History Series / LALaw

* CelebrityParadox: One episode had Dan Castellaneta playing an epileptic theme park employee, whose job was to play [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Homer Simpson]].

* OddlySmallOrganization: [=McKenzie=] Brackman occupies a whole floor of a downtown Los Angeles skyscraper, has a very modern, upscale office, takes in at least eight figures of revenue per year, and is well-known enough to regularly attract high-profile clients. Yet, it never has more than about 10 partner and associate attorneys combined, and at some points as few as 6 or 7 - and two of those attorneys work almost entirely as administrators and have basically no caseload. Just what those dozens of paralegal and clerical employees in the background are ''doing'' all day is extremely hard to discern.

* {{Transplant}}: In Season 8, Eli Levinson and his secretary Denise Iannello from ''Civil Wars'' become part of the main L.A. Law cast, and encounter a parade of cameo appearances by other characters from that show. Not surprising, since series creator William M. Finklestein later served as executive producer of ''L.A. Law'' during its final season and Steven Bochco was also involved with producing both shows. Particularly in episodes 7 and 8, there is an almost comically prolonged sequence of "who is that" appearances by characters from Civil Wars, who do little more than walk into the scene to show that they exist. Apparently, no one asked whether it made sense to fill L.A. Law with plot-free pandering to fans of a show from another network that had been cancelled for low ratings. This was one of many confusing decisions that led to season 8 being L.A. Law's last.

** Abby Perkins's recurring feuds with firm leadership seem to be based on nothing more than her being a main character who is entitled to advance based on that status. In season 3, she is so upset at not being considered for partner that she leaves to form a solo practice. At this point she's been an attorney for around four years, doesn't bring in any significant new business, and spent a good deal of that time either on leave or working on her own legal problems. There's no law firm in the world that would consider someone for partner under those circumstances. After eventually returning to the firm, she is offered a partnership in season 5, but the character leaves the show as part of the larger storyline involving Michael Kuzak's messy breakup with the firm. The next time we hear of Abby is eleven years later, in The Movie, when she revels in being able to represent Arnie's wife in a suit that will allow her to turn the firm's financial records upside down. Exactly why she's so set on vengeance against [=McKenzie=]-Brackman is never really explained.

* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Daniel Morales for Victor Sifuentes.

* ThePlace: The series takes place in Los Angeles. Completely and totally. There isn't a single [[VacationEpisode scene]] in the entire show that depicts any place further away than Malibu or Orange County. No character who is out of town ever appears except as a voice on the other end of the phone.

* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: Around the end of season 7, Leland gives a speech about how it's time for the partners in the firm to stop wasting time on outside ventures and re-focus on practicing law. This is clearly a statement to the audience about unpopular storylines that had been dragging on with no end in sight. Season-long arcs about Arnie's efforts to become a movie producer, Stuart's injuries in the riots, Jonathan's political career, etc. are all unceremoniously abandoned at this point. The attempt to institute a "back to basics," courtroom drama-only approach for the show didn't work, and it was still cancelled after the following season.

* OffscreenBreakup: Season 5 ends with Michael, Victor, and Grace leaving to form their own law firm, and Victor and Grace marrying after Grace becomes pregnant. By the start of season 6, Grace has miscarried, she and Victor have divorced over conflicts caused by his inability to deal with the situation, Grace has returned to McKenzie Brackman, and Victor is a solo practitioner. Michael and his new firm are never mentioned again in the regular run of the series, but we find out in The Movie that a rapist he won an acquittal for killed his next victim, after which he dissolved his firm and quit practicing law.

** In the final season, Patrick Flanagan is brought on solely to be this character. He's hired despite past incidents of plagiarism, suborning perjury, and backstabbing co-counsel. Immediately after being hired, he conspires with a mother who was offering her 13-year-old daughter to pedophiles as part of a blackmail scheme, and threatens to defame a dentist in order to extort money for a client who had lost in court. Arnie Becker immediately sees through him and raises the alarm to Leland and Douglas, who decide to be willfully blind to what is obviously going on.

* IdiotSavant: Dave Meyer is incredibly irritating and cannot function socially around anyone besides other junk mail barons. He's also a business genius who has made himself a multimillionaire and the only character on the show who demonstrates unwavering honesty and business ethics.

* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: Around the end of season 7, Leland gives a speech about how it's time for the partners in the firm to stop wasting time on outside ventures and re-focus on practicing law. This is clearly a statement to the audience about unpopular storylines that had been dragging on with no point in sight. Season-long arcs about Arnie's efforts to become a movie producer, Stuart's injuries in the riots, Jonathan's political career, etc. are all immediately and unceremoniously abandoned at this point. The attempt to institute a "back to basics," courtroom drama-only approach for the show didn't work, and it was still cancelled after the following season.

* PutOnABus: Many, but especially Michael and Victor. Counting the reunion movie, TheBusCameBack for both. Zig-zagged with Grace van Owen: She was [[PutOnABus put on the bus]] at the end of season five with Michael and Victor. She [[TheBusCameBack returned at the beginning of season six]] and left again at the end of the season (In reality, the network negotiated with Susan Dey between seasons five and six and convinced her to return for one more season.) And then she returned for the reunion movie.

* TinyGuyHugeGirl: Stuart Markowitz and Ann Kelsey quickly became a couple, and eventually married. Stuart was short and chubby with average looks and a low-self esteem, while Ann was tall, svelte, attractive, and highly confident.
** This is both a fictional example, and a real one, as Stuard and Anne's respective actors, Michael Tucker and Jill Eikenberry, have been married since 1973 (13 years before the series began).

* {{Transplant}}: In Season 8, Eli Levinson and his secretary Denise Iannello from ''Civil Wars'' become part of the main L.A. Law cast, and encounter a parade of cameo appearances by other characters from that show. Not surprising, since series creator William M. Finklestein later served as executive producer of ''L.A. Law'' during its final season and Steven Bochco was also involved with producing both shows. Particularly in episodes 7 and 8, there is an almost comically prolonged sequence of "who is that" appearances by characters from Civil Wars, who do little more than walk into the scene to show that they exist. Apparently, no one asked whether filling the show with plot-free pandering to fans of a show from another network that had been cancelled for low ratings made any sense. This was one of many confusing decisions that led to season 8 being L.A. Law's last.

* {{Transplant}}: Eli Levinson and his secretary Denise Iannello from ''Civil Wars''. Not surprising, however, since series creator William M. Finklestein later served as executive producer of ''L.A. Law'' during its final season.

* AbortedArc: The first half of season 7 builds up some terrible secret that Ben Flicker is getting ready to reveal to Arnie, culminating in the reveal at the end of the 9th episode that Flicka has killed his business partner Eric Schuller and buried him under his ice skating rink. This seems to be setting up a murder trial arc - but by the next episode, we are told that the partner has died during an S&M session gone wrong, the dominatrix responsible is on trial for his death, and the explanation for how and why Flicker ended up stealing and hiding the body with no legal consequences is hand-waved in one sentence of dialogue. Neither the dominatrix character nor the alternate story of Schuller's death has ever been so much as alluded to before this episode, and the jarring swerve happens entirely off screen. Flicker is written off the show in the next episode, never to appear again, and none of the character points brought up during his heavy involvement in the first half of the season are ever resolved.

* AbortedArc: The first half of season 7 builds up some terrible secret that Ben Flicka is getting ready to reveal to Arnie, culminating in the reveal at the end of the 9th episode that Flicka has killed his business partner Eric Schuller and buried him under his ice skating rink. This seems to be setting up a murder trial arc - but by the next episode, the partner has died during an S&M session gone wrong, the dominatrix responsible is on trial for his death, and the explanation for how and why Flicka ended up stealing and hiding the body with no legal consequences is hand-waved in one sentence of dialogue.Neither the dominatrix character nor the alternate story of Schuller's death has ever been so much as alluded to before this episode, and the jarring swerve happens entirely off screen.

** Tommy Mulaney also had his moments, and Leland wasn't fond of him from the minute he joined the firm. Leland wound up reading the riot act to Tommy and Grace after finding out that Tommy helped Grace's seriously ill friend obtain a kidney on the Black Market. He told them that their actions not only damaged the firm's reputation, but also violated Federal law. He added that this was something he expected of the shady Mullaney, but certainly not something he expected from Grace, and warned them that if something like this happened again, he'd fire both of them.

** Tommy Mullaney also had his moments, and Leland wasn't fond of him from the minute he joined the firm. Leland wound up reading the riot act to Tommy and Grace after finding out that Tommy helped Grace's seriously ill friend obtain a kidney on the Black Market. He told them that their actions not only damaged the firm's reputation, but also violated Federal law. He added that this was something he expected of the shady Mullaney, but certainly not something he expected from Grace, and warned them that if something like this happened again, he'd fire both of them.

* ThePlace: The series takes place in Los Angeles. Completely and totally. There isn't a single [[VacationEpisode scene]] in the entire show that depicts any place further away than Malibu or Orange County. There's no and no character who is out of town ever appears except as a voice on the other end of the phone.

* ThePlace: The series takes place in Los Angeles.

* ElevatorFailure: Rosalind Shays gets the shaft. Literally.