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{{trope}}
Because lawyers get to have all the fun in court, you can expect a major character to be incongruously forced into playing one. They'll almost always succeed in arguing their case [[Hard Work Hardly Works|despite not actually having a law degree, or indeed starting the episode with any clue about what they're doing]].
You should also expect an [[
Compare [[Jury Duty]] and [[Rogue Juror]]. See also [[Prison Episode]], which this sometimes doubles as. (Or is sometimes followed by.)
{{examples}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* [[Parodied]] in ''[[Ranma ½]]'', with the case of the... missing takoyaki. [[Serious Business]]. {{spoiler|Turns out everyone had one.}}
== [[Literature]] ==▼
▲== Literature ==
* The [[Con Sentiency]] series largely focuses on the exploits of a Secret Agent/Bureaucrat Jorj X. McKie. However:
** A good portion of the novel ''The Dosadi Experiment'' focuses on the courtroom drama of the Gowachin, which is much more interesting than its human equivalent.
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* Most of the [[The Icelandic Sagas|Sagas of Icelanders]] contain at least one, with plenty of fancy speeches and occasional bouts of [[Off on a Technicality]].
▲== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* Both ''[[Adam-12]]'' and ''[[Dragnet]]'' have had courtroom-based episodes, featuring on the roles police officers play in the judicial process and problems that invariably arise. For instance, the ''Adam-12'' episode "Courtroom" centered around the importance of obtaining a search warrant when the defendant (standing trial on drug charges) claims that Reed had failed to obtain one.
* ''[[The Brady Bunch]]'': The 1972 episode "The Fender Benders," where a money-seeking man named Harry Duggan (Jackie Coogan) files a lawsuit against Carol by claiming their minor, non-injury fender-bender in a parking lot resulted in [[Obfuscating Disability|severe whiplash]]. Carol disputes the charges and – just when it appears that the judge will rule in favor of Mr. Duggan – Mike exposes Duggan as a fraud.
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* ''[[Sister, Sister]]'': When Tia accuses twin sister Tamera of distributing copies of her diary to fellow classmates, she takes her to Student Court. But the episode soon focuses on two yuksters who fail to take the concept seriously and turn the matter into one big joke. It isn't long before those two students are exposed as the culprits ... and the principal has a long, stern talk with them about the judicial process and why matters heard in Student Court aren't fun and games.
* ''[[Afterschool Special|CBS Schoolbreak Special]]'': The 1985 episode "Student Court" focused on the workings of a high school student court – students who assist the administration with conflict resolution and interpretation of school policy. This student court takes on another dimension: determining what punishment, if any, a teen-aged girl accused of shoplifting should face.
* The episode "Testimony of a Traitor" in [[Buck Rogers in
* The ''[[Farscape]]'' episode "Dream A Little Dream" has Zhaan framed for murder on a planet whose [[Planet of Hats|hat]] is that 90% of them are lawyers. Rygel and Chiana have to defend her.
* ''[[Leverage]]'' has two of these:
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** In "The Lost Heir Job", the team takes on a client who's entangled in a probate case; Nate ends up playing a [[Large Ham]] shyster from Vegas.
* ''[[Star Trek]]'' does this quite a bit:
** In ''[[Star Trek: The
*** "The Menagerie" prominently features Spock being court-martialed for stealing the ''Enterprise''. He did it, but apparently he has [[Hero Insurance]].
*** "[[Star Trek/Recap/S1
*** "Wolf in the Fold." Scotty is accused of multiple acts of murder and Captain Kirk effectively acts as his defense attorney. The start of [[Boston Legal|Denny Crane]]'s career, no doubt.
** In ''[[Star Trek: The
*** In "The Measure of a Man", Picard tries to establish the precedent that Data is legally human, with Riker forced by the Starfleet legal system into arguing against him.
*** "The Drumhead" is centered around a court-martial about sabotage aboard the ''Enterprise'', eventually devolving to a witch-hunt for supposed traitors (while the "sabotage" was merely faulty equipment).
*** "Devil's Due." Picard must prove that an alien being is not the Devil. Data acts as the arbitrator in charge of hearing the case.
*** "A Matter of Perspective." Riker is accused of murdering an alien scientist. His trial includes holographic re-creations of events based on witness testimony.
** ''[[Star Trek:
*** "Dax" looks like it's going to center around the question of whether Jadzia and Curzon [[The Nth Doctor|Dax]] are considered the same person under Bajoran law, much as "The Measure of a Man" centers around the question of whether Data is considered human under Federation law. {{spoiler|In the end, Curzon [[Clear Their Name|gets exonerated]], so it doesn't matter.}}
*** "Tribunal", in which [[The Chew Toy|O'Brien]] is tried as a terrorist on Cardassia, is more of a [[Kangaroo Court
*** "Rules of Engagement" is about an attempt to extradite Worf to the Klingon empire; Sisko defends him.
** ''[[Star Trek:
* In the rebooted ''[[Battlestar Galactica
** Most of "Crossroads" (the season 3 finale) is taken up by Baltar's trial for treason. Apollo ends up playing lawyer; Adama is randomly selected to be one of the judges.
** The first season episode "Litmus" revolves heavily around a military tribunal created in the wake of a suicide bombing.
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* The flashforwards in the ''[[Lost]]'' episode "Eggtown."
* ''[[Criminal Minds]]'': "Tabula Rasa", in which a killer previously tracked down by the BAU it put on trial after awakening from a coma...with total retrograde amnesia.
* Courts-martial figure in several ''[[M*A*S*H (television)|Mash]]'' episodes:
** In "The Trial of Henry Blake", the titular C.O. is accused of giving aid and comfort to the enemy after Majors Burns and Houlihan file a complaint about the lack of discipline under his command.
** In "The Novocaine Mutiny", Hawkeye is tried for mutiny after temporary commander Major Burns is accidentally knocked unconscious during an argument between the two men in the O.R. This leads to the two men providing [[The Rashomon|widely conflicting versions of the same events]] in their testimony.
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* An episode of ''[[24]]'' from late in the second season, [[Idiosyncratic Episode Naming|4:00am to 5:00am]], has [[Reasonable Authority Figure|President Palmer]]'s cabinet vote on whether to remove him from office under the 25th Amendment. It takes place in a conference room, rather than a courtroom, but they call [[Surprise Witness|surprise witnesses]], debate the spirit versus the letter of the law, and have impassioned closing arguments. The President himself even declares it "the trial of David Palmer."
* [[Little House on the Prairie (TV series)|Little House On The Prairie]] had two. The first was "Barn Burner", where town bigot Mr. Larabee is accused of burning down the Garvey Barn. The second is "Blind Justice", where a man is put on trial after being accused of swindling the citizens of Walnut Grove in a land scandal.
== [[Video Games]] ==
* Several [[BioWare]] games (''[[Knights of the Old Republic]]'', ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'', ''[[Neverwinter Nights]]'', and ''[[Neverwinter Nights 2]]'') have sidequests where you either act as an attorney for a quest-giver, or are accused of something and have to defend yourself. Usually they involve all of collecting evidence, interviewing people, and making the right statements at court.
== [[Web Comics]] ==▼
* Parodied in ''[[Chasing the Sunset]]'': "[[All Bikers Are Hells Angels|The Hell's Pixies]]" invoked [
▲== Web Comics ==
▲* Parodied in ''[[Chasing the Sunset]]'': "[[All Bikers Are Hells Angels|The Hell's Pixies]]" invoked [http://www.fantasycomic.com/index.php?p=c372 Pixie Law] when one of them "alledges to be the rightful owner of a necklace currently in the possession of Feiht". The first problem being that they all are [[The Fair Folk|pixies]] - and the first time we have seen two pixies together, they stole some shiny things from each other right during the greeting. Pixies themselves perfectly understand how ludicrous this is, of course. Even before the hearing started, it turned out that pixies' idea of law is fuzzier than a kitten. [[Hilarity Ensues|Comedy ensues]].
{{quote|
'''Dread''': The counsel of the defense is held in contempt of court.
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'''Dread''': Do you have contempt for the court?
'''Ayne''': Well... yes. }}
== [[Western Animation]] ==
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* ''[[Justice League (animation)|Justice League]]'' has one episode where [[Green Lantern]] stands trial for blowing up a planet. Flash is his lawyer. [[Hilarity Ensues]].
* ''[[SpongeBob SquarePants]]'': "Plankton vs. Krabs."
* The ''[[Animaniacs]]'' episode "[[
* ''[[The Grim Adventures of Billy
* ''[[The Venture Brothers]]'' episode "Trial of the Monarch" has the Monarch as the defendant, acting as his own lawyer. He doesn't care for having the jury described as his "peers."
* ''[[101 Dalmatians|One Hundred and One Dalmatians]]: The Series'': "Twelve Angry Pups"
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:The Courtroom Index]]
[[Category:Older Than Print]]
[[Category:
▲[[Category:Courtroom Episode]]
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