The general public is fascinated with lawyers. Aside from cop shows and doctor shows, lawyer shows seem to be the most popular television shows.
A quick count will make you realize that TV land seems to be chock full of lawyers and lawyer shows.
Lawyer shows even seem interesting enough to support channels like Court TV, a cable TV channel that is dedicated to law and legal processes, or channels like Crime and Suspense which runs lawyer shows like Boston Legal, Law and Order and the Practice. Other channels run Ally McBeal, Shark, and Justice . And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. All of them are lawyer shows.
So many lawyer shows populate TV that you actually have people who know the intricacies of the court system simply from watching TV.
You get people who know to shout out “objection” when a cross examination is becoming aggressive, or to say “overruled” when a judge sees no point in that objection.
You know that there are judges who give out rulings which can be appealed to a higher court, or that there are trials by jury (in some jurisdictions) or that lawyers must speak to a judge with the honorific “your honor.”
Most lawyer shows focus on the fast-paced lifestyle of lawyering. The looming deadlines, the rich clients, the high-profile cases, the exciting court appearances and trials.
In many of these shows, the lawyer is portrayed as rich, or at the very least, powerful. A lawyer is able to change the course of a person’s life by virtue of his training in the law and his skill in trial.
Some of the best shows, even if they are not about court appearances or trials, still involve lawyers. Like Dirty Sexy Money (sadly cancelled), where the main character is a lawyer who works for a rich New York family named the Darlings.
There you see that a lawyer has access to one of the richest families because of his lawyering work. He goes to court for his clients, he negotiates for them, and drafts legal documents.
So altogether, you have people who want to become lawyers because they imagine the glamorized world in those tv shows. A world of high pay and interesting work, of trials and court appearances. A world of glamour and prestige. Of access and privilege.
What they usually don’t realize is that lawyering isn’t really all it’s cracked up to be.
TV shows only show the interesting parts of the life of lawyers. They don’t show (or at least don’t emphasize) the very long hours of preparation, the groundwork that has to be done, the rigorous time of study and the often mind-numbing experience of legal research (ironically one of the areas I excel at, but that’s another post).
As a result, most new law students get disillusioned when they realize what real lawyering has in store for them. The endless hours of work is often enough to turn off many such students.
This brings the mind the need for passion. You have to have a passion for the law to want to do this everyday for the rest of your life. Unfortunately, passion for the law can’t be gained nor transmitted from TV.
I guess in a way, the glamour of TV lawyer shows is bad for the profession. It glamorizes lawyers and puts them in a different light.
Yes, it does attract new people to the profession, but I am not sure if that’s the kind of people you would want practicing law.
In any case, in the same way that too many cooks spoil the broth, too many TV shows may spoil the profession.
I think we have enough lawyer shows now. Really.
That’s right. What we need is a reality show of a pro bono lawyer with the PAO or something.
I can’t get enough of the law shows myself. I have all 19 seasons of Law & Order. I have all 8 Seasons of The Practice. Those are my two favorite as they have the most actual Law in it. I am not as happy with Boston Legal as its more drama and very little law. I can’t get enough Law shows/movies personally! I actually wish there were more good law shows, showing the law that goes in it.
On The Practice they I believe try to show both sides. The shows lawyers have no personal life, they wake up and work on cases they always look overburdened and go to sleep in files. The only friends they have are their co-workers. It seems the same for those on Law & Order. They work on the cases day in and day out, always showing them late at night or not going to sleep to try and finish cases. I’d be exhausted! I can’t get enough of them though, the quality Law shows. Other than The Practice and Law & Order original, nothing has measured up. I’d prefer more shows with good cases and less other drama included myself.