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The Best Episodes of L.A. Law

Every episode of L.A. Law ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of L.A. Law!

The Best Episodes of L.A. Law

L.A. Law is an American television legal drama series that ran for eight seasons on NBC from September 15, 1986, to May 19, 1994. Created by...

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  1. 8.2/10(63 votes)

    #1 - Justice Swerved

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    S4:E17

    A couple is accused of murdering their baby; a sobriety test halts Markowitz and Kelsey's lunch-time tryst; thoughts of Sheila wreak havoc with Brackman's sex life.

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    Director:N/A
  2. 8.1/10(97 votes)

    #2 - The Venus Butterfly

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    S1:E9

    Becker, Markowitz and Kelsey bicker over who will inherit Chaney's office; Van Owen prosecutes a man charged with the mercy killing of his terminally ill lover; to Kelsey's undying gratitude, Markowitz learns the secret of a serial bigamist's success with women as Becker and Markowitz represent the man's eleven wives in their divorce actions; Abby is devastated when a dead boy matching Eric's description is mistakenly cremated before he can be identified.

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  3. 8.0/10(40 votes)

    #3 - One Rat, One Ranger

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    S4:E5

    Van Owen is at a loss for words when confronted by a terrified mother after failing to win a conviction against the woman's ex-husband for molesting their young daughter; Becker, Kelsey, and the associates are all wary when the partners decide that the way to stem their declining revenues is to bring in Rosalind Shays, a ""rainmaker"", as a new partner; Markowitz represents a dating service sued by a hard-to-satisfy customer, who's more than happy to make the acquaintance of Dave Meyer after the trial is over; Brackman's latest scheme to save money on his health food kick has the staff smelling a rat.

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    Director:Tom Moore
    Writer:N/A
  4. 8.0/10(42 votes)

    #4 - True Brit

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    S4:E11

    Kuzak suspects a barrister is exaggerating his ignorance of American courtroom procedure to influence the jury; Becker yearns for more fanfare from his co-workers; a friend's confession to Diana tests the limits of lawyer-client privilege; Rosalind invades Kelsey's space.

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  5. 8.0/10(46 votes)

    #5 - Whatever Happened to Hannah?

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    S4:E13

    A comic charges his comedy-writer ex-wife with heckling him on-stage; a divorce sues her ex for years of abuse; and Kelsey wages war on Rosalind.

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  6. 8.0/10(43 votes)

    #6 - Ex-Wives and Videotapes

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    S4:E14

    Kuzak pleads Williams's case before the State Court of Appeals; Rosalind is outraged when the partners decline to take on a potentially lucrative client because the company promotes apartheid; Becker represents a man so embittered by his wife's divorcing him that he intends to ruin her career as a prominent newswoman by distributing a private, x-rated video he made of their intimate moments.

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    The 20 WORST Episodes of L.A. Law

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  8. 8.0/10(48 votes)

    #7 - Blood, Sweat and Fears

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    S4:E15

    Kuzak fights to have the murder charges against Earl Williams dismissed; Sifuentes defends a doctor who refused to perform emergency surgery on an AIDS victim; the firm is rocked by McKenzie's resignation as senior partner, as Rosalind, Stuart and Douglas are eager to assume the role.

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  9. 8.0/10(38 votes)

    #8 - Outward Bound

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    S4:E21

    A gay cop sues when the secret of his sexuality is revealed in the press by a journalist; McKenzie seeks a star litigator to fill an opening at the firm; Benny fumes after seeing Alice kiss someone else; and Corrinne pops the question to an unsure Becker.

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  10. 8.0/10(49 votes)

    #9 - The Bitch Is Back

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    S5:E1

    The shadow of Rosalind Shays again darkens the door of the firm when she sues them for discrimination, while another lawsuit escalates racial tensions.

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  11. 8.0/10(223 votes)

    #10 - Good to the Last Drop

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    S5:E16

    Zoey scoffs at the legal system when a child-killer goes free; a delinquent taxpayer protests Government spending; Rosalind steps in to help McKenzie with yet another case.

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    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  12. 7.9/10(63 votes)

    #11 - Sidney, the Dead-Nosed Reindeer

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    S1:E12

    La Rosa digs up the ammunition Kelsey needs to succeed in representing an inventor in a contract dispute over patent royalties; Kuzak is horrified as he witnesses a severely depressed Hershberg commit suicide in court; Becker gets caught in a compromising position when he's propositioned by a client's soon-to-be ex-wife; Perkins spends Christmas with her son; when his pre-trial depositions reveal that the Emmons case is a winner, Kuzak is able to negotiate a favorable settlement for his client.

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  13. 7.9/10(41 votes)

    #12 - The Pay's Lousy, But the Tips Are Great

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    S4:E10

    Sifuentes's representation of a woman in a sexual harassment case against the federal judge for whom she clerked stirs up some emotional issues about Allison's rape which, despite their best efforts, the couple can't seem to resolve; Markowitz represents an elderly mohel being sued for malpractice; Becker is greeted coldly upon his return to the firm, and must face a hurt and angry Stulwicz; Rosalind subtly pits McKenzie and Brackman against each other as she secretly undermines them to poach their major clients.

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  14. 7.9/10(42 votes)

    #13 - Lie Harder

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    S5:E3

    An unexpected witness emerges in the Chisholm case; the parents of an emotionally disturbed adopted son seek relief through the courts; Melman refuses to do personal errands for Hammond.

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  15. 7.9/10(58 votes)

    #14 - Pump it Up

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    S5:E10

    McKenzie's social life is scrutinized; Sifuentes has misgivings about defending a client; Becker gives a golddigger a creative divorce; Kuzak clashes with Van Owen.

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    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  16. 7.8/10(367 votes)

    #15 - Pilot

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    S1:E1

    Becker begins the day dealing with some irate clients and finds himself at the wrong end of a gun; Melman discovers a dead partner; Kuzak finds a creative way to see that justice is done when he defends an unsavory client accused of rape and assault on a terminally ill woman; Brackman challenges Kelsey about taking on an insurance case; the firm takes on a new associate; a Chaney eulogy takes a shocking turn; Becker opens the eyes of a woman who mistakenly thinks she has a good divorce settlement; Perkins's marital problems become public knowledge; Kuzak encounters a judge who takes traffic violations seriously; Kelsey propositions Markowitz.

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  17. 7.8/10(63 votes)

    #16 - Raiders of the Lost Bark

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    S1:E7

    Kuzak slyly sticks Sifuentes with a dog of a case, but it's Sifuentes who's sitting pretty after he discovers the teeth in the matter, and pulls out an unexpected win; Abby rebuffs an admirer; Becker's gamble on the Mishkin fee agreement pays off financially but dooms the relationship; after Kuzak wins the discrimination case, he discovers that his client had an ulterior motive for not accepting a generous settlement offer; Brackman takes a new approach to life and dealing with people in the wake of his double barreled defeats in the court room and the partners' meeting; Becker is oblivious to Melman's feelings for him.

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  18. 7.8/10(72 votes)

    #17 - Gibbon Take

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    S1:E8

    Van Owen's ex-fiance gets his revenge by humiliating her during a campaign appearance, thus sabotaging her race for the bench; when Kelsey shakes a trust's money tree to benefit the homeless, she also creates a windfall for the firm and herself; an ugly divorce case hits too close to home when Abby tries her hand at marital law; Sifuentes adds to his chair collection as he settles a slander case against a prosecutor who took losing the Sullivan drug case on a technicality too personally and too publicly; Van Owen experiences an extremely embarrassing case of mistaken simian identity.

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  19. 7.8/10(44 votes)

    #18 - The Unsterile Cuckoo

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    S4:E1

    Sifuentes reluctantly represents a wholesale furrier suing an animal rights group whose disruptions at his fashion shows caused him a million dollar loss; Hackett becomes concerned about the possibility of becoming a grandfather when he learns that his daughter and Stulwicz are having sex, and it takes McKenzie's powers of persuasion and a promise to talk to Stulwicz about contraception to convince Hackett not to have his daughter sterilized; Markowitz is torn between his dreams of glory as the star third baseman at the McKenzie Brackman annual softball game and his promise to attend Lamaze class with Kelsey; Kuzak buys a motorcycle.

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  20. 7.8/10(48 votes)

    #19 - God Rest Ye Little Gentleman

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    S5:E8

    A disfigured doctor charges a clinic with discrimination; Benny anticipates the holidays with his new roommate; Van Owen defends a former colleague.

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    Director:Tom Moore
  21. 7.7/10(77 votes)

    #20 - The Princess and the Wiener King

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    S1:E4

    McKenzie's disappointment in the greedy law school students whose class he addresses leads him to offer a clerkship to a student who appears to be more socially responsible; in defending a young teenager who murdered her abusive brother, Sifuentes suspects that the abuse may have begun with the girl's father; Kelsey forces Perkins to realize that she may never see Eric again; Van Owen is furious when she discovers that Kuzak has arranged a lunch date with her fiance to scope out his competition; Kelsey finds out about Markowitz's secret life; McKenzie suggests a course of action after Hubbard expresses her frustration with their business and personal relationship; a lovesick Lewis fights to keep his princess, despite Becker's advice; Van Owen pays Kuzak a late night visit and reveals her true feelings.

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    Writer:N/A
  22. 7.7/10(37 votes)

    #21 - Captain Hurt

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    S4:E2

    Kuzak's defense of a black college professor accused of murdering his young white research assistant blows up when the prosecutor sandbags his case by delaying DNA discovery, thus exposing his client's lies and destroying Kuzak's defense strategy; Van Owen counters an insanity defense based on uncontrollable sexual obsession when she prosecutes a claims adjuster for insurance fraud he asserts was the result of his inability to counter the demands of his dominatrix; Becker's desire to win at all costs and gain a large fee in the process garners his client a large settlement, but wrecks havoc on his relationship with his client; fulfilling his promise to Hackett, McKenzie assigns Sifuentes the responsibility of teaching Stulwicz about contraception.

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  23. 7.7/10(43 votes)

    #22 - Happy Trails

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    S5:E2

    Rollins feels exploited when he's asked to assist on the Chisholm case; a surprise witness testifies in Rosalind's suit; Brackman considers breaking off with sex surrogate Marilyn after one of her clients dies; Murray gets everyone's attention.

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    Director:Win Phelps
    Writer:N/A
  24. 7.7/10(54 votes)

    #23 - He's a Crowd

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    S5:E12

    Rosalind promises to help McKenzie save an account; a case of multiple personalities confounds Kuzak; Abby collaborates with C.J. to build her practice; Roxanne is subpoenaed in the case of Becker vs. Becker.

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  25. 7.7/10(41 votes)

    #24 - Since I Fell For You

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    S5:E22

    An AIDS-stricken attorney fights an insurance company's refusal to pay for an experimental treatment; Kelsey's admission concerning a murder case could jeopardize her standing with the bar; and a new partner is named.

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  26. 7.6/10(97 votes)

    #25 - Those Lips, That Eye

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    S1:E2

    Kuzak pursues a very attractive deputy district attorney, Grace Van Owen, even though she's engaged to marry the man managing her campaign for a seat on the bench; Perkins is beaten by her drunken husband after she files for divorce and sole custody of their son; Kelsey continues to clash with Brackman, as well as McKenzie, over the insurance case until her hardball tactics succeed in earning a windfall fee for the firm; Sifuentes comes to regret the plea agreement he negotiates for a man who took justice into his own hands after watching his son's killer freed on a technicality; Weston is infuriated when Becker sandbags her chance to be offered a position as an associate after he tires of their affair; Markowitz courts a hesitant Kelsey; feeling passed over for promotion by Sifuentes's hiring, Taylor quits; Perkins becomes the default winner of an associate position; Chaney's will brings out the beast in Brackman.

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Best Episodes Summary

"Justice Swerved" is the best rated episode of "L.A. Law". It scored 8.2/10 based on 63 votes. Directed by N/A and written by David E. Kelley, Bryce Zabel, it aired on 3/29/1990. This episode scored 0.1 points higher than the second highest rated, "The Venus Butterfly".