Must See Movies For Law Students
This is a list of movies that are must see for any law student because they depict injustice and are an inspiration for any law student to fight the system.
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- DirectorAaron SorkinStarsEddie RedmayneAlex SharpSacha Baron CohenThe story of 7 people on trial stemming from various charges surrounding the uprising at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois.
- CreatorScott AlexanderLarry KaraszewskiSarah BurgessStarsSarah PaulsonAnnaleigh AshfordSterling K. BrownAn anthology series centered around America's most notorious crimes and criminals.
- DirectorMick JacksonStarsJames WoodsMercedes RuehlLolita DavidovichLawyers and the media argue the alleged child abuse at the McMartin preschool in Manhattan Beach, California.
- DirectorFrancis Ford CoppolaStarsMatt DamonDanny DeVitoClaire DanesAn underdog lawyer takes on a fraudulent insurance company.
- DirectorStanley KramerStarsSpencer TracyBurt LancasterRichard WidmarkIn 1948, an American court in occupied Germany tries four Nazis judged for war crimes.
- DirectorPeter MedakStarsTom CourtenayChristopher EcclestonEileen AtkinsThis drama reveals the controversial postwar 1950's London murder trial that sent an intellectually challenged young man to the gallows for a murder he did not commit.
- DirectorSidney LumetStarsHenry FondaLee J. CobbMartin BalsamThe jury in a New York City murder trial is frustrated by a single member whose skeptical caution forces them to more carefully consider the evidence before jumping to a hasty verdict.
- DirectorMarc RoccoStarsChristian SlaterKevin BaconGary OldmanAn eager and idealistic young attorney defends an Alcatraz prisoner accused of murdering a fellow inmate. The extenuating circumstances: his client had just spent over three years in solitary confinement.
- DirectorKurt KuenneStarsKurt KuenneAndrew BagbyDavid BagbyA filmmaker decides to memorialize a murdered friend when his friend's ex-girlfriend announces she is expecting his son.
- DirectorMaggie BettsStarsJamie FoxxTommy Lee JonesJurnee SmollettInspired by true events, a lawyer helps a funeral home owner save his family business from a corporate behemoth, exposing a complex web of race, power, and injustice.
- DirectorJean-Xavier de LestradeStarsAnn FinnellPatrick McGuinnessJames WilliamsOscar-winning documentary that documents a murder trial in which a 15-year-old African-American is wrongfully accused of a 2000 murder in Jacksonville, Florida.
- DirectorSteven SoderberghStarsJulia RobertsAlbert FinneyDavid BrisbinAn unemployed single mother becomes a legal assistant and almost single-handedly brings down a California power company accused of polluting a city's water supply.
- DirectorTony RichardsonStarsStefanie PowersPaul ClemensTom AtkinsWhen a teenager is accused of his mother's murder, the community of Canaan rallies to his defense.
- DirectorAdrian ShergoldStarsTimothy SpallJuliet StevensonEddie MarsanThe life and times of Albert Pierrepoint - Britain's most prolific hangman.
- DirectorErrol MorrisStarsRandall AdamsDavid HarrisGus RoseA film that successfully argued that a man was wrongly convicted for murder by a corrupt justice system in Dallas County, Texas.
- DirectorRob EpsteinStarsHarvey FiersteinHarvey MilkAnne KronenbergA documentary of the successful career and assassination of San Francisco's first elected gay city supervisor.
- DirectorDavid GreeneStarsAnthony HopkinsBlythe DannerSwoosie KurtzWhile an unfaithful criminal lawyer considers killing his wife, his spouse develops some schemes of her own.
- DirectorJonathan DemmeStarsTom HanksDenzel WashingtonRoberta MaxwellWhen a man with HIV is fired by his law firm because of his condition, he hires a homophobic-small time lawyer as the only willing advocate for a wrongful dismissal suit.
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsRobert De NiroNick NolteJessica LangeA convicted rapist, released from prison after serving a fourteen-year sentence, stalks the family of the lawyer who originally defended him.
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsTyrone PowerMarlene DietrichCharles LaughtonA veteran British barrister must defend his client in a murder trial that has surprise after surprise.
- DirectorMartin RittStarsWoody AllenZero MostelHerschel BernardiIn 1953, a cashier poses as a writer for blacklisted talents to submit their work through, but the injustice around him pushes him to take a stand.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsDjimon HounsouMatthew McConaugheyAnthony HopkinsIn 1839, the revolt of Mende captives aboard a Spanish owned ship causes a major controversy in the United States when the ship is captured off the coast of Long Island. The courts must decide whether the Mende are slaves or legally free.
- DirectorIrwin WinklerStarsRobert De NiroAnnette BeningGeorge WendtReturning to Hollywood 1951 after working in France, a movie director meets McCarthyism head-on.
- DirectorGregory HoblitStarsRichard GereLaura LinneyEdward NortonAn altar boy is accused of murdering a priest, and the truth is buried several layers deep.
- DirectorWerner HerzogStarsWerner HerzogRichard LopezMichael PerryConversations with death row inmate Michael Perry and those affected by his crime serve as an examination of why people - and the state - kill.
- DirectorGilbert CatesStarsRicky SchroderJohn CorbettTom IrwinDefense attorneys attempt to reverse Timothy Hennis' supposed wrongful prosecution on three charges of murder and his sentence to death.
- DirectorJeff NicholsStarsRuth NeggaJoel EdgertonWill DaltonThe story of Richard and Mildred Loving, a couple whose arrest for interracial marriage in 1960s Virginia began a legal battle that would end with the Supreme Court's historic 1967 decision.
- DirectorMichael SwitzerStarsPatty DukeMartin SheenAlexandra PowersTrue story about the mother of a murder victim seeking to bring her son's widow to justice and gain custody of her granddaughter.
- DirectorSandy SmolanStarsRichard CrennaRhea PerlmanLinda KelseyGregory Kingsley, a boy passed off onto social services by his natural mother and abused by his natural father, finds the foster family he is put into to be the type of family he needs and takes his natural mother to court to have her parental rights revoked so that he can be adopted by the Russes. The story is based on the real case of the boy who really did have to take this action to avoid being sent back into an unacceptable situation.
- DirectorRobert BentonStarsDustin HoffmanMeryl StreepJane AlexanderAfter his wife leaves him, a work-obsessed Manhattan advertising executive is forced to learn long-neglected parenting skills, but a heated custody battle over the couple's young son deepens the wounds left by the separation.
- DirectorJim SheridanStarsDaniel Day-LewisPete PostlethwaiteAlison CrosbieAn Irish man's coerced confession to an I.R.A. bombing he did not commit results in the imprisonment of his father as well. Meanwhile, a British lawyer fights to clear their names and free them.
- DirectorAlan ParkerStarsKevin SpaceyKate WinsletLaura LinneyA man against capital punishment is accused of murdering a fellow activist and is sent to death row.
- DirectorMicki DickoffStarsVeronica HamelMimi RogersCarlos GómezHamel portrays director Dickoff who suspends her career in order to help a friend who's been in prison for quite some time in connection with a murder.
- DirectorPeter SollettStarsJulianne MooreElliot PageSteve CarellNew Jersey police lieutenant Laurel Hester and her registered domestic partner Stacie Andree battle to secure Hester's pension benefits when she is diagnosed with terminal cancer.
- DirectorDavid BlairStarsNico MirallegroPhilip Hill-PearsonAndrew EllisJimmy McGovern's gritty drama stars Nico Mirallegro as guileless seventeen-year-old Johnjo O'Shea, who goes from innocent bystander to accessory to premeditated murder after giving a few friends a lift.
- DirectorRob ReinerStarsTom CruiseJack NicholsonDemi MooreMilitary lawyer Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee defends Marines accused of murder. They contend they were acting under orders.
- StarsFarrah FawcettRyan O'NealGordon ClappA peculiar and disturbing case catches the attention of the police when a young mother and her children, all severely injured, show up in a hospital's emergency room.
- DirectorDon McBreartyStarsAlly SheedyMark RendallJohn BourgeoisThe lives of Escondido, California residents Cheryl and Stephen Crowe change one morning when they find their twelve year old daughter Stephanie Crowe stabbed to death in her bedroom. As procedure dictates, the police take each member of the household away individually to be questioned, and the remaining children - fourteen year old Michael Crowe and adolescent Shannon Crowe - are taken into protective custody until Cheryl and Stephen can be cleared. The police end up placing much of their focus on the sullen Michael, who they question without counsel and without discussion with his parents. The tone of the police questioning is that they believe Michael did kill his sister, the police lying, harassing and coercing in the process. Under the barrage of questioning, Michael eventually confesses, as do two of his friends, both questioned under the same threatening tone. Cheryl and Stephen, who are finally made aware of the questioning and the confessions, enlist the help of sympathetic attorney, Dorothy Sorenson, to clear Michael and his friends while trying to find the real killer, who they believe is a transient named Richard Tuite.
- DirectorErrol MorrisStarsFred A. Leuchter Jr.Robert Jan Van PeltDavid IrvingA cinematic portrait of the life and career of the infamous American execution device designer and holocaust denier.
- DirectorGregory HoblitStarsAnthony HopkinsRyan GoslingDavid StrathairnAfter shooting his wife, Ted confesses his crime and asks the court to move his case to trial. He represents himself against Willy, a successful lawyer. But there's more to the case than meets the eye.
- DirectorRobert MulliganStarsGregory PeckJohn MegnaFrank OvertonAtticus Finch, a widowed lawyer in Depression-era Alabama, defends a Black man against an undeserved rape charge, and tries to educate his young children against prejudice.
- DirectorReginald HudlinStarsChadwick BosemanJosh GadKate HudsonThe story of Thurgood Marshall, the crusading lawyer who would become the first African-American Supreme Court Justice, as he battles through one of his career-defining cases.
- DirectorWilliam FriedkinStarsMichael BiehnAlex McArthurNicholas CampbellAlex is an outwardly normal man who goes on killing and mutilating sprees. When he is finally captured and brought to trial, the district attorney is torn between his own liberal ideals on guilt and the crimes the accused is being tried.
- DirectorTaylor HackfordStarsKeanu ReevesAl PacinoCharlize TheronAn exceptionally-adept Florida lawyer is offered a job at a high-end New York City law firm with a high-end boss--the biggest opportunity of his career to date.
- DirectorJonathan LynnStarsJoe PesciMarisa TomeiRalph MacchioTwo New Yorkers accused of murder in rural Alabama while on their way back to college call in the help of one of their cousins, a loudmouth lawyer with no trial experience.
- DirectorNorman JewisonStarsAl PacinoJack WardenJohn ForsytheA lawyer is forced to defend a judge, while defending other clients, and trying to find punishment for the guilty and provide justice for the innocent.
- DirectorMarc AbrahamStarsGreg KinnearLauren GrahamAlan AldaRobert Kearns takes on the Detroit automakers who he claims stole his idea for the intermittent windshield wiper.
- DirectorBill NortonStarsDonna MillsSteven BauerLane SmithA luxury home, a handsome husband and terrific children. But it all comes crashing down when she is accused of being a mastermind behind a brutal triple-homicide and is arrested and handcuffed in front of her own children. A gripping story of passion and betrayal as a woman fights to clear her name and avoid the death penalty for a crime she didn't commit.
- DirectorErin Lee CarrStarsGary AllenViolet BlueJames A. CohenA probing look into the potential future of "thought policing" through the headline-making case of the NYPD "Cannibal Cop," who was charged with conspiring to kidnap and eat women.
- DirectorBethany RooneyStarsCheryl LaddJean SmartDean NorrisA recently-divorced woman with children meets a man who seems nice and gives her some cash to hold for him. What she doesn't know is that he is a drug dealer being watched by authorities. He is arrested along with her, then he lies under oath naming her as his drug dealer; his "cooperating" is to testify against her in court and the circumstantial case is strong.
- DirectorAnthony PageStarsCandice BergenJürgen ProchnowHector ElizondoA married couple from Poland emigrates to the U.S.,. but things don't turn out as well as they had imaged. The husband's business fails, while his wife's career really takes off. The husband, unable to cope with the pressures of his failed business, his failing marriage and the adjustments necessary to live in a completely different society, begins to take out his frustrations on his wife.
- DirectorGilbert CatesStarsPam DawberJohn SheaStephen DorffA police officer and his wife are shocked to find that molestation has been going on at the neighborhood day care. They're devastated when they find that their own son might be a victim too. Should they have known, should they have seen?
- DirectorArmand MastroianniStarsLesley Ann WarrenBruce DavisonShirley KnightA girl is beaten and raped by someone from the school, but he doesn't go to prison because there is no proof about it. Now, the girl's mother tries to reveal the truth...
- DirectorJoel SchumacherStarsMatthew McConaugheySandra BullockSamuel L. JacksonIn Canton, Mississippi, a fearless young lawyer and his assistant defend a black man accused of murdering two white men who raped his ten-year-old daughter, inciting violent retribution and revenge from the Ku Klux Klan.
- DirectorMike RobeStarsKeith CarradineJoBeth WilliamsKathy BatesBased on the true story of a bedroom-eyed Kansas preacher who decided that getting rid of his wife, and his secretary's husband, was the will of the Lord.
- DirectorJohn KortyStarsBrian DennehyTreat WilliamsEmbeth DavidtzAlan Masters is a despicable businessman with his hands in organized crime. He marries Diane, a kind and gentle woman, and abuses and batters her viciously. Sergeant John Reed has had enough of his city's organized crime and, against the wishes of his dirty-cop superiors, tries to get evidence against Alan Masters. After Alan finds out that Diane has been helping Reed, he beats her to death...and its up to John Reed to put him away for it, and clean up the dirty cops that want to stop him. Part I starts with Diane's death and then, in a flashback, details her struggles against abuse and Reed's struggles as he coaches her to gather evidence against Alan. Part II deals with Reed's struggles with intimidating cops.
- StarsPeter CoyoteStockard ChanningRobert LoggiaBased on the true life story that took place in 1979, this movie follows the murders of Susan Reinert (Stockard Channing) and her two children in Upper Merion Township, Pennsylvania, a case that lasted seven years.
- DirectorJohn CosgroveStarsHilary SwankJeffrey NordlingCharles EstenCan a sleepwalker commit murder? Mark Schall admits being guilty of murdering his mother-in-law. In his defense, a team of lawyers attempt to prove that while Mark did in fact carry out murder, he was not awake when it happened.
- StarsMichael MahonenIan TraceyJonathan PottsAfter a young Canadian Aboriginal girl is murdered in 1971, it takes 20 years of inaction and prejudice before the police finally find the real killers. Meanwhile the killers have to live with their own guilt and fear of being caught.
- StarsValerie BertinelliMichael OntkeanTimothy CarhartA true story about a woman who fights her brother-in-law's parents for custody of her deceased sister's baby upon learning that her brother-in-law murdered her sister.
- DirectorLawrence SchillerStarsTommy Lee JonesChristine LahtiRosanna ArquetteThe story of Gary Gilmore, a convicted murderer who lobbied for his own execution.
- DirectorSam WanamakerStarsHal HolbrookDixie CarterJames Whitmore Jr.A young man is shot and killed in an altercation with Houston police. His father doesn't believe the police version of the incident and starts digging around on his own.
- DirectorPaul A. KaufmanStarsJudy ReyesAna OrtizHector Luis BustamanteThe true story of a woman who believed her infant daughter had perished in a fire, only to find her 6 years later living with another family.
- DirectorBarbet SchroederStarsJeremy IronsGlenn CloseRon SilverWealthy Sunny von Bülow lies brain-dead, husband Claus guilty of attempted murder; but he says he's innocent and hires Alan Dershowitz for his appeal.
- DirectorJohn Lee HancockStarsMichael KeatonNick OffermanJohn Carroll LynchThe story of Ray Kroc, a salesman who turned two brothers' innovative fast food eatery, McDonald's, into the biggest restaurant business in the world, with a combination of ambition, persistence, and ruthlessness.
- DirectorMike NicholsStarsMeryl StreepKurt RussellCherA worker at a plutonium processing plant is purposefully contaminated, psychologically tortured and possibly murdered to prevent her from exposing worker safety violations at the plant.
- DirectorMichael MannStarsRussell CroweAl PacinoChristopher PlummerA research chemist comes under personal and professional attack when he decides to appear in a 60 Minutes exposé on Big Tobacco.
- DirectorSidney LumetStarsPaul NewmanCharlotte RamplingJack WardenAn outcast, alcoholic Boston lawyer sees the chance to salvage his career and self-respect by taking a medical malpractice case to trial rather than settling.
- DirectorMimi LederStarsFelicity JonesArmie HammerJustin TherouxThe true story of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, her struggles for equal rights, and the early cases of a historic career that lead to her nomination and confirmation as U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice.
- DirectorBrian KnappenbergerStarsA.J. DaulerioHulk HoganCharles HarderThe courtroom and publicity battles between Hulk Hogan and Gawker Media explode in a sensational trial all about the limits of the First Amendment and the new no holds barred nature of celebrity life in an internet dominated society.
- DirectorTony GoldwynStarsHilary SwankSam RockwellMelissa LeoA working mother puts herself through law school in an effort to represent her brother, who has been wrongfully convicted of murder and has exhausted his chances to appeal his conviction through public defenders.
- DirectorJacob LaMendolaStarsTasha BoggsJuan CatalanMelissa CatalanWhen Juan Catalan is arrested for a murder he didn't commit, he builds his case around raw footage from the popular TV show, Curb Your Enthusiasm (2000).
- DirectorJohn David ColesStarsChristine LahtiTerry O'QuinnKenneth WelshGrace Cragin is a bright young lawyer who has a passion for the fight against injustice. Her ex-husband Henry is a lawyer too, but his passion is only to win. The two were divorced ten years earlier when Henry's lust for conquest led him to other women. Now, Grace has a case she cannot win alone and, although she hates to admit it, she needs Henry's help.
- StarsJohn LeonardTodd HoffmanMichael PattiWhen a 20-year-old attempts to win a fighter jet in a Pepsi sweepstakes, he sets the stage for a David versus Goliath court battle for the history books.
- DirectorCharlie MinnStarsMichael J. BegleyLisa CombattiBrian ForemanOn December 7, 1993 a crazed gunman shot twenty-five people on the LIRR, killing six. This is the worst crime in New York history prior to the 9-11 attacks.
- DirectorOliver StoneStarsJoseph Gordon-LevittShailene WoodleyMelissa LeoThe NSA's illegal surveillance techniques are leaked to the public by one of the agency's employees, Edward Snowden, in the form of thousands of classified documents distributed to the press.
- DirectorMilos FormanStarsWoody HarrelsonCourtney LoveEdward NortonThe story of controversial pornography publisher Larry Flynt, and how he became a defender of free speech.
- DirectorGavin HoodStarsKeira KnightleyMatt SmithMatthew GoodeThe true story of a British whistleblower who leaked information to the press about an illegal NSA spy operation designed to push the UN Security Council into sanctioning the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
- DirectorJohn David ColesStarsKevin SpaceyBob TraceyPaul KlementowiczThe life and career of Clarence Darrow, the noted American lawyer and civil libertarian.
- DirectorJack FiskStarsTreat WilliamsOlivia BurnetteGlenn FordNora Rogers, who grew up to become journalist and writer Adela Rogers St. John, had a unique view of the law practice of her celebrated and notorious father Earl Rogers, who was st the top of his profession at the turn of the 20th century.. This film is adapted from her 1962 biography of him, "Final Verdict."
- DirectorDavid CarsonStarsJoanna KernsTim MathesonLaTanya Richardson JacksonA woman and her children live the idyllic suburban dream, but unbeknownst to their neighbors and friends, the husband and father has a violent temper and abuses them brutally.
- DirectorDon HardyDana NachmanStarsJack CummingsJackie CummingsAllen GraftonThe story of several families who have their lives destroyed when their hometown is whipped into a frenzy by allegations of child molestation.
- DirectorJoel SchumacherStarsSusan SarandonTommy Lee JonesBrad RenfroA young boy who witnessed the suicide of a mafia lawyer hires an attorney to protect him when the District Attorney tries to use him to take down a mob family.
- DirectorPeter YatesStarsCherDennis QuaidLiam NeesonWhen a homeless man is accused of murdering a Justice Department file clerk, a public defender is tasked with mounting his legal defense.
- DirectorJoe BerlingerBruce SinofskyStarsDelbert WardRoscoe WardLyman WardThis compelling documentary details the strange-but-true murder trial of Delbert Ward, accused of the mercy killing of his brother in rural upstate NY. This real-life murder mystery won the Audience Award at Sundance.
- DirectorMichael MooreStarsMichael MooreCharlton HestonMarilyn MansonFilmmaker Michael Moore explores the roots of America's predilection for gun violence.
- StarsSidney PoitierBurt LancasterRichard KileyA dramatization of the American court case that destroyed the legal validity of racial segregation.
- DirectorDavid MidellStarsFrankie FaisonSteve O'ConnellEnrico NataleBased on the true story of the events that led to the death of Kenneth Chamberlain Sr., an elderly African American veteran with bipolar disorder, who was killed during a conflict with police officers who were dispatched to check on him.
- DirectorDavid NathStarsSteve PembertonDaniel MaysStuart GrahamA verbatim drama focusing on the 3 days farmer Tony Martin was questioned by police following the shooting of a 16 year old burglar who broke into his farmhouse in 1999. A story that split the nation. Was it self defence or murder?
- DirectorPaul WendkosStarsRaquel WelchMichael GrossBonnie BartlettA successful woman's life is irrevocably changed when she is diagnosed with A.L.S. and ultimately finds her living situation impossible to endure.
- DirectorRichard T. HeffronStarsMartin SheenRoxanne HartJoe SenecaFact-based story about Mitch Snyder (Martin Sheen), a Washington crusader for the homeless, who took their case to Congress. Working for the Community for Creative Non-violence, Snyder became outraged at the number of homeless people who had been dumped on the Washington streets without shelter from mental institutions and other care facilities. His advocacy drew national attention to the "missing persons" that live among us. Cicely Tyson also appears as a bag-lady who teaches Snyder and his cohorts how to survive on the streets.
- DirectorPaul WendkosStarsMartin SheenCaroline KavaJames HandyBobby McLoughlin is the adopted child of Harold and Mary Hohne. He's a problem child, so when he is accused of a murder he didn't commit, he is soon recognized guilty. After a moment of doubt, his father will be convinced of his son's innocence, and will fight to get him out of jail. He will need a lot of work and effort to make the administration of justice admit its failure.
- StarsToby JonesMonica DolanJulie HesmondhalghOne of the greatest miscarriages of justice in British legal history where hundreds of innocent sub-postmasters and postmistresses were wrongly accused of theft, fraud and false accounting due to a defective IT system.
- DirectorGlenn JordanStarsJames GarnerJonathan PrycePeter RiegertThe president of a major tobacco company decides to buy the company himself, but a bidding war ensues as other companies make their own offers.