I have a friend who is a lawyer. He loves watching movies but if the plot involves a trial, he’ll often skip it. He says that movies get too many things wrong regarding lawyers. Here are his top 5 complaints about lawyers in movies and television shows.
- Everything goes to my wife…..
Lawyers hardly ever read out loud to all the beneficiaries. Why waste the time gathering them all into a room. It’s often just one or two people that inherit everything. Usually, the spouse and/or the children. These days the lawyer can call or send a letter or send an email to all beneficiaries. If anyone wants a copy of the will the lawyer will send one. It’s cheaper and easier.
Confirmed online:
Movies, television, and books often portray scenes involving a “reading of the Will,” where, upon someone’s death, an attorney assembles all of the heirs to read the terms of the document (complete with dramatic pauses, gasps, and ultimately, tears). Historically, this practice was carried out due to low literacy rates and unreliable mail delivery. Today, there is no requirement in any state for such a reading and they rarely, if ever, happen. With beneficiaries scattered across the globe, high literacy rates and access to mail, email, and fax, the “reading of the Will” is a thing of the past
(from this link)
- I am allowed one phone call….
That is not a rule. A person arrested can often make as many calls as they want because they often want to call a few people: lawyer, member of a family, bail bonds, etc. Sometimes there’s a phone in the holding cell – although it may be a pay phone. However, phone calls are a privilege, not a right. If the person arrested is acting up, they may not be allowed ANY phone calls. The police will contact their lawyer and then the lawyer will contact anyone they need to contact.
Confirmed online:
Q: If you get arrested do you actually only get one call? If that one call doesn’t answer – can you try again/try again with another number? If you only get one call and they don’t answer, how long until you get another call? I have so many questions
A: That’s a myth. If you’re being detained the cops don’t have to let you use the phone at all except to contact a lawyer. They have to let you call a lawyer because that’s covered under right to counsel.
Assuming you’re behaving yourself and not causing a bunch of ruckus they usually will let you use the phone to contact family or whatever else needs to be done to handle your affairs while you are locked up.
A: When I worked as a CO, unless they were drunk or violent, I’d let them call someone while I was finishing up paperwork on my end. I didn’t let them call God and everybody, but I would let them call around until someone picked up at least.
(there are additional answers to the question at this link)
- I want to press charges!!!
Movies or television shows often show someone saying “I want to press full charges” but that’s not accurate. People don’t press charges. People are only charged if the District Attorney of the area thinks there’s enough evidence to convict. Sometimes you hear that someone was arrested but charges were never filed by the D.A.
Confirmed online:
Unlike what you see on TV, the decision to press charges doesn’t necessarily rest with the victim. The prosecutor makes the final call on whether to press charges. But the victim’s willingness to testify and cooperate with police and prosecutors can be crucial to seeing justice done.
(the above and more information about criminal charges at this link)
- I’m going to distract the jury while you testify.
During a trial, lawyers either stand behind their desk or stand at a podium asking questions. They are not allowed to move around the courtroom like you usually see in movies and television shows because they could do something to distract or persuade the jury or the person on the witness stand. With permission from the judge, they can walk away from the desk or the podium to play a video tape or show the person on the witness stand something.
Confirmed online:
Q: How common is it for trial lawyers to walk around the courthouse whilst presenting oral arguments and questioning a witness? Is this something that happens, or must they stand behind their desk?
A: Things generally don’t work the way they do in shows like Law & Order or Matlock where the examining counsel is pacing around the courtroom the entire time and getting in witnesses’ faces, but lawyers are not tethered to their podiums, either.
Generally, oral arguments are done almost entirely at a podium or desk since it’s just a Q&A between the court and the speaking attorney. At trial, most (though not all) judges give more leeway for lawyers to roam, although you tend to walk around only for a specific purpose, such as handing an exhibit to a witness and asking a short series of questions about it or working with a demonstrative exhibit like a map or a blown-up copy of a contract in front of the jury. People aren’t just wandering and flailing around during examination, as that tends to be a distraction to the jury/court (and not in a good way).
(from this link)
5. I did it!!!!!
When my friend asked several other lawyers, they’ve all said the same thing. They’ve NEVER seen a confession in a courtroom other than when someone pleads guilty. If the defense lawyer thinks there’s the slightest chance that the defendant will accidentally say something, they won’t put the defendant on the stand.
Confirmed online:
Q: Do people ever stand up and confess in a court room like they do in court shows?
A: I assume you mean the prosecutor’s questioning was so clever that he forced the defendant into admitting his guilt. I’ve never actually seen this happen. I don’t think it happens frequently. Lawyers prepare their clients by having them practice answering questions that the prosecutors will likely answer. If they do not seem like they would be a good witness the lawyer won’t have him testify.
A: I spent a couple of decades in the magistrates’ courts and only once did I hear a defendant say, half way through his evidence, ‘Oh, all right, I did it.’
(from this link)
LOS ANGELES FILM REVIEW 