Dear David E. Kelley,Why oh why did you write this superb television series, and then ditch the formula and half the regular cast from season 8 ???????????The Practice easily knocks spots of anything shown today that comes from your country, America.Watching The Practice took me back to the days of Hill Street Blues, Cagney and Lacey, L.A Law, NYPD Blue. American Drama Television writing at its best.But The Practice beat the lot hands down.However, James Spader's introduction threw The Practice into second gear , and without the full regular cast the heart went out of the programme as far as I was concerned.At the tail end of the series, Steve Harris who played Eugene Young to the hilt, made it to the bar and became a Judge. Might I suggest with your excellent writing skills, you develop a new series here around his success as a Judge. ?In general The Practice, series 1 to 7 only, has been an excellent American Drama, the best ever.. Characters you warmed to, and cared about. Series 8 was cold. James Spader was totally miscast. Well done David E. Kelley and all concerned in the series.

The Practice is a neglected yet classic American Legal Drama Series. Over 8 seasons there are remarkably few poorly written episodes and those there are, come after Season 3.Looking at the series as a whole the main characters could be called consistently inconsistent. Their moral boundaries are malleable to the point that ultimately they have no morals at all. This could be considered systematic of the profession but more likely, it is the cause of having to find new story lines and motivations week after week.I assume that David E. Kelly realised his characters often professed morality as they tried to justify their immorality and seeing this paradox created the character of Alan Shore. Alan Shore sees the legal system for what it is, inherently corrupt, and unapologetically exploits that system. Apart from the brilliant performance by James Spader, this unapologetic manipulation of a rotten system is what makes the character of Alan Shore so refreshing. The final season leaps into new territory with the introduction of Alan Shore. Shore renders the earnest posturing of the regular characters in The Practice as irrelevant, cynical and ultimately unconvincing. There are two unforeseeable yet disturbing changes that occur during the seven year run of this legal show.The first observation is the confusion caused within the American Legal community after the passing of the USA PATRIOT Act. What appeared to be a broken yet workable set of rules suddenly, with the passing of this unconstitutional act, reduces the whole legal system to mere pretence as "beyond reasonable doubt" no longer holds any validity.The second unfortunate observation while watching the seasons in chronological order is the rapid alteration of the once beautiful Lara Flynn Boyle by way of plastic surgery. Episode by episode, her top lip changes in size, then it reduces again only to grow fatter yet again. Later her face alters almost beyond recognition as it has obviously been stretched and any natural movement and expression has been restricted. I for one, believe an actor should be required to grow old gracefully, allowing a history to be seen in the face. There is a barbed comment in the pilot episode of Boston Legal that considers the abuse of surgical enhancement. Could this remark be a veiled reference to Lara Flynn Boyle and her constantly altering features?I feel it is about time that the complete series of this excellent show should be released on DVD.

The Practice (1997-2004) contained fine actors, however, its scripts defied reality. For instance, the starring defense lawyers were confronted with a lawsuit for defamation of character since they cast suspicion on a different person other than the defendant on trial, during their case. The other person then filed this lawsuit against them. In reality, as a lawyer myself, words spoken or recorded during judicial proceedings are given complete immunity from defamation of character. It is called "absolute privilege," therefore, the lawsuit could not have happened.On another occasion, the lead lawyer, Bobby Donnell (Dylan McDermott) angrily shouted within inches of the trial judge's face at a conference in the judge's chambers. Almost all judges would not have tolerated this even in the heat of anger. Donnell would probably have been cited for contempt of court and jailed immediately, depending on the temperament of the judge.On still a different occasion, Donnell commended a junior partner, Lindsay Dole (Kelli Williams) after she presented what he called the finest appellate argument he had ever heard. Actually, her appellate argument was arrogant since she kept rudely interrupting the different judges' questions, which is unheard of in an appellate court. Instead of favorable recognition, she would likely have received a lecture from the senior partner for jeopardizing their client's case by disregarding the court's decorum.While it dealt with some important issues, The Practice had a flair for the overly dramatic, so much so that it far overshadowed these issues. The series purported to be "realistic" when it was anything but! It contained legal misinformation and overblown, inaccurate lawyer behavior that was contrived to seem believable to viewers.

I've just watched this series for the second time on UK TV. I want to watch it again. It should be played continuously.Great characters, superb actors. Great scripts, superb, well researched and topical story lines.The producers didn't shirk from tackling real and contentious issues.Bobby sitting alone in the office in the final episode, reminiscing, brought a tear to my eye.There should be more. Please that there will be more.David E Kelley is to telly what Jim Steinman is to music.Absolutely brilliant.Can anyone explain why it is that the defence sums up first with the prosecution getting the final word? Here in the UK it is the other way round - fairer for the defence I think.