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![handle is hein.journals/uilro2026 and id is 1 raw text is:
CULTIVATING THE TRIAL MYTH: THE
HARMFUL ABSENCE OF ADR IN MOVIES
Michael Conklin*
I. INTRODUCTION
The misleading portrayal of lawyers and the legal system in film and tele-
vision is well documented in the literature.1 There is a glaring lack of represen-
tation, however, in Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) in film and televi-
sion.2 This gap is made even more significant when one considers how ADR is
the most common method for resolving legal disputes.3 This Article is the first
to quantitatively document this lack of representation and examine how, in the
limited instances that do exist, ADR is frequently portrayed inaccurately and
negatively. This novel framework provides a valuable tool for better understand-
ing how representations of the legal system affect public sentiment, which in turn
affects the legal system itself.
The power of movie and television portrayals to influence public opinion
and public behavior is well documented. Viewers-especially adolescent
* JD, LLM, MBA, MSBA, MPhil; Assistant Professor of Business Law, Texas A&M University Central
Texas; Lecturer, Texas A&M University School of Law.
1. See generally MICHAEL ASIMOW & SHANNON MADER, LAW AND POPULAR CULTURE: A COURSE BOOK
(2004); Christine Alice Corcos, We Don't Want Advantages: The Woman Lawyer Hero and Her Questfor
Power in Popular Culture, 53 SYRACUSE L. REV. 1225 (2003); Charles B. Rosenberg, An L.A. Lawyer Replies,
98 YALE L.J. 1625 (1989); Kimberlianne Podlas, The Tales Television Tells: Understanding the Nomos Through
Television, 13 TEX. WESLEYAN L. REV. 31 (2006) [hereinafter Podlas, The Tales Television Tells]; Michael Asi-
mow, When HarryMetPerry andLarry: CriminalDefense Lawyers on Television, 1 BERKELEY J. ENT. & SPORTS
L. 77 (2012) [hereinafter Asimow, When HarryMet Perry and Larry]; Kimberlianne Podlas, Guilty on AllAc-
counts: Law & Order's Impact on Public Perception ofLaw and Order, 18 SETON HALL J. SPORTS & ENT. L. 1
(2008) [hereinafter Podlas, Guilty on All Accounts]; Michael Asimow, Bad Lawyers in the Movies, 24 NOVA L.
REV. 533 (2000) [hereinafter Asimow, Bad Lawyers in theMovies]; Victoria S. Salzmann & Philip T. Dunwoody,
Prime-Time Lies: Do Portrayals of Lawyers Influence How People Think About the Legal Profession?, 58 SMU
L. REV. 411, 425 (2005); Victoria S. Salzmann, The Film Law Abiding Citizen: How Popular Culture is Poison-
ing People's Perceptions ofPleas, 41 Sw. L. REV. 119 (2011); Michael Pfau, Lawrence J. Mullen, Tracy Deidrich
& Kirsten Garrow, Television Viewing and Public Perceptions ofAttorneys, 21 HUM. COMMC'N RSCH. 307
(1995); Nancy B. Rapoport, Dressedfor Excess: How Hollywood Affects the Professional Behavior of Lawyers,
14 NOTRE DAME J.L. ETHICS & PUB. POL'Y 49 (2000).
2. See Carrie Menkel-Meadow, Legal Negotiation in Popular Culture: What Are We Bargaining For?,
in LAW AND POPULAR CULTURE 583, 583 (Michael Freeman ed., 2005).
3. See Andrew B. Mamo, Putting the Alternative Back into ADR, 70 WASH. U. J.L. & POL'Y 219, 219
(2023).
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