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The 18 Best Legal Procedural TV Shows of All Time

by YPB Team

From era-defining network classics to slick modern streamers and cult dramedies, these courtroom heavyweights span decades of objections, closing arguments, and morally gray verdicts. Which one wins your case?

  1. The Good Wife — ranked #11
    The Good Wife
    An acclaimed drama about an attorney rebuilding her career after her politician husband's public scandal.
    1000pts
  2. Suits — ranked #22
    Suits
    A slick USA Network drama about a brilliant college dropout who fakes his credentials to work alongside a top New York closer.
    882pts
  3. Better Call Saul — ranked #33
    Better Call Saul
    The Breaking Bad prequel charting con man Jimmy McGill's transformation into criminal lawyer Saul Goodman.
    882pts
  4. Matlock — ranked #44
    Matlock
    The classic courtroom series starring Andy Griffith as a folksy but shrewd Atlanta defense attorney.
    611pts
  5. The Lincoln Lawyer — ranked #55
    The Lincoln Lawyer
    A Netflix drama based on Michael Connelly's novels about a defense attorney who runs his practice from a Lincoln Town Car.
    529pts
  6. Rake — ranked #66
    Rake
    A darkly comic legal drama following a brilliant but self-destructive criminal barrister.
    529pts
  7. Boston Legal — ranked #77
    Boston Legal
    A witty legal dramedy spun off from The Practice, starring James Spader and William Shatner as eccentric attorneys.
    529pts
  8. Perry Mason — ranked #88
    Perry Mason
    The iconic defense-attorney franchise, from the original Raymond Burr series to the HBO origin-story revival.
    433pts
  9. JAG — ranked #99
    JAG
    A military legal drama following Navy and Marine Corps judge advocates investigating and prosecuting service cases.
    433pts
  10. Night Court — ranked #1010
    Night Court
    A beloved sitcom set in a Manhattan night-shift municipal court presided over by an unconventional young judge.
    433pts
  11. L.A. Law — ranked #1111
    L.A. Law
    An influential 1980s drama following the partners and associates of a high-powered Los Angeles law firm.
    433pts
  12. The Practice — ranked #1212
    The Practice
    David E. Kelley's gritty drama about a scrappy Boston defense firm wrestling with thorny legal and moral dilemmas.
    317pts
  13. Law & Order — ranked #1313
    Law & Order
    The long-running NBC procedural that splits each episode between police investigation and courtroom prosecution in New York City.
    317pts
  14. Damages — ranked #1414
    Damages
    A tense legal thriller pitting a ruthless litigator against her ambitious protege across interwoven timelines.
    317pts
  15. Goliath — ranked #1515
    Goliath
    An Amazon drama starring Billy Bob Thornton as a washed-up lawyer taking on powerful corporate adversaries.
    317pts
  16. How to Get Away with Murder — ranked #1616
    How to Get Away with Murder
    A twisty Shondaland thriller following a law professor and her students entangled in murder and cover-ups.
    317pts
  17. Drop Dead Diva — ranked #1717
    Drop Dead Diva
    A lighthearted fantasy dramedy about a model reincarnated as a brilliant plus-size attorney.
    317pts
  18. Ally McBeal — ranked #1818
    Ally McBeal
    A quirky dramedy centered on a neurotic young lawyer navigating love and law at a Boston firm.
    0pts

#tv shows311#crime57#legal1#courtroom2#lawyers1

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