Much inspiration can be gained from watching legal TV dramas, whether you are the accused or their criminal lawyer. This is because they contain much realism, details about police and legal procedure, and terminology. So, let us look at some of the popular ones.
Law and Order
The legal drama Law and Order was filmed in New York. It focusses on the complexities of determining one’s guilt or innocence while lives hang in the balance. The show’s writers would frequently gain their inspiration from the latest headlines, from which they would highlight issues as part of the plot. These could be legal, personal, or ethical dilemmas to which people could relate.
In terms of featuring different crimes everyone could associate with, the show then branched out into Law and Order: Special Victims Unit. It contributed to the whole Law and Order franchise producing well over 1,000 episodes.
The fact Law and Order took its inspiration from what was happening in the world meant that anyone in the situation could gain comfort from knowing that their day or days in court could take a similar form. It is the unknown that many fear. So, familiarity with the types of environments and procedures is always helpful.
The advantages of TV dramas are that if things turn out well for the accused in a drama, it could turn out the same for the accused in reality. This can be peace of mind for those struggling to sleep. Conversely, it could have the opposite effect where it does not go well. A criminal lawyer can ensure that a defendant is always given a realistic explanation for the possible outcomes. This is important when deciding whether to plead innocent or guilty.
For the criminal lawyer, these dramas provide ideas that can help in a case that requires more creativity to achieve a better outcome. The scriptwriters have access to a range of legal advisers who will keep things as realistic as possible, although there will be things created for dramatic effect which have to be considered when watching and learning from these legal dramas.
NCIS
NCIS centres around American police procedures, although with a leaning towards special agents, as well as combining elements of naval and military intelligence. Intelligence, of course, is about finding out information and that is something that the criminal lawyer is adept at doing. It helps the client, where the evidence that the police produce, is more likely to lean towards the guilt of the person that they are accusing once the investigation has taken that direction. The lawyer, on the other hand, has a vested interest in seeing who else might be guilty, such as someone remaining hidden who is putting their client in the frame instead.
The beauty of a fictional legal series is that it has to be based on some reality to be realistic and make sense. There will be hints of police procedure that can then be taken into context when relating them to a real-life legal situation that someone is faced with.
Suits
There are a lot of TV legal dramas to choose from and Suits is another notable one. Harvey Specter, who is one of New York’s best lawyers, hires Mike Ross, a talented college dropout, as an associate. Their mission is to keep Mike’s qualifications a secret. This is indicative of criminal lawyers always having something hidden from the other side that they can use in court situations to give the other side less time to react. This can prompt an adjournment but that can be refused by a judge. Defendants will always want their lawyer to have the upper hand and be in control of the court case. It is where a criminal lawyer establishes his worth.
So, listed above are a few examples of American TV legal dramas, but there are many others. In each case, we can see how they could be used as models of inspiration for the defendant and their criminal lawyers alike. This is as long as the fiction and dramatization are allowed for when determining their realism and gaining ideas and comfort from them. Playing on issues of the day keeps legal dramas up to date with what is going on in the legal world and with criminal trials. Any drama that incorporates police procedures and terminology in its storytelling will help us learn about the law as these will have been researched by scriptwriters who have access to legal experts to assist with authenticity. The element of surprise is an element that is used in trials to have the other hand on the opposition, and ideas for this can be gained from watching American TV legal dramas.
