Family Law
CBS
Mondays 9pm/CST

Family Law is about a California practice made up of lawyers that might not fit in well with a corporation or large law firm.

The founding partner is Lynn Holt (Kathleen Quinlan). She originally was a partner with her husband in a law practice. When her husband left her, he took the practice and all but one attorney with him. Lynn was left with a very capable associate in Danni Lipton (Julie Warner). She scurried to find additional lawyers and happened upon Randi King (Dixie Carter) and Rex Weller (Christopher McDonald). Randi murdered her abusive husband, was convicted, finished law school in prison, got her conviction over-turned, passed the bar and now practices while wearing clothes one might see on Hollywood Blvd. Rex lost his private practice, doesn't have a stellar reputation and was making infomercials when Lynn hired him to work for the firm. He has been married for 6 years and willingly pays monthly maintenance to his wife, although they only lived together for 6 months.

The array of cases handled by these four is quite interesting. There are murder cases; kidnapping cases; divorce; malpractice; discrimination; child custody; and wrongful death, to name a few. Last week the main case involved a mother who had primary custody seeking the right to send her child to Nepal because she believed him to be a Lama. It was interesting to see the emotional toll on the mother, the father, and the attorney (Danni) throughout the litigation. The story helped the viewer see all sides of the issue but the end result left me very sad.

The characters are quirky and well developed. The writing is superb and integrates the characters throughout the story line. The personal lives of the attorneys are included in the show enough to keep it interesting but not dominate it. There is wit, sarcasm and sharp retorts that I don't think could be improved upon.

If you are looking for a well written and produced show off the beaten path, I highly suggest you give Family Law a look.



Recommended: Yes