Paralegal - Paralegals in Films, Television, Literature, and Politics

Paralegals in Films, Television, Literature, and Politics

Unlike nurses and physician assistants, paralegals have not caught the popular imagination and rarely are seen or mentioned in fictional or non-fiction legal television programs, or in legal fiction in print. There are however exceptions.

The most famous is probably Erin Brockovich, a real legal clerk whose participation in a toxic tort case became a major motion picture. In the movie Eagle Eye (2008) starring Shia LaBeouf and Michelle Monaghan, Monaghan plays a single mom who works as a paralegal.

Another notable exception is the character Della Street, from the Perry Mason novel, television and movie series. Although Mason identifies Della as "my confidential secretary", the projects he assigns her are entirely consistent with the law office work performed by experienced paralegals.

John Grisham includes many paralegals in his novels; for example, Rudy Baylor (the main character in Rainmaker) works briefly as a paralegal - and his associate Deck subsequently becomes Rudy's paralegal when he starts his own firm.

Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law, an esoteric cartoon comedy, features a paralegal in the form of Avenger, Harvey Birdman's eagle, who is usually seen managing files, preparing and presenting documents to the attorneys, and drafting letters to clients. Avenger will usually accompany the charismatic, yet often underprepared, Birdman into court, and whisper case information and advice into his ear. Despite not knowing English, he is by far the most competent employee of Sebben & Sebben.

The most current example is likely contained in FX's The Riches in which Doug Rich, a con-artist played by Eddie Izzard, impersonates a lawyer at a cutthroat real estate development company. Rich's apparent lack of legal knowledge is often compensated by Aubrey McDonald, a highly-skilled paralegal who manages to help guide the undereducated anti-hero through more than a few sticky situations.

In American television, USA's "Suits" features a young paralegal named Rachel who greatly assists a young aspiring lawyer with various research and otherwise.

In Eoin Colfer's book, 'The Supernaturalists', paralegals are lawyers that double as mercenaries to apprehend and then prosecute offenders for the person, or more common, company who hired them.

A few current and former paralegals have also ventured into politics, including Amanda Reeve (Arizona State Legislature) and Michael Strautmanis (Obama friend and White House Staff).