Off Topic: Can You Name the ABA’s Top 25 Greatest Fictional Lawyers?

A Fun One to Give a Try.

     In the August 2010 edition of the ABA Journal, there is an article ranking the 25 greatest fictional lawyers. Excepted from the list is the likely most famous of all, Atticus Finch (from To Kill a Mockingbird) as portrayed by Gregory Peck. Now, we give you the ABA’s list of 25 greatest fictional lawyers. Can you name the actor who played him or her? Give it a try; answers will be posted tomorrow.

1. Frank Galvin from The Verdict; creator: Barry Reed.

2. Paul Biegler from Anatomy of a Murder; creator: John D. Voelker.

3. Perry Mason from Perry Mason; creator: Erle Stanley Gardner.

4. Charles W. Kingsfield Jr. from The Paper Chase; creator: John Jay Osborn Jr.

5. Henry Drummond from Inherit the Wind; creators: Jerome Lawrence/Robert E. Lee.

6. Lawrence Preston from The Defenders; creator: Reginald Rose.

7. Jack McCoy from Law & Order; creator: Dick Wolf.

8. Horace Rumpole from Rumpole of the Bailey; creator: John Mortimer.

9. Chief Judge Dan Haywood from Judgment at Nuremberg; creator: Abby Mann.

10. Sir Wilfrid Robarts from Witness for the Prosecution; creator: Agatha Christie.

11. Alan Shore from Boston Legal; creator: David E. Kelley.

12. Vincent “Vinny” Gambini from My Cousin Vinny; creator: Dale Launer.

13. Lt. Daniel Kaffee from A Few Good Men; creator: Aaron Sorkin.

14. Arnie Becker from L.A. Law; creators: Steven Bochco/Terry Louise Fisher.

15. Arthur Kirkland from And Justice for All; creators: Valerie Curtin/Barry Levinson.

16. Hans Rolfe from Judgment at Nuremberg; creator: Abby Mann.

17. Mitchell Stephens from The Sweet Hereafter; creator: Russell Banks.

18. Ally McBeal from Ally McBeal; creator: David E. Kelley.

19. Sandy Stern from Presumed Innocent; creator: Scott Turow.

20. Patty Hewes from Damages; creators: Glenn Kessler/Todd A. Kessler/Daniel Zelman.

21. Michael Clayton from Michael Clayton; creator: Tony Gilroy.

22. Jake Brigance from A Time to Kill; creator: John Grisham.

23. Rusty Sabich from Presumed Innocent; creator: Scott Turow.

24. Forrest Bedford from I’ll Fly Away; creators: Joshua Brand/John Falsey.

25. Jonathan Wilk from Compulsion; creator: Meyer Levin.

     Among notable characters not quite fitting into the ABA’s Top 25, include Rudy Baylor (The Rainmaker); Andrew Beckett (Philadelphia); Jackie Chiles (Seinfeld); Denny Crane (Boston Legal); Eddie Dodd (True Believer); Alicia Florrick (The Good Wife); Tom Hagen (The Godfather); Owen Marshall (Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law); Ben Matlock (Matlock); John Milton (The Devil’s Advocate);Portia (The Merchant of Venice); Ned Racine (Body Heat); Adam Schiff (Law & Order); and David Wilson (The Tragedy of Pudd’nhead Wilson).

     To the above, Mike and Marc would add: Arthur Banister (The Lady from Shanghai); Clinton Judd (Judd for the Defense); and Charley Malloy (On the Waterfront).

     Greatest in pro per:  Hans Beckert (M).