Characters / The Practice

Donnell, Young, Dole, and Frutt

Bobby Donnell

Bobby Donnell (Dylan McDermott)

• Back for the Finale: Appears in the last two episodes of the series after leaving at the end of the seventh season.
• But Now I Must Go: A combination of his deteriorating sanity (caused by the string of clients he's represented over the years), his crumbling marriage and his guilt over the subsequent relationships he's tried to cultivate leads him to depart the firm he founded, at the top of his game, to go into private practice for himself.
• The Cameo: Reappears towards the end of the eighth (and final) season, now sporting a heavy beard and working in private practice (after departing the firm at the end of season 7) to give advice to Eugene, Jimmy and Ellenor.
• Not So Stoic: The final scene of the series shows him nearly crying after the firm he helped create eight years prior has disbanded, leaving him alone in the office.
• Start My Own: At the end of the seventh season, he leaves the firm he created to start a private practice of his own.
• Wide-Eyed Idealist: Starts out the series in this way, according to Rebecca, who provides the quote for the main page.

Rebecca Washington

Rebecca Washington (LisaGay Hamilton)

• Abortion Fallout Drama: She discusses this briefly with Eugene at one point, mentioning that the mere act of going through with it caused a lot of concern for her.
• Rank Up: Started out as paralegal/receptionist, became an associate in Season 3 after passing the bar.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Like many of the supporting characters in Season 7, she disappears without a trace at its conclusion, with no word on why she left the firm or where she's gone.

Eugene Young

Eugene Young (Steve Harris)

• Amoral Attorney: By the end of the series, he has largely lost his moral compass, repeatedly defending or excusing the behavior of reprehensible criminals via taking their cases (and their money). The series finale sees him attempt to repair his reputation by taking on a new role as a circuit judge.
• Berserk Button: In the series finale, "Cheers", he has a private freakout against Alan, who walked into his courtroom and addressed him by his first name instead of, "Your Honor."
• "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: Had he just bothered to pay Alan his fair share instead of firing him and giving him a cheque for two weeks severance, he might have saved Berluti, Young and Frutt from dissolution. This even gets pointed out to him, as part of Alan's Breaking Speech in "The Case Against Alan Shore".
• Genius Bruiser: He's the most physically imposing member of the firm, and possibly the most legally knowledgeable. Witness the way a judge who placed him in contempt quotes Learned Hand at him and Eugene completes the quote to prove his own point.
• It's Personal: His actions towards Alan in the final season veer towards this, as he is repeatedly (and irrationally) angry towards him due to the latter's behavior (not counting the fact that he's just as guilty of the same actions Alan commits, but never admits it, to such an extent that he willingly withholds money from Alan (and ropes in the rest of the partners to go along with this plan, despite their concern). Despite this, Alan is repeatedly confused regarding Eugene's actions, as he considers him to be "beyond reproach".
• The Lancer: Initially starts out as this to Bobby, before taking the reins of the practice in the lead-up to the final season.
• Rank Up: In the final episodes of the series, he is offered a position as a circuit judge and accepts, finally settling into his new role (and overseeing his first case) in the series.

Ellenor Frutt

Ellenor Frutt (Camryn Manheim)

• Berserk Button: Pot shots at her love life. Her cousin Myra goes to the firm for help suing the travel agent for "emotional distress" after an unhappy honeymoon. Unhappy that her win was not as big as she expected, Myra tells Ellenor that "Probably the only long-term sexual relationship you've ever had has been with your left hand." Ellenor responds with a good left hook that knocks Myra to the ground:
  Ellenor: Never insult the left!
• Real Life Writes the Plot: Camryn Manheim's pregnancy was written into the show via a storyline where Ellenor is artifically inseminated so that she can have her a child of her own.
• Stop Being Stereotypical: She's uncomfortable with the first season's main case because their client, a father who killed his daughter's murderer, claims Jewish law justifies his actions and she's Jewish herself.

Lindsay Dole

Lindsay Doyle (Kelli Williams)

Jimmy Berluti

Jimmy Berluti (Michael Badalucco)

• Berserk Button: In the final season, when Alan asks him to sit in on a trial where the prosecutors would look more charitably on a working-class "grunt" (though not telling him as much), Jimmy asks him to tell him the real reason instead of trying to sugar-coat it. When Alan does so, Jimmy cold-cocks him in the face and has to be pulled off by Eugene and Ellenor.
• Butt-Monkey: His failures seem to stick to him in the eyes of the other members more than theirs do. They're also all promoted to partner ahead of him, although he eventually stops caring about that.
• Hypocrite: During the final season, he repeatedly rebukes Alan Shore for his lack of moral ethics... but this doesn't stop Jimmy from starting a new practice with an actual criminal (albeit, one reformed) in the series finale.
• Start My Own: Towards the series finale, he decides to separate from Eugene and Ellenor to start his own practice, largely as a way to salvage his reputation from the fallout of the Shore lawsuit.
• Straw Conservative: Largely functions as a soundboard for a token viewpoint that is often found to be misguided or wrong.
• White Sheep: Of his family — based on what we see of his family throughout the series, they're all deeply unpleasant people.

Lucy Hatcher

Lucy Hatcher (Marla Sokoloff)

Alan Lowe

Alan Lowe (Ron Livingston)

Jamie Stringer

Jamie Stringer (Jessica Capshaw)

Alan Shore

Alan Shore (James Spader)

An Amoral Attorney who joins Berluti, Young and Frutt in the show's final season, first working in their law offices before being fired and joining a competing firm managed by Denny Crane. Shore would later become the lead character in the Spin-Off, Boston Legal.

For tropes pertaining to Alan Shore's characterization in Boston Legal, click here.

• 11th-Hour Ranger: Joins the firm in the eighth (and final) season as an associate at BY&F, shortly being fired and launching a suit against them for withholding his share of business he brought in.
• Amoral Attorney: The reason for his existence — he makes it clear that he's willing to violate good taste (though but never legal ethics) to win cases for his clients, which puts him into conflict with the rest of the firm (who have all done the same things (or worse), but refused to admit to it).
• Anti-Hero: To such an extent that general consensus is that a large part of the reason for the show regaining its ratings foothold in the final season is due to his antics, which see him skirt the edge of decency in the pursuit of justice — and in the process, dissolving the titular firm operated by the main characters.
• At Least I Admit It: His central argument in the legal battles he faces in Season 8 basically revolves around this trope. He points out that yes, the firm's argument that he is an amoral, unscrupulous jerk willing to do unethical things to win is entirely fair and correct — but the fact is so are they; any good lawyer in the American adversarial system has to be to some degree; they knowingly hired him because of that only then screw him over; he at least is open about who he is and what he wants and doesn't hide behind self-righteousness like they do; and all he wants in this case is the rightful and fair payout he should have coming to him. He's so successful that he functionally destroys the firm.
• Breaking Speech: During the Shore/Berlutti, Young and Frutt trial towards the end of the final season. He points out at the end of his speech (mentioned in At Least I Admit It above) that he respects Eugene profoundly — which is why he doesn't understand why the latter would go through all the hoops of a legal matter just to deny giving him a share of what he brought in. Eugene looks positively embarrassed by the remark.
• Brutal Honesty: As part of his negotiations, he often invokes truths that others don't want to admit — just before he delivers a potential resolution of their dilemma or case.
• Crusading Lawyer: He makes it very clear to the staff at the firm that even though he tends to flout common ethics (though not legal grounds), he will not stand to see decent, honest people get defrauded or taken advantage of if he can help it. This is exemplified in one episode when he gives an epic putdown of a rich woman who demeaned and insulted a homeless man, and orders her to apologize in person and write a letter attesting to the same fact.
• Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: In the midst of a charged argument with Tara when both join Denny's firm, he blurts out that he cares for her, prompting this reaction.
• Freudian Excuse: Is revealed to have a laundry list of childhood trauma, including his first sexual experience (at the hands of one of his mother's friends), pursuing a surrogate to replicate sexual feelings he had towards his mother and sleeping with the mother of one of his best friends (Paul Stewart) when he was sixteen.
• Informed Ability: Is claimed to be a very good antitrust lawyer, according to Ellenor, but nothing in this show (nor the following spinoff) has him ever dabble in the field.
• The Lost Lenore: It's revealed early in the final season that he has a wife who passed years earlier, motivating his decision to help her sister during a case.
• Love Triangle: Initially, with Tara (another hire from Berluti, Young and Frutt) and Sally during the eighth season. This eventually gets dialed back (and later dropped completely) as Boston Legal gets rolling.
• Refuge in Audacity: When Tara aids him in getting the client files from BY&F after-hours, he changes the locks to the office, changes the name of the practice to "Alan Shore & Associates", greets the astonished partners with a cheerful hello when they arrive at work — and tells them to come back in two minutes because the office doesn't open until 9 a.m..
  Alan: I decided to declare myself as senior partner. The good news is, I've decided to keep you on, Eugene. Bad news, Jimmy — it's not working out.
• Smug Snake: Claims this of himself, as he seemingly has no problem skirting the bounds of good taste and making decisions that are charitably morally grey in order to win victories for his clients.
  Alan: I'm just an unscrupulous guy, trying to get by in an unscrupulous world.
• That Was Objectionable: Played for Laughs — he often makes frivolous objections in court, to such an extent that even the judge gets on his case. During one memorable moment from the case against Berluti, Frutt and Young, he objects to Eugene's statement about Tara not having slept with Alan (which the judge notes was answered honestly) by complaining that he's objecting to the fact that she hasn't slept with him yet.

Tara Wilson

Tara Wilson (Rhona Mitra)

Hired on as a paralegal at Berluti, Young and Frutt, Tara is eventually swayed to help Alan Shore in his legal matters and eventually joins Crane, Poole and Schmidt by the end of the series. She would later appear in the first two seasons of Boston Legal.

• 11th-Hour Ranger: Like Alan, she joins the titular practice in the final season of the series as a paralegal who makes the jump with him to Crane, Poole and Schmidt.
• Flat Character: Not given a whole lot to do outside of acting as a sounding board for Alan's speeches, function as part of the Love Triangle and get hired by Crane, Poole and Schmidt after BY&F fires her.
• Love Triangle: As part of one, with Alan and Sally, during the final six episodes of the series.

The District Attorney's Office

Helen Gamble

Helen Gamble (Lara Flynn Boyle)

Richard Bay

Richard Bay (Jason Kravits)

Crane, Poole and Schmidt

Denny Crane

Denny Crane (William Shatner)

The eccentric co-founder at Crane, Poole and Schmidt, who initially represents Alan Shore during his case against Berluti, Young and Frutt, and eventually hires him to work at their firm. Crane would later become one of the lead characters in Boston Legal.

For tropes related to Denny Crane's characterization in Boston Legal, click here.

• The Ace: Despite his tendency of being a Cloudcuckoolander, it's clear that Denny is a highly-accomplished lawyer who's able to effortlessly sway juries and bring judges onto his side — even he appears to be making a mockery of himself in the process.
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Is established as the only legal representative who could "out-show" Alan, as he knowingly dabbles in ridiculous courtroom stunts, is given plenty of leeway to get up and make statements in court (even when he's not supposed to be speaking) and has the reputation to match.
• Early-Installment Weirdness: Compared to his characterization in Boston Legal. In this show, he's a slightly loopy senior partner who is more than capable enough to steamroll cases and get the results he wants (even if some people think he might be genuinely crazy). Come the second season of the Spin-Off, Denny's Alzheimer's situation becomes so tenuous that no one brings him to trials other than to make showy appearances, and his skills as a brilliant lawyer are downplayed or dropped completely.
• Establishing Character Moment: Upon meeting Alan for the first time, Denny proves to be just as wild as he is when he takes a conversation with one of an associate regarding an upcoming case.
  Denny: I'm going to raise your (case) counter to 142, and I'm going to whisper in Charlie's ear what a fine young associate he has in you. He respects my opinion. You know why? Not because we're friends, but because... I'm Denny Crane. You knew that, didn't you?
• Insistent Terminology:
  • Has a habit of referring to himself in the third-person, as a way of bragging and disassociating his larger-than-life personality from himself.
  • Also has a habit of calling his employees "soldiers".
• Large Ham: His behavior takes on a larger-than-life quality in courtrooms, as he's prone to outbursts and Insane Troll Logic arguments that later make sense in context (as is befitting of William Shatner).
• Obfuscating Stupidity: Initially comes off as a near-lunatic whose claims of being the best in his profession are met with extreme skepticism by Alan. It's only when he gets in a courtroom and gets to speak that he makes it entirely clear why he's the best in the business, as he's able to deliver airtight arguments that effortlessly sway juries.
• The Perfectionist: According to Denny, he's never lost a case.
• Secret Test of Character: Implied to do this with Tara when he hires her, as he objectifies her several times (over Alan and Matthew's objections) and refers to her as a "pretty girl" and a "soldier", seemingly to gauge how she handles pressure.
• Special Guest: Of the last six episodes of the series' final season, playing an exaggerated "Kirk-esque" lawyer.
• What the Hell, Hero?: In the series finale, he gets called out by a judge and a disabled victim in a harassment case after sitting in a motorized wheelchair and awkwardly trying to drive it around in the courtroom. This actually forms part of Denny's legal argument — that he not only had no idea what it was like to be in the shoes of someone who wasn't able-bodied (and that an hour sitting in the chair would never do it justice), but that not knowing what it's like to be disabled also extended to the victim's previous harassment claim, which may have been partially motivated by the fact that other employees at the victim's workplace were harassing other women but her due to her disability.

Hannah Rose

Hannah Rose (Rebecca De Mornay)

A senior partner at Crane, Poole and Schmidt, who first appears in the final episodes of the series and runs afoul of Alan and Tara.

• Ain't Too Proud to Beg: After getting decked by Ellenor (causing a neck injury), Hannah goes begging to Sally for pot just a couple episodes after reprimanding her for smoking up in the break room.
• Alpha Bitch: Establishes herself as the "top dog" under Denny at Crane, Poole and Schmidt, putting her in friction with Alan (who admires her personality) and Sally (who she reprimands for smoking pot).
• Laser-Guided Karma: She gets decked by Ellenor right after gloating about Alan's victory against Berluti, Young and Frutt, causing her to be knocked into a wall and suffering a neck injury.
• Ship Tease: With Alan, as he finds her brusque personality is a way to mask unstated feelings for him. The series ends without answering this one way or the other, as she's gone by the time Boston Legal picks up a year later.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Despite being set up as a major character in the final episodes of the series, she doesn't make the jump to Boston Legal, and her ultimate whereabouts remain unknown.

Sally Heep

Sally Heep (Lake Bell)

A paralegal working at Crane, Poole and Schmidt, Sally is a somewhat free-spirited paralegal who becomes attracted to Alan after he joins the firm.

• Betty and Veronica: Is the more flirtatious, edgy equivalent of Veronica, as she wears more revealing clothing, makes her attraction to Alan much more evident from the get-go, and comes the closest to having an actual relationship with him (though this is dialed back by the start of Boston Legal).
• Can't Get Away with Nuthin': Gets caught out by Hannah after trying to smoke pot with a co-worker at the firm's breakroom. And it happens again in the series finale, when she gets reprimanded by Matthew after giving Hannah pot to help her deal with the pain from her neck injury.
• Likes Older Men: Invokes this regarding her relationship with Alan in the series finale, as she notes her therapist has told her as much.
  Sally: (to Alan) Sorry, sexy older men.

Matthew Billings

Matthew Billings (Vince Colismo)

A senior partner working at Crane, Poole and Schmidt, who initially works alongside Alan during his case against Berluti, Young and Frutt.

• Only Sane Man: He is easily the most grounded employee at Crane, Poole and Schmidt, attempting to keep the other zaniness of the office personalities in line during negotiations.
• Spotting the Thread: He's the first one to spot the glaring deficiencies in Berluti, Young and Frutt's arguments against Alan after he's fired, noting that there's a very real possibility that the jury could see right through their claims that he mismanaged their business and could award millions in retribution. He's eventually proven correct, as a jury delivers a $2.3 million-dollar verdict in Alan's favor by the end of the series.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Despite being established as one of Crane's top associates, he's nowhere to be seen as of the spinoff, having disappeared in the interim between both shows.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Calls out Sally for giving illegal marijuana to a fellow partner, and has her reassigned to filing duty for the next week as punishment.

Recurring Characters

Det. Mike McGuire

Det. Mike McGuire (Ray Abruzzo)