Assignment 4
Comparison of Media Portrayals of Defense Attorneys to Scholarly Research
This
paper begins by discussing how the role of defense attorneys is portrayed by
the media through the television show The
Practice by first examining the physical demographics of the defense
attorneys themselves, including sex, race, age, and socioeconomic status. This
is followed by discussions of the amount of time they spend engaging in
different job related tasks, what types of cases they represent, and how their cases
are resolved. The second part of the paper then examines some of these same
topics as related to defense attorneys in the real world through the use of
scholarly articles, documents, books, and interviews. While the television show
may put forth one view of defense attorneys, the actualities of the profession
might differ outside of the
First,
The Practice does
not portray any one type of person significantly moreso
than another when dealing with the physical demographics of the defense
attorneys on the show. The program, which focuses on six people working for a
private law firm, has an equal number of males and females. At the beginning of
the series of episodes I viewed for this paper, all three of the men were
lawyers and only two of the females were, with the third female only being a
secretary. However, after the third episode the secretary, Rebecca, passes the
bar and also becomes a lawyer within the firm (Kelley, 2003c). This is the only
hint of gender bias in regard to men being over-represented in the field.
Another interesting element in the discussion of gender is that one of the
females, Eleanor, is overweight. This would seem to be an attempt at a more
realistic portrayal of a person by the media when considering the media’s
overwhelming desire to only show “beautiful” people, especially when it comes
to women.
The
second physical characteristic of the attorneys is their race. Although all of
the attorneys are not white, as would be the stereotypical lawyer, all races
are not displayed by the characters. The only two races represented are white
and black, with one black male, one black female, and all other members being
white. It should be noted that the female who was originally the secretary for
the other attorneys was the black female, possibly illustrating the lower
position of black females in American society as compared to other races and
the opposite sex.
In
addition to gender and race, a third physical characteristic of the defense
attorneys is their age. This did not vary, as did the previous demographics
that have been discussed. All of the attorneys were young, portrayed in their
late twenties and early to mid thirties. No college-aged, new law school
graduates worked for this firm, nor did any person in their “middle-aged” years
or beyond. Also, none of the members were married, and only one had a child
from a previous marriage.
A
final physical demographic examined is socioeconomic status of the defense
attorneys. While all are members of the middle class in their current position
in life, not all came from this same background. Viewers are led to believe
that Bobby, the founder of the firm, is from an upper-class family with a
high-profile lawyer as a father. However, it is discovered that Bobby’s father
is actually a janitor for a prestigious law firm, indicating that he comes from
the lower class (Kelley, 2003h). The same is true of
Moving
on, a second way defense attorneys are portrayed in The Practice revolves around the amount
of time they dedicate to work-related tasks, such as doing research for cases,
talking with their clients, preparing arguments, and actually being in court.
First, the program shows the attorneys spending very little time doing research
for their cases. In only four episodes did the lawyers actually engage in some
sort of activity to research the facts of their case or possible arguments they
could use. One of them, Jimmy, follows up on a lead to
prove his clients’ innocence, and must interview witnesses and someone he
believes is the real suspect (Kelley, 2003f). In another show, Eleanor
researches a statute pertaining to crimes aimed at tourists to defend her
client, who has seemingly been placed in double jeopardy after pleading out and
then being re-arrested for the same offense (Kelley, 2003a). In a third
episode, two of the defense attorneys explore possible defenses they can use
for a client who shot an unarmed stalker who came onto his private property.
They look back on other cases and they consult another lawyer for advice, who
happens to be a client of theirs currently being held in custody on charges of
first degree murder (Kelley, 2003i). The last time the lawyers do research is
when a man enters the firm with a severed human head in his physicians’ bag.
The attorneys must figure out if they are required to notify the police or if
the situation falls under attorney-client privilege (Kelley, 2003j). Overall,
these attorneys do not do much research for their cases, with only four of the
nineteen cases shown receiving research.
A
second job-related task would be the amount of time spent talking with clients.
In every case they represented, the attorneys spent some time with their
clients, either outlining how they want to go about their defense or trying to
get the facts straight. The attorneys would see their clients in jail (Kelley,
2003b, f, g, i, j), at the clients’ own personal
residence (Kelley, 2003d, i), or at the firm (Kelley,
2003a, b, c, e, g, h, i, j). In
every instance where the police where questioning a client, the representing
attorney was present (Kelley 2003e, f, h, i, j).
Next,
the attorneys spend almost no time preparing arguments for their cases. The
only time one is seen doing so is when Rebecca is preparing for her first trial.
She practices her opening and closing arguments several times and asks the
other, more experienced attorneys for advice (Kelley, 2003i). However, viewers
are led to believe that the others have engaged in oral preparations off-screen
when on several occasions it is mentioned that the witnesses are prepared for
their testimony and their answers have been rehearsed (Kelley, 2003b, g, h, j).
But, any overt evidence of this sort of preparation is rare.
By
far, the job-related task displayed most often is courtroom proceedings. Aside
from being in the firm and discussing personal situations, this is where the
characters spend most of their time. Viewers are led to believe that trials
take up a majority of a defense attorneys’ life. In every episode and for every
case approached, the defense attorney is in the courtroom for one reason or
another. While actual adversarial hearings are shown the most often (Kelley
2003a, b, c, d, e, h, i, j), bench trials (Kelley,
2003g), probable cause hearings (Kelley, 2003f), bail hearings (Kelley, 2003i),
cases heard on appeal (Kelley, 2003g), and arraignments are all displayed as
well (Kelley, 2003a, d, g). The attorneys also venture into the judges’
chambers from time to time to argue a case or to find an explanation for a
verdict (Kelley, 2003a, d, g).
A
third way defense attorneys are portrayed by the media in The Practice deals with what types of
cases they choose to represent. Almost all of the cases are criminal cases.
However, one case is a family court case that approaches a child custody issue.
The child, in this instance, is a chimpanzee who has been trained to use and
understand sign language (Kelley, 2003d). Three other cases are civil court
cases, rather than criminal in nature, and two pertain to class action lawsuits
against large companies, with the businesses being the defendants (Kelley,
2003b, f, i). Defendants accused of murder were the
most common clients, with the attorneys representing eight murder cases
(Kelley, 2003b, c, e, f, g, h, i, j) and one defendant
accused of attempted murder (Kelley, 2003j). In one of these instances, the
attorney was only co-counsel to a client who chose to defend himself (Kelley,
2003b). The remaining clients were accused of such crimes as theft (Kelley,
2003a, i), hitting a pedestrian with a car (Kelley,
2003h), violation of a water conservation law (Kelley, 2003a), and insurance
fraud (Kelley, 2003f). As can be seen, the majority of defendants were accused
of serious, violent crimes. These are the kinds of crimes that are
stereotypically associated with defense attorneys.
Finally,
the last way defense attorneys are portrayed in The Practice is related to how their
cases were resolved. Were their clients found guilty or were they acquitted? If
they were found not guilty, how did they “get off?” Not all of the cases were
resolved at the end of the selection of episodes I viewed. Of the cases that
were resolved, seven of the defendants were found not guilty (Kelley, 2003b, c,
e, f, i, j) and three of the cases ended in convictions
(Kelley, 2003a, g). In one of the civil cases, the client was suing a carnival
clown for making derogatory remarks toward her about her weight. The court
sided with the lady and the carnival had to pay her for psychological damages.
The attorney won the case by appealing to the emotions of the jury (Kelley,
2003b). In one of the murder trials, the client was accused of killing his best
friend during a gang initiation ritual. The defense attorney convinced the jury
that the act of murder and the necessary component of mens
rea was on trial, not the defendant’s gang
affiliation, and the client was found not guilty (Kelley, 2003c). In the
attempted murder case (Kelley, 2003j) and one of the theft cases (Kelley,
2003i), the attorney also convinced the jury that all the necessary elements
were not there to convict the client of the crime. In the case where the murder
defendant represented himself at trial, he was able to convince the jury not to
convict him by having an emotional breakdown while on the witness stand
(Kelley, 2003b). For two more murder cases the defendants were eventually
acquitted because the real offenders were revealed. In each of these instances,
a witness was turned into a suspect, and then shown to be the real killer
through confession to the crime (Kelley, 2003e, f).
How
well do these portrayals measure up to defense attorneys in reality? That’s
what the second part of this paper is going to explore. First, physical
demographics of attorneys in the real world are not exactly as they are
depicted in The Practice
. While the show has an equal
representation of both males and females, the same is not true in reality.
During the 1980’s in
Practice , females
make up 42.42 percent of associates and only 16.30 percent of the partners in
these firms (The NALP Foundation, 2002:1). Women as partners are far
over-represented on the show, comprising 60 percent of the partners (one of the
males is still awaiting partnership). Podgers
(2000:84) believes the reason for the lack of women partners in private law
firms in the
Another
physical demographic that can be compared to The Practice is race. One-third of the
defense attorneys on the show are black, and the remaining two-thirds are
white. African-Americans make up 40 percent of the partners on the show, but
only 3.48 percent of partners nationwide in reality. In
A
third physical demographic of attorneys is socioeconomic status. There was not
much information given about past socioeconomic status of attorneys on the
show, but we do know that two of the men came from lower-class backgrounds.
While Zemans (1987:634) claims that the profession is
likely to hold members from “high-status backgrounds…there is still a
significant number of members of the bar, at least in the cities, whose fathers
had substantially lower-status occupations.” Defense attorneys,
and lawyers in general, earn salaries that place them in the upper-middle
class. The average income of those lawyers who were just six months out of law
school in 2000 was $88,280. The average for those in private practice was
lower, at $80,000 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2000).
A
final demographic is age. The attorneys on the show are all in their late
twenties to early to mid thirties. This is only partly representative of
attorneys in the real world. At Banks and Morris, a private
Next,
the first part of the paper looked at the different work-related tasks of the
defense attorneys. The show would lead the audience to believe that attorneys
spend most of their time in the courtroom at trial. Actual trial proceedings
constitute only a small part of what lawyers do. Many lawyers will never argue
a case in court (Zemans, 1987:628). Lawyers work
includes conducting research, meeting with clients, and preparing briefs. Part
of this preparation process is keeping informed of the latest laws and judicial
decisions (Bureau if Justice Statistics, 2000). The defense attorneys on the
show never read up on the latest laws or judicial decisions.
Moving
on, another topic discussed was the type of cases the defense attorneys
represented. The most common was murder. This was not representative of actual
statistics, where there were only 60 murder cases in the state of
A
final topic is the outcome of the cases tried in court by defense attorneys. On
The Practice , all of their cases went to
court, and seven of the ten cases that reached a conclusion ended in a not
guilty verdict. None of the defendants plea bargained.
Dombrowsky claims that 90 percent of his firms’ cases
are settled by a plea bargain. Of the remaining ones that go to trial, 80
percent return a not guilty verdict (Dombrowsky, 2003).
While he admit this number is high compared to the national average of 1.6
percent (
Overall,
the television show The Practice does not do an accurate job
of portraying defense attorneys through their personal demographics, the
different job-related tasks they perform, the types of cases they represent, or
the outcomes of their cases. A more accurate depiction of this profession could
be achieved. However, not all of the portrayals are necessarily bad
representations of the judicial system. Hopefully, one day, some of the
misrepresentations on the show as of today will actually be a reality. Maybe
there will be equal opportunities for women and minorities. However, hopefully
other aspects, such as the 70 percent acquittal rate, will not be fulfilled. It
remains to be seen whether or not
A Media Sources:
Kelley,
David E. (Producer), and Oz Scott (Director). (2003a). The Practice . February
21.
Kelley, David E. (Producer), and Oz Scott (Director). (2003b.)The Practice . February
24.
Kelley,
David E. (Producer), and Oz Scott (Director). (2003c). The Practice .
February
25.
Kelley,
David E. (Producer), and Oz Scott (Director). (2003d). The Practice .
February
26.
Kelley,
David E. (Producer), and Oz Scott (Director). (2003e). The Practice . February
27.
Kelley,
David E. (Producer), and Oz Scott (Director). (2003f). The Practice . February
28.
Kelley,
David E. (Producer), and Oz Scott (Director). (2003g). The Practice . March
3.
Kelley,
David E. (Producer), and Oz Scott (Director). (2003h). The Practice . March
4.
Kelley,
David E. (Producer), and Oz Scott (Director). (2003i). The Practice . March
5.
Kelley,
David E. (Producer), and Oz Scott (Director). (2003j.) The Practice . March
6.
B.
Books, Articles, and Documents:
Anonymous. (1998). Guide to leading
American attorneys.
Research Corporation.
Author, Harlow, Caroline Wolfe, Ph.D. (2000). Defense
Counsel in Criminal Cases.
Retrieved
Author, NALP Foundation for Law Career Research and Education. (2002). Women
and
minorities in the Legal Profession. Retrieved
http://www.nalp.org/nalpresearch/mw02sum.htm.
Author, Sourcebook Staff. (2001). Sourcebook of criminal
justice statistics. Retrieved
Curran,
Barbara A. (1985). The lawyers
statistical report.
Foundation.
Morello, Karen
Berger.
(1986). The invisible bar.
Podgers, James. (2000, July). Losing
Numbers. American
bar association journal. 86 (1),
84-85.
association journal. 86(2), 2-32.
from http://www.bls.gov
Zemans, Francis. (1987). Defense lawyers. In Janosik, Robert (Ed.).
Encyclopedia of the
American judicial
system. (pp.628-634).
C.
Interviews:
Dombrowsky, Alexander. Defense Attorney. (2003).
Interviewed by Christina Rivers.