 USA
/ Warner Bros TV (Warner-Jerry Bruckheimer Television) / x60 minute
episodes / 2005
Creator: Jonathan Shapiro /
Executive Producers: Jerry Bruckheimer, Jonathan Littman, Jonathan Shapiro
A fast-paced procedural drama with humor, "Just Legal" follows two lawyers who save their clients and, in the process, save themselves. From Jerry Bruckheimer Television in association with Warner Bros. Television Production Inc., "Just Legal" stars Don Johnson ("Miami Vice," "Tin Cup," "Nash Bridges"), Jay Baruchel ("Million Dollar Baby," "Undeclared") and Jaime Lee Kirchner ("Carlito's Way: Rise to Power") and airs Mondays (9:00 - 10:00 p.m. ET/PT) on The WB Television Network.
David "Skip" Ross (Baruchel), 19, a brilliant legal prodigy, dreams of becoming a great trial lawyer. When he can't land a job at any of the prestigious Los Angeles law firms because he's too young, Skip ends up working for Grant Cooper (Johnson). Once a great lawyer, Cooper used to be a golden boy at an important downtown law firm, but when he lost a case he should not have taken on, his client was executed--and Cooper began a long, slow descent into career and personal failure. Now, Cooper is barely scraping by in a low-rent private practice as a court-appointed attorney in a shabby beachfront office in Venice, California, a tough and funky tourist town populated by street performers, panhandlers and a thriving criminal element.
A functioning alcoholic with a cynical view, Cooper is nonetheless touched by the enthusiasm and idealism he sees in his unlikely new protégé. Skip's brilliant mind allowed him to excel at all things academic, but he had a sheltered upbringing and now finds himself in the working world with very few social skills to fall back on. Skip desperately needs the practical advice that can only come from an experienced trial lawyer, and Cooper is only too happy to have someone around to do the "grunt" work. As he helps the young man make the transition
from school and boyhood to the tough realities of court and manhood, Cooper is reminded of the best part of himself--the part that got lost along the way.
The law office has only one employee, Dulcinea "Dee" Cruz (Kirchner), a former client of Cooper's who took the job to pay off her legal fees and fulfill her parole requirements. An African-American in her mid-20s, Dee is tough, blue collar and strikingly beautiful; a woman who looks amazing in jeans, a T-shirt and an electronic ankle bracelet. Her crime was murder, and although Cooper managed to get the charge reduced to manslaughter, he wasn't able to keep her out of jail. He won't admit it, but Cooper feels guilty that Dee ended up serving time. Smart, capable and completely immune to Cooper's charm, Dee can hold her own against Cooper and Skip, and she often manages to intimidate them both.
Skip also finds himself somewhat intimidated by his former law school classmate, Kate Manat (recurring guest star Marika Dominczyk - "The Orphan King," "The Help"), a wealthy, ambitious, beautiful and brainy 26-year-old who was hired by one of the downtown law firms that refused to hire Skip. In school, Kate and Skip were friends and study partners. Today, they often find themselves on opposite sides of the courtroom, and Skip continues to struggle to hide his strong attraction to Kate.
The only person that Skip feels truly comfortable with is his underachieving younger brother, Tom (recurring guest star Reiley McClendon - "Gentle Ben 2"). Tom is handsome, cool, socially adept and very smart despite his slacker ways. He loves surfing and girls and cannot understand why his older brother is determined to spend every waking moment at work.
The cases on "Just Legal" are the ones that most lawyers do their best to avoid. Cooper and Skip defend society's forgotten people, not wealthy celebrities. Their stories involve murder, mayhem, medical malpractice, rape, racism and classic whodunits with surprising twists. Many stories are based on archetypal legal cases from the past, while others are ripped from today's headlines. In a realistic portrayal of the everyday life of trial attorneys, Cooper and Skip are always the underdogs, forced to do the gritty work of finding clues and tracking down witnesses in the beautiful but often dangerous neighborhoods of Southern California.
With each case, Skip becomes a better lawyer, even as he loses some of the innocence that drew him to a legal career in the first place. His youthful tendency to view life and the law in black and white slowly gives way to the knowledge that most of the world exists in shades of gray. As they work their way through the legal system, defending the accused and crusading for the unjustly wronged, Cooper teaches Skip to be a lawyer and a man, while Skip renews Cooper's faith in the law and himself.
CAST
DON JOHNSON as Grant Cooper / JAY BARUCHEL as David "Skip" Ross / JAIME LEE KIRCHNER as Dulcinea "Dee" Cruz
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