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Common Sense Note

Parents need to know that certain scenes of this legal drama graphically depict serious crimes such as murder, complete with some blood and implied nudity. The show also lifts the lid off of the sometimes-unorthodox tactics that high-priced lawyers use to get a leg up on their opposing counsel -- unethical behavior that some parents might feel is too iffy for kids.

Families can discuss the justice system. How does a jury work? What's the judge's role? The prosecutor's? The defense attorney? Why are some people convicted and then exonerated years later? Is there any way to be absolutely sure that innocent people don't get sent to jail? And why do guilty people sometimes get away with their crimes?

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Common Sense Review

Reviewed By: Lucy Maher

In JUSTICE, high-powered criminal defense lawyers do their best to represent their clients well in a time when many are simultaneously being tried in the media.

Victor Garber (Alias) stars as Ron Trott, the brash and uber-confident head of the law firm of Trott, Nicholson, Tuller & Graves, who often rubs both reporters and juries the wrong way. Joining him are Tom Nicholson (Kerr Smith, Dawson's Creek), an earnest, engaging, and well-meaning litigator, Luther Graves (Eamonn Walker) who often takes a backseat to his more outspoken colleagues but pitches in by expertly analyzing the opposing counsel's case, and clinician Alden Tuller (Rebecca Mader), who's in charge of analyzing forensic evidence.

In one episode, the four colleagues represent a successful realtor who's accused of brutally murdering his wife. Though their client has been crucified by the news show American Crime, Trott and the others use state-of-the-art forensics, jury consultants, and media spin to clear his name. As a payoff, at the end of the episode, viewers see what really took place at the scene of the crime.

Justice is well-acted and -- like CSI and Without a Trace, which are also produced by Jerry Bruckheimer -- suspenseful and engaging. But it goes a step further with slick cinematography (in one scene, viewers watch an elevator descend in its shaft, then segue inside the elevator) and quick scene changes.

That said, while Justice offers viewers an eye-opening look at the inner workings of criminal defense law, its more mature elements -- violent crime scenes, crude language, characters who don't mind compromising their ethics to get ahead, etc. -- might give parents pause.

Fans might also like Angela's Eyes and The Closer.

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