Legal Lessons from Hollywood: Top 10 Fictional Lawyers
- annamarks8
- May 7, 2021
- 5 min read
For my tenth article I have compiled a list of my personal favourite onscreen lawyers.
10. Laura Hawkins, Humans
“We can’t just walk away from people we care about when it starts to cost us something.”
The TV series Humans explores the impact of the invention of anthropomorphic robots, so-called “synths”, on society. When Laura Hawkins’ (Katherine Parkinson) and her family buy one of these robots, they discover that their new housemaid is sentient. One plot line focuses on whether or not sentient synths should have rights at all, and to what extent they should have rights. Laura, who coincidentally happens to be a barrister, becomes somewhat of a synth rights activist. She advocates for legislation protecting the synths, negotiates in a commission on behalf of them, and even represents one synth as a defence barrister.
9. Marshall Eriksen, How I Met Your Mother
“Kaboom! You’ve been lawyered.”
Marshall Eriksen (Jason Segel) is one of the five main characters in the comedy series How I Met Your Mother. While the series focuses on romantic relationships, it also follows Marshall from being a law student to becoming a lawyer and eventually a judge. Many law students will be able to relate to the way Marshall procrastinates and distracts himself from studying. In one of the later seasons, Marshall quits his stable job as a corporate lawyer to follow his passion of improving the world through environmental law. It is a very uplifting message that it is never too later for a career change or to pursue your dreams.
8. Diane Lockhart, The Good Wife & The Good Fight
“You’re never handed the perfect witness. You make the perfect witness.”
Starting out as a side character in The Good Wife, Diane Lockhart (Christine Baranski) wooed the audience and got her own spin-off series, The Good Fight. She is a very charismatic and outspoken attorney. As named partner in her law firm, Diane is not only a mentor to other attorneys in the series but also a role model for future attorneys in the audience. Due to her accomplishments and competencies she is briefly considered for a Supreme Court Justice seat, however, at the end of The Good Wife, she takes a hiatus from her legal career.
7. Mick Haller, The Lincoln Lawyer
“There is no client as scary as an innocent man.”
Mick Haller (Matthew McConaughey) is portrayed as a slick LA attorney who knows how to play the justice system and use loopholes in the law to his advantage. While some of his actions are quite unethical, his lack of legal ethics is precisely what make him stand out as a memorable character and attorney.
Check out my previous article on The Lincoln Lawyer here to find out more about Mick Haller.
6. Lt. Daniel Kaffee, A Few Good Men
“My client is a moron. That’s not against the law.”
Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee (Tom Cruise) is a marine judge advocate who in A Few Good Men acts as defence counsel in a murder trial. He risks his career in the navy when he makes the decision to put a high-ranking officer on the stand. During his witness examination he picks up on an inconsistency. This leads to one of the most famous witness outbursts as well as one of the greatest courtroom scenes in cinematic history.
5. Annalise Keating, How to Get Away with Murder
“Prayers are for the weak. I’ll stick to beating your ass in court.”
In How to Get Away with Murder, Annalise Keating (Viola Davis) is a defence attorney with her own law firm as well as a criminal law professor. Her teaching style is very creative and interactive. Annalise is as fearless in the courtroom as in her classroom. Whilst the portrayal of studying and practising law in How to Get Away with Murder is not the most accurate, the series’ intricate plot and murder mysteries are both intriguing and entertaining.
4. Jake Brigance, A Time to Kill
“Until we can see each other as equals, justice is never going to be even-handed. It will remain nothing more than a reflection of our own prejudices.”
Jake Brigance (Matthew McConaughey) is a defence attorney in a murder case in A Time to Kill. There is no doubt that his client committed the murder of his daughter’s rapists. Instead, he pleads temporary insanity which means that Jake has to prove that the defendant lacked the sufficient capacity at the time of the murder to be held responsible for the murder. As a father to a young daughter himself, he can empathise with his client, and successfully manages to awaken that empathy within the jurors.
Read more about A Time to Kill here in my previous article.
3. Elle Woods, Legally Blonde 1 & 2
“I’m here to speak for those who can’t speak for themselves.”
In her time as a law student at Harvard, Elle Woods (Reese Witherspoon) challenged stereotypes and gender bias. After graduation, she qualifies as an attorney and becomes an animal rights activist. In Legally Blonde 2, she is lobbying for a bill to ban animal testing. Apart from having a heart for animals, Elle is known for her ability to think out of the box. She is an intelligent, kind and, of course, stylish attorney.
Be inspired by Elle in my article on the film Legally Blonde here.
2. Matt Murdock, Daredevil
“These questions of good and evil, as important as they are, have no place in a court of law. Only the facts matter.”
Just out of law school, Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) starts his own law firm with his best friend. As a criminal defence attorney he witnesses many criminals evade the law. He becomes Daredevil to stop criminals from escaping the criminal justice system. As a lawyer by day, Matt tries to fix the world and as a vigilante by night, he tries to save the world. While it is important to have trust in the justice system as a lawyer and you shouldn’t take the law into your own hands, it is great to see a lawyer on the screen who is also a Marvel superhero.
1. Saul Goodman, Breaking Bad & Better Call Saul
“You know why God made snakes before he made lawyers? He needed the practice.”
Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk) failed the bar exam twice. Yet, he is arguably the best fictional lawyer. He is a self-marketing genius: running TV commercials advertising for his law firm and changing his name to Saul Goodman after his catch phrase “It’s all good, man”. He uses the law to his advantage in extraordinary ways to outwit his opponents. He is a very hands-on person as seen when he goes dumpster diving for evidence. He finds shredded documents he can legally use as evidence in a class action. Better Call Saul is a masterpiece, even outranking Breaking Bad, in which Saul was originally introduced as a side character.
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