This is a reality contest where 12 lawyers compete for a grand prize of
$250,000. Or in other words, enough to pay off their law school loans
once taxes are taken out. Law school can be very expensive.
Roy Black, a highly esteemed lawyer, is the sole judge of deciding who is
eliminated each week. He is well known for representing celebrities and
also for his guest commentaries on news programs. He is usually either
loved or hated, but he is highly respected and he has written several
books on skills needed by lawyers.
I will admit that I was excited when I heard there was going to be an
Apprentice type show featuring lawyers. Then the more I heard about
what the show is actually about, I was disappointed. For starters, the
show is focused on trial lawyers and the court room.
Trial lawyers are
only a subset of the variety of lawyers that exist in reality. I was
hoping for a show that displayed lawyers in a variety of settings and
situations. The title is also a little misleading to me, but I am
probably being way too picky, so I will leave that alone.
As highly esteemed as Roy Black is as a lawyer and even a best selling
author, I am bothered by the fact that he is the sole judge for this
contest. This seems to make him the star of the show. There are many
highly esteemed lawyers that would judge the contestants differently
from him and it would be more interesting to see a panel of expert
lawyers debate the thoughts on the contestants and then come to a
decision on who is eliminated more similar to a jury. The debate would
allow the audience to see top lawyers in action, instead of only the
beginning lawyers that are the contestants.
The contestants are introduced by how they are perceived by other
contestants. Interesting approach and it keeps this from being the Roy
Black show. Some of the stuff may seem scripted, while others may think
the contestants appear too normal and boring, but to honest, this seems
true to life to me. It is mentioned that there are the aggressive type
of lawyers and the quiet ones that bring out the claws when no expects
it. I agree with all of this.
The 12 contestants have been randomly selected to four teams with three
members each. There are two totally different cases, each with a
plaintiff team and a defendant team. The cases are real with real people
involved. The first case is plaintiff Candy Danzig versus George Leach.
Danzig claims that her 3-legged dog was pulled through a fence and
brutally mauled by the defendant's two huge mastiff dogs. The defendant
claims that he is not responsible for the injuries of the plaintiff's
dog named Dingo.
The second case is plaintiff Karen Allen versus Bill Ryan. The plaintiff
was pulled over by Bill, who used his police light and siren, for a
traffic violation. Later, she discovers that he is the country coroner
and not a police officer. He has no authority to do this as part of his
job. The defendant claims that he is just being a good citizen.
They have 48 hours before the trial. The plaintiff team for the dog case
is Jason, Keith, and Aileen. Keith says that location is key, but the
case involves the fence between two neighbors. They decide to go to the
house and look at the layout of the land to better appreciate the case.
I totally agree with this. There is concern from Keith about Danzig as
witness since she is so emotionally connected to her dog; however I
think this is normal. The plaintiff is usually emotionally connected to
the reason why he or she is suing, otherwise why bother?
The defense team for the dog case is Oliver, Regina, and Anika. Anika
wants to see what the defendant is like when he comfortable in his own
environment. This is a shrewd move on their part. The defendant is very
colorful and I would be much more worried about him as witness than I
would be Danzig. Regina and Anika seem terrified of the dogs.
The defense team for the coroner case is Barrett, Elizabeth, and Chris.
They discuss the specifics of the case. Chris admits that he prefers to
work solo and takes time to gather his thoughts by himself. While
teamwork is important; there are three lawyers, who have only just met,
thrown randomly together on a random case, I think it is best for each
contestant to play to his or her own strengths to start out with.
Barrett says to the camera that Chris spent his time on research and
behind the scenes things and therefore she does not think that he has
what it takes to go for the jugular when he needs to. What! Speaking of
going for the jugular, she just hit mine. Those skills are totally
separate from each other. That is a display of bad judgment to think
that they are connected on her part. I personally love to research and I
normally have an easy going personality, but I can go for the jugular
when I need to. She should know better. I will cut her some slack
though because I have heard similar comments before from lawyers and I
would love to know where they pick up this idea. This better not be
something taught in law school.
The plaintiff team for the coroner case is Michael, Deep, and Kelly. They
are shown meeting with the client. Deep explains that their case will
actually be arbitration, but while it does not take place in a court
room and is less formal, it is still just as important to the clients. I
am so happy that we are being seen something outside of a court room. I
still think the focus of this show is too narrow though.
Kelly totally blows her introduction. She thinks the judge was being too
hard on her, but this seems mild to me. How did she manage to make it
through law school? A lawyer should be used to that type of questioning.
Michael presents his case and Chris starts objecting like a maniac
according to Barrett. Barrett then realizes that Chris does have what it
takes and she is very impressed. Then Chris is talking and I am very
impressed. He shows depth of logic and strategy. I guess all that
supposedly useless behind the scenes stuff paid off for him. He was very
well prepared. Michael states that Chris gave a fantastic cross and that
Chris is probably his competition. In turn, Chris states my opinion that
Michael thinks too highly of himself, but that he does know what he is
doing, and Chris thinks Michael is probably his competition.
Next we are shown the court room where.....
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