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Just Legal Show Description 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.,
David "Skip" Ross (Jay
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 (Don
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.
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Jay Baruchel
Reiley McClendon
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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.
Don
Johnson
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
(Marika Dominczyk), 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 (Reiley
McClendon). 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.
Just Legal is a
trademark of Jerry Bruckheimer Television in association with Warner Brothers
Television Production Inc. Images and Audio copyright 2005 Warner Bros.
Television. |
TV
