THE BEST LEGAL MOVIES

Happy Sunday! It's your favorite Girl Blogger under 30 Millennial Me! 👩 Still the only blogger in the history the justice building blog to us an emoji. And that record won't be broken any time soon we are guessing.

We've been reading Rumpole since law school and we know that come holiday season he likes to do best of lists. We thought about doing best local restaurants (Eating House or Dirt on South Beach or Milos for seafood), or best books (but Rumpole has already done that) so we settled on Best Legal Movies. 

1. The Verdict with Paul Newman. 

First, there are Newman's icy cold blue eyes....😍but the story is great. Alcoholic lawyer, down on his luck, has only one case- a med mal case and  goes up against the Archdiocese of Boston and the biggest law firm in Boston with a crooked Judge sitting on the case ruling against him. 

But the movie has some of the best lines ever:  

When discussing the only expert witness the plaintiff has (A 74 year old, Black, retired doctor who is not board certified) Newman's partner in the trial, his old law professor, whispers to Newman at beginning of the trial: "So all we have is the witch doctor? Yes. Well, look at it this way, it's refreshing every time a doctor takes the stand who isn't a Jew." - you have to take the movie in the context of the times- 1982).

When discussing the lawyer for the other side and Newman says "he's a good man" his professor responds "He's the prince of fucking darkness. He'll have witnesses testifying he saw her (Newman's client is in a vegetative state) water-skiing in Marblehead last weekend." 

And of course, when Newman is sandbagged in court, afterwards his professor tells him "You forgot the first rule I taught you in law school -Don't ask a question you don't know the answer to." 
Newman fights with the Judge "You're a bag man for the boys downtown", and fights with his own alcoholic demons all while the defense has planted a spy in his camp- but a surprise witness at the end turns the table and the good guys win. I just love this movie. 

2. To Kill A Mockingbird: A classic. The reason many lawyers say they became lawyers. Although I don't like lawyers who name their kid "Atticus". It's too much. But every lawyer should watch this movie once a year. 

3. A Few Good Men. 

"You can't handle the truth!" Nicholson. Cruise. Enough said. 

4. 12 Angry Men: Henry Fonda leads an all star cast. I love watching a young Jack Klugman as the only Jew on the jury stand up to the racist juror in the jury room. 

5. My Cousin Vinny: Opening statement "Everything that guy just said was bullshit!" "I'm done wit dis witness..." "The youts...what's a yout?" Classic stuff. 

6. Judgment At Nuremberg: Spencer Tracey as the American Judge in Germany displaying a very human conscience in judging Nazis including Nazi Judges who were "Just following orders".  Another must watch movie for law students.

7. The Caine Mutiny: Humphrey Bogart and who ate the strawberries??

8. A Civil Action: The Book was way better than the movie.

9. Miracle on 34th Street: Santa Claus is real!

10: You pick it.....

Now I know I missed some. I googled this and admittedly I have never seen "Witness for the Prosecution" or that Al Pacino movie where he is screaming "I'm out of order? You're out of order!" so the list isn't complete. But it's pretty good and I think the only real arguable point is why I didn't put Mockingbird first. I didn't because while it's a more powerful movie with a major sociological point for the times, the Verdict is just more fun to watch on a Saturday night when I've got nothing going on. A pint of Hagen Dazs Mint Chocolate Chip, my cat curled up beside me on my couch...it's not a bad way to spend an evening. 

Enjoy.