NOVEMBER 2020 | LAW WISE 7
6. David E. Kelley. Ally McBeal • A popular television series which depicted the young female title character and her role as a young associate in a Boston law firm. One of several projects developed by David Kelley. This series take a more lighthearted look at the legal profession. 7. Barry Levinson and Valerie Curtin. And Justice For All • A 1979 film starring Al Pacino as an increasingly disillusioned and cynical defense attorney who struggles with his obligation to represent an esteemed judge accused of sexual abuse. A bleak and cynical presentation of lawyers and the legal profession. 8. Barry Reed. The Verdict • A 1982 film starring Paul Newman as an alcoholic personal injury lawyer who takes on a case involving medical malpractice. With a script by the renowned playwright David Mamet, this movie has the familiar David v. Goliath theme often associated with these types of stories.
12. William Landay. Defending Jacob • A 2012 novel by Landay that Apple TV+ developed into a miniseries. The Jacob of the title is a teenage boy who is the son of the local assistant district attorney. Jacob finds himself a suspect who is put on trial for the murder of a bullying classmate. A compelling story which addresses familial dynamics as well as the process for preparing a trial for both the prosecution and defense. Though this review has been brief and likely idiosyncratic, it does support the contention that lawyers and the law remain a rich vein of storytelling for subjects that stretch far beyond the realm of the law itself.
Other Great Movies – Old and New – Dealing with the Law:
9. Dick Wolf. Law and Order • This long-running series introduced the American public to a stable of attorneys engaged in the practice of criminal prosecution in New York City with Sam Waterston’s Jack McCoy at the heart of this series. Wolf spun off two other series focusing on other elements of the criminal justice system. 10. Harper Lee. To Kill a Mockingbird • Generations of Americans have grown to admire the fictional attorney Atticus Finch for his noble and heroic defense of a Black man accused of raping a White woman. Gregory Peck brought Atticus Finch to life. Additionally, nearly every American middle or high school student reads this novel for a class. 11. Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason • Gardner’s criminal defense attorney not only had a decade-long run as a television series starring Raymond Burr in the title character but is additionally a character in over 80 novels and short stories.
www.ksbar.org/lawwise
My Cousin Vinny 12 Angry Men On the Basis of Sex Lincoln Lawyer Bridge of Spies Runaway Jury Marshall Liar, Liar Denial Just Mercy The Judge The Trial of the Chicago 7 Primal Fear The Accused Philadelphia Anatomy of a Murder A Cry in the Dark Judgment at Nuremberg Inherit the Wind Witness for the Prosecution Let Him Have It Fracture Erin Brockovich Absence of Malice Michael Clayton
