Law on TV – The Main Chance

I like spending some of my rare time away from practice and teaching by watching law-related documentaries and dramas. Maybe it makes me think I’m doing something that might somehow be useful. Sometimes it is – I’ll catch a tidbit here or there that I can use in my own cases. (Though once I got a winning settlement strategy in an age discrimination case by watching a very non-law documentary, about 1960s Grand Prix racing ….)

My law students often ask me for suggestions of good law-related shows. Sometimes other lawyers ask me or share their favorites with me.

Here’s my first suggestion, one I bet you’ve never heard of: THE MAIN CHANCE. It’s a British TV show from 1969-1975. I found it by chance (sorry) on YouTube, which is the best way to watch anything. YouTube has all sorts of great shows, many of which are so seldom watched that YouTube hasn’t bothered to layer them with ads.

THE MAIN CHANCE depicts David Main, a solicitor. In the English system (and most TV shows and films about it), a solicitor is less glamorous than a barrister. Barristers wear robes and powdered white wigs (though relatively recently the rule was relaxed in some courts) in court and argue fine points of law before similarly adorned judges. Solicitors are more street-level, dealing with clients more directly, and often craft creative solutions and negotiated settlements for their clients. (US lawyers are a mixture, though some shy away from actually going to court.) Solicitors in the UK do argue in some courts, usually lower-level, in some cases, and without the robes and wigs.

David Main is brilliant, creative, often stubborn, is not afraid to pick a fight and never backs down from a fight. He’s a tough manager of the lawyers working for him. He’s not afraid to battle with his law partner, even though that partner is older and more experienced. His personal life is a casualty of his hard-driving success (though watching as an observer, all the fallout seems avoidable).

The situations I’ve seen so far range from Main serving the uber-rich to the literally poor and destitute, in business deals and criminal cases. His practice is based in London and Leeds, which I suspect was rare then. His partner in Leeds is regarded as “crusty,” cautious, and old school compared to Main’s “maverick” approach. The legal situations are believable, and we don’t always see the resolution (though we are always left with a good idea of what it is going to be) – which is similar to real life in that cases can drag on for some time, and lawyers need to get comfortable with the lack of resolution.

There’s also plenty of English scenery and fashions of that era – miniskirts and MINI Coopers abound.

This will keep me busy in my free time for a while – there are 45 episodes, and I’ve seen just a handful.

Let me know if you’ve seen the show, your thoughts on it, and any other good law shows.