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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!

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The high-powered law firm of McKenzie, Brackman, Chaney and Kuzak handles both criminal and civil cases, usually for high fees. However, office politics and romance often distract the legal staffers from matters in the courtroom.

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
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    L.A. Law Season 1 Episode 9 - The Venus Butterfly
    8.2/10(111 votes)

    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.

    Director:Donald Petrie
    Writers:Terry Louise Fisher, Steven Bochco

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  2. L.A. Law Season 4 Episode 17 - Justice Swerved
    8.2/10(67 votes)

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writers:Bryce Zabel, David E. Kelley

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  3. L.A. Law Season 4 Episode 13 - Whatever Happened to Hannah?
    8.1/10(54 votes)

    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.

    Director:Tom Moore
    Writers:Amy Lippman, William M. Finkelstein, David E. Kelley

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  4. L.A. Law Season 4 Episode 14 - Ex-Wives and Videotapes
    8.1/10(51 votes)

    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.

    Director:Miles Watkins
    Writers:William M. Finkelstein, David E. Kelley

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  5. L.A. Law Season 5 Episode 1 - The Bitch Is Back
    8.1/10(58 votes)

    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.

    Director:Elodie Keene
    Writer:David E. Kelley

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  6. L.A. Law Season 1 Episode 7 - Raiders of the Lost Bark
    8.0/10(77 votes)

    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.

    Director:Jan Eliasberg
    Writer:David E. Kelley

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    The 20 WORST Episodes of L.A. Law

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  7. L.A. Law Season 1 Episode 12 - Sidney, the Dead-Nosed Reindeer
    8.0/10(75 votes)

    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.

    Director:Jonathan Sanger
    Writer:William M. Finkelstein

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  8. L.A. Law Season 4 Episode 5 - One Rat, One Ranger
    8.0/10(50 votes)

    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.

    Director:Tom Moore
    Writer:Unknown

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  9. L.A. Law Season 4 Episode 11 - True Brit
    8.0/10(52 votes)

    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.

    Director:Arthur Allan Seidelman
    Writers:William M. Finkelstein, David E. Kelley

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  10. L.A. Law Season 4 Episode 15 - Blood, Sweat and Fears
    8.0/10(55 votes)

    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.

    Director:Edwin Sherin
    Writer:David E. Kelley

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  11. L.A. Law Season 4 Episode 21 - Outward Bound
    8.0/10(47 votes)

    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.

    Director:Edwin Sherin
    Writers:William M. Finkelstein, David E. Kelley

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  12. L.A. Law Season 5 Episode 16 - Good to the Last Drop
    8.0/10(210 votes)

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  13. L.A. Law Season 1 Episode 8 - Gibbon Take
    7.9/10(83 votes)

    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.

    Director:Sharron Miller
    Writer:John Schulian

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  14. L.A. Law Season 4 Episode 1 - The Unsterile Cuckoo
    7.9/10(52 votes)

    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.

    Director:Rob Thompson
    Writer:David E. Kelley

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  15. L.A. Law Season 4 Episode 10 - The Pay's Lousy, But the Tips Are Great
    7.9/10(50 votes)

    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.

    Director:David Carson
    Writers:William M. Finkelstein, David E. Kelley

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  16. L.A. Law Season 5 Episode 3 - Lie Harder
    7.9/10(51 votes)

    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.

    Director:David Carson
    Writers:Sarah Woodside Gallagher, Judith Feldman

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  17. L.A. Law Season 1 Episode 1 - Pilot
    7.8/10(407 votes)

    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.

    Director:Gregory Hoblit
    Writers:Terry Louise Fisher, Steven Bochco

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  18. L.A. Law Season 1 Episode 4 - The Princess and the Wiener King
    7.8/10(96 votes)

    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.

    Director:Sharron Miller
    Writer:Unknown

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  19. L.A. Law Season 1 Episode 18 - Fifty Ways to Floss Your Lover
    7.8/10(59 votes)

    S1:E18

    Becker is enthralled by the beautiful, but somewhat incompetent, secretary who's temping while Melman is on jury duty until he discovers that their relationship will never be anything but professional; Van Owen contemplates buying a gun after a gangbanger shoots her in the court house hallway in retaliation for her winning a death penalty case against a member of the shooter's gang; Melman stands up to a bully in the deliberation room and turns the tide of the verdict towards justice; Sifuentes hits it off with his new dentist and agrees to represent her in a malpractice suit, but their romance is doomed when she can't leave her work at the office; realizing that he can't survive professionally if Melman quits, Becker finally capitulates to her salary demands.

    Director:Mimi Leder
    Writer:David E. Kelley

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  20. L.A. Law Season 2 Episode 10 - Full Marital Jacket
    7.8/10(67 votes)

    S2:E10

    In the aftermath of his anxiety attack, Brackman has a new perspective on life, and his wife has a new perspective on their relationship that involves talking to lawyers; Benny is mistakenly charged with sexual assault; Melman runs into a handsome and charming man in the parking garage; Gianelli asks Perkins for her hand in marriage, but is forced to settle for a date; Kelsey's mother reappears bearing gifts and heartfelt apologies; Rollins lights a fire under the opposition to smoke out the real extent of the injuries a man claims to have sustained during a performance by the Gianelli family; after the bride overcomes a few pre-wedding jitters, Kelsey and Markowitz are united in matrimony.

    Director:Win Phelps
    Writers:Terry Louise Fisher, David E. Kelley

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  21. L.A. Law Season 4 Episode 2 - Captain Hurt
    7.8/10(45 votes)

    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.

    Director:Win Phelps
    Writer:William M. Finkelstein

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  22. L.A. Law Season 4 Episode 3 - When Irish Eyes Are Smiling
    7.8/10(45 votes)

    S4:E3

    Kuzak weighs the testimony of sympathetic witnesses to clear his client; Becker tries to clear the air with an unhappy divorce client; a sympathetic Rollins takes the case of an elderly woman being steamrolled by an insurance company.

    Director:David Carson
    Writers:William M. Finkelstein, David E. Kelley

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  23. L.A. Law Season 4 Episode 8 - The Good Human Bar
    7.8/10(51 votes)

    S4:E8

    Rollins's friend asks for his help in petitioning the court to allow her to end her life and be cryogenically preserved until a cure for her incurable brain tumor is found; Kuzak meets an attractive dancer; Becker decides to leave the firm and form a partnership with Ganz; Allison is sexually assaulted by a member of her film crew; Roxanne gets a little help from her friends when she experiences a little stage fright during her singing lesson recital.

    Director:Johanna Demetrakas
    Writer:David E. Kelley

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  24. L.A. Law Season 4 Episode 12 - On Your Honor
    7.8/10(48 votes)

    S4:E12

    Sifuentes and McKenzie butt heads over a suit involving an Iranian airplane; Roxanne leads a secretaries' revolt when Brackman issues a lunch-hour edict; and Van Owen is offered a seat on the bench.

    Director:Steven Robman
    Writers:William M. Finkelstein, David E. Kelley

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  25. L.A. Law Season 4 Episode 22 - The Last Gasp
    7.8/10(48 votes)

    S4:E22

    Sifuentes's boyhood friend battles time while on death row; the prenuptial countdown begins for Becker and Corrinne; and the firm's new attorney defends a mercy killer.

    Director:Rick Wallace
    Writers:William M. Finkelstein, David E. Kelley

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Best Episodes Summary

"The Venus Butterfly" is the best rated episode of "L.A. Law". It scored 8.2/10 based on 111 votes. Directed by Donald Petrie and written by Terry Louise Fisher, Steven Bochco, it aired on 11/21/1986. This episode scored 0.0 points higher than the second highest rated, "Justice Swerved".