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<wx:section level="1" title="Legal drama" id="wxsec1"><h1 class="pagetitle" id="wx1">Legal drama</h1>

<p id="wx2">A <b id="wx3">legal drama</b> is a work of dramatic <a href="/wen/Fiction" title="Fiction" wx:linktype="known" wx:pagename="Fiction" wx:page_id="10817" id="wx4">fiction</a> about crime and civil litigation. Subtypes of legal dramas include <b id="wx5">courtroom dramas</b> and <b id="wx6">legal thrillers</b>, and come in all forms, including <a href="/wen/Novel" title="Novel" wx:linktype="known" wx:pagename="Novel" wx:page_id="21882" id="wx7">novels</a>, <a href="/wen/Television_show" title="Television show" wx:linktype="known" wx:pagename="Television_show" wx:page_id="175909" id="wx8">television shows</a>, and <a href="/wen/Film" title="Film" wx:linktype="known" wx:pagename="Film" wx:page_id="10571" id="wx9">films</a>. Legal drama sometimes overlap with crime drama, most notably in the case of Law &amp; Order. Most crime drama focus on crime investigation and does not feature court room.</p>

<p id="wx10">It is widely believed by most practicing <a href="/wen/Lawyer" title="Lawyer" wx:linktype="known" wx:pagename="Lawyer" wx:page_id="17541" id="wx11">lawyers</a> that legal dramas result in the general public having misconceptions about the legal process <wx:template id="wx_t1" pagename="Template:Fact" page_id="2048472"/><sup class="noprint Template-Fact" id="wx12"><span title="This claim needs references to reliable sources since June 2007" style="white-space: nowrap;" id="wx13">[<i id="wx14"><a href="/wen/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" class="new" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed" wx:linktype="unknown" wx:pagename="Wikipedia:Citation_needed" id="wx15">citation needed</a></i>]</span></sup><wx:templateend start="wx_t1"/>. Many of these misconceptions result from the desire to create an interesting story. For example, conflict between parties make for an interesting story, which is why legal dramas emphasize the <a href="/wen/Trial_%28law%29" title="Trial (law)" wx:linktype="known" wx:pagename="Trial_(law)" wx:page_id="3276812" id="wx16">trial</a> and ignore the fact that the vast majority of <a href="/wen/Civil_law_%28common_law%29" title="Civil law (common law)" wx:linktype="known" wx:pagename="Civil_law_(common_law)" wx:page_id="2941242" id="wx17">civil</a> and <a href="/wen/Criminal_law" title="Criminal law" wx:linktype="known" wx:pagename="Criminal_law" wx:page_id="7397054" id="wx18">criminal</a> cases in the <a href="/wen/United_States" title="United States" wx:linktype="known" wx:pagename="United_States" wx:page_id="3434750" id="wx19">United States</a> are settled out of court. Legal dramas also focus on situations where there is an obvious injustice or ones in which either the <a href="/wen/Plaintiff" title="Plaintiff" wx:linktype="known" wx:pagename="Plaintiff" wx:page_id="24690" id="wx20">plaintiff</a> or <a href="/wen/Defendant" title="Defendant" wx:linktype="known" wx:pagename="Defendant" wx:page_id="8865" id="wx21">defendant</a> is very interesting and unusual. As a result, things such as the <a href="/wen/Insanity_defense" title="Insanity defense" wx:linktype="known" wx:pagename="Insanity_defense" wx:page_id="15358" id="wx22">insanity defense</a> occur far more often in legal drama than in real life. Finally, legal dramas often focus on areas of the legal process which can be portrayed dramatically, such as <a href="/wen/Oral_argument" title="Oral argument" wx:linktype="known" wx:pagename="Oral_argument" wx:page_id="425164" id="wx23">oral arguments</a>, and ignore areas which are less easily portrayed, such as researching a written legal brief.</p>

<a id="See_also" name="See_also"/>
<wx:section level="2" title="See also" id="wxsec2"><h2 id="wx24">See also</h2>

<ul id="wx25">
<li id="wx26"><a href="/wen/Category:Legal_television_series" title="Category:Legal television series" wx:linktype="known" wx:pagename="Category:Legal_television_series" wx:page_id="4380619" id="wx27">Television shows that fall into this category</a></li>

<li id="wx28"><a href="/wen/Category:Courtroom_dramas" title="Category:Courtroom dramas" wx:linktype="known" wx:pagename="Category:Courtroom_dramas" wx:page_id="7862580" id="wx29">Films that fall into this category</a></li>
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<a id="Subgenres" name="Subgenres"/>
<wx:section level="3" title="Subgenres" id="wxsec3"><h3 id="wx30">Subgenres</h3>

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<li id="wx32"><a href="/wen/Police_procedural" title="Police procedural" wx:linktype="known" wx:pagename="Police_procedural" wx:page_id="479154" id="wx33">Police procedural</a></li>

<li id="wx34"><a href="/wen/List_of_police_television_dramas" title="List of police television dramas" wx:linktype="known" wx:pagename="List_of_police_television_dramas" wx:page_id="744965" id="wx35">List of police television dramas</a></li>

<li id="wx36"><a href="/wen/Crime_fiction" title="Crime fiction" wx:linktype="known" wx:pagename="Crime_fiction" wx:page_id="86025" id="wx37">Crime fiction</a></li>

<li id="wx38"><a href="/wen/Detective_fiction" title="Detective fiction" wx:linktype="known" wx:pagename="Detective_fiction" wx:page_id="8192" id="wx39">Detective fiction</a></li>

<li id="wx40"><a href="/wen/Crime_comics" title="Crime comics" wx:linktype="known" wx:pagename="Crime_comics" wx:page_id="8114271" id="wx41">Crime comics</a></li>

<li id="wx42"><a href="/wen/Whodunit" title="Whodunit" wx:linktype="known" wx:pagename="Whodunit" wx:page_id="69923" id="wx43">Whodunit</a></li>
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<td id="wx49"><i id="wx50"> This <a href="/wen/Television" title="Television" wx:linktype="known" wx:pagename="Television" wx:page_id="29831" id="wx51">television</a>-related article is a <a href="/wen/Wikipedia:Stub" class="new" title="Wikipedia:Stub" wx:linktype="unknown" wx:pagename="Wikipedia:Stub" wx:fragment="Ideal_stub_article" id="wx52">stub</a>. You can <a href="/wen/Wikipedia:Stub" class="new" title="Wikipedia:Stub" wx:linktype="unknown" wx:pagename="Wikipedia:Stub" id="wx53">help</a> Wikipedia by <a href="http://wen/w/index.php?stub&amp;title=Legal_drama&amp;action=edit" class="external text" wx:linktype="external" rel="nofollow" id="wx54">expanding it</a></i>
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<td id="wx58"><a href="/wen/Image:P_literature.svg" title=" " wx:linktype="image" wx:pagename="Image:P_literature.svg" id="wx59"><img src="/wen/Image:P_literature.svg" alt=" " width="30" id="wx60"/></a> </td>
<td id="wx61"><i id="wx62"> </i> <i id="wx63">This <a href="/wen/Literature" title="Literature" wx:linktype="known" wx:pagename="Literature" wx:page_id="17512" id="wx64">literature</a>-related article is a <a href="/wen/Wikipedia:Stub" class="new" title="Wikipedia:Stub" wx:linktype="unknown" wx:pagename="Wikipedia:Stub" id="wx65">stub</a>. You can help Wikipedia by <a href="http://wen/w/index.php?stub&amp;title=Legal_drama&amp;action=edit" class="external text" wx:linktype="external" rel="nofollow" id="wx66">expanding it</a></i>
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<a href="/wen/index.php?title=Special:Categories&amp;article=Legal_drama" title="Special:Categories" wx:linktype="known" wx:pagename="Special:Categories" id="wx68">Categories</a>: <span dir="ltr" id="wx69"><a href="/wen/Category:All_articles_with_unsourced_statements" title="Category:All articles with unsourced statements" wx:linktype="known" wx:pagename="Category:All_articles_with_unsourced_statements" wx:page_id="9329647" id="wx70">All articles with unsourced statements</a></span> | <span dir="ltr" id="wx71"><a href="/wen/Category:Articles_with_unsourced_statements_since_June_2007" title="Category:Articles with unsourced statements since June 2007" wx:linktype="known" wx:pagename="Category:Articles_with_unsourced_statements_since_June_2007" wx:page_id="11537022" id="wx72">Articles with unsourced statements since June 2007</a></span> | <span dir="ltr" id="wx73"><a href="/wen/Category:Drama" title="Category:Drama" wx:linktype="known" wx:pagename="Category:Drama" wx:page_id="709071" id="wx74">Drama</a></span> | <span dir="ltr" id="wx75"><a href="/wen/Category:Legal_genre_of_fiction" title="Category:Legal genre of fiction" wx:linktype="known" wx:pagename="Category:Legal_genre_of_fiction" wx:page_id="5740360" id="wx76">Legal genre of fiction</a></span> | <span dir="ltr" id="wx77"><a href="/wen/Category:Film_genres" title="Category:Film genres" wx:linktype="known" wx:pagename="Category:Film_genres" wx:page_id="3008852" id="wx78">Film genres</a></span> | <span dir="ltr" id="wx79"><a href="/wen/Category:Television_stubs" title="Category:Television stubs" wx:linktype="known" wx:pagename="Category:Television_stubs" wx:page_id="1042130" id="wx80">Television stubs</a></span> | <span dir="ltr" id="wx81"><a href="/wen/Category:Literature_stubs" title="Category:Literature stubs" wx:linktype="known" wx:pagename="Category:Literature_stubs" wx:page_id="954788" id="wx82">Literature stubs</a></span></div>
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In other languages: <a href="http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_prawniczy" class="external" wx:linktype="interwiki" wx:pagename="pl:Serial_prawniczy" id="wx83">Polski</a></div>
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<p id="wx84">June 2007</p>
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