David E. Kelley's Emmy Award-winning legal drama, The Practice, returns for its eighth season, promising more provocative, issue-related stories, coupled with the writer's trademark humor.
Set in Boston, The Practice centers on a firm of passionate attorneys to whom every case is important and every client worth a fight to the end. Legal maneuvering is the firm's modus operandi, and they have it down to a science, making even the most questionable arguments convincing. And while they can't – and don't – win every trial, the pursuit of justice remains the priority until the final verdict is announced … and sometimes afterwards. Pursuing justice, however, often confronts them with serious ethical and moral issues of conscience.
The end of last season saw Bobby Donnell quitting the firm and leaving Eugene Young (Steve Harris) in charge. This season finds Eugene not only tackling his new role as head of the firm, but also the new dynamic with co-workers Ellenor Frutt (Camryn Manheim), a single mom known for her fervent commitment to clients and for refusing to take "no" for an answer; Jimmy Berluti (Michael Badalucco), a hard-working "good guy" with a winning record and unparalleled loyalty to the firm; and a budding relationship with Jamie Stringer (Jessica Capshaw), a young associate recently out of law school.
In addition to returning cast members Manheim, Harris, Badalucco and Capshaw, this season Kelley will inject the series with intriguing new characters, including acclaimed film actor James Spader, who will play Alan Shore, a complicated and ethically challenged lawyer, and Rhona Mitra, who will play Tara Wilson, a confident paralegal in her third year of law school who is also the firm's new tough-as-nails assistant.
The multiple Emmy Award-winning drama has also earned a Golden Globe Award for Best Drama Series, a Peabody Award, a Viewers for Quality Television Award, an American Bar Association Silver Gavel Award and, most recently, a coveted Humanitas Award.
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Award-winning drama The Practice, from renowned writer/producer David E. Kelley, is one of television's most acclaimed dramas. The series has won some of the biggest awards in television, including the Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series, the Golden Globe for Best Dramatic Series, and the George Foster Peabody Award for overall excellence.
Set in Boston, The Practice centers on the passionate attorneys of Donnell, Young, Dole, & Frutt. To these defense lawyers, every case is important, every client worth a fight to the end. Pursuing justice, however, often confronts the firm with serious ethical and moral issues of conscience, often causing the colleagues to clash with their clients — and each other.
Keeping the defense attorneys on their toes is no-nonsense A.D.A. Helen Gamble (Lara Flynn Boyle). One of the district's top prosecutors, Helen is unyielding in her quest to put the accused behind bars. Joining the show for the 2001-02 season is A.D.A. Alan Lowe (Ron Livingston), a hotshot prosecutor hand-planted by the D.A. to second-chair Helen on a high-profile murder case. Alan is as talented — and stubborn — as Helen is, and she knows it.
The Practice was created by David E. Kelley. Kelley and Bob Breech are the executive producers. Kathy McCormick is the co-executive producer. The Practice is produced by Gary M. Strangis. The series, which premiered on March 4, 1997, is a David E. Kelley Production in association with Twentieth Century Fox Television.