‘Harry’s Law’ presents engaging legal dramedy

Life has gotten quite a bit bouncier for patent attorney Harriet "Harry" Korn.

We meet her zoning out in her patent office, bored out of her gourd. She is fired and, out on the street, takes a moment to consider whether things happen for a reason when her first client falls on her, right out of the blue.

It’s Malcolm, a young man in a desperate situation. He’s enrolled in school and in treatment for cocaine addiction when the clinic is closed and he is arrested trying to get a fix.

It’s his third strike and he doesn’t see any way of getting out of it so he throws himself off a six-story building, landing on top of her.

Neither of them is seriously hurt, and she’s out on the street again, thinking about what to do next, when she sees an empty storefront for rent. She crosses the street for a closer look when BOOM! She is struck by a Lexus driven by attorney Adam Branch, opposing counsel on one of her patent cases, and lands on a mattress with only a little soft tissue damage. As her secretary, Jenna, describes her, she’s just a “big stuffie.”

So far “Harry’s Law,” starring Kathy Bates in the title role, could be an action-adventure series. Rather, it’s the latest entry from the quirky legal mind of David E. Kelley.

Legal dramedy

First impressions, it seems like his original series “The Practice” writ small. Harry and Adam -- played by Nate Corddry -- go up against some abrasive district attorneys. Probably Harry won’t rely overmuch on her feminine wiles, but she’s got Jenna there, played by Brittany Snow, to provide some of that.

My most direct history with Snow is her evil character on “Nip/Tuck.” Jenna is a huge departure. The storefront Harry was interested in used to be a shoe store and Jenna is like a kid in a candy store. She takes it upon herself to sell some of the abandoned merchandise while being Harry’s receptionist. She answers the phone saying “Harry’s Law and Fine Shoes!”

In her first case in criminal law, defending Malcolm, Harry did that thing protagonists in David E. Kelley productions do. She waxed philosophically regarding some larger national issue. In this case, she made the case for legalizing drugs while the apoplectic district attorney sputtered and fulminated.

The jury, presented with the facts of the case, found Malcolm to be guilty. And in his sentencing of Malcolm, the judge issued a suspended sentence provided Malcolm complete a course of drug rehabilitation, which allowed him to stay in college. Malcolm is then roped in as a paralegal for Harry’s new firm.

Adam did pretty well in his first case as well, defending Damien Winslow, a shakedown artist who runs a protection racket in Harry’s neighborhood, in a defensive shooting. Adam did that other thing that happens a lot in David E. Kelley productions, which is fast-talking gadfly showmanship. He filled the courtroom with Winslow’s associates, all of whom indicated he was a person of character.

He was quite a character, but Harry is, too. When Winslow came in to shake her down for protection money, she said she already had protection. She pulled out a revolver and the look on her face indicated she wasn’t afraid to use it. Indeed, the previews suggest we’re going to see it in use, as shades of bombastic Boston associate Denny Crane float briefly to mind.

Wish list

Here’s one thing I’d like to see in a David E. Kelley production: I’d like to see a conservative. Not a buffoon, not some caricature, not some evil reptilian jerk. An actual, honest-to-God, these-things-I-believe conservative, as a foil to some of the outrageous antics that occur in David E. Kelley productions.

He populates his stories with trial lawyers who one imagines might argue absolutely anything if the price is right. But I think it would stretch his creative sensibilities to present a sober conservative counterpoint to the free reign he tends to give the liberal point of view in his productions.

After the ridiculous Denny Crane, after the ludicrous Judge Sanders, after the over-the-top Gulf War vet Brad Chase, after a stream of vapid strawman characters who are barely real enough to present actual opposing viewpoints, I think he’s sufficiently talented and I believe ready to introduce a character with a conservative point of view capable of existing in the real world.

And “Harry’s Law” could be exactly the right opportunity.

“Harry’s Law” airs Mondays at 10/9c on NBC.