UCLA School of Law

This chapter in a symposium in the Journal of Legal Education on visual media and legal education discusses the seminar on Law and Popular Culture. This seminar focuses on the interface between the world of pop culture products (mostly movies and television shows about law and lawyers) and the world of law and law practice. Movies and television shows reflect popular beliefs and attitudes about law and law practice (the mirror) and also construct those beliefs and attitudes (the lamp). Seminar sessions focus on particular broad legal issues such as criminal and civil justice, the adversary system, heroic lawyers and bad lawyers. Each session is based on a particular movie or TV episode. One session concerns the life of lawyers and is based on the classic 1933 film Counsellor at Law.