Law in Popular Culture

Michael Connelly Wins 2012 Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction

Michael Connelly’s legal thriller The Fifth Witness has been named the winner of the 2nd Annual Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction. The Fifth Witness, which debuted at No. 1 on the New York Times Best Seller List, features a recurring Connelly book character, the maverick Los Angeles lawyer Mickey…

Jul 17, 2012 9:55 PM CDT

Role Model for Older Women’s Fashion Is TV Lawyer, Columnist Says

Women over age 60 who prefer dresses to pants can look to a fictional law firm partner as a role model. “Ask Teri” of the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) says the Christine Baranski character in The Good Wife, who plays a 60-something law firm partner, has a good look.…

Jul 13, 2012 11:26 AM CDT

What if Lincoln Had Lived? And Faced Impeachment? Law Prof Imagines Possibility in Legal Thriller

Yale Law School professor Stephen Carter imagines President Lincoln surviving an assassin’s bullet and facing impeachment in a new legal thriller. The protagonist is not the president who ended slavery, but is instead an aspiring lawyer who is a law clerk on Lincoln’s legal team, according to the New York…

Jul 12, 2012 11:00 AM CDT

What’s Your Favorite Legal Show on TV Right Now?

Last week, actor Andy Griffith died at the age of 86. While he is best known for the 1960s sitcom The Andy Griffith Show, many lawyers and others also remember him for his role as Ben Matlock in the show of the same name. While Ben Matlock only garnered an…

Jul 11, 2012 8:33 PM CDT

CU L8R LITIG8R: Readers Submit Their Favorite Lawyer License Plates

Updated: When we came up with this Question of the Week, our hopes were modest. But it turns out that our sharp-eyed readers have dozens of law-related vanity license plates to share. A surprising number also had photos of license plates to send us. “What can I say?” Lesly Adams…

Jul 9, 2012 8:18 PM CDT

US Law Schools Expanding Clinical, Professionalism Offerings, Survey Shows

U.S. law schools have been beefing up their clinical and professionalism programs in response to the shifting economy and various calls for curricula changes from academia and the media, a new survey shows. Three-quarters of the schools surveyed cited the changing job market as a reason for the curricula changes.…

Jul 5, 2012 4:20 PM CDT

Nearly Half of Poll Respondents Are Clueless on Supreme Court’s Ruling on Health Care Law

News of the U.S. Supreme Court decision (PDF) upholding the health care law’s insurance mandate hasn’t reached nearly half of the public. Only 55 percent of the public is aware that the court upheld most of the law, according to a poll by the Pew Research Center. The Washington Post…

Jul 5, 2012 11:42 AM CDT

Known as Site of Famous 1925 Scopes Prosecution, Dayton, Tenn., Prepares for Annual Trial Festival

Looking for some summer fun? There’s still time to plan to attend this year’s annual festival in a small Tennessee town celebrating one of the nation’s most famous trials. Although Clarence Darrow lost the so-called Monkey Trial, his client, high school teacher John Scopes, eventually saw his guilty verdict and…

Jul 3, 2012 6:39 PM CDT

‘America’s Sheriff’ Andy Griffith Is Also Remembered for His Role as Folksy Lawyer

The death of actor Andy Griffith has an MTV columnist remembering his slightly less famous role as Atlanta lawyer Ben Matlock. Griffith, who died today at the age of 86, was best known for playing Sheriff Andy Taylor on The Andy Griffith Show, report the New York Times and the…

Jul 3, 2012 6:25 PM CDT

Felony Franks Closes Restaurant Staffed by Ex-Offenders

The owner of Felony Franks has given up his battle to keep operating a hot dog stand staffed by ex-offenders on Chicago’s near west side. But although Jim Andrews said he was worn down by a long battle with City Hall over the legality of his sign and problems with…

Jun 13, 2012 11:22 PM CDT

Defended by Attorney Twitter Pal, Jury Foreman Escapes Court Sanction for Prolific Trial Tweets

A Florida filmmaker admitted that he should have known from watching Law & Order that live-tweeting about his jury service in Miami earlier this year wasn’t a good idea. But while finding that Billy Corben disobeyed a court order against discussing online the case he was hearing, a Miami-Dade circuit…

Jun 13, 2012 7:29 PM CDT

Metallica Offers $50K Reward re Woman Slain After Concert, Lead Singer’s Video Seeks Public Tips

In a video posted on a website for the FBI and YouTube, the lead singer and guitarist of Metallica asks for the public’s help in finding out who killed a Virginia Tech student after she left one of the heavy metal band’s concerts. Morgan Harrington, 20, was last seen hitchhiking…

Jun 13, 2012 7:14 PM CDT

Lawyers Hope to Slice, Dice and Roast the Competition on MasterChef TV Reality Show

At least three lawyers are among the amateur chefs who have been selected from among some 30,000 competitors as the best 100 in the country. Above the Law, which interviewed one of the three, Jason Maur, reports that the Connecticut sole practitioner will now compete on a national television reality…

Jun 4, 2012 6:01 PM CDT

Around the Blawgosphere: ALM’s New Marketing Arm; Hastings Dean Explains 20% Cut in Enrollment

ALM’s Latest Moves Last week, American Lawyer Media announced that it’s forming a “Marketing Services team that will work with clients to plan, execute and measure a comprehensive legal marketing campaign to better achieve their business goals.” “Our clients in the legal services industry are moving away from ad hoc…

Jun 1, 2012 1:30 PM CDT

County Prosecutor Won’t Charge ‘Sister Wives’ Family

Corrected: Members of the family portrayed in the Sister Wives reality TV show won’t face prosecution in Utah County, Utah. In a motion to dismiss a challenge to the state’s bigamy law, Utah County Attorney Jeff Buhman said his office has adopted a policy that it won’t prosecute consenting adults…

Jun 1, 2012 11:33 AM CDT