List of characters from Boston Legal

This list of characters from Boston Legal describes the main and most important minor characters in the US lawyer series Boston Legal .

main characters

Alan Shore

A hardened lawyer with a certain aversion to authorities and social conventions, politically inclined towards the Democratic Party . Outwardly , he likes to be the cold- hearted laconic , but in reality he is an extremely kind-hearted person who suffers from nighttime anxiety, coulrophobia and the occasional “word salad” . Shore also has no problem going against the firm's interests if they contradict his convictions, which repeatedly brings him into conflict with Paul Lewiston and Brad Chase in particular. In court he overwhelms his opponents with profound disrespect and brilliant rhetoric , without taking himself too seriously. Denny Crane's best friend. He marries him at the end of the series in order to represent his interests in the event of illness.

Denny Crane

Eccentric Co-Founder and Senior Partner, local Boston celebrity, politically a Conservative Republican . He loves to call his name - after all, people often can't believe being in a room with a legend - and seems to be most impressed by its sound itself. When he walks past reporters, he suddenly throws in completely unobjective and self-centered remarks (such as: “She loves me - she doesn't love me” and “She's got a child of mine” in The Black Widow at the beginning of the second season or “Me was once the captain of my own spaceship “ nothing works anymore ). According to Shirley Schmidt, Crane repeats his name so often so that he does not forget it, because he is showing increasing signs of dementia . At the beginning of the first season he had himself examined for Alzheimer's without any concrete result , and later he claimed several times that he had BSE . To put his fortune in safe hands, Denny and Alan get married in the series finale.

Shirley Schmidt

Co-founder and senior partner, the third name in the letterhead, appears for the first time in the eleventh episode of Schmidt Happen . She was having an affair with Denny Crane. She likes to “schmidt-et” (fire). To emphasize her authority in the firm, she often says, “The name of this company is Crane, Poole & Schmidt . I am Schmidt ”. At the end of the series, she marries Carl Sack.

Paul Lewiston

(Managing) partner and legal advisor at Crane, Poole & Schmidt . Unlike Denny Crane and Alan Shore, he adheres to rules and regulations and therefore regularly collides with both of them. However, he always thinks of the company first, and every client is the client in general for him . According to Shirley Schmidt, others - Denny Crane in particular - are bringing in the money, but Paul Lewiston is the one who keeps the company going internally. After the third season, he retires from the series, but still makes a few guest appearances as a senior partner.

Carl Sack

Senior partner from New York, who is moving from New York to Boston for two reasons: On the one hand, he is supposed to compensate for Paul Lewiston's departure as "Sheriff" and on the other hand he is in a relationship with Shirley Schmidt at the beginning of the fourth season. Carl appears as a serious, for-profit attorney, but understands the quirks of the staff and strange cases at the Boston branch of Crane, Poole & Schmidt .

Jerry Espenson

Jerry, also known as "The Hand", is a lawyer and expert in credit and later a partner who has developed various tics and compulsions due to his Asperger's syndrome : he rarely takes his hands off his thighs, jumps in the air when he is happy, purrs in unpleasant situations and occasionally calls out "bingo". He is extremely shy, is passed over several times when he is appointed company partner and, in an outburst of anger, takes Shirley Schmidt hostage. Alan Shore supports him several times in advocating himself in various lawsuits against him, because Jerry has an almost encyclopedic knowledge of legal matters due to his autism and can therefore successfully complete very lucrative cases for Crane, Poole & Schmidt . At the beginning of the fourth season, Clemenson is included in the main cast, in the fifth season Jerry becomes a partner, although his chances were quite slim. In the last episode of the series you can see how he becomes a couple with his colleague Katie Lloyd.

Brad Chase

A principled lawyer with a toothpaste smile, Alan Shore, who calls him the " Ken Doll ", hates his unconventional methods at first. He has served in the Marine Corps , is a major, and sometimes behaves accordingly. Because of his military nature, Denise Bauer gives it the nickname " Buzz Lightyear ". Valley's contract was not renewed after the third season, but he later made a few guest appearances as a prosecutor.

Denise Bauer

Attractive lawyer with an ice cold demeanor, but she is deeply kind. When the son of her housekeeper is kidnapped, she breaks the law several times to save her. She has a complicated relationship with Brad Chase, becomes pregnant by him and marries him shortly before giving birth. The contract of actress Julie Bowen was not renewed after the third season, in the series, she goes on maternity leave. In episode 95 (season 5) she has a guest appearance as an opponent of Alan.

Clarence Bell

Clarence Bell first appears as Alan Shores and Claire Simms' client "Clarice" in the third season. She sues her employer because she wants to adopt a child and, as a transvestite, is not given maternity leave. Clarence is later hired by Claire as an assistant on the condition that he no longer appears in women's clothes as "Clarice". After Clarence and Claire become a couple, he becomes Alan's assistant at his own request. As a trained lawyer, he initially appears at Paul Lewiston's side as public defender. He later took on his own cases, including those against Jerry Espenson.

Katie Lloyd

Fresh Harvard graduate from England. Her first case is a murder charge, in which she - besides Jerry Espenson - is the only one to believe in the client's innocence. She is a very emotional lawyer and can work well with Jerry, despite or because of his OCD. In doing so, she helps him to open up to his environment and makes sure that he can fall in love several times. She works with him in an office. By the end of last season, Katie and Jerry become a couple.

Lorraine Weller

Lorraine Weller is an ex-girlfriend of Alan Shore and is employed by Shirley Schmidt. Since her past seems contradictory, she is confronted by Katie Lloyd. In the course of time it emerges that at the age of 18 she was known as "Picadilly Madame" in London and operated an escort service . Due to an indictment, she then had to flee to the USA, where she built a new life as a lawyer. However, she is still the head of escort services in major US cities. Lorraine has a “magical” influence on Alan Shore and tries to help him cope with his “word salad” and his coulrophobia .

Whitney Rome

Whitney was from New York and knows Carl very well. On arrival she asked for a desk and an assistant.

Sally Heep

Young assistant lawyer. Is fired by Shirley Schmidt in the episode Old School , but has a guest appearance at the beginning of the third season.

Tara Wilson

Attractive attorney from Young, Berluti & Frutt , who, along with Alan Shore, her former boss from the last season of The Practice , is moving to Crane, Poole & Schmidt at the end of her law degree . With episode 20 pure nature is eliminated.

Lori Colson

Former Assistant District Attorney (ADA), now an attorney at Crane, Poole & Schmidt , with a good knack for conflict resolution. Also retires at the beginning of season two after filing an official complaint with the law firm about sexual harassment by Denny Crane.

Garrett Wells

Legal assistant to Denise Bauer. Despite his ambition, he stumbles from one misfortune to another and often falls into displeasure with his boss, with whom he is also in love (which he also suggests to her).

Sara Holt

Denise Bauer's second legal assistant. He likes to stick to the rules, but is sometimes also ready to take risks. In one episode she tries to get a pastor to sleep with her, just to blackmail him with it the next moment.

Jeffrey Coho

Attractive, quick-witted attorney who moves from the New York office of Crane, Poole & Schmidt to Boston at the beginning of the third season to support his less successful colleagues there. He leaves the series, however, halfway through the season.

Claire Simms

Moves with Jeffrey Coho from New York to Boston at the beginning of the third season to help the office there. She seems arrogant to her colleagues and usually wears a New York Yankee cap in Boston . But she has a good heart and becomes a couple with Clarence Bell.

Catherine Piper

Eighty year old secretary to Alan Shore with a deep belief in God. She often seems inconspicuous and like a nice old lady, but she understood the pitfalls of the legal system very well. When Alan's childhood she was his neighbor. She later kills her friend Bernard Ferrian (played by Leslie Jordan ) and desperately wants Alan Shore as a lawyer. She always gives her honest opinion (Alan: "What are you doing?" Catherine: "Oh, we only look at nude photos of your client") and only lies when the police asks her about Ferrian. She doesn't like Shirley Schmidt (Catherine: "Don't you have a pain in your heart? It is assumed that even you have one"). She is later “ge-schmidt-et” (fired) for Ferrian's murder, which she believed was a threat to society. Nevertheless, it continues to cause confusion in the office. Alan hires her as a "sandwich lady".

Minor characters

Edwin Poole

Co-founder and senior partner. Already suffers a nervous breakdown in the pilot episode and is then taken to a sanatorium . However, he doesn't like it very much there - he already ran away from the lawyer in episode 4 ! and without further ado (of course without the knowledge of his ex-colleagues) takes over the case of a police murderer. They are not enthusiastic about it and take him back to the sanatorium, from which he is released in episode 41 crazy . Now back in the office, he starts an unprecedented campaign against a candy manufacturer: This is said to have added addictive ingredients to one of its products and thus "drove" people into diabetes mellitus . Although Shirley can still turn the case and save the firm from an impending libel suit, however, she suggests Poole to return to the sanatorium before "... your name disappears from the door". He reappears in episode 98 (season 5) when the company goes bankrupt. He's celebrating Thanksgiving at Shirley with the other lawyers . He is the foster father of a nine year old.

Bethany Horowitz

The diminutive "killer" lawyer Horowitz met Denny Crane through an internet broker and sued him after he inadvertently called her a "dwarf" on their first date. It turns out that Denny had something with her mother, but she is not his daughter. She appears continuously during the third season.

Clark Brown

Judge, who despite his old age still lives with his mother and suffers from inferiority complexes. Denny Crane knows him well and knows “how to tackle him”.

Harvey Cooper

Arrogant and egocentric judge, who leads cases of Crane, Poole & Schmidt in various episodes . As such, despite his appearance, he is ultimately mostly fair and ensures a fair trial.

Robert Sanders

Serious and cranky old judge suffering from senility. In negotiations he usually turns things around or doesn't understand certain facts straight away. In one episode he asks Alan Shore to deliver the verdict.

Frank Ginsberg

The prosecutor is a frequent opponent of Alan Shores, who wants to make life difficult for him out of jealousy and pride and is eager to beat him in a trial. Votes are more important to him than justice.

Bernard Ferrion

A man who still lives with his mother, who keeps nagging at him. When he kills her with a frying pan, he turns to Alan Shore in a panic, who helps him escape prison. After his neighbor was also killed with a pan, Shore passed the case on to his colleague. Later, Catherine Piper takes on the man and tries to put him on the right path of religion. Ultimately, she murdered him after seeing him as a threat to society.

Marlene Stanger

A lawyer who has been transferred to Boston to support the workforce and who competes fiercely with Denise Bauer. Alan Shore desires her and after four episodes she is transferred back to another branch.

Melvin Palmer

He is a slimy lawyer and a frequent opponent of the Crane, Poole & Schmidt lawyers . He is very sociable and, according to Carl Sack, is a so-called “icebreaker”. While Alan loathes him, Denny becomes friends with him after saving both of them from prison in Utah .

Episode characters

Donny Crane

Donny Crane is Denny Crane's son, who admires and emulates his father as a lawyer. He finds out that Crane is not his father at all and has tried to beat him in lawsuits ever since.

Ivan Tiggs

Ivan Tiggs is Shirley Schmidt's ex-husband, who marries his new, over-the-top girlfriend Missy and who soon leaves. He cheats on her with Shirley, his supposedly "only true love". As a result, Ivan Tiggs sued Shirley for drawing up a marriage contract that was too uncomfortable for him.

Daniel Post

Post is a wealthy, cancer-stricken client of Crane, Poole & Schmidt who snuck into a study for an anti-cancer drug. He has little time to live and falls in love with Denise Bauer, to whom he also proposes marriage. Later he tries to buy his lungs from a dying man.

Kelly Nolan

A young, attractive woman charged with the murder of her husband and acquitted thanks to the help of Crane, Poole & Schmidt .

Courtney Reese

An attractive actress who thinks a pesky paparazzo is a stalker and shoots him. Crane and Shore are in Los Angeles defending them.

Brian Hooper

Judge Hooper's wife is murdered and soon he, too, comes under suspicion.

Malcolm Holmes

The lawyer is Tara Wilson's ex-boyfriend and works on a case (episodes 18 & 19) of attempted sexual abuse of a dumb woman against Tara and Shirley Schmidt. He never misses an opportunity to regain his former love.

Joseph Washington

Joseph Washington was a client charged with murder. He was represented and acquitted by Jerry Espenson and Katie Lloyd - the only two who believed in his innocence. In public he was considered a callous monster due to his many accusations, but in reality he was a very nice person. Even in his previous life he was repeatedly punished for crimes he had not committed. After Katie and Jerry managed to have a happy life, he was shot.