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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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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 Steven Bochco and Terry Louise Fisher, it contained many of

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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(105 votes)

    #1 - The Venus Butterfly

    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:Steven Bochco, Terry Louise Fisher

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  2. L.A. Law Season 4 Episode 17 - Justice Swerved
    8.2/10(68 votes)

    #2 - Justice Swerved

    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:David E. Kelley, Bryce Zabel

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  3. L.A. Law Season 4 Episode 13 - Whatever Happened to Hannah?
    8.1/10(52 votes)

    #3 - Whatever Happened to Hannah?

    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:William M. Finkelstein, Amy Lippman, David E. Kelley

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  4. L.A. Law Season 4 Episode 14 - Ex-Wives and Videotapes
    8.1/10(47 votes)

    #4 - Ex-Wives and Videotapes

    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 4 Episode 15 - Blood, Sweat and Fears
    8.1/10(52 votes)

    #5 - Blood, Sweat and Fears

    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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  6. L.A. Law Season 5 Episode 1 - The Bitch Is Back
    8.1/10(55 votes)

    #6 - The Bitch Is Back

    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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    The 20 WORST Episodes of L.A. Law

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  7. L.A. Law Season 4 Episode 5 - One Rat, One Ranger
    8.0/10(46 votes)

    #7 - One Rat, One Ranger

    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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  8. L.A. Law Season 4 Episode 11 - True Brit
    8.0/10(50 votes)

    #8 - True Brit

    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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  9. L.A. Law Season 4 Episode 21 - Outward Bound
    8.0/10(43 votes)

    #9 - Outward Bound

    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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  10. L.A. Law Season 5 Episode 16 - Good to the Last Drop
    8.0/10(229 votes)

    #10 - Good to the Last Drop

    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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  11. L.A. Law Season 1 Episode 7 - Raiders of the Lost Bark
    7.9/10(69 votes)

    #11 - Raiders of the Lost Bark

    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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  12. L.A. Law Season 1 Episode 12 - Sidney, the Dead-Nosed Reindeer
    7.9/10(71 votes)

    #12 - Sidney, the Dead-Nosed Reindeer

    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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  13. L.A. Law Season 4 Episode 1 - The Unsterile Cuckoo
    7.9/10(49 votes)

    #13 - The Unsterile Cuckoo

    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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  14. L.A. Law Season 4 Episode 10 - The Pay's Lousy, But the Tips Are Great
    7.9/10(46 votes)

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

    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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  15. L.A. Law Season 5 Episode 2 - Happy Trails
    7.9/10(48 votes)

    #15 - Happy Trails

    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.

    Director:Win Phelps
    Writer:Unknown

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  16. L.A. Law Season 5 Episode 3 - Lie Harder
    7.9/10(47 votes)

    #16 - Lie Harder

    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
    Writer:Judith Feldman

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  17. L.A. Law Season 5 Episode 8 - God Rest Ye Little Gentleman
    7.9/10(52 votes)

    #17 - God Rest Ye Little Gentleman

    S5:E8

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

    Director:Tom Moore
    Writer:David E. Kelley

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  18. L.A. Law Season 1 Episode 1 - Pilot
    7.8/10(386 votes)

    #18 - Pilot

    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:Steven Bochco, Terry Louise Fisher

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  19. L.A. Law Season 1 Episode 8 - Gibbon Take
    7.8/10(78 votes)

    #19 - Gibbon Take

    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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  20. L.A. Law Season 5 Episode 10 - Pump it Up
    7.8/10(63 votes)

    #20 - Pump it Up

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  21. L.A. Law Season 5 Episode 22 - Since I Fell For You
    7.8/10(42 votes)

    #21 - Since I Fell For You

    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.

    Director:Win Phelps
    Writers:Patricia Green, Alan Brennert, David E. Kelley

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  22. L.A. Law Season 1 Episode 4 - The Princess and the Wiener King
    7.7/10(88 votes)

    #22 - The Princess and the Wiener King

    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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  23. L.A. Law Season 1 Episode 18 - Fifty Ways to Floss Your Lover
    7.7/10(55 votes)

    #23 - Fifty Ways to Floss Your Lover

    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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  24. L.A. Law Season 2 Episode 2 - The Wizard of Odds
    7.7/10(64 votes)

    #24 - The Wizard of Odds

    S2:E2

    Brackman begins to get carried away over his judicial appointment until an insulting parrot puts him in his place; Kelsey successfully represents a psychiatrist being sued in civil court for not preventing the murder of one patient by another, and is horrified when her client later confesses to the crime to prevent her from pursuing her suspicions that the wrong man was convicted of the crime; Markowitz covers for Gianelli, protecting him from Brackman's wrath; a wealthy woman wins an evening with Becker in a bachelor charity auction, and intends to get her money's worth; McKenzie hires hotshot young attorney Jonathan Rollins over Brackman's reservations that meeting Rollins's salary demands will cause trouble with the other associates; Sifuentes faces an opponent skilled in manipulating the jury's guilt with ethically questionable antics when they go head to head in a product liability case.

    Director:Gregory Hoblit
    Writer:David E. Kelley

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  25. L.A. Law Season 2 Episode 10 - Full Marital Jacket
    7.7/10(60 votes)

    #25 - Full Marital Jacket

    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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Best Episodes Summary

"The Venus Butterfly" is the best rated episode of "L.A. Law". It scored 8.2/10 based on 105 votes. Directed by Donald Petrie and written by Steven Bochco, Terry Louise Fisher, it aired on 11/21/1986. This episode scored 0.0 points higher than the second highest rated, "Justice Swerved".