I was speaking with a law school dean recently (not my own) who mentioned that part of what drove up applications to law school in the late 80s and early 90s was the success of LA Law. I have no idea if that is true, but I wonder about how depictions of lawyers in TV and film influence interest in going to law school. Did the success of Legally Blonde impact law school applications? Will shows like Making a Murderer and The People vs. OJ Simpson encourage more law school applicants, or has entertainment become so segmented with the rise of cable, internet, Netflix, etc. that no show or movie about the law can have the same broad cultural impact as LA Law?
I don’t know if there is an answer to these questions, but I’m curious about what people think. And I think these are important questions. I am frequently asked for advice about whether or not someone should go to law school. Whether or not a person should go to law school is a question that requires several layers of consideration from the broad to the narrow, like a funnel. On the broad end, there are questions about the status, cost, and and future of legal education and the market for legal services. On the narrow end, there are questions about the individual applicant’s goals and interests. Too often, potential law school applicants approach the advisability of going to law school by incorrectly beginning their questions at the broad end of the funnel. These broad questions are important, but they may not matter depending on how you answer the narrower, more individualized questions. The narrow end of the funnel includes questions about whether or not you want to be lawyer, what you know about the practice of law, or whether you would like law school. How applicants answer these narrower questions may be influenced by their perceptions of law school and lawyers, and that perception may come partially from movies and TV shows. It’s tough for any depiction of lawyers or law school to be accurate in any meaningful way. But what are some TV and movie depictions of lawyers or law school that you think are reasonably accurate?
Posted by Rhett Larson on March 21, 2016 at 03:18 PM
Comments
I was a huge fan of “L.A. Law” when it ran, but it was unquestionably “The Paper Chase” that sent me to law school. I wanted to go toe-to-toe with Professor Kingsfield far more than I wanted to be a colleague of Douglas Brackman or Arnie Becker.
Posted by: Phil | Mar 22, 2016 4:49:13 PM
L.A. Law had a cultural impact that was really unusual, and the idea that it led a lot of people to apply to law school has been around for a long time. From a 1990 story in the New York Times,
^^^^^^^^^^ Over the years, ”L.A. Law” has been credited with – or blamed for – increasing applications to law school, for dominating classroom discussions there and for disillusioning graduates once they discover how different the real world can be. Some lawyers say it has changed the way they dress themselves and address juries. It has been the subject of learned articles in such highfalutin publications as not only The Yale Law Journal but The University of Miami Law Review (one typically abstruse title: ”Ethical Soap: ‘L.A. Law’ and the Privileging of Character,” by Prof. Robert Eli Rosen). One trade newspaper, Legal Times of Washington, runs a weekly synopsis of the program, for lawyers too mired in law libraries to be home when it is broadcast. ^^^^^^^^^^
David Margolick, Ignorance of ‘L.A. Law’ Is No Excuse for Lawyers, New York Times, May 6, 1990.
Posted by: Orin Kerr | Mar 21, 2016 9:33:11 PM
Zak: In the past, I think it did. Northwestern Law School saw an uptick in applications when the team went to the Rose Bowl in 1996.
Posted by: Howard Wasserman | Mar 21, 2016 8:07:20 PM
This makes me think about the relationship between college sports and admissions. Always heard that schools yield a better class after a national title. Doubt it translates to law school discussion. I’m too lazy to walk over to Rhett’s office and talk about this, so I’m posting here instead.
Posted by: Zak Kramer | Mar 21, 2016 5:36:10 PM
Anatomy of a Murder is reasonably accurate, and also easily the best courtroom drama ever made.
Posted by: Asher Steinberg | Mar 21, 2016 4:02:00 PM
Wow, there’s a funny edit – meant “lawyer shows’ not “lawyer shoes”. But if you could produce some really cool sneakers for attorneys then maybe that would have an effect also.
Posted by: Jeff Yates | Mar 21, 2016 3:47:10 PM
Wasn’t there a similar phenomenon way back when for the military after ‘Top Gun’ came out? My guess is that the bump is possible but improbable unless there’s a difference in the quality/type of shows over time – there have always been lawyer shoes on TV.
Posted by: Jeff Yates | Mar 21, 2016 3:45:38 PM
It would be a mixed blessing if something like “Making a Murderer” caused people to go to law school. On one hand, the depiction of a (possible) injustice may spur a generation of students who come in committed to helping repair the system (whether as better prosecutors, better defense counsel, or the civil rights lawyers who bring wrongful-conviction claims). On the other hand, there are not a lot of jobs out there doing that work.
Posted by: Howard Wasserman | Mar 21, 2016 3:37:19 PM