concerned with whether the work load he puts on them disrupts their personal lives. He only cares about results and those results being received in the time frame that he has given them.

He enjoys using overwhelming displays of power to defeat his opponents, looking to take the most extreme actions against them even if they aren’t warranted. He may essentially bury the other side in paperwork by pressing multiple suits against them rather than only the necessary one. In another instance, he presses the other side so hard that the individual being questioned passes out from the stress. We later find out that person had a heart attack and died. When hearing this, Louis is actually proud of the fact that he essentially killed the man and wanted to make sure he got the credit for it.

Si:

“The rules dictate you must be precise as the law is a very precise endeavor.”

“I follow procedure to the letter, and you have no basis for a lawsuit.”

Louis is a very precise and detail-oriented person. In turn, he expects those under him to be the same. This is first demonstrated in a game that he has the associates play, where one of the associates loses to Mike due to a lack of precision. (He states the answer to be the “Bible”, where as the real answer answer is the “Gutenberg Bible.” His tendency toward precision is also demonstrated in small moments like when he’s helping prepare Daniel Hardman’s new office, and points out the color is slightly off from what Hardman had requested.

While he does occasionally step out of bounds, Louis leans heavily on procedure in fulfilling his role within the firm. A strategy that he is seen employing when partnering up with Mike Ross in season 2 relies on drowning the opposing side in paperwork and litigation. He focuses on the long game, stating that they don’t need to close the case quickly or avoid court in order to win, as Harvey often strives to do.

As is common for Si users, Louis also have very specific preferences, which is shown over and over again. He gives Mike super specific rules as to what foods he can and cannot serve in the dinner that he has to host. Some are allergies and some are just simple dislikes. In another instance, he critiques the champagne that’s being served. He asks if it is actually champagne and region in France it’s from, and then proceeds to say that if it isn’t from there, it is sparkling wine, and he doesn’t drink sparkling wine. Naturally, he claims to be able to taste the difference.

Ne:

“It’s like the pony thing all over again. He’s, like, the captain of mixed metaphors.” – Mike Ross

“We’re at war. And in times of war, a private does not question his commanding officer. If I ask you to wipe out a village, you say how high.”

“It’s not taupe. The color. The walls. Hardman asked for taupe. I mean, it might be tan or beige with a hint of mauve, but it definitely isn’t taupe.”

Louis tends to use a lot of metaphors, but he won’t stick to just one. Rather, he mixes multiple metaphors or references together, creating something that’s a bit more eccentric. Mike complains about this to Harvey. An example can be seen in the “times of war” quote above. Another example is when he says that his “spidey parts are tingling.” He’s also prone to using the same metaphors over and over again, which is why in certain instances Harvey is shown guessing what analogy Louis used on Mike.

Louis also tends toward rambling, which is common for Ne users, since they are prone to speculating out loud. Louis is obviously a lower Ne user, but an example of this can be see when he calls out that Hardman’s walls are not taupe as requested. He starts to throw out other options as to what it actually is, before returning to the fact that it definitely isn’t taupe.

Fi:

Louis is very sensitive when it comes to his ego which is something that Harvey frequently exploits, both in a positive and negative way. While he puts a tough front for the most part, we do see times where Louis is genuinely hurt by what Harvey says about him and that it bothers him more than it should. He also is deeply bothered when he learns that the associates think that he makes them do all of his work. This is all tied back to his inferior Fi. He especially tends to get upset if he is humiliated in front of those that are under him. He hates when his authority is questioned and tends to overreact it.

He can also come across as a suck up, willing to demean himself in order to gain favor with those above him. He has a shaky sense of loyalty, tending to serve his own interests and looks to gain at the expense of others, which speaks to a poorly developed moral compass in some areas. We see his lack of explicit loyalty surface when he tries to figure out which founding partner he should support based on strategizing who would inevitably end up on top.

Louis also has a hard time understanding that he is the one that tends to ruin his relationships with others, like Mike. He assumes that Harvey has been ‘poisoning the well’ so that Mike wouldn’t like him and doesn’t consider that his treatment of Mike and his various acts of retaliation may be the root of their strained relations. When Mike brings up various scenarios, Louis quickly explains them as simple retaliation to something that Mike did or that the bad things didn’t succeed so they were irrelevant. This all speaks to low self awareness which is typical of inferior Fi.