Five Reasons Why TV Lawyers Are Nothing Like Real Life Ones

There are a whole bunch of law-related TV shows out there. In fact, some of them make you wait with baited breath for the next episode; barely able to focus on anything that week until your curiosity gets satisfied. That’s because the plots are usually intriguing, dramatic, and sometimes over the top! All in all, millions of Americans tune in to the likes of Better Call Saul, Suits, among others just to get their weekly dose of Law and Order (pun intended).

However, some of the features aired about lawyers on TV are extremely exaggerated for dramatic purposes. In fact, here are the top five things that TV shows miss the mark on when it comes to the day-to-day life of your average lawyer!

Lawyers are normally exaggerated on TV to make the show more interesting and dramatic

Lawyers eat, breath, and sleep in court

If you’ve been watching these law shows or movies for a while now, you’ll notice that their ‘lawyers’ are always litigating cases. In fact, we rarely get a glimpse of solicitors doing the mundane stuff; you know, drafting a trust or a will.

The cases are usually controversial and have high stakes on the line. It’s usually a dispute between the antagonist and protagonist; with the antagonist getting the better of the protagonist until 20 minutes to the end, when the jury suddenly resolves to support the protagonist. Yep, you’ve seen that before!

The honest truth? A majority of lawyers never get to argue a case in a court of law. And the ones that do usually spend a large chunk of their time cooped up in the office. Perhaps reading a journal or writing their papers.

In the Courtroom, anything is Possible

Have you seen how witnesses are grilled on the witness stand in these TV shows? You’d imagine that they have every right to open up a case against the lawyer for harassment! And what’s even more surprising is that during the whole bevy of aggressive questions being hurled by the prosecutor, not one single word is uttered by the counsel.

In reality, however, this situation would never play out. In fact, the opposing counsel would quickly call out the prosecutor, and reproach them for pestering the witness. The judge would then act by instructing the jury to ignore some of the aggressive questions as well as answers.

All lawyers are bold and assertive

There’s this illusion created by TV shows that all lawyers are vocal go-getters and if you try to win an argument over them is like trying to lick your own elbow. It isn’t going to happen!

In tandem with this belief is that most lawyers chose law because they were individuals who believed in equality, justice, and the right for every man to have freedom.

There’s a perception that all lawyers are loud, bold, and assertive, however, it is not true

On the contrary, a good chunk of lawyers just joined law because they, like everyone else, needed to have a career in something. They needed to put food on the table, and afford the amenities that we all need to live a comfortable life.

In fact, if we take the time to familiarize ourselves with some of the attorneys in our area, we’ll find that some of them are pretty quiet and chilled out. In fact, quiet lawyers, just like quiet people, perform much better than their loud and bold companions.

Lawyers earn tons of money

In TV shows, lawyers get the whole shebang. You know; a foreign car, a massive mansion, and a fat paycheck. In reality however, law school is pretty expensive; and most law graduates finish having debts in the tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. Secondly, the law market is highly saturated, meaning that most lawyers struggle to find a decent and financially-secure job.

Not all lawyers have it good. A majority of them struggle with paying back their student loans and finding a decent job

Lawyers are downright sleazy

Everything from How to Get Away with Murder to Breaking Bad, portray lawyers as unethical individuals who will dig the deepest pile of dirt against the prosecution just to get a victory in the courtroom. In fact, such shows seem to have really tainted the picture of criminal defense attorneys.

Even though there are quite a number of lawyers out there who will use any underhand tactics to undermine the prosecution, they are some pretty decent folks as well. In fact, most lawyers will rarely go against the laws that they are duly sworn to protect and uphold.

So, the next time you see a lawyer doing something crazy in one of these trending TV shows, just remember that it’s only for dramatic purposes. Lawyers live a pretty normal life like everyone else!