What Lawyers Think Pop Culture Gets Right, and Wrong, About Their Profession

Katya Valesek:

We spend a lot of time on this show talking to real life lawyers, digging into the nuances of their legal practice. But today, we are curious about fictional lawyers and why they might matter. For a lot of people, they are the first impression of legal practice or even the reason they decide to pursue law.

Kyle McEntee:

So we asked our guests, who is your favorite lawyer from pop culture, and why? And what does pop culture get right or wrong about being a lawyer?

Katya Valesek:

It was fun to collect these responses, and to see how the guests connected to lawyers in fiction. What they said about their chosen fictional lawyer got a lot more interesting once you put it next to what they told us about their experiences on the job.

Kyle McEntee:

One quick note before we start, every guest you hear from today has a full episode of “I Am The Law.” We'll give you the episode number and release date as we go. Apple displays episode numbers while Spotify does not. You can find them all, however, at lawhub.org.

Katya Valesek:

We'll start with Doron Gold, who left litigation and now works as a therapist with lawyers. His episode, number 143, was released February 11th, 2026.

Doron Gold:

Well, I have a new favorite pop culture lawyer because, my 11 year-old daughter saw “Legally Blonde” for the first time and was so inspired that I love Elle Woods now. She is this beacon that my daughter might follow. And that doesn't presume that I want her to be a lawyer, but the inspiration that I saw, that Elle brought out in her, made me think, all right, she's it.

Katya Valesek:

Doron also remembers the part of litigation that really did feel cinematic.

Doron Gold:

That when it's good, it's really good. And I'm speaking, I guess, from my experience having been a litigator, that when you're on your feet and you're plugged in, you've done all the prep, you've set yourself up with every bit of information you have about the law and the facts, and you're now standing there, let's say, during a cross examination of someone, and while you're following a script of questions, you're also listening, and you're also taking in perhaps patterns that the witness is giving you, or attitude that the witness is giving you, or just certain resistance they may show, and something in your mind clicks, and you just, on the spot, ask a question that makes sense in that moment because you're so plugged in, and it gets you the exact result that you want. That's a lot of fun because it's mastery, and it's in service of helping someone.

Kyle McEntee:

For Doran, the payoff came from preparation and listening. And fittingly, perhaps the most iconic scene of “Legally Blonde” was the result of Elle's listening, both to her client, who she built trust with, and to Chutney, the prosecutor's star witness. That listening paid off when Elle figured out, on cross, that Chutney was lying about being in the shower, which ultimately led to Chutney admitting that she, in fact, had killed her father.

Katya Valesek:

Not only is this an amazing moment for all of us rooting for Elle throughout the movie, it is also an amazing example of how your experience before law school can ultimately benefit you in your career in law. She was able, in the moment, to connect experiences from her past to what was happening on the stand in trial. That said, good lawyering doesn't always require thinking on your feet.

Often, it's sitting with your thoughts and planning your next steps cautiously. Our next guest, Jimmy Lai, runs an immigration firm he co-founded after struggling to find sponsorship as a non-U.S. citizen. His episode, No. 151, came out on April 22nd, 2026.

Jimmy Lai:

I guess I kind of resonate with “My Cousin Vinny,” like that entrepreneurial spirit and then just getting things done and being creative at times. I'm often overlooked and frankly, maybe some imposter syndrome speaking, I am not the best lawyer in my law firm. I'm also not the best lawyer in my state.

I was forced to start my own business pretty much straight out of law school.

Katya Valesek:

In his full interview, Jimmy also pushes back on the idea that lawyers have to be aggressive extroverts.

Jimmy Lai:

They do get right the adversarial nature of the business of lawyering and each lawyer are representing to the best interest of their client. So, it's adversarial in nature and I think they get that right. It can get nasty at times, but it can also be a collaborative approach.

And in our business, we'll do our very best to represent our client's best interest, but we also will see if there's any collaborative approaches we can get to get to the same angle for our client.

Kyle McEntee:

Criminal defense work is somewhere the tension between collaborative and adversarial conversations between opposing lawyers is constant. Devin Morse is a criminal defense lawyer in Alaska. Her episode, number 144, aired on March 4th, 2026.

She grades Legal TV on the details for adversarial proceedings.

Devin Morse:

I have recently been watching “Lincoln Lawyer” and so far that is my favorite, mainly because I think it's one of the few shows that actually follows the rules of evidence. The last episode that I was watching, they were getting into some hearsay exceptions or something along those lines that normally in crime shows you see people just get up on the stand and tell their entire story, including what everyone else told them. And in this case, there was actual objections and the judge making rulings.

And then I think they were getting into excited utterances and things along those lines, which is what I deal with quite often in court is going down rabbit holes of hearsay. So that was fun to see.

Kyle McEntee:

Devin enjoys the accurate details in the “Lincoln Lawyer.”But, even shows that face criticism for how they portray underrepresented lawyers can be impactful. She remembers “Ally McBeal” for this reason.

Devin Morse:

I mean, I think I liked “Ally McBeal” just because she was one of the first female attorneys that was portrayed. I just liked seeing a woman in court. My mom was an attorney, so I did see that, but seeing someone portrayed like her in court.

Katya Valesek:

One of the main criticisms of the writing of “Ally McBeal “was that she was portrayed as a ditzy professional who heavily relied on emotion in her court appearances. But back to what I said earlier about prior experiences affecting lawyering, she used her life experience and ability to connect with people to get through to juries and win her cases. And although they didn't show a lot of preparation required for court on screen, that intensity does show up over and over again in TV and movies.

Here's Vineet Dubey, an environmental litigator in California whose episode number 146 was released March 18th, 2026.

Vineet Dubey:

The intensity of the job, the amount of prep work that it takes, a lot of the movies, I mean, they really show lawyers when they have a big trial going on. They show them in the office. They show them sleeping in the office. They show them sleepless nights trying to prepare and get it right in order to go to trial. And that's a real thing. It's all about preparation.

And that's something that I think a lot of shows get right.

Katya Valesek:

Those hard hours and sleepless nights would be pretty boring to watch in a movie. So that is probably why they are often shown as a montage set to music. Vineet also has some sharp criticism of pop culture.

Vineet Dubey:

You very rarely have an “aha” moment in court, right? In a lot of shows, they have that one moment where you get the witness to say something or the lawyer says something and magically the jury understands or the judge gets it. That doesn't happen in life.

In life, you lay out your case, you make the jury understand slowly what's happening, you present all of your evidence, and that cumulatively will lead to a good result. There's never that one, I got your moment, really.

Kyle McEntee:

We mentioned one of those, I got you moments in pop culture already with “Legally Blonde,” but a similarly shocking scene played out in “A Few Good Men” when Colonel Jessup, played by Jack Nicholson, admitted to ordering a Code Red. For Mark Purpura, a Delaware transactional lawyer whose episode, number 153, aired on May 13, 2026, the Code Red scene shaped his view of lawyering based on the circumstances that led to the dramatic scene and the pressure Dan Caffey felt when facing off with such a high-ranking official.

Mark Purpura:

I suppose it is Tom Cruise, his character in “A Few Good Men,” just the whole concept of that case defending the underdog and not being afraid to be an advocate for your client, even when it risks everything for him professionally, that resonated with me when I saw the movie.

Katya Valesek:

In Mark's career, advocacy has also meant pro bono legislative work.

Mark Purpura:

Some pop culture gets it right about how difficult some of the situations are to navigate, but I think that a lot of it is just sensationalist, and it is not really that realistic. But I do think that they sometimes get that right in terms of how difficult some situations can be to navigate with clients and to get to a positive result and how you have to be very flexible and think outside the box a lot of times to get to the place that your client wants to be at.

Kyle McEntee:

And now the answer we knew was coming.

Katya Valesek:

Twice.

Randy Prebula:

Favorite pop culture lawyer is going to be Atticus Finch.

Kyle McEntee:

That's Randy Prebula, a scientist turned FDA regulatory lawyer. His episode number 142 was released February 4th, 2026.

Randy Prebula:

When I was growing up, I never thought I would be a lawyer. I wanted to be a pediatrician, but I always felt that his character both in the written word and in the movie was true to his purpose. He protected people who needed protecting.

Kyle McEntee:

It's funny, what I remember from “To Kill a Mockingbird” is much less about the lawyering and much more about the status lawyers held in the community. Atticus Finch was so central to Macomb County and he built trust with people around him, even in really difficult situations and even if imperfectly.

Katya Valesek:

Storm Lineberger also said Atticus Finch. Storm came to law from a literal stage. He was a professional actor before becoming an insurance recovery litigator.

His episode number 158 was released on July 22nd, 2026.

Storm Lineberger:

I think I'm going to have to say Atticus Finch. I think that was really sort of my first experience reading about a story about a lawyer, and the premise being something positive, in a sense, viewing what a lawyer does in a positive light. And I think in some ways, that sort of duty that that attorney fulfilled was something that stuck with me and still sticks with me to this day about what this profession really is for.

Part of me in the back of my mind hopes that someday that does happen and I'm willing and able to rise to that challenge.

Kyle McEntee:

Storm also told us how television shaped how he imagined large law firm life.

Storm Lineberger:

It's cool in TV shows, you see “Suits” or it portrays this high intensity environment and late nights. I think that's very accurate, especially when you are in a litigation role and that tends to be the more fast paced, exciting, theatrical side of the profession. And I think that energy, that intensity, it actually gets that right.

Kyle McEntee:

And speaking of “Suits,” a conversation today about lawyers and pop culture often mentions Harvey Specter. Richard Hy represents plaintiffs and large scale disaster and mass tort cases. His episode number 155 was released June 3rd, 2026.

He'll borrow a little of Harvey's magic, albeit selectively.

Richard Hy:

I would have to say Harvey from Suits. He's just suave and he has a presence to him, so I would have to say Harvey.

Kyle McEntee:

Do you channel Harvey in your job?

Richard Hy:

I try not to. It's a bit too much for what I do, but when I do oral arguments and stuff, a little bit.

Kyle McEntee:

In “Suits,” Mike Ross often serves as Harvey's empathetic counterpart. Like Ally McBeal, Mike leverages his emotion to improve his clients' outcomes. Jonathan Merel runs a family law firm focused on high conflict divorce and, perhaps not unsurprisingly, connects with the emotional side of advocacy.

His episode number 154 was released May 27th, 2026.

Jonathan Merel:

I mean, the way pop culture portrays the law is most of the time not super realistic, but when it portrays the emotional aspect of certain areas of the law, like movies that really show, whether it be a criminal case or a divorce case or something that has the emotional part of it, when they really show the behind-the-scenes impact that legal proceedings can take on litigants and people going through a court case, no matter what area of the law it's in, that can take an emotional toll on you.

Whether it's criminal or divorce or debt, all those things really have an emotional impact on the people going through them.

Katya Valesek:

His full interview makes the same point. Legal strategy and emotional support are related, but different. And there's no denying that emotions play a role in the day-to-day life of a lawyer.

Jennifer Long is a former special victims prosecutor who now trains prosecutors nationwide. Her episode number 156 aired June 10th, 2026. She enjoyed watching “Law & Order SVU” while she was working as a prosecutor.

Jennifer Long:

The lawyers from “Law & Order SVU,” that show was about trying to get to the truth and justice. So, I think that they are a great representation of prosecutors and lawyers. And they of course had that partner in Mariska Hargitay and focused on special victims.

Katya Valesek:

For Jen, she connected with the way in which the show depicts how much attention and emotional energy the work can demand.

Jennifer Long:

I think that what lawyers give to the profession. I always hate to use cliches, but I think growing up as a lawyer, I used to hear the law is a jealous mistress, which I really actually can't believe I'm repeating that. But I always took it to mean it does require an ask of a lot of focus and time because the more you know about a topic, the more you realize how much you don't know.

Even in dramas, movies, books, there's a lot of action, if you will, takes place in the office, looking through files, talking to your colleagues. And I think that devotion to the law, both to understand it fully, so that you can be able to represent it accurately to the core, understand where something supports your case and why, and where it doesn't support your case. You're really being led into the lives of victims.

And it does require a large piece of yourself, which is nothing compared to what they've gone through. But I think in that way, when you see lawyers having a lot of focus on that part of their life, I think that's accurate. And I was lucky enough where I also loved that part of what I was doing.

Katya Valesek:

Jen has fond memories of watching the representation of the prosecutors on “SVU” during her time as a prosecutor. But you don't have to love a show or admire the characters for them to have an impact on you. Charles Star has moved through big law, contract work, comedy, and now plaintiff side practice.

His episode, number 157, aired July 15th, 2026. His favorite “Law & Order” character is also someone whose professional identity changes.

Charles Star:

I would say my favorite lawyer is from a show that I both love and hate. And it's Paul Robinett, who was the first junior ADA. I have a ton of issues with “Law & Order,” which I consider extreme copaganda, but an incredibly compelling watch.

But Paul Robinett was the sort of young, green, idealistic, African-American assistant district attorney. His evolution, I thought, was very interesting, both through his arc as a young attorney dealing with the ethics of the office as a young Black man. And then when they brought the character back in later seasons, when he was a defense attorney, where he had reoriented himself as, you know, the famous question that came up in an early episode.

And then when he came back to the show, was you have to decide if you're a lawyer who is Black or a Black man who is a lawyer. And the revelation when he comes back as a defense attorney is that he is the latter. He thought he was the former, but he is the latter.

And that's really where his heart and mind lies and should lie.

Katya Valesek:

Charles can find a lawyer on television compelling without romanticizing the career itself. What feels recognizable to him is almost the opposite of the courtroom fantasy.

Charles Star:

I think what it gets right about being a lawyer most of the time is that most young lawyers seem unhappy. That the work is a lot more tedious or not as romantic as they hoped it would be, that it is a refuge for people who have a half-finished novel in their desk drawer and wanted to put off life for a few years and then found themselves with a lot of debt.

And so I think the fact that it's not all aggressive and convincing cross-examinations, and it is largely a grind to find yourself in a part of your career where you're steady enough to enjoy the work. And it gets that wrong a lot too by romanticizing, but you see it come through in less legally driven shows where a character happens to be a lawyer, they also seem miserable.

Kyle McEntee:

We thought we knew the type of responses we would get when we asked this bonus question in our interviews, but we got some fun unexpected twists along the way. Yuliya Flynn works as inside-outside counsel to businesses, handling contracts and compliance. Her episode, number 148, aired on April 1st, 2026.

She first interpreted pop culture lawyer as a real entertainment lawyer she had worked with.

Yuliya Flynn:

Pop culture lawyer. Ty Gunzer. I actually had the privilege of working with him for a little while in Los Angeles, and he represents some amazing artists, celebrities, and I, by affiliation, also represented some of them.

It was interesting to negotiate some of those agreements with him.

Katya Valesek:

Yulia's first example came from a real-life connection to pop culture. But when she thinks about what television gets right, the thing she recognizes is much less glamorous. The pressure that comes with taking responsibility for someone else's legal problems.

Yuliya Flynn:

A first thing that comes to mind is stress. It's a very stressful job, but it's also a fun one. I think what it gets right is the amount of stress and responsibilities that lawyers have once we swear in and take their profession seriously.

Katya Valesek:

In her own practice, that stress is constant responsibility across many problems.

Kyle McEntee:

When speaking to prospective law students, Katya and I both love to say that the law affects everything we interact with in our daily lives. But the law reaches beyond the things we touch on Earth. Michelle Hanlon is a space lawyer, and not a fictional one.

We interviewed her on episode number 149, which aired on April 8th, 2026, and she also initially rejected the fictional lawyer premise almost entirely.

Michelle Hanlon:

Some of the lawyers I admire most right now are the lawyers at SpaceX because of their regulatory filings. I think that they have just taken them to a whole new level. I assign all of their regulatory filings in my class because they have really pinpointed how to file these things, how to explain things without being condescending.

Katya Valesek:

Michelle did finally come around to saying something nice about the portrayal of lawyers and the law in pop culture. In those portrayals, she sees the intensity with which people care about the work, enough that you keep at it long after the workday should be over.

Michelle Hanlon:

I think that pop culture does get right sometimes the passion that lawyers bring to their projects. For example, just what I do and some of the lawyers that I know really do lose sleep over little things and just work through the night. And, whether it's for a client or for some sort of advocacy, the best lawyers have the real passion, and I think pop culture does capture that.

Katya Valesek:

Pop culture can capture the passion, preparation, stress, and purpose, even when the timeline is dramatized.

Kyle McEntee:

And our last guest is Judge Elizabeth Stong, a federal bankruptcy judge in the Eastern District of New York. Her episode, No. 152, was released April 29, 2026.

Her career is a great example of pop culture shaping someone's life. Before law school, she had never even met a lawyer or a judge, but the star lawyer in a play, “Inherit the Wind,” was all she needed.

Elizabeth Stong:

I loved the play. I brought it in a paperback on a long backpacking trip as a high school student into the Sierra Nevada and read it out loud with the group to whom I was backpacking night after night. I appreciated that there was someone, you know, the issues in that case were at the intersection of science and society and the law, and I actually went on to major in college in the history of science, thinking about those things in a thoughtful way that was respectful to all the different positions.

Faith also, was something that just engaged me in so many ways and on so many levels as a teenager who had never met a lawyer, certainly never met a judge, but who cared a lot about finding a way to make the world a better place.

Kyle McEntee:

As someone whose life was very clearly impacted by pop culture, we followed up by asking her what pop culture gets right about lawyers. She came back to the same idea of using the law to make a difference, but with an important qualification.

Elizabeth Stong:

Well, I hope pop culture gets right the fact that lawyers can be superheroes. Lawyers can do things, make a difference, change things you were afraid couldn't be changed, all those kinds of things. Lawyers can be a force for good.

Katya Valesek:

As a bankruptcy judge, she considers her courtroom the place for second chances. This shows us how a force for good actually functions when the cameras are off. It's considerably less cinematic than TV or movies, but she is proving that profound legal work doesn't need dramatic courtroom showdowns.

In her case, the profound impact comes from providing the structural stability that allows businesses and individuals and the entire system to restructure and survive.

Kyle McEntee:

There's a lot of law-related pop culture out there. I think what all of our guests' answers add up to is that pop culture gets pieces of being a lawyer right, the preparation, the pressure, the emotional stakes, and sometimes a sense of purpose.

Katya Valesek:

Plus, it's inspirational to boot. But after years of talking to lawyers on this show, the biggest problem is that lawyers and legal processes are often oversimplified. We've talked to lawyers whose workdays, clients, workplaces, and reasons for doing the job look almost nothing alike, from lawyer to lawyer or day to day.

So maybe the problem isn't just that television gets lawyers wrong. It's that it misses the small, seemingly mundane moments that really make a difference for clients. And that's really what we've been trying to show on “I Am The Law” all along.