->''"Your job is to win. ... Justice is God's problem."''
-->-- '''Sebastian Stark'''

''Shark'' is an American legal drama created by Ian Biederman that originally aired on Creator/{{CBS}} from September 21, 2006, to May 20, 2008. The show revolved around Sebastian Stark, played by James Woods. Stark is a notorious Los Angeles AmoralAttorney who becomes disillusioned with his career, and becomes a prosecutor at the mayor's suggestion. Stark's relationship with the Los Angeles District Attorney's office, his staff and his daughter, forms the central plot for the series.
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!!This series provides examples of:
* AbusiveParents: A defendant charged with kidnapping claimed the kid's parents were that. It didn't help the parents the boy ran away before the trial and the defendant's lawyer brought up evidence they had previously hid an injury the kid suffered to avoid rumors.
* ActorAllusion: In the episode "One Hit Wonder", someone said "...everyday I meet kids who are willing to [[DealWithTheDevil sell their souls]] to get famous". Next scene, [[Series/{{Supernatural}} Enter]] [[MarkSheppard Crowley]].
* AlliterativeName: Sebastian Stark.
* AmoralAttorney: Stark himself. He keeps trying to teach his team to use his methods so they can win their cases. Many of Stark's opponents in court come close to this.
** [[BlondesAreEvil Madeline too.]]
* AndThatLittleGirlWasMe:
-->'''Jessica:''' You know, I remember my first jury trial. I was up against a pretty decent attorney. Kind of pompous and arrogant, but he knew how nervous I was. So he called me while the jury was out.
-->'''Stark:''' Probably wanted to hit on you.
-->'''Jessica:''' Actually, I think that's the one time you didn't hit on me. You told me, that at the end of the day, you put your best cards on the table, then you put it in the jury's hands and you let it go.
-->'''Stark:''' [[CompletelyMissingThePoint If I remember correctly you lost that case.]]
-->'''Jessica:''' Not the point.
* AssholeVictim: The best example would be a porn magnate whom Stark had refused to defend earlier.
-->'''Stark:''' Tyson Shaw, how do I know that name?
-->'''Madeleine:''' Internet porn. Guy's a zillionaire, and a major sleaze-bag. Beat raps on extortion, racketeering…
-->'''Stark:''' Right, he came to me for representation on an embezzlement charge a couple years ago.
-->'''Issac:''' You turned him down?
-->'''Stark:''' Guy made Larry Flynt look like Film/MaryPoppins. [[EvenEvilHasStandards Even I have standards]].
* TheBadGuyWins: Wayne Callison got away with murdering five women and driving a witness into suicide.
* BatmanGambit: Stark runs a doozy to get Wayne Callison, making sure no one else in the prosecutor's office knows about it and there is no evidence to prove it.
* CassandraTruth: The reason Stark explains his BatmanGambit to Wayne Callison in loving detail.
-->'''Stark:''' I'm not a big one for loose ends, Wayne. There's not a single scrap of paper, not one e-mail to confirm what I just told you. Hanna Morton's remains have been cremated. None of my lawyers knows a thing. And the people who do, aren't saying a word. All that's left... are the raving of a convicted psychopath.
* CourtroomAntics: Used straight and played with. In the pilot episode, Stark shows he is able to get someone to lose their cool on the witness stand with a "mock questioning" of Raina. She loses her cool.
* DrivenToSuicide: The key witness for the first time Wayne Callison went to trial.
* FramingTheGuiltyParty: Stark's BatmanGambit against Wayne Callison.
* GoodLawyersGoodClients: Whenever Stark finds out that he's prosecuting an innocent person, he stops until the police can find a more likely candidate.
* HelloAttorney: Pretty much everyone at the DA's office. Except Issac, who is an investigator.
* HorribleHollywood
* HumansAreBastards: "Sex for surgery. And just like that, mankind sinks to a new low."
* JusticeByOtherLegalMeans: Stark claims to be more concerned with winning cases than with actual justice. He makes an exception for Wayne Callison.
* ''TheKindnapper'': One of the defendants prosecuted by Sebastian Stark claims to be one. [[spoiler:It was a lie he tricked the child into believing]].
* TheLancer: Stark has two depending on the situation. If he's falling back on his old unethical tactics Reina calls him on it, or Madeline is encouraging Stark to push the limits and he has to hold her back.
* LoopholeAbuse: What Stark used as a defense attorney and continues to use as a prosecutor.
* TheLostLenore: Issac's fiance, Olivia.
* NothingPersonal: Stark says his cases against the state were just business, LAPD's officers quite often disagree.
* NotSoDifferent: Wayne Callison attempts this with Stark. [[ShutUpHannibal Stark disagrees.]]
-->'''Wayne Callison:''' Sebastian, we're not so different... you and I.
-->'''Stark:''' Let's just say I learned to channel my obsession in a more positive direction.
* OffOnATechnicality: A member of the staff team influenced the jury and it saved the [[spoiler: sympathetic]] defendant.
** In a darker case, Wayne Callison got away with killing five women because the key witness' testimony against him had to be disregarded on the grounds that he wasn't able to cross-examine her. The reason he couldn't was the fact she was DrivenToSuicide by ''him''. And that was something he got away with on ''another'' technicality.
* OldCopYoungCop: In one of Sebastian Stark's cases as a prosecutor, the defendant was a cop charged with killing a criminal's cousin. The cop had a problem with the criminal and accidentally killed the cousin. The cop was the old cop of the trope and the young one was testifying against him. The ex-cop working as a liasion between Stark's office and the [=LAPD=] commented on how odd it was that the young cop was testifying against the old one since cops usually take the heat for one another. [[spoiler:Then it clicked on Stark the ''old'' cop was TakingTheHeat for the young one. The young one had heard stories about the criminal and decided to take justice on his own hands. Stark made a deal where he'd allow the old cop to take the heat if the young one agreed to leave the force forever]].
* OverprotectiveDad: Stark for his daughter, Julie.
* PleaBargain: The show has this happen regularly, or at least has attempts to plea bargain.
* RippedFromTheHeadlines: Not often, but sometimes.
* ShoutOut: The first season finale, "Wayne's World 2: Revenge of the Shark" has a lot of references to MobyDick.
* TeamDad: Stark, although he would be the first to deny it.
* VigilanteMan: The defendant in the episode "Porn Free" says he killed a porn kingpin to benefit society. Stark isn't hearing it.
-->'''Raina:''' Maybe Gilroy really did kill Shaw to make the world a better place.
-->'''Stark:''' (A) That's God's job and (B) altruism is not a viable defense to murder.
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