The Practice: Debunking Television Myths and Stereotypes

Abstract

The Practice was a revolution in legal television. Although other modern serials had begun to explore some of the "realist" difficulties of the legal system, The Practice embraced and explored those dilemmas in a postmodernist way. It turned many of the conventions of legal television on their heads. The legal system was portrayed as arbitrary and subject to manipulation by the players-lawyers, judges and clients-who were shady, scheming, and in conflict with Hollywood stereotypes.

This characterization of The Practice is not a criticism - its cynicism made it interesting and unpredictable. You could never be sure of the guilt or innocence of an accused, and even if you thought you knew, that person's culpability did not govern the outcome of the narrative. To be fair, some representations were so extreme that they approached satire. Nevertheless, many of the criticisms were justified. The legal system is not perfect. Guilty people are set free, innocent people are convicted, and lawyers sometimes act unethically. While the legal system of The Practice is not very close to reality, it is certainly closer than the sterile and flawless system portrayed in the iconic Perry Mason in the 50s and 60s.

The Practice was in many respects a reaction to and the antithesis of L.A. Law, which stopped airing three years prior to The Practice's debut. David E. Kelley, the creator of The Practice, was a major creative force involved in L.A. Law. He created The Practice to contrast with the glamour of L.A. Law by showing the "nuts and bolts" of legal practice. The Practice is much different than L.A. Law's McKenzie, Brackman which was a successful civil law practice with beautiful high-rise offices and affluent attorneys. The Practice struggles to make ends meet. It is behind on its rent for a gritty, urban space where there is only one private office. The firm handles small or difficult civil cases, but its "bread and butter" is criminal defense work.

The narratives of The Practice also represent the antithesis of L.A. Law. While L.A. Law recognized some difficult legal and social issues, and occasionally left the viewer a little uncomfortable with the outcome, those were the exceptions to fairly traditional plot resolutions. With The Practice, such discomfort is often the point. Where L.A. Law touches on an issue, The Practice delves into it and puts the dubious outcome directly in the viewer's face. Their differences were also reflected by their respective titles with L.A. Law suggesting that outcomes are governed by the "law," while The Practice suggests an on-going effort to get the result that the client wanted, regardless of the law.

These general themes and their postmodern character will be explored in more detail in the following two sections. The first section will consider three illustrative narratives and the second will examine three main characters.

Keywords: The Practice, L.A. Law, Legal television, Perry Mason, Legal system, Drama, Fiction, Portrayal, Law, Client

JEL Classification: K10, K40, K41, L82