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Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2001–2011) is an American police procedural drama TV series based in New York City and produced by Dick Wolf and René Balcer. It first aired on September 30, 2001, as the third installment of Wolf’s successful Law & Order franchise. The show centers around The NYPD Manhattan ‘Major Case Squad’, a team of detectives tasked with solving high-profile cases, including murder, kidnappings, and major robberies. These cases often involve VIPs, local government ...

Erin Brockovich (2000), an American biographical legal drama film directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by Susannah Grant, follows the story of an unemployed single mother of three children in 1993. After being injured in a traffic accident involving a doctor, Erin decides to sue him with the help of her lawyer, Ed Masry. Despite their expectations of winning, Erin’s explosive behavior during cross-examination results in losing the case and Ed refusing to take her calls. However, one day she shows up at his office seeking a job, as he had previously mentioned ...

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999–2024), often abbreviated to SVU, is an American police procedural crime drama TV series, created by Dick Wolf for NBC. It was the first spin-off of Law & Order, and starred Christopher Meloni as Detective Elliot Stabler until his departure in 2011, after 12 seasons. His partner in the show, Detective Olivia Benson (played by Mariska Hargitay), eventually became captain and now leads the Special Victims Unit. Meloni has since returned as Stabler in the ...

The American legal thriller film The Gingerbread Man (1998) was directed by Robert Altman and adapted from a rejected John Grisham manuscript. Rick Magruder, a divorced lawyer known for his shady tactics and defending criminals, celebrates another courtroom win at a party held by his firm. As he becomes increasingly intoxicated, he crosses paths with Mallory Doss, a waitress who has misplaced her car. Rick offers to drive her home, where her father Dixon Doss has already parked the vehicle. The two argue about Mallory’s mistreatment by her father before she ...

An American legal drama film, A Civil Action (1998), directed and written by Steven Zaillian, is based on the book of the same name by Jonathan Harr. The movie depicts a true court case in Woburn, Massachusetts during the 1980s regarding environmental pollution. The city’s water supply becomes contaminated with toxicants which are eventually linked to a series of local children’s deaths. Anne Anderson, a resident of Woburn, approaches cocky Boston attorney Jan Schlichtmann and his small firm of personal injury lawyers for help in taking legal action against ...

Trial and Error (1997), an American comedy film directed by Jonathan Lynn, follows the story of Charlie Tuttle. Recently promoted to partner at the prestigious law firm Whitfield and Morris, he is tasked by his boss and future father-in-law with requesting a continuance for a cousin-in-law’s mail fraud case in Paradise Bluff, Nevada. Despite conflicting with his upcoming bachelor party, Charlie makes the journey from California. To his surprise, he is met by his best man, actor Richard Rietti, who is determined to ensure a memorable pre-wedding celebration. However, things take an unexpected turn when Charlie gets ...

Ally McBeal (1997–2002) is an American legal comedy drama television series that aired on Fox from September 8, 1997 to May 20, 2002. Created by David E. Kelley and starring Calista Flockhart in the title role, it follows the eccentric, humorous, and dramatic lives and loves of lawyers at the Boston law firm Cage and Fish. The show received critical acclaim during its early seasons, winning both the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy and Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series. Currently, a revival is in development at ABC. The story begins ...

The American legal drama film, The Rainmaker (1997), was both written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. It is based on the 1995 novel of the same name by John Grisham. Unlike many other graduates from Memphis State University Law School, Rudy Baylor finds himself without a well-paying job and instead takes on part-time positions at a local bar. In dire need of employment, he meets the bar’s owner, J. Lyman ‘Bruiser’ Stone, who is known for being a ruthless but successful ambulance chaser. After hiring Rudy as an associate, Bruiser explains that ...

The drama 12 Angry Men (1997), directed by William Friedkin and based on Reginald Rose’s 1954 teleplay of the same name, is a remake of the 1957 film. The story follows a murder trial in which a teenage boy from the city slums is accused of killing his father. The judge instructs the jury to determine the boy’s guilt or innocence, with a unanimous decision required for conviction. A guilty verdict could potentially result in the death penalty, unlike in the 1957 film. As the twelve jurors retire to the jury room, an initial vote reveals that eleven are in ...

Based on the events in 1839, Amistad (1997) is an American historical drama film directed by Steven Spielberg. It depicts the story of Mende tribesmen who were abducted for the slave trade aboard the Spanish ship La Amistad. The men managed to overpower their captors and take control of the ship off the coast of Cuba. This led to an international legal battle after their capture by a U.S. revenue cutter named Washington. Eventually, the case was resolved by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1841. The film follows Cinqué, a captive who leads an uprising against the crew, resulting in most of them being killed. Pedro Montes and ...

Primal Fear (1996), an American film directed by Gregory Hoblit, is a legal mystery crime thriller based on William Diehl’s novel of the same name. Martin Vail, an arrogant defense lawyer from Chicago, is notorious for representing undesirable yet high-profile clients such as mob boss Joey Piñero. Enjoying the spotlight, Vail is featured in a magazine cover story and attempts to reignite a casual relationship with Janet Venable, his former colleague who works as a prosecutor. When Aaron Stampler, a 19-year-old altar boy from Kentucky, is caught fleeing the scene ...

A Time to Kill (1996), an American legal drama film, is based on John Grisham’s 1989 novel of the same name. In Canton, Mississippi in 1984, ten-year-old African American girl Tonya Hailey is assaulted by two local white men, Billy Ray Cobb and James Willard, while returning home from running errands. Despite their attempt to hang her and leave her in a nearby river, Tonya manages to survive and the two men are apprehended by Sheriff Ozzie Walls. Seeking justice for his daughter, Tonya’s father Carl Lee Hailey enlists the help of Jake Brigance, a white lawyer who previously defended his brother Lester. ...

Murder in the First (1995) is an American legal drama film directed by Marc Rocco and written by Dan Gordon. As a 17-year-old orphan, Henri Young is turned down for a job at a grocery store and resorts to stealing $5.00 to feed himself and his sister Rosetta. Despite their desperate circumstances, he is caught and arrested while Rosetta is sent to an orphanage. Since the store also housed a U.S. Post Office, his crime becomes a federal offense. Henri never reunites with Rosetta and receives a sentence at Leavenworth Penitentiary in Kansas. Years later, he is transferred ...

The American legal drama film, Philadelphia (1993), was written by Ron Nyswaner and directed by Jonathan Demme. Andrew Beckett, a senior associate at the largest corporate law firm in the city, keeps his homosexuality and status as an AIDS patient hidden from his colleagues. Despite attributing a lesion on his forehead to a racquetball injury, it is actually Kaposi’s sarcoma, a defining condition of AIDS. Beckett takes several days off work to try and conceal the lesions and manages to finish the paperwork for an assigned case. He then instructs his assistants to ...

The American legal thriller film, The Pelican Brief (1993), is an adaptation of John Grisham’s 1992 novel. It was directed by Alan J. Pakula. In the film, two elder Supreme Court justices, Jensen and Rosenberg, are killed by an assassin named Khamel. Tulane University law student Darby Shaw writes a legal brief outlining her theory on the motive behind their murders. Her lover and former clerk of Rosenberg’s, Thomas Callahan, reads the brief and passes it on to Gavin Verheek, special counsel to the director of the FBI. Shortly after, Callahan is killed in a ...

Sydney Pollack directed The Firm (1993), an American legal thriller. Mitch McDeere, a top Harvard Law School graduate, is offered a lucrative position by boutique law firm Bendini, Lambert & Locke in Memphis, Tennessee. He and his wife Abby relocate there as he prepares for the Tennessee bar exam. Mitch receives guidance from senior partner Avery Tolar on the firm’s strict values of loyalty, confidentiality, and high fees. Despite the enticing perks such as a new house, a Mercedes-Benz, and paid-off student loans, Abby resents the firm’s interference in employees’ personal lives. Despite working long hours, Mitch passes the bar exam but this ...

The American legal drama film A Few Good Men (1992), based on Aaron Sorkin’s 1989 play, follows the story of Private William Santiago, a United States Marine who is found dead after being beaten while stationed at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba. Two fellow Marines, Lance Corporal Harold Dawson and Private First Class Louden Downey, face a court-martial for his murder and are defended by inexperienced lawyer Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee of the United States Navy JAG Corps. His superior, Lieutenant Commander Joanne Galloway, becomes suspicious as evidence emaerges that Santiago may have been trying to transfer out ...

Law & Order (1990–2024), an American police procedural and legal drama television series, was created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment and Universal Television. Its success has led to the development of additional shows, turning Law & Order into a franchise. This includes a television film, several video games, and international adaptations of the series. The show has received numerous awards, including multiple Emmy Awards, throughout its run. Set in New York City, it follows a two-part format: first investigating a crime (typically murder) and apprehending the suspect with the help of ...

Directed by Joseph Ruben, True Believer (1989) is an American courtroom drama that follows burnt-out attorney Eddie Dodd on a new case. Dodd has abandoned his civil rights work and now defends drug dealers, but with the help of idealistic legal clerk Roger Baron, he takes on the case of Shu Kai Kim. Kim, a young Korean man who has spent eight years in prison for a gang-related murder in New York’s Chinatown, has killed another inmate in self-defense. Despite his troubled past, Kim’s mother strongly believes in her son’s innocence. Dodd and Baron’s investigation uncovers a conspiracy involving ...

Jud Taylor directed License to Kill (1984), a television film. The Peterson family is devastated when their daughter Lynne is killed by a drunk driver on the day of her high school graduation and safe driving award ceremony. John becomes fixated on seeking justice for his daughter’s death at the hands of Tom Fiske, an unremorseful businessman responsible for the accident. Despite Fiske hiring a clever defense lawyer who repeatedly delays the trial and successfully suppresses evidence of his intoxication, prosecutor Martin Sawyer persists in proving Fiske’s guilt by presenting his bar bill from the day of the ...