Seven Fascinating Films for Lawyers

Lawyers are ardent followers of films that explore intelli-gent courtroom drama, justice and injustice in its many forms.

While other writers review and tout the irrefutable quality of such films as To Kill a Mockingbird, Seven Angry Men and Erin Brockovich, these seven lesser-explored films are “must-sees” that explore facets of the law and deliver in-sight, education and entertainment value.

Written and directed by Orson Welles, based on the novel by Franz Kafka and starring Anthony Perkins as Joseph K, there is nothing friendly about this dark story of an office administrator charged with unspecified wrongdoing and “arrested” but not incarcerated. A victim of the legal system, he defends himself in a paralysing nightmare of absolute perplex-ity, shadowy court and legal officials and veiled accusations. Corrupt legal authorities twist their behaviour into defendable actions. Albert “The Advocate” (played by Orson Welles), offers dim hope cloaked in hu-miliation and deceit. Prejudiced by process, real justice never comes, no matter how long the Accused wait and how many appeals they make. This is a MUST SEE, but more importantly, a MUST LISTEN.

1. The Trial (1963)

Directed by Jonathan Kaplan and starring Kelly McGillis and Jodie Foster, this film explores the legalities of capital rape in the shameless court of public opinion. Sarah Tobias (Jodie Foster), a female of meagre means, is gang-raped in a local bar while bystanders cheer on her assailants from the sidelines. Her struggle to obtain justice through her lawyer, Katherine Murphy (Kelly McGillis) is pitted against the gender prejudices of her per-petrators in a precedent-setting case that further defines criminal solicita-tion as actions which induce, entreat, encourage or persuade another person to commit rape.

2. The Accused (1988)

In 1950s Croydon, England, 19-year-old Derek Bentley (Christopher Ec-cleston), a brain-injured young man with epilepsy and the mental capaci-ty of an eleven-year-old, falls in with a group of delinquent young “Wise Guys” led by 16-year-old Christopher Craig (Paul Reynolds), a wannabe hoodlum with a penchant for handguns, robberies and the gangster life-style. Derek’s association with Chris is reminiscent of Oliver Twist’s bond with The Artful Dodger, whom Derek accompanies on an impromptu robbery that goes tragically wrong before it ever begins. “Let Him Have It” scrutinizes the true story of Derek Bentley, who was convicted of murder, sentenced to death and hanged on January 28, 1953 and is a bitter commentary on the British system of criminal prosecution and capi-tal punishment that will leave viewers disgusted, disillusioned and frus-trated by the injustice of the justice system.

3. Let Him Have It (1991)

Directed by Steven Zaillian, Jan Schlichtmann (John Travolta) portrays an opportunistic Plaintiff personal injury lawyer of a small but financially suc-cessful boutique practice who is saddled with an “orphaned” 1982 envi-ronmental class action. Representing residents of Woburn, Massachusetts, whose drinking water was contaminated with Trichloroethylene by J. Riley Leather Company, Inc., a division of Beatrice Foods, and W.R. Grace, a chemical company, Schlichtmann investigates and litigates against the cor-porate negligence that led to the deaths of the town’s children. Robert Duvall is brilliant as Mr. Thatcher, senior Counsel for Beatrice Foods. This “David and Goliath” movie weighs the principles that drive a lawsuit against a law firm’s financial prosperity. The astronomical psychological and financial costs incurred by Schlichtmann and his partners to prove the Defendants’ willful negligence is mind-boggling and demarcates Schlicht-mann’s shift in values.

4. A Civil Action (1998)

This is a mesmerizing film about the perception of right and wrong fil-tered through religion, ethics and politics. Director David Hugh Jones’ film explores the shifting definition of “doing what is right”. Ben Kingsley is single-handedly fantastic in any role he graces with his presence. As Harry Fertig, he is an extraordinarily decent, deeply religious father who avenges the sudden death of his 5-year-old son, Stevie, by murdering the three hospital medical staff whose callous indifference led to his demise. Roy Bleakie (Alec Baldwin), an unscrupulous, high-profile lawyer retained to prove Fertig’s insanity, becomes Fertig’s reluctant student and is taught the Higher Meaning of The Law and its influence on accounta-bility and expiating sin.

5. The Confession (1999)

Directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev, this worthy nominee of the 2014 Acade-my Awards for Best Foreign Language Film tells the all-too-real tale of the length a municipality will go to expropriate land and violate civil rights to accomplish corrupt political aspirations. It is a gritty and harsh satirical examination of authority, the abuse and misuse of power and process and one man’s unerring determination to thwart greed, irrespective of the odds and personal loss.

6. Leviathan (2014)

Based on the true story of Robert (“Bob”) Kearns’ protracted litigation with the American automobile manufacturing industry, Greg Kinnear de-livers a believable portrayal of a well-intentioned and abrasive but likea-ble college professor and inventor who designs and develops the inter-mittent windshield wiper. In his legal struggle for the proprietary rights to his own invention, he becomes the inspirational face of “the little man, te-naciously fighting for his inventor’s rights against corporate America.

With our seven out the way, we want to know what your favourite law films are. Tweet us at @SaccoMannPP with your own choices.

7. Flash of Genius (2008)