Law in Popular Culture

Should David Letterman Have Kept Quiet? Mark Geragos Says Yes

Observers are debating how best to handle shakedown attempts, following David Letterman’s startling announcement on his Late Show television program last week that he had sexual relationships with some women employees. Although Letterman’s decision to complain to the authorities and go public led to the arrest of a CBS News…

Oct 6, 2009 10:44 PM CDT

Lawyer Takes Justice to Streets as New TV Reality Show Eliminates Courtroom

A Brooklyn defense attorney takes justice to the streets in a new television reality show that eliminates the courtroom from the judicial process. “It’s Judge Mazz in ‘the hood,’ ” attorney Michael Mazzariello, 50, tells the New York Daily News. “We’re in your house. We’re in your yard. We’re in…

Oct 5, 2009 6:42 PM CDT

Suspect’s Lawyer in Letterman Case Does Talk Shows, Says Client Lacked Intent

Celebrity lawyer Gerald Shargel, who is representing a CBS News producer accused of attempting to extort $2 million from David Letterman, did the rounds this morning on network television shows. His client, he says, is a sophisticated, award-winning crime journalist–who accepted a $2 million check in what is now being…

Oct 5, 2009 4:48 PM CDT

How Could You Skip… ?

As an attorney and television aficionado, I was pleased to see <a href=”http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/the_25_greatest_legal_tv_shows/” title=”“The 25 Greatest Legal TV Shows”>”The 25 Greatest Legal TV Shows,” August. I was very disappointed, however, that the list did not include The Wire. This HBO series, which centered around the relationship between crime and local…

Oct 2, 2009 4:10 AM CDT

Now Showing

The law has always provided ample fodder for filmmakers (see “The 25 Greatest Legal Movies,” ABA Journal, August 2008), and the public has demonstrated an insatiable appetite for it.

Oct 2, 2009 3:50 AM CDT

Alec Baldwin Offers Divorce Advice in Paperback Book

Divorcing actress Kim Basinger was hell, says actor Alec Baldwin. Plus it cost both of them some $3 million in legal fees. But in a book that details the wrenching experience and has just been released in paperback, A Promise to Ourselves, he also offers some advice to others about…

Oct 1, 2009 5:33 PM CDT

O.J. Simpson Prosecutor Marcia Clark Bolsters Case Against Polanski

After initial protests over the what some see as the unfairness of the arrest last week of fugitive film director Roman Polanski in a decades-old California sexual abuse case concerning a 13-year-old girl, additional observers are now weighing in on the side of the prosecution. Columnist Steve Lopez at the…

Oct 1, 2009 1:15 AM CDT

Partners are Now Yellow, Associates Green on Ballard Spahr Website

Can this really be a law firm website? In an apparent recent makeover that is catching the attention of the legal community, the online persona of Ballard Spahr now features a bright, visually oriented home page with minimal text. And, in another noteworthy departure from the law firm norm, the…

Sep 29, 2009 12:14 AM CDT

Trustee to Sue Madoff Kin for $150M, Says ‘60 Minutes’ in Upcoming Interview

A court-appointed trustee in charge of recovering assets for those victimized by Bernard Madoff’s record-breaking $65-billion Ponzi scheme reportedly plans to sue the convicted swindler’s two sons, Andrew and Mark, brother, Peter, and niece, Shana. In a 60 MInutes segment scheduled to broadcast on Sunday evening, trustee Irving Picard and…

Sep 26, 2009 12:12 AM CDT

Sex Scandal Catapults ‘Good Wife’ Into New Job as Law Firm Associate

Those looking for a little light entertainment might wish to tune in tonight to a new television program about the travails of a disgraced Illinois prosecutor’s wife forced to return to the associate trenches at a Chicago law firm after a 13-year hiatus to support herself and their two children.…

Sep 22, 2009 9:15 PM CDT

Telling ‘Dr. Phil’ Audience of Claimed $1M Shoplifting Scam Gets Couple Indicted

Allen Eaton, 34, and his 26-year-old wife, Laura, were already under investigation in a potential misdemeanor shoplifting case in San Diego County when they approached the Dr. Phil television show and offered to tell their story. But their appearance on the nationally televised program last year catapulted their case into…

Sep 21, 2009 8:27 PM CDT

Jessica Biel to Portray Suburban Chicago Lawyer

The actress Jessica Biel will portray a suburban Chicago lawyer in a movie about attorney-client privilege and the defense of a serial killer. Lawyer Kathleen Zellner says the film will be about killer Larry Eyler’s confessions to 21 murders besides the one that landed him in prison, according to a…

Sep 21, 2009 6:29 PM CDT

Lawyer Who Got JD to Represent Brother Wins $10.7M for Wrongful Conviction

A high-school dropout with two children who went on to get her general educational development certificate, graduate from college and earn a juris doctor degree so that she could represent her brother in a wrongful conviction case has now won $10.7 million in damages from a federal judge in Massachusetts.…

Sep 18, 2009 8:27 PM CDT

Americans Wary of Increased Presidential Power, Poll Finds

A new poll on constitutional attitudes finds that Americans are more supportive of the rule of law, even at the expense of public safety, and are increasingly wary of presidential powers used to improve the economy. Seventy five percent of those polled said they opposed giving the president more power,…

Sep 17, 2009 12:27 PM CDT

Sotomayor Salsas With Esai Morales at D.C. Gala

It isn’t only in the legal arena that the newest member of the U.S. Supreme Court bench can demonstrate impressive footwork. Invited onto the dance floor last night by actor Esai Morales at an annual Washington, D.C., gala held by the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts, Sonia Sotomayor drew…

Sep 16, 2009 8:16 PM CDT