25 Best Lawyer Shows & Legal Dramas Of All Time, Ranked

Summary

• The best lawyer shows on TV vary in style, with some focusing on real legal cases and others on dramatic storytelling.
• The Lincoln Lawyer on Netflix stands out with its fast-paced approach to legal drama, captivating fans with unique cases and intrigue.
• Some lawyer shows, like Rake and Damages, delve into the darker side of law, where characters may not always be the typical hero types.

With so many in-depth legal dramas on TV these days, any long-time viewer could end up feeling like a lawyer themselves after binge-watching some of the best lawyer shows. Some legal dramas spend less time than others on the law aspect, whereas others have clearly spent months researching and working with real-life defense attorneys. Many lawyer TV shows feature a different case each week, but the very best legal dramas go further than the procedural nature of the genre and take some major risks.

These shows are also nothing new to television and go back almost to the advent of television. In 1957, Perry Mason made his first appearance on television in a role that Raymond Burr stretched out for a decade. Matlock followed in a role that lasted just as long in the 1980s. Soon after, things changed to show groups of attorneys, both in the best lawyer shows and TV series that focused on both the police and the attorneys investigating and defending the cases. These days, every network and streaming service has an addition to the genre of lawyer shows, although not all match up to what came before.

25 The Lincoln Lawyer (2022 – )

The Lincoln Lawyer has become one of the hottest shows on Netflix with its fast-paced approach to the legal drama genre. Based on the novels by Michael Connelly, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo stars as Mickey Haller, a smooth defense lawyer who runs his law firm out of his Lincoln Towncar. If the premise sounds familiar it is because Matthew McConaughey played Haller in a slick movie adaptation. Garcia-Rulfo makes the role his own and leads the entertaining cases and action-packed intrigue of Mickey’s world where he can sometimes operate with questionable morals.

Though the first season was better received by critics than the second, fans have continued to stream the series on Netflix. With the fast popularity of the series, it is no wonder fans are already eagerly awaiting The Lincoln Lawyer season 3, which began filming in early 2024.

24 Rake (2010 – 2018)

It is often rewarding to look outside the US to find some truly great legal dramas. Rake is an Australian series and another show that deals with a defense lawyer as its lead. Such lawyers can be tricky protagonists as the thought of them potentially defending a guilty client can hurt their heroic appeal. Rake avoids this dilemma by making it quite clear Cleaver Greene (Richard Roxburgh) is no hero. However, he is a wonderfully entertaining character who takes pleasure in defending guilty people which can sometimes include big-name guest stars like Sam Neil, Hugo Weaving, and Toni Collette.

The show was repeatedly nominated for different Australian award shows during its run, with Roxburgh winning an Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Award for his work on the series. Rake’s popularity also ensured that an American remake of the series was created in 2014, but it didn’t land with audiences as well as the original did.

23 Perry Mason (2020 – 2023)

Remaking one of the most beloved legal dramas of all time is a daunting task, but it’s one that the latest Perry Mason series pulls off. Matthew Rhys steps into the lead role of the series, which is a period piece set in the 1930s that finds Mason as a down-and-out attorney looking to claw his way back amidst murder, corruption, and scandal. Rhys gives a commanding performance in the lead role, while the show’s noir style sets it apart from the modern legal procedurals.

Despite being one of the best Max original shows around, Perry Mason was canceled after its second season. The show did receive a handful of Critics Choice, Golden Globe, and Emmy nominations during its run, but didn’t take any awards home. Tatiana Maslany, however, was awarded Best Actress in a Drama Series from the Hollywood Critics Association for her role in the series.

22 American Crime Story (2016 – )

Television titan Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story anthology helped to launch his spinoff which takes a look at real high-profile trials and criminal cases that gripped the public instead of the supernatural. With three seasons so far, the series has taken a look at murder and political scandals.

Those looking to get into the series should start with the electric first season, which carried the subtitle The People vs. OJ Simpson. There is a fair bit of camp involved in recreating some of the most outrageous aspects of the trial, but it is all grounded thanks to an amazing ensemble that includes Sarah Paulson, Courtney B. Vance, Sterling K. Brown, and John Travolta. That is widely recognized as the best season of the anthology series so far.

The show has won four Golden Globes and eight Emmys so far.

21 Eli Stone (2008 – 2009)

Eli Stone is one of the few best lawyer shows that actually inject a sense of humor into its episodes. Most legal shows stick to the procedural and the dramatic route, so the humor alone makes the show stand out from the crowded landscape of television.

The comedy-drama follows the titular San Francisco-based detective as he goes about working on cases that are morally rewarding but have no financial gain. The show is borderline surreal, as Stone (Jonny Lee Miller) regularly hallucinates and makes some extraordinarily accurate predictions, such as an earthquake hitting the city.

Unfortunately, Eli Stone was canceled too early, as it ended after just two seasons and before wrapping up the show’s events, and fans never got a satisfying conclusion. Julie Gonzalo did pick up an ALMA Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her work on the show.

20 Fearless (2017)

While many of the best lawyer shows are set in the U.S., Fearless puts the spotlight on U.K. law. The six-part limited series is set in London and follows a human rights lawyer who attempts to prove that a convicted murderer is innocent of the murder of a schoolgirl 14 years after he was tried and convicted. With a cast that includes Michael Gambon and other great British actors, the limited series packs a dramatic punch that few of its peers can reach.

The show has a cinematic quality to it too, as it was directed by Pete Travis, known for movies like Karl Urban’s Dredd. While the series might not have garnered award show attention, critics praised the work of lead Helen McCrory throughout the show’s limited run. Many hoped for an expansion beyond the limited series, but that didn’t happen.

19 Matlock (1986 – 1995)

Ben Matlock was an interesting case when he showed up on TV in 1986. Played by the popular Andy Griffith, Matlock was a good old boy attorney who also worked as a detective in his own cases, although he also had some help. Somewhat comparable to Columbo if the character was an attorney instead of solely a detective, what resulted was one of the best lawyer shows on TV, as it moved from NBC to ABC and then ended up in syndication after nine seasons and 193 episodes.

The original series had four Emmy nominations during its run, winning one of them. It also led to a handful of spinoff shows for other characters. While it might not reach the same levels as the best lawyer shows, Kathy Bates is starring in a new version of the show in the modern day.

18 Bull (2016 – 2022)

Bull came to CBS with a major star in place, and he helped bring the fans that followed the show through six seasons. Michael Weatherly left NCIS to take the lead role in Bull, where he played the head of a jury consulting firm that helped his clients select the right jurors for their cases. He also worked to plan arguments to help the lawyers win the cases, loosely based on the early career of Dr. Phil McGraw.

The series provided fans of legal dramas a different perspective on what went on in the courtroom. The vast majority of legal dramas focus on the investigation and who wins the trial, not how a jury can influence how the courtroom drama plays out. The different perspective, and Weatherly’s star power from his long run on NCIS, both helped to get more viewers tuning in.

17 Ally McBeal (1997 – 2002)

Ally McBeal was a strange beast when it arrived on Fox in 1997. Created by David E. Kelley (Boston Legal), this was a comedy-drama surrounding a law firm and the title character, who worked for it. Calista Flockhart starred as Ally McBeal, a lawyer working for a Boston law firm. The cast was incredible, with Robert Downey Jr., Courtney Thorne-Smith, Jane Krakowski, Lucy Liu, and Hayden Panettiere co-starring in the series.

While the show was responsible for what was one of the first internet memes in the Dancing Baby, its fantasy sequences made it unlike any other of the best lawyer shows on TV. It managed to find the perfect balance of humor and drama thanks to legal proceedings and musical numbers. The series won seven Emmys and four Golden Globes during its run.

16 Reasonable Doubt (2017 – )

Tons of shows called Reasonable Doubt, most of which are lawyer shows, have come and gone over the years, but one of the best lawyer shows and one of the newest is the series that started in 2017. Unlike the other shows here, Reasonable Doubt isn’t a fictional drama. Instead, it’s a true crime series.

Reasonable Doubt takes on a concept that no other show has, as it follows two investigators (one a former homicide detective, the other a criminal defense attorney) who re-examine open-and-shut murder cases and find out if the convicted people’s families should appeal the verdict. It can be hard for families to hear that the investigators believe their loved ones committed the crime in question, but that does happen. While the show is almost unheard of, it’s such a slept-on gem. And as it’s five seasons deep, it’s one of the most binge-worthy too.

15 Your Honor (2020-2022)

Bryan Cranston jumped back into television after becoming a movie star, as he plays a judge whose son kills a teenager in a hit-and-run in Your Honor. The series is special because it’s one of the few serialized legal dramas, whereas others tend to be procedural case-of-the-week type shows. Initially billed as a miniseries, Your Honor was brought back for a second season that was also highly praised.

What audiences got was something special and completely different from anything in the genre, and Michael Desiato (Cranston) isn’t much better than Walter White from Breaking Bad. While audiences loved him, the show might not have premiered at the right time. Critics lamented yet another show about good men with bad actions getting the spotlight since shows like House and Breaking Bad had already been so popular.

14 How To Get Away With Murder (2014 – 2020)

As so many occupational shows take place where the main character acts as a mentor to a group of people, whether it’s medical shows like House or detective shows like Lie To Me, How To Get Away With Murder is the legal drama’s answer to those shows. Of course, there’s a twist since the mentor is also someone who ends up, repeatedly, covering up murder with her students.

The series follows Annalise Keating (Viola Davis), a law professor and criminal defense attorney who takes five students under her wing. It’s a fascinating drama, as those very people become intertwined in their own murder plot. Their lies spiral and each season becomes more dramatic than the last. The show is rated so high mostly due to Davis’ incredible portrayal of Keating, where she was the first Black woman to win the Outstanding Leading Actress Emmy.

13 L.A. Law (1986 – 1994)

Before Law & Order, there was L.A. Law. This show takes a look inside a prominent Los Angeles attorney firm. Created by Steven Bochco (NYPD Blue), it follows a large ensemble cast as they deal with parallel storylines with a strong mix of social drama. Much like Law & Order, it takes a look at the cases investigated, many pulled straight out of the headlines. However, this had little to do with the police and was all about the lawyers working the cases. The cast included Harry Hamlin, Corbin Bernsen, Jimmy Smits, Blair Underwood, and more.

The series won 15 of the 69 Emmys it was nominated for over its run and five of the 30 Golden Globes. A sequel series was planned in 2020, but by 2022, the show was canceled after having been cast and a pilot ordered.

12 Suits (2011 – 2019)

Suits is most interesting because it looks more at the inner workings of the law firm than it does the actual cases that the firm takes on. As the series follows Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams), a law associate who never actually went to law school, Suits cleverly sees the character close the book on cases while maintaining his secret at the same time. For the most part, the show is full of predictably angry, loud, and obnoxious lawyers yelling over one another with the densest law terminology possible.

Though the series received a handful of award show nominations, only Gina Torres won awards for her work on the show. She won both an NHMC Award and an Imagen Impact Award for her role in the drama. Torres starred in a spinoff from the series as well. Lately, Suits has been breaking Netflix viewership records proving there are still people discovering the series, and prompting the development of another spinoff of the show.

11 Goliath (2016 – 2021)

Goliath was a Prime Video original series starring Billy Bob Thornton. The series lasted for four seasons before it was canceled in 2021 and told the story of a down-and-out lawyer looking for redemption. The show was important in that it showed how corruption ran rampant in the legal system, which favored the wealthy. Thornton himself was responsible for much of the Goliath’s success, giving a compelling performance as Billy McBride, a formerly brilliant lawyer who helped a man on trial for murder get a not-guilty verdict, only to learn that he killed his family.

Thornton won a Golden Globe for the show’s first season. Following that, the series also received four Satellite Award nominations but didn’t take home any more wins. All four seasons of the show are considered “fresh” on Rotten Tomatoes thanks to critical reviews.

10 Marvel’s Daredevil (2015 – 2018)

While Marvel’s Daredevil, one of the early Netflix successes, is a superhero series, it’s just as much of a procedural drama, as Matt Murdock (Cox) goes about solving cases as the best lawyer in Hell’s Kitchen. Murdock is an attorney at law by day and a masked and very violent vigilante by night, and both parts of the character are equally entertaining. In particular, the cases highlighted in the series painted stories of corruption among business owners.

Though Daredevil features a groundbreaking hallway fight and is full of other phenomenal isolated action sequences, the courtroom scenes are just as exciting. The series was repeatedly nominated for Saturn Awards and Screen Actors Guild Awards during its run, and luckily, the cancelation of the show on Netflix didn’t mark the end. Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio both reprised their roles in other Marvel Cinematic Universe projects.

The series is getting a sequel/reboot with the MCU’s Daredevil: Born Again, and Cox and D’Onofrio will be reprising their roles there, too, alongside other cast members from the original show.

9 The Good Wife (2009 – 2016)

The Good Wife is grounded in reality almost more than any other of the best lawyer shows on television. As the show is about a wife of a state attorney who goes back into law when her husband is caught in the middle of a sex scandal, The Good Wife is massively influenced by real-life events, such as the scandal involving Bill Clinton during his presidency. The show explores the dynamic between these women who allow their careers to take a backseat to further benefit their husbands’ ambitions, even when they are caught with their pants around their ankles.

The complicated relationship dynamics and the stellar performances of the cast – particularly lead Julianna Marguiles – is what makes the show so great. During its initially airing, the series maintained an audience of more than 10 million viewers from the beginning of the show to the end. it also won three of the 21 Emmys and one of the 14 Golden Globes it was nominated for.

8 The Good Fight (2017 – 2022)

As acclaimed as The Good Wife was, there are some fans who would suggest its spinoff series was even better. The Good Fight sees Christine Baranski return as Diane Lockhart. She is forced to start from the bottom when her savings are totally wiped out and she loses her job. Starting a new firm, she builds a team and begins taking on the big cases of the day. The show is accessible enough for new viewers, taking more interesting and bold storytelling chances that really make it a thrilling series in its own right.

Much like its predecessor, the show was a critical darling during its run, earning praise for the performances of the main cast. The series made it into Variety’s “100 Greatest Shows Of All Time” in 2023. Despite the love for the show, and a slew of award show nominations during its six seasons, The Good Fight didn’t take home any prestigious wins.

7 The Practice (1997 – 2004)

The Practice is another David E. Kelley series, one of many legal dramas from the TV titan. The legal drama was created as an answer to L.A. Law, which was a show that romanticized the American legal system by making it flashier and cooler than it really is. The Practice was much more realistic; it actually treated its viewers with respect, and it didn’t dumb anything down. When it came to legal proceedings, deep themes were explored, including personal morality, which was a great approach considering criminal lawyers had never really been depicted in such a light before.

The series won three of the seven Golden Globes it was nominated for during its run, including Best Drama in 1999. The series was also nominated for several NAACP awards, with Steven Harris winning the award for Outstanding Actor in a Drama series in 2004. It was also nominated for an astounding 42 Emmys over the course of the show, winning 15 of them.

6 Damages (2007 – 2012)

Though it was fairly short-lived compared to other legal dramas, as many of them tend to have hundreds of episodes, Damages is one of the most engaging lawyer shows there has ever been. Glenn Close stars as Patty Hewes in the show and each case spans a whole season, so more time and effort has gone into the research, and it properly breaks down how legal proceedings go, unlike other shows that throw weeks-long proceedings into 40-minute episodes.

What also makes the show so intense is the fact Patty will do anything to win a case, no matter how unethical it is. It puts her on par with many of the antiheroes leading dramas today. While the show was on the air, Damages won four Emmys and a Golden Globe. Close was also nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award for the show for four of the five seasons.