Legal series about disgraced BigLaw lawyer debuts this month
David E. Kelley. ABA file photo by Tony Avelar.
Billy Bob Thornton plays a former BigLaw lawyer seeking redemption in a new series available on Amazon Prime Video beginning Oct. 14.
The co-writer and producer of the 10-episode series is David Kelley, known for his work on Ally McBeal and The Practice, report USA Today and the Cleveland Plain Dealer. The new series title is Goliath.
The Plain Dealer review says Thornton’s performance is “sensational” and the legal banter is “razor sharp.”
“But the territory also feels terribly familiar (washed-up lawyer taking on giant firm), and the scripts sure could use a sense of humor,” the Plain Dealer says. “So while this isn’t the roaring comeback vehicle it might have been for Kelley, it is a solid effort thanks to the work of an ideally cast Thornton.”
Jonathan Shapiro. ABA file photo by Tony Avelar.
Bloomberg Big Law Business interviewed co-writer Jonathan Shapiro about the series. Shapiro is a former federal prosecutor and former of counsel at Kirkland & Ellis. (He stresses that Kirkland is not the BigLaw firm portrayed in the show.)
Shapiro told Big Law Business he wanted to make a show about the high cost of civil justice and the changing legal profession in an era of global law firms.
“Law has become a corporate power unto itself,” Shapiro told Big Law Business. “It’s become this monolithic force against the individual plaintiff. The number of cases that reach jury trial has dropped precipitously. When I graduated, we all wanted to be Atticus Finch. Now, they all want to be corporate attorneys putting deals together. …
“The Davids of the world are facing opponents that … [have] technology, a deep bench of talent, global reach over evidence. … How the hell is the little guy, the one attorney shop going to beat those guys?”
See also:
ABAJournal.com: “Key figures behind legal TV dramas say the lines are blurring between fact and fiction”
