In honor of Matthew McConaughey starring in 'The Lincoln Lawyer," we look at some of the best films about lawyers ever made.
The Lincoln Lawyer
Matthew McConaughey stars as a slick criminal defense attorney who works out of the back of a Lincoln Continental in the latest legal drama to hit the big screen. It’s not his first time starring as a lawyer. He played a novice defense lawyer in this 1996 courtroom thriller based on John Grisham’s first novel.
To Kill a Mockingbird
In this movie based on a classic novel, Atticus Finch might be one of the greatest characters in the history of film and literature. He’s an honest lawyer with young children who puts his career at risk in the 1930s when he represents a black man accused of rape.
The Verdict
A drunken ambulance chaser seeks personal redemption in this 1982 film, when he is handed a medical malpractice case that would be a slam dunk if he ignored questionable ethics and morality.
A Few Good Men
Jack Nicholson didn't think Tom Cruise could handle the truth in this all-star 1992 courtroom drama about the trial of two Marines charged with the murder of a fellow soldier
Adam's Rib
Two Hollywood greats play married attorneys on opposite sides of a criminal case in this 1949 courtroom comedy. George Cukor directed what many consider the best romantic comedy about marriage and the law ever made.
The Firm
Tom Cruise plays a lawyer from a poor family who takes a job with a Southern firm whose business is tied heavily to organized crime.
My Cousin Vinny
Joe Pesci is no ordinary fish out of water in this 1992 comedy. He's a New York guy in Alabama who comically defends his cousin in a capital murder case. This actress won an Academy Award for her perfect accent.
Legally Blonde
Essentially, this 2001 flick is one long lawyer joke, with Academy Award winnerReese Witherspoon as a pink-clad sorority girl turned-Harvard law student
Inherit the Wind
Spencer Tracy and Fredric March play out a slightly fictionalized version of an infamous 1925 trial with Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan in this 1960 film.
Anatomy of a Murder
A silver screen star represents an Army officer accused of murdering a bartender he claims raped his wife in this 1959 trial court drama.
Primal Fear
A silver fox gives one of his best performances in this 1996 thriller, but a then-newcomer steals the show with one look when he transforms from stuttering altar boy to stone-cold killer.
And Justice for All
This 1979 satirical look at the American justice system produced one of the most famous lines uttered in film and starred an Oscar-winning tough guy.