McGee on From Clair to Annalise: How To Get Away With Being a Black Woman Lawyer on Television @TheEthicsProf

Kellyn O. McGee has published From Clair to Annalise: how to get away with being a black woman lawyer on television in International Journal of the Legal Profession (available online here). Here is the abstract.

Clair Huxtable was the iconic mother, wife, and lawyer on The Cosby Show, an American television sitcom that premiered in September 1984. She appeared to be the perfect lawyer—partner in a law firm, prepared for every case, triumphant in every case, and never stepping over, or anywhere near, the boundary line of legal ethics—all while mothering children ranging in age from 5 to 20 years and supporting her equally successful obstetrician/gynecologist husband. In all her perfection, Clair presumably inspired young women to become lawyers during the middle 1980s through the early 1990s, and beyond. Clair Huxtable was a tough act to follow. The Black women lawyers who came after her on scripted television brought more realism to what it really means to be Black, woman, and a lawyer. These characters have helped direct the professional identities of their real counterparts in the decades since Clair entered our living rooms. This article explores the images of Black woman lawyer characters on scripted television since 1984 and how those images compare or contrast with Clair Huxtable and real-life Black women lawyers.

Pop Culture Women Lawyers Everywhere!

New law-related shows on offer:

From the WE: Sisters-In-Law. This reality series premieres tonight (March 24) on the WE at 10 p.m., 9 Central time. It features African-American female attorneys based in Houston. Here's coverage from The Electronic Urban Report (EUR).

WE is also offering up Ladies of Law, a reality series about African American female attorneys who practice entertainment law in NY. More here from Deadline: Hollywood. 

Meanwhile, Viola Davis ("How To Get Away With Murder") is involved in a new project, a series based on the career of the dynamic Kym Worthy, chief prosecutor in Michigan's Wayne County. The series, "Conviction," would air on TNT. More here from Deadline: Hollywood. 

Meanwhile, Hayley Atwell ("Captain America") is joining the cast of ABC's tv series centering a female attorney, which is also called "Conviction."

Lots of potential new members of the Popular Culture Lawyers Bar Association!

Jada Pinkett Smith Signs On For ABC Legal Drama, Playing a Prosecutor

Jada Pinkett Smith will star in Murder Town, a new drama for ABC that A&E Studios will produce. Pinkett Smith will play Wilmington, Delaware's first African-American district attorney, who faces lots of personal and professional problems in her new position. Barry Schindel is the showrunner. More here from the Hollywood Reporter, here from Deadline.