Television series

Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law

Name: Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law
Genre: Drama
Released: 1971
Cast: Arthur Hill, Joan Darling, Lee Majors, Christine Matchett, David Soul

Courtroom drama
Crime
Dip in and out

A small-town California lawyer who believes everyone deserves a vigorous defence. Owen Marshall is the thinking person's courtroom drama—less about procedural flourishes, more about moral reckoning. Arthur Hill brings quiet authority to a man who won't condescend to his clients. It's for anyone who wants legal storytelling that trusts your intelligence.

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like courtroom drama that focuses on the people in the dock rather than a flashy verdict, and you enjoy a lawyer who listens more than he performs.

Skip it if you need fast plot turns and cliffhangers, since this hour-long show is unhurried and talky, and its slower stretches will test your patience.

What it asks of you: Settle in for an hour a week over three seasons, with long scenes of conversation and a patient, unshowy pace where the moral weight builds quietly.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Perry Mason1957

The definitive lawyer show. Raymond Burr's detective-attorney solves cases and saves the innocent with elegance. Every episode clicks into place like a Swiss watch. If you like Marshall's decency, you'll love Perry's certainty.

But It's formulaic—Perry always wins, the guilty always confess. After fifty episodes the rhythm becomes predictable, even if each individual case remains satisfying.

The Defenders1961

Two generations of lawyers (a father and son) tackle the legal and moral quandaries that Perry ignores. Serious, urgent, often angry about injustice. This is what raised the bar for courtroom drama on television.

But Some cases hit too hard and don't resolve cleanly. If you want reassurance, not provocation, this will disturb rather than comfort you.

L.A. Law1986

A sprawling ensemble show about a high-powered firm where personal lives tangle with cases. Glossier than Marshall, but it carries forward his belief that lawyers are people first, with real moral stakes in what they do.

But Soap opera elements intrude—relationships, affairs, melodrama. If you want pure law, not lawyers' lives, the human clutter will get in the way.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Verdict1982

Both centre on lawyers who see their clients as human beings first, and both believe that decency matters more than winning.

Paul Newman as an ambulance-chasing lawyer given one last chance—a medical malpractice suit he might actually win. Gritty, furious, and deeply human. A man fighting not just a system but his own failures. It's what Marshall's compassion looks like when tested by real stakes.

But Bleak and slow. The law isn't heroic here; it's a grinding, corrupt machine. If you need your lawyer to restore your faith in justice, this will break it instead.

Witness for the Prosecution1957

Agatha Christie's masterpiece: a barrister defends a man he believes is innocent, only to discover nothing is what it seemed. Courtroom theatre with real emotional depth and a twist that earns itself.

But It's British, filmed in the 1950s, and deliberately theatrical. If you need naturalism and contemporary settings, the artifice will feel distant.

Anatomy of a Murder1959

Jimmy Stewart as a small-town defence attorney in a rape trial that won't stay simple. Complex, angry, human—the film that taught courtroom drama how to think. Every character deserves respect, even those who horrify us.

But Nearly three hours long, and the pacing is deliberate. It moves at the speed of legal argument, not drama. Some scenes feel like actual trials, which means they can drag.

The Paper Chase1973

Law school as intellectual battleground and moral proving ground. Timothy Bottoms as a first-year student discovers that being right and being just are not the same thing. Urgent and funny and genuinely wise about how people learn ethics.

But Focuses on education, not practice. If you want cases and courtrooms, you'll spend most of the film in classrooms and libraries instead.

The Witness for the Prosecution2016

BBC remake that updates Christie to contemporary London. Billy Nighy as a barrister facing a murder trial where the law and truth collide. Elegant, intelligent, and unexpectedly moving.

But A remake of a famous play and film. If you know the story, the shock evaporates, and the pleasure shrinks to smaller pleasures of performance and detail.

The Good Wife2009

A lawyer returns to work after her husband's scandal and discovers the law is as much about politics and money as justice. Sharp, funny, morally complicated. Cases that matter, in a world that's dirty but not hopeless.

But It's a network soap pretending to be a legal procedural. If you want pure law, not career drama and personal intrigue, the plotting will feel manufactured.

Boston Legal2004

A Boston firm where brilliant, eccentric lawyers defend ridiculous and serious cases with equal passion. James Spader at his theatrical best. It's funny and warm and surprisingly moved by its own moral arguments.

But It leans heavily into comedy and character eccentricity. The cases become vehicles for jokes rather than genuine dilemmas, and the tone shifts wildly from episode to episode.

The Trials of Muhammad Ali2013

Both ask how the law serves justice when the system itself might be unjust. Both centre on defendants whose real crime is refusing to bend.

A documentary about Ali's legal battle to refuse the Vietnam draft. Not a courtroom drama—it's the real thing, with actual testimony and photographs. About principle, law, and conscience colliding. Extraordinary, moral, gripping.

But It's a documentary, not a dramatisation. You're hearing arguments, not watching actors perform them. The pacing is historical, not cinematic, and patience is required.

Arrest and Trial1963

Both celebrate lawyers who defend the despised and the forgotten. Both believe the law's real purpose is to protect the powerless from the powerful.

A short-lived gem from the same era as Marshall: a defence attorney takes cases the system has already dismissed as hopeless. Grittier and darker than Marshall, less polished, but burning with moral urgency. You'll wonder why it vanished.

But It aired for only thirty episodes and feels rough—production values are bare-bones, pacing is uneven. It's a show nobody remembers, and obscurity isn't always undeserved.