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Do Lawyers Have Good Taste?

By Seth Freilich | Miscellaneous | September 3, 2015 |

By Seth Freilich | Miscellaneous | September 3, 2015 |


For those that don’t remember a lick about me since I barely go here anymore, I should disclose up front that I’m a lawyer. Have been now for the better part of 14 years (that’s terrifying for so many reasons). And if I’ve learned anything over those 14 years, it’s that lawyers get a bad rap. This isn’t to say the bad rap is entirely undeserved. Like any profession, we have a lot of bad eggs who tarnish the overall image of Lawyers for a variety of reasons. Folded in with that bad rap, I suspect many folks think of lawyers as people who don’t like good entertainment or generally have good taste. And I wanted to put that to the test.

So I did a random survey by walking around one floor in my office (all litigators — maybe another day, if this becomes the engrossing reader favorite I expect, I’ll look at how litigation tastes compare to other lawyers’ tastes). I asked 22 lawyers what their favorite movie and favorite current TV show is (to the chagrin of those who wanted to go with Community or Breaking Bad or Hannibal or Arrested Development). A few asked “what’s this for,” because Lawyers. But I wouldn’t tell them until after they answered. A few wanted time to think about it, because Lawyers. But I pressed them for an answer on the spot.

And so I present the lists below. This is without commentary because I’m going to share this link with them and I can’t go around publicly sh*tting on the answers of some of my coworkers/bosses. But I will note that it’s wholly unsurprising that the runaway favorite TV show for a third of respondents is Game of Thrones (Modern Family also got multiple nods). On the movie side, only one flick — Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind — got multiple mentions.

Also, before diving into the lists, I will share my two favorite comments. On picking Grosse Pointe Blank as their favorite movie:

…Because that’s the kind of mood I’m in now.

I suspect this was in reference to the snipers, not the rekindled high school romance.

And on The Last Ship and my question of whether it’s any good:

Oh god no. It’s terrible. But it’s fantastic.

With that, here are the lists. As you’ll see, it turns out lawyers have pretty damn good taste and are, by and large, of the Pajiba mindset. So with that, I turn a question to you — What profession do you think likely has the worst taste? Why? Your answers will be graded….

Favorite Movies
A Beautiful Life
A River Runs Through It
Best in Show
Birdman
Blade Runner
Braveheart
Casablanca
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (for two people)
Ghostbusters
Goodfellas
Grosse Pointe Blank
The Magnificent Seven
The Matrix
My Cousin Vinny
The Nightmare Before Christmas
Raiders of the Lost Ark
The Sandlot
Stardust
Stepbrothers
The Usual Suspects
The Third Man

Favorite Current TV Shows
The Americans
The Carmichael Show
Elementary
Game of Thrones (for seven people)
The Last Ship
Lost Girl
Modern Family (for two people)
Orphan Black
Ray Donovan
Shameless
Shark Tank
Silicon Valley
Suits
Veep
The Walking Dead