Very Long List of Law-Related Films
This is a current law student's list of films involving the law in some form or another. I ranked each using multiple criteria, giving little weight to the extent of the legal activity in the film. In short, once considered a legal film, I merely ranked it according to personal taste. For example, The Rainmaker earned extra points because I am a student at Memphis Law, the same school the main character attended. That is hardly useful criteria to most. Ultimately, I simply aimed to aggregate several scattered and incomplete law film lists. I am adding movies to this list all the time, therefore I have not seen many of the films in the bottom half.
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- DirectorFrancis Ford CoppolaStarsMatt DamonDanny DeVitoClaire DanesAn underdog lawyer takes on a fraudulent insurance company.
- DirectorRob ReinerStarsTom CruiseJack NicholsonDemi MooreMilitary lawyer Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee defends Marines accused of murder. They contend they were acting under orders.
- DirectorIrwin WinklerStarsRobert De NiroJessica LangeCliff GormanThe story about a cheating and incompetent lawyer (Harry Fabian) who suddenly gets obsessed on becoming a boxing promoter.
- DirectorAdam KassenMark KassenStarsChris EvansMark KassenVinessa ShawA David and Goliath law drama about a drug-addicted lawyer who takes on a health supply corporation while battling his own personal demons.
- DirectorSidney LumetStarsAndy GarciaRichard DreyfussLena OlinA newly elected District Attorney finds himself in the middle of a police corruption investigation that may involve his father and his partner.
- DirectorJoel SchumacherStarsSusan SarandonTommy Lee JonesBrad RenfroA young boy who witnessed the suicide of a mafia lawyer hires an attorney to protect him when the District Attorney tries to use him to take down a mob family.
- DirectorRobert MulliganStarsGregory PeckJohn MegnaFrank OvertonAtticus Finch, a widowed lawyer in Depression-era Alabama, defends a Black man against an undeserved rape charge, and tries to educate his young children against prejudice.
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsJack LemmonWalter MatthauRon RichA crooked lawyer persuades his brother-in-law to feign a serious injury.
- DirectorSteven ShainbergStarsJames SpaderMaggie GyllenhaalJeremy DaviesA young woman, recently released from a mental hospital, gets a job as a secretary to a demanding lawyer, where their employer-employee relationship turns into a sexual, sadomasochistic one.
- DirectorJoel SchumacherStarsMatthew McConaugheySandra BullockSamuel L. JacksonIn Canton, Mississippi, a fearless young lawyer and his assistant defend a black man accused of murdering two white men who raped his ten-year-old daughter, inciting violent retribution and revenge from the Ku Klux Klan.
- DirectorAlan J. PakulaStarsHarrison FordRaul JuliaGreta ScacchiAs a lawyer investigates the murder of a colleague, he finds himself more connected to the crime than anyone else.
- DirectorGeorge CukorStarsSpencer TracyKatharine HepburnJudy HollidayDomestic and professional tensions mount when a husband and wife work as opposing lawyers in a case involving a woman who shot her husband.
- DirectorJonathan LynnStarsJoe PesciMarisa TomeiRalph MacchioTwo New Yorkers accused of murder in rural Alabama while on their way back to college call in the help of one of their cousins, a loudmouth lawyer with no trial experience.
- DirectorOtto PremingerStarsJames StewartLee RemickBen GazzaraAn upstate Michigan lawyer defends a soldier who claims he killed an innkeeper due to temporary insanity after the victim raped his wife. What is the truth, and will he win his case?
- DirectorMichael AptedStarsGene HackmanMary Elizabeth MastrantonioColin FrielsAn attorney representing a traumatized accident victim finds that his opponent is a very familiar defense attorney - his own daughter.
- DirectorSidney LumetStarsVin DieselPeter DinklageRon SilverIn the late 1980s, a low level gangster named Jackie DiNorscio defends himself in court in what became the longest criminal trial in American judicial history.
- DirectorMarc RoccoStarsChristian SlaterKevin BaconGary OldmanAn eager and idealistic young attorney defends an Alcatraz prisoner accused of murdering a fellow inmate. The extenuating circumstances: his client had just spent over three years in solitary confinement.
- DirectorTony GilroyStarsGeorge ClooneyTilda SwintonTom WilkinsonA law firm brings in its "fixer" to remedy the situation after a lawyer has a breakdown while representing a chemical company that he knows is guilty in a multibillion-dollar class action suit.
- DirectorSidney LumetStarsPaul NewmanCharlotte RamplingJack WardenAn outcast, alcoholic Boston lawyer sees the chance to salvage his career and self-respect by taking a medical malpractice case to trial rather than settling.
- DirectorSydney PollackStarsTom CruiseJeanne TripplehornGene HackmanA young lawyer joins a prestigious law firm only to discover that it has a sinister dark side.
- DirectorClarence BrownStarsDavid BrianClaude Jarman Jr.Juano HernandezIn 1940s Mississippi, two teenage boys and an elderly woman combine forces to prevent a miscarriage of justice and clear a black man of a murder charge.
- DirectorNorman JewisonStarsDenzel WashingtonVicellous ShannonDeborah Kara UngerThe story of Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter, a boxer wrongly imprisoned for murder, and the people who aided in his fight to prove his innocence.
- DirectorJonathan DemmeStarsTom HanksDenzel WashingtonRoberta MaxwellWhen a man with HIV is fired by his law firm because of his condition, he hires a homophobic-small time lawyer as the only willing advocate for a wrongful dismissal suit.
- DirectorMilos FormanStarsWoody HarrelsonCourtney LoveEdward NortonThe story of controversial pornography publisher Larry Flynt, and how he became a defender of free speech.
- DirectorRobert LuketicStarsReese WitherspoonLuke WilsonSelma BlairElle Woods, a fashionable sorority queen, is dumped by her boyfriend. She decides to follow him to law school. While she is there, she figures out that there is more to her than just looks.
- DirectorBrian GibsonStarsDemi MooreAlec BaldwinJoseph Gordon-LevittA juror in a Mafia trial is forced to convince the other jurors to vote not guilty by an obsessive mob enforcer.
- DirectorGregory NavaStarsHalle BerryVivica A. FoxLela RochonThree women each claim to be the widow of 1950s doo-wop singer Frankie Lymon, claiming legal rights to his estate.
- DirectorJames BridgesStarsTimothy BottomsLindsay WagnerJohn HousemanA first-year law student at Harvard Law School struggles with balancing his coursework and a woman, unaware that she has a connection that affects their relationship.
- DirectorBarbet SchroederStarsJeremy IronsGlenn CloseRon SilverWealthy Sunny von Bülow lies brain-dead, husband Claus guilty of attempted murder; but he says he's innocent and hires Alan Dershowitz for his appeal.
- DirectorWilliam FriedkinStarsTommy Lee JonesSamuel L. JacksonGuy PearceAn attorney defends an officer on trial for ordering his troops to fire on civilians after they stormed a U.S. embassy in a Middle Eastern country.
- DirectorKen ScottStarsVince VaughnChris PrattCobie SmuldersAn affable underachiever finds out he's fathered 533 children through anonymous donations to a fertility clinic 20 years ago. Now he must decide whether or not to come forward when 142 of them file a lawsuit to reveal his identity.
- DirectorStanley KramerStarsSpencer TracyFredric MarchGene KellyBased on a real-life case in 1925; two great lawyers argue the case for, and against, a Tennessee science teacher accused of the crime of teaching Darwin's theory of evolution.
- DirectorSidney LumetStarsHenry FondaLee J. CobbMartin BalsamThe jury in a New York City murder trial is frustrated by a single member whose skeptical caution forces them to more carefully consider the evidence before jumping to a hasty verdict.
- DirectorRichard FleischerStarsOrson WellesDean StockwellDiane VarsiTwo wealthy law-school students go on trial for murder in this version of the Leopold-Loeb case.
- StarsSidney PoitierBurt LancasterRichard KileyA dramatization of the American court case that destroyed the legal validity of racial segregation.
- DirectorRowdy HerringtonStarsCuba Gooding Jr.Tom BerengerMarianne Jean-BaptisteA disbarred lawyer takes credit for a late friend's book, which becomes a smash hit but the tables turn on him sooner than he suspected.
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsTyrone PowerMarlene DietrichCharles LaughtonA veteran British barrister must defend his client in a murder trial that has surprise after surprise.
- DirectorPeter YatesStarsCherDennis QuaidLiam NeesonWhen a homeless man is accused of murdering a Justice Department file clerk, a public defender is tasked with mounting his legal defense.
- DirectorNicholas HytnerStarsDaniel Day-LewisWinona RyderPaul ScofieldA Salem resident attempts to frame her ex-lover's wife for being a witch in the middle of the 1692 witchcraft trials.
- DirectorSteven SoderberghStarsJulia RobertsAlbert FinneyDavid BrisbinAn unemployed single mother becomes a legal assistant and almost single-handedly brings down a California power company accused of polluting a city's water supply.
- DirectorSteven ZaillianStarsJohn TravoltaRobert DuvallKathleen QuinlanA tenacious lawyer takes on a case involving two companies responsible for causing several children to be diagnosed with leukemia due to the town's water supply being contaminated, at the risk of bankrupting his firm and career.
- DirectorBrad FurmanStarsMatthew McConaugheyMarisa TomeiRyan PhillippeA lawyer defending a wealthy man begins to believe his client is guilty of more than just one crime.
- DirectorNorman JewisonStarsAl PacinoJack WardenJohn ForsytheA lawyer is forced to defend a judge, while defending other clients, and trying to find punishment for the guilty and provide justice for the innocent.
- DirectorGary FlederStarsJohn CusackRachel WeiszGene HackmanA juror on the inside and a woman on the outside manipulate a court trial involving a major gun manufacturer.
- DirectorNiki CaroStarsCharlize TheronJeremy RennerFrances McDormandA fictionalized account of the first major successful sexual harassment case in the United States, Jenson vs. Eveleth Mines, where a woman who endured a range of abuse while working as a miner filed and won the landmark 1984 lawsuit.
- DirectorJoe BerlingerStarsStephen RakesJames 'Whitey' BulgerTommy DonahueA look at James 'Whitey' Bulger, one of the most infamous criminals in American history.
- DirectorAlan J. PakulaStarsJulia RobertsDenzel WashingtonSam ShepardA law student uncovers a conspiracy, putting herself and others in danger.
- DirectorArne GlimcherStarsSean ConneryLaurence FishburneKate CapshawA Harvard professor is lured back into the courtroom after twenty-five years to take the case of a young black man condemned to death for the horrific murder of a child.
- DirectorFred ZinnemannStarsPaul ScofieldWendy HillerRobert ShawThe story of Sir Thomas More, who stood up to King Henry VIII when the King rejected the Roman Catholic Church to obtain a divorce and remarry.
- DirectorJoseph RubenStarsJames WoodsRobert Downey Jr.Margaret ColinA cynical former civil liberties attorney now reduced to "specializing" in defending drug dealers becomes transformed by an eight-year-old murder case.
- DirectorIvan ReitmanStarsRobert RedfordDebra WingerDaryl HannahA New York district attorney works and flirts with his adversary and her kooky artist client, who is on trial for a murder she didn't commit.
- DirectorCarl FranklinStarsJim CaviezelMorgan FreemanAshley JuddA successful lawyer's husband is arrested for murdering nine villagers in El Salvador in 1988 as a US soldier under a different name. She decides to defend him in military court and find out the truth about what happened.
- DirectorGregory HoblitStarsAnthony HopkinsRyan GoslingDavid StrathairnAfter shooting his wife, Ted confesses his crime and asks the court to move his case to trial. He represents himself against Willy, a successful lawyer. But there's more to the case than meets the eye.
- DirectorGregory HoblitStarsRichard GereLaura LinneyEdward NortonAn altar boy is accused of murdering a priest, and the truth is buried several layers deep.
- DirectorMaro ChermayeffMicah FinkStarsWayne MannFollows the Ramapough Indians and their legal team as they take on Ford and the EPA.
- DirectorDavid Hugh JonesStarsBen KingsleyAmy IrvingRyan MarsiniA High powered NY litigator, hired to defend a murderer who avenged his young son's death, struggles with his own desires for success versus the moral wishes of his client to choose the path of truth.
- DirectorRobert AltmanStarsKenneth BranaghEmbeth DavidtzRobert Downey Jr.A lawyer uses his power to help his lover put her father behind bars, but when he escapes, they are all in danger.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsDjimon HounsouMatthew McConaugheyAnthony HopkinsIn 1839, the revolt of Mende captives aboard a Spanish owned ship causes a major controversy in the United States when the ship is captured off the coast of Long Island. The courts must decide whether the Mende are slaves or legally free.
- DirectorBob ClarkStarsJudd NelsonElizabeth PerkinsJohn HurtRobin, one year out of law school with one trial, gets set up with an unwinnable murder case for having forced his law firm to make him partner with unethical behavior, tarnishing the firm.
- DirectorPeter HyamsStarsMichael DouglasHal HolbrookYaphet KottoFrustrated with a legal system gone haywire, a secret society of judges hires hitmen to snuff out criminals who escape courtroom justice - but one young judge questions the ethics of their vigilante system.
- DirectorPeter HyamsStarsJesse MetcalfeAmber TamblynMichael DouglasRemake of the 1956 film noir film "Beyond a Reasonable Doubt" in which a writer's plan to expose a corrupt district attorney takes an unexpected turn.
- DirectorMarcel LangeneggerStarsHugh JackmanEwan McGregorMichelle WilliamsAn accountant is introduced to a mysterious sex club known as The List by his lawyer friend. But in this new world, he soon becomes the prime suspect in a woman's disappearance and a multi-million dollar heist.
- DirectorMarc AbrahamStarsGreg KinnearLauren GrahamAlan AldaRobert Kearns takes on the Detroit automakers who he claims stole his idea for the intermittent windshield wiper.
- DirectorStanley KramerStarsSpencer TracyBurt LancasterRichard WidmarkIn 1948, an American court in occupied Germany tries four Nazis judged for war crimes.
- DirectorJames FoleyStarsChris O'DonnellGene HackmanFaye DunawayA young man fresh out of law school tries to win a reprieve for his racist grandfather who is on death row.
- DirectorRussell MulcahyStarsDenzel WashingtonJohn LithgowIce-TA District Attorney is terrorized by the criminal he put away years ago when he was a cop.
- DirectorTony GoldwynStarsHilary SwankSam RockwellMelissa LeoA working mother puts herself through law school in an effort to represent her brother, who has been wrongfully convicted of murder and has exhausted his chances to appeal his conviction through public defenders.
- DirectorRob ReinerStarsAlec BaldwinJames WoodsWhoopi GoldbergA Mississippi district attorney and the widow of Medgar Evers struggle to finally bring a white racist to justice for the 1963 murder of the civil rights leader.
- DirectorPeter StebbingsStarsWoody HarrelsonKat DenningsSandra OhArthur Poppington, a regular man who adopts a superhero persona, known as "Defendor", combs the city streets at night, in search of his archenemy, Captain Industry.
- DirectorRobert BentonStarsDustin HoffmanMeryl StreepJane AlexanderAfter his wife leaves him, a work-obsessed Manhattan advertising executive is forced to learn long-neglected parenting skills, but a heated custody battle over the couple's young son deepens the wounds left by the separation.
- DirectorPeter HowittStarsPierce BrosnanJulianne MooreParker PoseyAmidst a sea of litigation, two New York City divorce lawyers find love.
- DirectorBruce BeresfordStarsAshley JuddTommy Lee JonesBruce GreenwoodA woman framed for her husband's murder suspects he is still alive; as she has already been tried for the crime, she can't be re-prosecuted if she finds and kills him.
- DirectorJonathan KaplanStarsKelly McGillisJodie FosterBernie CoulsonAfter a young woman suffers a brutal gang rape in a bar one night, a prosecutor assists in bringing the perpetrators to justice, including the ones who encouraged and cheered on the attack.
- DirectorMartin CampbellStarsGary OldmanKevin BaconTess HarperA Boston defense attorney gets his wealthy client off for murder, then suspects him of killing again.
- DirectorOliver StoneStarsKevin CostnerGary OldmanJack LemmonNew Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison discovers there's more to the Kennedy assassination than the official story.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsTeresa WrightJoseph CottenMacdonald CareyA teenage girl, overjoyed when her favorite uncle comes to visit the family in their quiet California town, slowly begins to suspect that he is in fact the "Merry Widow" killer sought by the authorities.
- DirectorJohn WatersStarsKathleen TurnerSam WaterstonRicki LakeShe's the perfect all-American parent: a great cook and homemaker, a devoted recycler, and a woman who'll literally kill to keep her children happy.
- DirectorJim SheridanStarsDaniel Day-LewisPete PostlethwaiteAlison CrosbieAn Irish man's coerced confession to an I.R.A. bombing he did not commit results in the imprisonment of his father as well. Meanwhile, a British lawyer fights to clear their names and free them.
- DirectorMarc LawrenceStarsSandra BullockHugh GrantAlicia WittA lawyer decides that she's used too much like a nanny by her boss, so she walks out on him.
- DirectorDavid DobkinStarsRobert Downey Jr.Robert DuvallVera FarmigaBig-city lawyer Hank Palmer returns to his childhood home where his father, the town's judge, is suspected of murder. Hank sets out to discover the truth; along the way he reconnects with his estranged family.
- DirectorDavid FincherStarsJesse EisenbergAndrew GarfieldJustin TimberlakeAs Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg creates the social networking site that would become known as Facebook, he is sued by the twins who claimed he stole their idea and by the co-founder who was later squeezed out of the business.
- DirectorTaylor HackfordStarsKeanu ReevesAl PacinoCharlize TheronAn exceptionally-adept Florida lawyer is offered a job at a high-end New York City law firm with a high-end boss--the biggest opportunity of his career to date.
- DirectorJason JamesStarsPaulo CostanzoIngrid HaasTyler LabineAdam Murphy - a real-estate hotshot and confirmed bachelor - feels the burn of failed love(s), when a social disease takes him face-to-face with a handful of one-night stands, revealing the shortcomings of his own image.
- DirectorJoel CoenEthan CoenStarsGeorge ClooneyCatherine Zeta-JonesBilly Bob ThorntonMiles, a high-profile divorce lawyer, wins a case for his rich but adulterous client Rex Rexroth. But Rex's ex-wife, Marylin, who is no saint and is a gold-digger, plots to take revenge on Miles.
- DirectorTom ShadyacStarsJim CarreyMaura TierneyAmanda DonohoeA pathological liar-lawyer finds his career turned upside down when he inexplicably cannot physically lie for 24 whole hours.
- DirectorBarry LevinsonStarsRobert De NiroKevin BaconBrad PittAfter a prank goes disastrously wrong, a group of boys are sent to a detention center where they are brutalized. Thirteen years later, an unexpected random encounter with a former guard gives them a chance for revenge.
- DirectorTom McCarthyStarsPaul GiamattiAmy RyanJeffrey TamborA struggling lawyer and volunteer wrestling coach's chicanery comes back to haunt him when the teenage grandson of the client he has double-crossed comes into his life.
- DirectorCosta-GavrasStarsJessica LangeArmin Mueller-StahlFrederic ForrestA lawyer defends her father accused of war crimes, but there is more to the case than she suspects.
- DirectorRob MarshallStarsRenée ZellwegerCatherine Zeta-JonesRichard GereTwo death-row murderesses develop a fierce rivalry while competing for publicity, celebrity, and a sleazy lawyer's attention.
- DirectorAlan ParkerStarsKevin SpaceyKate WinsletLaura LinneyA man against capital punishment is accused of murdering a fellow activist and is sent to death row.
- DirectorTony ScottStarsWill SmithGene HackmanJon VoightA lawyer becomes targeted by a corrupt politician and his N.S.A. goons when he accidentally receives key evidence to a politically motivated crime.
- DirectorRoger MichellStarsBen AffleckSamuel L. JacksonKim StauntonA young lawyer and a businessman share a small automobile accident, and their mutual road rage escalates into a feud.
- DirectorRod LurieStarsKate BeckinsaleMatt DillonVera FarmigaIn Washington, D.C., a reporter faces a possible jail sentence for outing a CIA agent and refusing to reveal her source.
- DirectorAndrew SheaThe story of a Nazi-looted painting, Egon Schiele's 'Portrait of Wally,' that was discovered on the walls of the Museum of Modern Art in 1997, triggering a historic court case that pitted the Manhattan District Attorney, the United States Government and the heirs of a Viennese gallery owner against a major Austrian Museum and MoMA.
- DirectorMichael MannStarsRussell CroweAl PacinoChristopher PlummerA research chemist comes under personal and professional attack when he decides to appear in a 60 Minutes exposé on Big Tobacco.
- DirectorSydney PollackStarsPaul NewmanSally FieldBob BalabanWhen a prosecutor leaks to a Miami reporter that a liquor wholesaler is suspected in the murder of a union head, the man's life begins to unravel.
- DirectorHarold BeckerStarsAlec BaldwinNicole KidmanBill PullmanA tale about a happily married couple who would like to have children. Tracy teaches art, Andy's a college dean. Things are never the same after she is taken to hospital and operated upon by Jed, a "know all" doctor.
- DirectorRichard MarquandStarsJeff BridgesGlenn ClosePeter CoyoteA wealthy woman is murdered in her beach house. The husband is allegedly knocked out first. He inherits all. He has a female ex criminal prosecutor represent him in court.
- DirectorStephen DaldryStarsKate WinsletRalph FiennesBruno GanzPost-WWII Germany: Nearly a decade after his affair with an older woman came to a mysterious end, law student Michael Berg re-encounters his former lover as she defends herself in a war-crime trial.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneMachiko KyôMasayuki MoriThe rape of a bride and the murder of her samurai husband are recalled from the perspectives of a bandit, the bride, the samurai's ghost and a woodcutter.