Number 1: To Kill a Mockingbird

Who can forget Gregory Peck’s performance as the kind, patient, and competent lawyer, Atticus Finch.  Finch rises above prejudice to defend a crippled black man accused of rape.

Number 2: A Few Good Men

Everyone, and I mean everyone, knows the line “You can’t handle the truth!” The cross-examination scene below is one of the most memorable in cinema. Jack Nicholson was flawless! “I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom I provide and then questions the manner in which I provide it.” Wow!

Number 3: Inherit the Wind

Classic movie about the 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial.  It’s a very important case that took place in a small town in Tennessee. I’ve actually been to the courthouse in Dayton, Tennessee and walked through the museum.  It’s an amazing piece of history.  

Number 4: A Time To Kill

Grishams’ first book.  It’s a powerful tale of a father that takes the law in his own hands and guns down the men that raped his daughter.  The best movies challenge you to put yourself in the shoes of the protagonist.  I’m sure most fathers in the audience were thinking, “If I was Carl Lee and my daughter was brutally raped, what would I do?”  It’s a very powerful movie.  

Number 5: Primal Fear

No, it’s not an old classic like Miracle on 34th Street or Anatomy of a Murder, but wow what an ending. And who can forget the line by Richard Gere: “First thing that I ask a new client is ‘Have you been saving up for a rainy day? Guess what? It’s raining.’”

Number 6: My Cousin Vinny

Fresh lawyer from Brooklyn that recently passed the bar (on his 6th try) agrees to represent his cousin in a murder case…Was there ever any doubt this was going to be a great movie?   

Number 7: Anatomy of a Murder

Jimmy Stewart was brilliant in his role as a lawyer from the Upper Penninsula in Michigan.  Stewart plays the lawyer defending a military person in a murder case.  Stewarts antics in court are impressive. The trial scenes are very realistic.  In fact, the judge in the movie was actually a real life lawyer.

Number 8: A Man for all Seasons

Every lawyer at one point has quoted a statement from this movie. It’s the story of Thomas More, who stood up to King Henry VIII.

“This country is planted thick with laws, from coast to coast-man’s laws, not God’s! And if you cut them down, and you’re just the man to do it, do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow them?”

Number 9: The Verdict

Paul Newman…need I say more? Newman plays an alcoholic lawyer that gets a big break in a medical malpractice case. It’s his last shot at redemption for a disappointing career.

Number 10: In the Name of the Father

Daniel Day Lewis was brilliant (as always) in his role as a wrongfully accused terrorist from Ireland. It’s a true story.

This is just a short list of some of the best legal movies out there. The public’s perception of lawyers is largely shaped by films like these. What are some of your favorites?