Ben Matlock or a Lump of Dirt: Best Trial Lawyer?

That homespun cracker barrel wisdom gets 'em every time! No lump of dirt could ever whip out a folksy metaphor like "He was all over my client like purty on one of the Gooch sisters!" Though, no doubt, a lump of TEXAS dirt would do a better job than any sterile northern soil. Who knows, maybe one day a Texas clod will even make its way to the White House!

I once had the pleasure of serving jury duty on a capital case. The alleged murderer had recorded his crime on video tape and when captured had the victim's body sitting in the car seat next to him. We were all beginning to have a little trouble with the idea of reasonable doubt. But when that grandfatherly old tabaccy-chawin' small-town lawyer stood up and said "That dog won't hunt, Mr. Prosecutor," the scales fell from our eyes and we turned that wronged man free!

Listen to Andy Griffith's "What is was, was football" sometime. You'll split your colon laughing your ass off. Unless of course, you find it not funny at all. Much like this post. Freaking liberal elitists.

Just to be a beotch on Saturday night

Cuz otherwise I ain't buying it.

Seriously, though, thanks for posting, I do appreciate it!

Françoise

You can probably find them on the web...

He could make jurors cry.

His closing arguments read like great literature. He fought for workers' rights and free speech in the early 20th century.

He was a complicated individual. A terrific book, one of the best books I've ever read is The People vs. Clarence Darrow. This was about a trial in which he was charged with bribing jurors in a big trial of his. He won. But it was his darkest moment. There is a tremendous amount of background history in the book. It makes the whole union movement of the early 20th truly come alive.

And I might need to read some more about him, if I can ever get the time!

My familiarity with him is limited to a basic awareness that he defended the science teacher in the Scopes Monkey Trial (which I like, though I'm sorry William Jennings Bryan had to go through that) and the thrill-killer rich kids who murdered the 12-year old boy (which gives me less positive feelings about him).

Ben Matlock was a fictional TV character played by Andy Griffith. I never have liked Andy Griffith much but for some reason Matlock was, to me, the most insufferable and aggravating of all his celluloid incarnations. I was inspired to start this thread by another poster's thread about whether Ashcroft or Andy Taylor of Mayberry would make a better sheriff.