I am not the first to do this – look to movies about the law which portray trial or trial related scenarios and which provide examples for lawyers in a litigation or a practice involving dispute resolution of either what to do or what to avoid. Nonetheless, it is irresistible for me to dive into the reservoir of movies to find examples of movies which provide teaching points for “real life” examples from which lawyers in these specialties or contemplating these areas of practice can learn.[1] While these are examples with a dramatic flair, they do resemble real practice scenarios that are real or so close to reality that they have teaching and learning value for those in our practice. So here goes.
The Ethics of Preparing a Client to Testify
This example comes from one of what I believe are the two best lawyer movies, “Anatomy of a Murder” [2] (the other is “To Kill a Mockingbird”) James Stewart plays a small town lawyer and former DA who failed to be reelected. He now is in private practice and seems to have time on his hands. He is asked to defend Ben Gazara who is charged with killing a man who his wife (Lee Remick) claims raped her. Gazara found out from his wife what happened. He then takes his gun and finds the killer and shots him dead. He is arrested and charted with murder. His wife contacts Stewart and arranges a meeting at the jail with her husband. Stewart meets Gazara to discuss how Gazara will respond to the charge. He reviews the choices all of which are rejected except one. Stewart’s counsel is an interesting portrayal of the approach Gazara could take to a potential “insanity” defense. Is his counsel in a scene in the movie an inquiry into Gazzara’s possible defense or is he coaching him as to how he should portray the facts so he could be found not guilty by reason of insanity?. See the movie and answer the question: Did Stewart’s counsel cross the line of preparation, or is it “ethical”?
https://youtu.be/JTnF14D8_-I?list=RDCMUC3gNmTGu-TTbFPpfSs5kNkg
A Comment on a Plaintiff Personal Injury Practice
An entertaining and interesting dramatic portrayal of a plaintiff’s personal injury practice is "The Verdict," with Paul Newman as Frank Galvin, an aging lawyer in a solo personal injury practice in Boston. He takes on a challenging medical practice case against a Catholic hospital in Boston involving a young woman who chokes on her own vomit while given general anesthesia during child birth and is rendered comatose This is a chance for Frank to resurrect his declining practice. The defendant is represented by a large law firm whose lead counsel is played by James Mason. The cast includes Jack Warden as Frank’s investigator, and Charlotte Rampling as his girlfriend. There are several interesting storylines including the ethics of dealing with experts. An excellent movie with acting that you would expect from this case of stars.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28VoDrN9dF8
How a Trial is Conducted
Another good choice with courtroom drama is "Philadelphia."
Fearing it would compromise his career, lawyer Andrew Beckett (Tom Hanks) hides his homosexuality and HIV status at a powerful Philadelphia law firm. But his secret is exposed when a colleague spots the illness's telltale lesions. Fired shortly afterwards, Beckett resolves to sue for discrimination, and the film portrays how his lawyer, Denzel Washington pursues the case. There are scenes involving various aspects of the lawyer’s practice, including client intake, evaluating the legal issues, and trial practice. The cast is excellent with Antonia Banderas and Jason Robards. A tense and compelling story is portrayed in a close to realistic way.
https://www.philo.com/player/player/show/U2hvdzo2MDg1NDg4OTk2NDg0NTMyMDM
There are so many interesting stories involving lawyers, but these three are my favorites since they are at least close to a real-life portrayal of the practice of law with, of course, a good bit of dramatic license Other more dramatic and recent movies include: “A Few Good Men” (https://play.google.com/store/movies/details?id=E7g-Alz2krU&pli=1), “The Rainmaker” (https://www.youhttps://www.imdb.com/title/tt1189340/tube.com/watch?v=OFvAwozGnmg). “The Lincoln Lawyer” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFwE3UgCMIk ), and “A Civil Action” (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120633/ ) . If you want an exhaustive list and discussion of lawyer movies, see the article cited in footnote 2.
[1] See, e.g., L. Banks, Civil Trials: A Film Version, 85 Fordham L. Rev. 1969; R. Strickland, “Bringing Bogie Out of the Courtroom: Law and Lawyers in Film,” chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://media.law.wisc.edu/m/gq4zw/gargoyle_20_4_2.pdf.
[2] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052561/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatomy_of_a_Murder. See also, T. Bank, Civil Triasl: A Film Illusion, 85 Fordham L.Rev. 1969.
