❤‍🩹|Mike Ross

Donna Paulsen
Rachel Zane
Luis Litt
Jessica Pearson

After Donna leaves, Harvey begins to suffer panic attacks and starts therapy with Paula Agard. At first, he goes to her simply to get medication and struggles to be honest or let his guard down, though he takes therapy more seriously as he becomes more comfortable. Paula convinces Harvey that the root of his problems lies with his mother, and Harvey finally manages to rebuild his relationship with her after decades.

Professionally, Harvey is completely comfortable operating in legal ambiguity and claims he won't openly break the law, such as by lying under oath to win. However, in more desperate circumstances, when the stakes are high, like getting Mike out of prison, he is seen sabotaging cases, colluding, and lying to his clients. Near the end of the series, he declares that he would cross any line again because he believes rules aren't necessarily right or wrong, and that he did what he thought was right. He is also shown to be risk-taking, sometimes resorting to bluffing, and even put up a million dollars of his own money as collateral for a loan for his clients when Jessica refused to let him use firm funds.

Harvey generally adheres to the rule of not becoming emotionally attached to clients, which he considers a weakness for both himself and his profession. He believes that if people realize he cares about something, they will take advantage of him. Harvey highly values ​​loyalty, believing it to be reciprocal, and fights fiercely for his clients and close friends. However, he also tends to react with anger when he feels betrayed, such as when Mike is forced to accept a deal from Jessica. Harvey tries to fire him, but after being reprimanded by Jessica, he decides to terminate his contract as an associate. Another example is when Donna leaves him as her secretary: he forces her to leave immediately despite giving her only two weeks' notice and refuses her offer to help him find a replacement.

Despite his many qualities, Harvey has emotional issues stemming from his childhood, when he was forced to keep the secret that his mother frequently cheated on his father—a fact he discovered at age 16. Initially, she agreed to keep it a secret to avoid hurting his father, but when Harvey caught her being unfaithful again, she exposed her and cut off all contact, distancing herself from the rest of his family. In moments of emotional distress, he prefers to ignore them and focus on his career, as he did after his father's death. Because of this, he doesn't trust easily; he either trusts someone completely or not at all. His view of relationships is very simplistic. Harvey seems unaware of the impenetrable shell he has built around himself; he refuses to show vulnerability. He tries to emotionally distance himself from others whenever possible, and Louis remarks that "he's always been alone." However, some of his affection and concern do surface when it comes to his loved ones, especially Mike, Donna, and Jessica.

Harvey is capable of being extremely charming, persuasive, and playful, though he doesn't always display these qualities. His good looks, affable smile, confidence, and charisma make him a hit with both clients and women. However, he isn't well-liked by many people, possibly because they are frequently exposed to his more ruthless side. His colleagues at Pearson Hardman feel a mixture of grudging admiration and deep resentment toward him, especially Louis Litt. According to Donna, this is because "people just don't like that he's always right." This is likely reinforced by his tendency to win, his relentless work ethic, and his unorthodox methods. While working for the prosecution, Harvey had an impeccable record, whether reaching settlements or winning at trial, and Jessica describes him as "almost always winning." Although he is very wealthy as a partner at a top-tier New York law firm, Harvey is not a snob; He participates in activities such as smoking marijuana and boxing, and enjoys more common hobbies such as movies and sports, unlike Louis, who prefers more artistic areas such as opera and ballet, although he still has high standards, stating that "life is like that, and I like it that way," while pointing to a higher level.

Although Jessica discovered Mike's true identity, his position at Pearson Hardman was secured after Harvey threatened to quit if he was fired. However, Daniel Hardman's return jeopardized Mike's secret, as Daniel was looking for something to blackmail both Jessica and Harvey, who together had extorted him into resigning five years earlier for stealing from the company. As his work at Pearson Hardman became increasingly demanding, Mike was unable to visit his grandmother, Edith. After two months apart, Edith decided to visit him in person at the company. Feeling remorseful for having neglected her, Mike decided to buy her an apartment in Manhattan, with Rachel's help. However, just as he was about to take his grandmother to see her new apartment, Rachel informed him that Edith had passed away. Mike collapsed in front of her and was unable to concentrate on work for the next few days.
Before Edith's funeral, Mike started smoking marijuana again. At the wake, Tess, his childhood sweetheart, visited him again and, after an intimate moment with him, revealed that she was married. At first, Mike rejected her, but after Rachel rejected him, he called her and slept with her.

Mike ends his relationship with Tess after Harvey tells him to "get his act together." A man who turns out to be Tess's husband punches him outside after discovering the infidelity. Harvey is angry with Mike for not handing over the merger documents he didn't want, after Jessica threatened him with a letter that would reveal his secret.

Mike realized he'd been taking too many LSATs when a proctor recognized him. After repeatedly declining Trevor's invitation to join his marijuana business, he discovered his grandmother's medical bills were piling up and accepted a one-off job for Trevor: delivering a briefcase full of drugs. While making the delivery, Mike realized it was a setup and fled with the briefcase. Trying to hide from the police, he tripped and walked into the room where interviews were being held for Harvey Specter's associate position. Although Harvey was impressed by his tactics, he was hesitant to hire Mike as his associate, given that Mike hadn't studied law. However, Mike managed to convince Harvey to hire him thanks to his extensive legal knowledge and received a signing bonus that would cover his grandmother's medical expenses. After Trevor constantly harassed Mike about the briefcase full of marijuana, Mike finally returned it to Trevor, revealing his operation to Jenny and taking several of Trevor's suits with him. While working at Pearson Hardman, Mike fell in love with his colleague Rachel Zane, a paralegal who explained the firm's operations to him on his first day and showed him his cubicle. Despite his feelings for Rachel, he couldn't pursue a relationship with her because he was dating Jenny, who had left Trevor after discovering his drug dealing activities. Mike's job at Pearson Hardman was then jeopardized when Trevor, upon discovering Mike's relationship with Jenny, revealed the truth about Mike's past to Jessica Pearson.

Some time after his expulsion, Mike started smoking marijuana with Trevor. He eventually got a job as a bike messenger. During one of his trips, he met Claire, an intern at a legal clinic. After giving her some advice on an immigration case and impressing her, they went out together. Claire told Mike that the man she wanted a relationship with should be more than just a messenger, so Mike lied about having studied at Columbia University. However, Nathan, Claire's boss, discovered the lie, and she broke up with Mike. To make it up to Mike for taking away his college education, Trevor rented an apartment in the city and offered to pay his rent for up to a year. Although his grandmother strongly objected, Mike told her he would move in with her anyway, with or without her approval. Realizing he was now an adult, capable of making his own decisions, his grandmother told him she respected his choice, and Mike moved in with Trevor. While at a bar with Trevor, he met two girls, Jenny Griffith and Nikki Sordel, and immediately hit it off with Jenny. However, it was Nikki who asked Trevor to introduce her to Mike, so Trevor ended up asking Jenny out, and Mike asked Nikki out. After agreeing to go out with her, Mike discovered it was actually a trap, as Nikki wanted him to take the LSAT for her. Although Mike was reluctant at first, he agreed to do it in exchange for money after learning that his grandmother would need full-time care. Mike began making a living by taking the LSAT for other people after Nikki recommended him. At one point, Mike also took the bar exam on a bet and passed.

At the end of the sixth season, Mike becomes a lawyer and resumes his position as junior partner at Pearson Specter Litt, while still maintaining his ties with the legal clinic.
Shortly after Mike helped manage the merger of Specter Litt with Robert Zane's resources from Rand Kaldor Zane, thus creating Zane Specter Litt, he left New York to become the founder of a public interest company in Seattle with the help of Andy Forsythe. When Mike was eleven years old, his parents died in a car accident. He was then taken in by his paternal grandmother, Edith Ross.
At some point, Mike met Trevor Evans, his lifelong best friend. When he was seven, he met Tess, who became his high school sweetheart before she left for college. Mike found school incredibly easy thanks to his photographic memory and rarely put any effort into his studies. He earned a college scholarship and planned to study law until he was expelled after Trevor convinced him to memorize a math exam to earn money, and unknowingly sold the answers to the dean's daughter. Mike had been accepted as a transfer student to Harvard for the following year. The dean was forced to resign, and his final act was to expel Mike and tell Harvard what he had done so that he could never be admitted.

Michael James "Mike" Ross is an attorney and managing partner of a law firm in Seattle. He was a junior partner at Specter Litt, a legal consultant/supervisor at the Eastside Legal Clinic, and an investment banker at Sidwell Investment Group. He is married to Rachel Zane.
He was hired as an associate by Harvey Specter, senior partner at Pearson Hardman, and became his protégé, even though Mike had not graduated from college or held a law degree. Mike left Pearson Specter after accepting a job offer at SIG; however, he returned later in the fourth season after being fired from his firm by Jonathan Sidwell. Shortly after his return, Louis Litt discovered his fraud and used it to become a founding partner, thus creating Pearson Specter Litt. After Jack Soloff and the other partners at PSL recognized Mike's value to the firm, he was promoted from junior associate to junior partner.

He was arrested for conspiracy to commit fraud in the summer finale of season five and was involved in a trial against the U.S. Attorney's Office for illegally practicing law. Although the verdict was not guilty, Mike pleaded guilty before the official verdict and was incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Connecticut. However, after receiving an offer from Sean Cahill, he helped keep Frank Gallo behind bars and secure the arrest of insider investor William Sutter, resulting in his release from prison.
He became a legal consultant and supervisor at the Eastside Legal Clinic in Queens, although his stay there was brief, as he was trying to be admitted to the New York State Bar to practice law.