10 Best Legal Drama TV Shows Of All Time, Ranked

There are plenty of genres that are considered staples on television. Medical dramas like "E.R." and "Grey's Anatomy," police procedurals like "NCIS" and "Bones," and even sitcoms like "The Office" and "Parks and Recreation" all fit into a particular mold and are expected in the evening line-up. But there's one distinct type of show that always feels fresh and different, even if they all seem the same: legal dramas. 

A legal drama is just a drama following lawyers? Not quite. Sure, the shows typically follow lawyers and their cases, but there's so much more bubbling underneath the surface. Personal lives, political corruption, morality, and more are on full display as they work for their clients and themselves, often causing unexpected twists and intriguing cases that keep our eyes glued to the screen.

If you're in need of a new legal drama to binge, look no further. With the help of Rotten Tomatoes scores and fan discussions online, we determined the best legal dramas of all time. They contain lawyers of all types, their cases, and the antics that ensue as they try to do the best they can for their clients.

• Cast: Billy Bob Thornton, William Hurt, Maria Bello, Olivia Thirlby, Nina Arianda
• Creators: David E. Kelley, Jonathan Shapiro
• Number of Episodes: 32
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 86%
• Where to Watch: MGM+, Prime Video

"Goliath" features Billy Bob Thornton as Billy McBride, a lawyer who was skilled enough at his job to have someone acquitted, which then led the person to carry out more murders and caused McBride to quit entirely. However, when he's asked to help with a wrongful death case and go against the firm he helped build, it brings him out of retirement.

A premise like that makes for strong character development for McBride and sets up a different tone than the other series on this list. While some projects feature a protagonist entering a new career, "Goliath" shows what it's like to go back to something you gave up for a good moral reason. It makes for a gritty story of someone helping the little guy and rewriting his legacy. Getting better with each season, it's one of Thornton's best TV shows.

Across four seasons, "Goliath" boasts an 86% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, while audiences awarded it a 70%. However, the latter did enjoy the first season more, with 91% compared to the critics' 78%. Reviews praise Thornton's performance, with Daniel Fienberg writing for The Hollywood Reporter that the actor's "gift at taking predictably quirky characters and making the beats of that quirkiness slightly off-kilter is close to unmatched."

• Cast: James Spader, Monica Potter, Rhona Mitra, Lake Bell, William Shatner
• Creator: David E. Kelley
• Number of Episodes: 101
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 86%
• Where to Watch: Disney+, Hulu

While many know William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk in "Star Trek: The Original Series," in "Boston Legal" he's Denny Crane, a lawyer known for having a 100% winning streak. A spin-off of "The Practice," "Boston Legal" follows a law firm in the titular city. Opposite Shatner's Crane is James Spader's Alan Shore. The two have different mentalities on how to win cases, but it doesn't stop them from being friends.

The premise of "Boston Legal" is for new character Brad Chase (Mark Valley) to come in and help with the firm's transition as a senior partner takes a step back. What it becomes over the course of five seasons is the team taking on all sorts of cases, many of which end up being rooted in important social or political themes like immigration and abstinence-only sex education. Despite the often sensitive subject matter, the series always maintains some comedy to lighten the mood.

The legal drama has an 86% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, with the audience score being a touch more favorable at 90%. Critics enjoy the dynamic between Shatner and Spader — The Age's Fergus Shiel writes that "watching Spader and Shatner in action is a delight."

• Cast: Viola Davis, Billy Brown, Alfred Enoch, Jack Falahee, Katie Findlay
• Creator: Peter Nowalk
• Number of Episodes: 90
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 88%
• Where to Watch: Disney+, Hulu, Tubi

Starring Viola Davis as Annalise Keating, "How to Get Away with Murder" follows Keating, a law professor and defense attorney, as she shows a select group of students how she practices. She goes hard for her clients, widely considered pretty ruthless. When that's combined with a murder investigation, it makes for an intense and mysterious narrative, especially since the murdered individuals include Keating's husband and the student he was cheating on her with.

"How to Get Away with Murder" is executive produced by Shonda Rhimes, who is also the mind behind "Grey's Anatomy" and "Bridgerton." That comes across in the drama of the series, which is always rooted in the law, whether it's working a case for a client or trying to solve her husband's murder to save herself. Relationship dynamics get messy, especially among the students and Keating's staff, but the mystery will have you binging an entire season in a weekend.

Averaging an 88% on Rotten Tomatoes across six seasons, the legal drama's high point is the lead actress, which should come as no surprise since Davis is in the elusive EGOT club. She's phenomenal as Keating in what Brian Tallerico calls "a powerhouse central performance" for RogerEbert.com. Davis is surrounded by a strong ensemble, with the New York Post highlighting that actor Alfred Enoch "plays [law student Wes] Gibbs with just the right amount of naivete and confusion."

• Cast: Glenn Close, Rose Byrne, Željko Ivanek, Noah Bean, Tate Donovan
• Creators: Todd A. Kessler, Glenn Kessler, Daniel Zelman
• Number of Episodes: 59
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 91%
• Where to Watch: Disney+, Hulu, Prime Video, Tubi

"Damages" looks at the relationship between Patty Hewes (Glenn Close), a lawyer known for her merciless nature, and Ellen Parsons (Rose Byrne), a fresh graduate and Hewes' mentee. The duo spend each season on a new case, including the death of someone's fiancé and a car crash, and an intense rivalry develops between the two women when Parsons takes a job with an opposing firm.

While many legal dramas feature a case for a few episodes, "Damages" takes audiences deep into just one, with flashbacks to the lead up of the conflict and what the aftermath looks like. Notably, the first season is mostly in the past, with only brief looks into the present until the end when the two finally line up. It makes for an intriguing narrative style that immediately engages you.

"Damages" has a 91% from critics and an 87% from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes. Like many series on this list, critics love the performance of the lead Close, but they also highlight the frequent plot twists and stellar writing. The Wall Street Journal's Nancy deWolf Smith writes that "the story is an onion with a thousand layers, each one a satisfying mystery of its own."

• Cast: Gabriel Macht, Patrick J. Adams, Rick Hoffman, Meghan Markle, Sarah Rafferty, Gina Torres
• Creator: Aaron Korsh
• Number of Episodes: 134
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 91%
• Where to Watch: Netflix, Peacock

"Suits" follows Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams), a guy with a photographic memory, as he fakes his way into a job as an associate lawyer under Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht), one of the best senior partners in New York City. While Specter knows Ross doesn't have a Harvard law degree (the most important qualification for lawyers hired at the company), he appreciates Ross's acumen and hires him anyway, helping him fudge his academic history.

Over the course of nine seasons, so much changes for the cast of characters. Ross does eventually pass the bar exam, but only after he's been found out as a fake several times, evening spending time in prison one season. Specter is always beefing with colleague Louis Litt (Rick Hoffman), especially because the two have similar ambitions. When their personal lives aren't getting in the way, there's a major case or client causing problems for the firm, often forcing the team to get creative with their solutions.

"Suits" averages a 91% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes and an 87% audience score. Critics compliment the characters and writing, particularly the witty one-liners that the show became known for, with David Hinckley calling the dialogue "snappy with a pop-culture flavor" in a review for the New York Daily News.

• Cast: Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Neve Campbell, Becki Newton, Jazz Raycole
• Creator: David E. Kelley, Ted Humphrey
• Number of Episodes: 40
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 92%
• Where to Watch: Netflix

Mickey Haller (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo) is a defense lawyer known for working out of the trunk of his Lincoln Navigator, hence his moniker and the title of the show "The Lincoln Lawyer." Based on the books by Michael Connelly, the series follows Haller taking over a practice from another lawyer after their death, someone trying to follow him around the city, and the corruption running rampant in most of his cases.

Haller often ends up in sticky situations, forcing him to decide between what's in his client's best interest and what he actually wants to be involved with. Attorney-client privilege can only go so far when the lawyer finds out what people are willing to do for him to represent them, especially after he gets an acquittal in a high-profile case. It makes for a show that has interesting cases and plenty of drama behind the scenes in Haller's work and personal life.

"The Lincoln Lawyer" averages a 92% on Rotten Tomatoes from critics, with praise for the procedural style format and Garcia-Rulfo's performance. "Manuel Garcia-Rulfo has a kind of effortless charm and creates instant empathy with his portrayal of the flawed but goodhearted defense attorney Mickey Haller," Richard Roeper writes for the Chicago Sun-Times.

• Cast: Dylan McDermott, LisaGay Hamilton, Steve Harris, Camryn Manheim
• Creator: David E. Kelley
• Number of Episodes: 167
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 92% (Season 1)
• Where to Watch: Prime Video

Like its spin-off "Boston Legal," "The Practice" is about a Boston-based law firm. Led by Bobby Donnell (Dylan McDermott), the firm assists with a wide variety of cases, like trying to get a stay of execution for someone and suing a corporation for a child's death because of what they manufacture.

While "The Practice" features new cases every episode, some of which do arch across multiple episodes or seasons, the true constant of the series is all of the decisions the lawyers make. They're regularly faced with acting unethical to best represent different individuals, and some of those choices threaten their ability to act as lawyers. It makes for a constant question of how each individual will behave and what their actions say about the state of the legal system, since they are trying to do what they believe is right for their clients.

Season 1 of "The Practice" has a 92% on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics praising the writing, particularly because it goes against the grain for the time it came out. "At networks these days, multi-episode plot arcs on prime time are frowned upon," Matthew Gilbert writes in The Boston Globe. "But with 'The Practice,' Kelley has simply ignored the taboo, stringing tense cases over four or more episodes and then bringing guest characters back later for another round."

• Cast: Julianna Margulies, Matt Czuchry, Archie Panjabi, Graham Phillips
• Creators: Robert King, Michelle King
• Number of Episodes: 156
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93%
• Where to Watch: Paramount+

"The Good Wife" follows Alicia Florrick (Julianna Margulies), a mother returning to the workforce as a litigator after her husband, a state attorney, lands in prison for political corruption. Florrick beats someone else out for a role at a firm run by an old friend, giving her an enemy in the state office as she tries to settle into her new job, take care of her kids, and maybe even have a new romance in her life.

Across seven seasons, Florrick builds her career while also rearranging everything in her life. Her relationship with her husband never recovers, resulting in divorce, and she lets herself explore other romantic possibilities. The feuds with other lawyers feel a bit like Whac-A-Mole, with a new one always popping up and threatening Florrick's job or cases. There's plenty of drama and interesting legal cases to binge, and the spin-off series "The Good Fight" and "Elsbeth" continue the story.

"The Good Wife" has a 93% average from critics and a 91% average from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes. Season 1 received strong reviews for being a show "about women coming into their own," as said by The Austin Chronicle's Belinda Acosta, and for the strong performance of Margulies. "As Alicia Florrick, Margulies is brave, vulnerable, and gutsy in a world that seems stacked against her," Acosta continues.

• Cast: Harry Hamlin, Corbin Bernsen, Jill Eikenberry, Michael Tucker, Richard Dysart
• Creators: Steven Bochco, Terry Louise Fisher
• Number of Episodes: 171
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 94% (Season 1)
• Where to Watch: Disney+, Hulu

"L.A. Law" takes audiences to the West Coast, compared to many of the East Coast shows on this list, to see how lawyers in sunny California handle their cases. Partners Michael Kuzak (Harry Hamlin) and Arnie Becker (Corbin Bernsen) lead their firm in covering pro bono cases, high-profile divorces, and strange thefts throughout Hollywood.

For eight seasons, "L.A. Law" covered important social and political topics of the time while also highlighting the personal lives of the associates. Many of the lawyers are forced to face their own prejudices due to their cases while also trying to have a balance between their professional and personal business, which results in a high-stress environment that often comes out in the courtroom. Despite the stakes, the series manages to include an ample amount of comedy to break the tension.

The first season of "L.A. Law" has a 94% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, with reviews praising how it changed the genre for the better in its format and style. "Just as the cop show could never be the same after 'Hill Street Blues,' the lawyer show will never be the same after 'L.A. Law.,'" Jeffrey Coffey writes in the Star-Telegram. 

• Cast: Bob Odenkirk, Jonathan Banks, Rhea Seehorn, Patrick Fabian, Michael Mando
• Creators: Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould
• Number of Episodes: 63
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 98%
• Where to Watch: Netflix

A spin-off of AMC's "Breaking Bad," "Better Call Saul" follows Bob Ondekirk's Jimmy McGill, better known as his professional alias Saul Goodman. In the Walter White series, he is the illegal substance maker's lawyer, but in his own show, audiences see Goodman's other equally shady clientele. With two timelines, Goodman relives his glory days as McGill while working his current role as a fast food manager.

The project not only gives better insight into who Saul Goodman is, but it shows his career over an eight year period across six seasons. Characters with great moments like Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito) and Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks) return, and it becomes clear that Goodman is putting in the time to earn his JD and trying to get on what he would consider the "right" path. However, after being rejected by his firm of choice and choosing instead to focus on lower income clients, Goodman's career causes him to cross paths with those involved with cartels and other illegal activities.

"Better Call Saul" boasts a 98% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, the highest of any other series on this list. NPR's Eric Deggans calls the spin-off "a rare achievement" and "a compelling new tale about a man's journey to his criminal future, crafted by the men who know how to tell that story best."