The Best Legal Drama/ Thriller TV Shows
Lawyers, Courtroom Drama, Police work
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- CreatorDick WolfRick EidStarsJerry OrbachJesse L. MartinDennis FarinaNew York's finest police detectives and prosecutors fight to make the city a safer place. With integrity as the guiding force from investigation to verdict, the teams weigh every perspective in their commitment to finding justice.
- CreatorDick WolfStarsMariska HargitayChristopher MeloniIce-TThis series follows the Special Victims Unit, a specially trained squad of detectives in the New York City Police Department that investigate sexually related crimes.
- CreatorRene BalcerDick WolfStarsKathryn ErbeVincent D'OnofrioJamey SheridanThis series focuses on the NYPD's Major Case Squad, a force of detectives who investigate high-profile cases, while also showing parts of the crime from the perpetrator's point of view.
- CreatorPaul AttanasioStarsRichard BelzerClark JohnsonYaphet KottoAn American police procedural television series chronicling the work of a fictional version of the Baltimore Police Department's Homicide Unit.
- CreatorVince GilliganPeter GouldStarsBob OdenkirkRhea SeehornJonathan BanksThe trials and tribulations of criminal lawyer Jimmy McGill in the years leading up to his fateful run-in with Walter White and Jesse Pinkman.
- CreatorMichelle KingRobert KingStarsJulianna MarguliesChris NothJosh CharlesAlicia Florrick has been a good wife to her husband, a former state's attorney. After a very humiliating sex and corruption scandal, he is behind bars. She must now provide for her family and returns to work as a litigator in a law firm.
- CreatorDavid E. KelleyStarsJames SpaderWilliam ShatnerCandice BergenBoston Legal is a spin-off of the long-running David E. Kelley series The Practice (1997), following the exploits of former Practice character Alan Shore (James Spader) at the legal firm of Crane, Poole, and Schmidt.
- CreatorPeter NowalkStarsViola DavisBilly BrownJack FalaheeA group of ambitious law students and their brilliant criminal defense professor become involved in a twisted murder plot that promises to change the course of their lives.
- CreatorDavid E. KelleyStarsDylan McDermottKelli WilliamsLara Flynn BoyleWe follow the exploits and cases of defense attorneys of a Boston law firm. Bobby Donnell is the senior defense attorney and founder of the firm.
- CreatorReinhold WeegeStarsHarry AndersonJohn LarroquetteRichard MollAn eccentric fun-loving judge presides over an urban night court and all the silliness going on there.
- CreatorAaron SorkinStarsMartin SheenRob LoweAllison JanneyInside the lives of staffers in the West Wing of the White House.
- CreatorGlenn KesslerTodd A. KesslerDaniel ZelmanStarsGlenn CloseRose ByrneTate DonovanA law school graduate becomes the protégée of a successful high-stakes litigator.
- CreatorAmy BrennemanBill D'EliaBarbara HallStarsAmy BrennemanTyne DalyKarle WarrenA family drama focused on three generations of women living together in Hartford, Connecticut.
- CreatorMichelle KingRobert KingPhil Alden RobinsonStarsChristine BaranskiSarah SteeleNyambi NyambiWhen Diane Lockhart's life savings are lost, she must start from scratch at a new firm.
- CreatorDavid E. KelleyJonathan ShapiroStarsBilly Bob ThorntonNina AriandaTania RaymondeA disgraced lawyer, now an ambulance chaser, gets a case that could bring him redemption or at least revenge on the firm which expelled him.
- CreatorSteven BochcoCharles H. EgleeChanning GibsonStarsMary McCormackMichael HaydenJ.C. MacKenzieTheodore Hoffman is a prominent defense attorney in a prestigious Los Angeles law firm. After successfully defending the wealthy but suspicious Richard Cross in a lurid murder trial, he is now involved in the defense of Neil Avedon. Neil is a famous young actor who has had severe drug and alcohol problems and was subsequently charged with the murder, after Cross was acquitted. This single case will run an entire television season (interspersed with bits from other cases that the firm is involved in).
- DirectorGraeme CampbellStarsHenry ThomasJames WilderStephen ShellenFreshly escaped from prison, Isaac is picked up by his brothers, and the entire brood embarks on a crime spree that claims the lives of six people.
- CreatorAaron KorshStarsGabriel MachtPatrick J. AdamsMeghan MarkleOn the run from a drug deal gone bad, brilliant college dropout Mike Ross finds himself working with Harvey Specter, one of New York City's best lawyers.
- CreatorMitchell BurgessRobin GreenStarsDonnie WahlbergBridget MoynahanWill EstesRevolves around a family of New York cops.
- CreatorJames DuffStarsKyra SedgwickJ.K. SimmonsCorey ReynoldsDeputy Police Chief Brenda Johnson runs the Priority Homicide Division of the LAPD with an unorthodox style. Her innate ability to read people and obtain confessions helps her and her team solve the city's toughest, most sensitive cases.
- CreatorCarlton CuseStarsDon JohnsonCheech MarinJodi Lyn O'KeefeA smart alecky San Francisco, California cop and his get rich quick scheme of a partner keep tabs on crime and take down the bad guys in the Bay Area.
- CreatorRobert SingerStarsMark HarmonMarlee MatlinWilliam Converse-RobertsA drama about the working relationship between Assistant DA Tess Kaufman, a prosecutor sensitive to the rights of the accused, and hard-charging, gruff Detective Dicky Cobb, an old-fashioned cop with a "bust-the-perps" attitude.
- CreatorMatt MacLeodJulia KeatleyPhilip KeatleyStarsJulie StewartGarry ChalkTamara Marie WatsonThe cases of a police unit specializing in revisiting old criminal files whose investigations have been inconclusive.
- CreatorAnne KenneyStarsKathleen QuinlanChristopher McDonaldMerrilee McCommasAn upscale law firm specializing in family law undertakes clients with domestic conflicts.
- CreatorDavid E. KelleyStarsCalista FlockhartGreg GermannJane KrakowskiFollows the personal and professional life of lawyer Ally.
- CreatorDonald P. BellisarioStarsDavid James ElliottCatherine BellPatrick LabyorteauxThe cases of Harmon Rabb, former Navy fighter pilot, and his fellow lawyers of the U.S. Navy's Judge Advocate General's office.
- CreatorPeter MoffatStarsMaxine PeakeRupert Penry-JonesNeil StukeDrama series about life at the Bar, the dilemmas and problems that modern day barristers have to face, and what it means to become a silk.
- CreatorJosh BermanStarsBrooke ElliottMargaret ChoKate LeveringA vapid aspiring model killed in a car crash gets brought back to life as an intelligent, overweight lawyer, hoping to find the meaning of inner beauty.
- CreatorPaul William DaviesStarsHope DavisBen ShenkmanJasmin Savoy BrownSet in the Southern District of New York Federal Court, brand-new lawyers work for both the defense and the prosecution as they handle the most high-profile and high-stakes cases in the country--all as their personal lives intersect.
- CreatorGreg SpottiswoodStarsSimone MissickWilson BethelJessica CamachoA look at the personal and professional lives of the judges, lawyers, clerks, bailiffs and cops who work at an L.A. County courthouse.
- DirectorAndrew DavisStarsKevin CostnerAshton KutcherSela WardA high school swim champion with a troubled past enrolls in the U.S. Coast Guard's "A" School, where legendary rescue swimmer Ben Randall teaches him some hard lessons about loss, love, and self-sacrifice.
- CreatorDavid HollanderStarsSimon BakerAlan RosenbergRaphael SbargeNick Fallin is a hotshot lawyer working at his father's ultrasuccessful Pittsburgh law firm. Unfortunately, the high life has gotten the best of Nick.
- CreatorIan BiedermanStarsJames WoodsDanielle PanabakerSophina BrownSebastian Stark is a well-known Los Angeles attorney who leaves his lucrative career defending wealthy criminals to be a prosecutor for the district attorney.
- CreatorHunt BaldwinJohn CovenyStarsRobert TaylorKatee SackhoffLou Diamond PhillipsWalt Longmire is the dedicated and unflappable sheriff of Absaroka County, Wyoming. Widowed only a year, he is a man in psychic repair but buries his pain behind his brave face, unassuming grin and dry wit.
- CreatorGlenn Gordon CaronStarsPatricia ArquetteMiguel SandovalJake WeberSuburban mom Allison DuBois attempts to balance family life with solving mysteries using her special gift. The dead send her visions of their deaths or other crimes while she sleeps.
- CreatorLukas ReiterStarsJosh LucasCallum Keith RennieMolly ParkerDefense Attorney Mitch McDeere is targeted for execution by the Chicago Mob in retaliation for bringing down a profitable Mob-operated Memphis law firm ten years earlier.
- CreatorCollier YoungStarsRaymond BurrDon GallowayDon MitchellWheelchair-using, crime-fighting detective Robert T. Ironside battles the bad guys on the streets of San Francisco.
- CreatorHank SteinbergStarsNicholas PinnockIndira VarmaJoy BryantA prisoner becomes a lawyer and fights to overturn his life sentence for a crime he didn't commit.
- CreatorGreg BerlantiMarc GuggenheimStarsJonny Lee MillerNatasha HenstridgeLoretta DevineSan Francisco lawyer Eli Stone begins to see things, which leads him to discover a brain aneurysm. But his visions lead him to accept cases with little monetary gain but a lot of moral goodness.
- CreatorTerri KoppStarsErica AshChristian KeyesMegan HutchingsWorking for a legal aid office in New York City, Gwen Sullivan fights for clients who can't afford to choose their own attorney.
- CreatorKrista VernoffStarsKatey SagalJohn CorbettLex Scott DavisFollows a legal advocate with a blue collar background, who helps those in need without a law degree.
- CreatorDaniel ArkinAaron KorshStarsGina TorresBethany Joy LenzSimon KassianidesAttorney Jessica Pearson enters the complex and seedy world of Chicago politics.
- CreatorSusannah GrantMichael ChabonAyelet WaldmanStarsKaitlyn DeverToni ColletteMerritt WeverA teenager is charged with lying about being raped, but two detectives follow the path to the truth.
- CreatorAva DuVernayStarsAsante BlackkCaleel HarrisEthan HerisseFive teens from Harlem become trapped in a nightmare when they're falsely accused of a brutal attack in Central Park. Based on the true story.
- CreatorVeena SudStarsClare-Hope AshiteyBeau KnappMichael MosleyTensions run high between black citizens and white cops in Jersey City when a black teenage boy is critically injured by a cop.
- CreatorCraig SweenyCraig TurkStarsAnna WoodAto EssandohPhillipa SooA look at the professional and personal lives of some of the military's brightest legal minds in the courtroom, where each attorney is trained as a prosecutor, a defense lawyer, an investigator - and a Marine.
- CreatorAndrew MogelJarrad PaulStarsRob LoweFred SavageMary Elizabeth EllisTelevision lawyer Dean Sanderson moves back to his small home town after a stint in Hollywood, thinking that his time on TV qualifies him to run his family's law firm.
- CreatorDave EricksonStarsJulianna MarguliesBen ShenkmanKeith D. RobinsonA television series centered on Elizabeth Canterbury, a tough-minded defense attorney who isn't afraid to push boundaries in order to protect innocent clients.
- CreatorPeter MoffatStarsBryan CranstonHope DavisMichael StuhlbargA judge confronts his convictions when his son is involved in a hit-and-run that embroils an organized-crime family.
- DirectorClay GlenStarsKelli BerglundLili KaramalikisTess FowlerA teenager who gave up her spot in an elite U.S. gymnastics program when her family moved to Australia enters a competition to help a new friend.
- DirectorXavier UnderwoodStarsNera BrentAmos BrownMiguel BustosTech giant Google has pledged $1 billion to build more housing in the Bay Area. The plan includes 15,000 units on its own land, 5,000 additional affordable units over the next decade, and $50 million in grants to help non-profits who are combating homelessness and displacement. The Bay Area currently has the third largest homeless population in the U.S. at more than 28,000 people. In City On the Hill, Xavier Underwood and Adam Fleishman (Emmy®-winning Cinematographer 'Running with Horses') head west to San Francisco, California to examine the residual effects of the tech boom, what made San Francisco into the great city it is, and what can be done to save it's increasingly displaced population, interviewing civil rights leaders, politicians, Bay-Area natives, and small business owners. Directed and produced by Underwood, this perceptive film exposés of the realities of gentrification in San Francisco, CA, home to the highest housing costs in the country. Underwood interviews a variety of insiders, including: Secretary Benjamin S. Carson, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; Rev. Dr. Amos C. Brown, long time civil rights activist and president of the San Francisco branch of the NAACP; Miguel Bustos, Senior Director, Center for Social Justice - Glide Foundation; Nancy Conrad, wife of Legendary Astronaut Pete Conrad; Jessica Donig, Executive Director of San Francisco-based Miracle Messages; Bay-Area natives and small-business owners who progressively face harsh realities. City On the Hill is the second documentary by production house Howard Stirk Holdings, who made the 2015 primetime special A Breath of Fresh Air, which launched Dr. Ben Carson's 2016 Presidential Campaign. City On the Hill was directed and produced by Xavier Underwood: filmed and edited by Adam Fleishman; executive producer, Armstrong Williams.
- CreatorChuck MacLeanStarsKevin BaconAldis HodgeLauren E. BanksIn early 1990s Boston, ADA, Decourcy Ward, forms an unlikely alliance with a corrupt venerated FBI veteran, Jackie Rohr. Together, they take on a case that changes the city's entire criminal justice system.
- CreatorSteven BochcoAlison CrossStarsKim DelaneyTom Everett ScottRick HoffmanA new lawyer tries to maintain her distance from her sometimes guilty clients, but building a good rep threatens to overcome her passion.
- StarsAnna Maxwell MartinCarey MulliganDenis LawsonA suspenseful tale about the injustices of the 19th Century English legal system.
- CreatorBill ChaisKevin FallsStarsMark-Paul GosselaarBreckin MeyerReed DiamondLawyers and lifelong friends Jared Franklin and Peter Bash are recruited by a large firm's major partner after winning a high-profile case.
- CreatorMichael SardoStarsSarah ShahiMichael TruccoVirginia WilliamsA woman, who quit being an attorney at her father's law firm to become a mediator, copes after her father's death.
- CreatorReginald RoseStarsE.G. MarshallRobert ReedPolly RowlesA father and son lawyer duo take a variety of cases that often deal with the important issues of the day.
- DirectorScott McGeheeDavid SiegelStarsTilda SwintonGoran VisnjicJonathan TuckerA woman spirals out of control while trying to keep her son from being found culpable in a murder investigation.
- CreatorDavid HemingsonStarsMatt LongNorbert Leo ButzBen LawsonFollows four young new lawyers who enter one of the most prestigious law firms in Los Angeles, Sterling Law.
- CreatorHarold BuchmanSidney J. FurieE. Jack NeumanStarsBarry NewmanSusan HowardAlbert SalmiA Harvard-educated lawyer from Boston sets up shop in a small Arizona town.
- CreatorDean HargroveStarsAndy GriffithLinda PurlKene HolidayBen Matlock is a very expensive criminal defense attorney, who charges one hundred thousand dollars to take a case. Fortunately, he's worth every penny, as he and his associates defend his clients by finding the real killer.
- CreatorWilliam M. FinkelsteinStarsMariel HemingwayPeter OnoratiDebi MazarEli and Sydney are top divorce attorneys in New York City. The dynamic changes when Charlie is hired and Eli takes a lower profile. Sydney and Charlie develop a flirtatious arrangement while concentrating on their clients' problems.
- CreatorBeau WillimonStarsKevin SpaceyMichel GillRobin WrightA Congressman works with his equally conniving wife to exact revenge on the people who betrayed him.
- CreatorPeter DuncanRichard RoxburghCharles WaterstreetStarsRichard RoxburghMatt DayKate BoxCleaver Greene is a drug addict who has a massive gambling debt with some very shady characters and is in love with a prostitute. He's also a very good criminal lawyer, capable of winning unwinnable cases.
- CreatorPeter DuncanPeter TolanStarsGreg KinnearJohn OrtizMiranda OttoAn outspoken and self-destructive criminal defense lawyer takes on the most challenging cases.