QUICK TAKES - July 23, 2009 - Los Angeles Times

By Carol J. Williams

July 23, 2009 12 AM PT

The verdict is in from a 12-member jury of the American Bar Assn.: “L.A. Law” topped “Perry Mason” as the best legal drama in TV history.

Despite a testament to “Perry Mason” by U.S. Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor during her confirmation hearings last week, the TV drama starring Raymond Burr came in second to the series depicting the fictional L.A. firm of McKenzie, Brackman, Chaney & Kuzak.

Rounding out the top five are “The Defenders,” “Law & Order” and “The Practice.”

-- Carol J. Williams

Television

Carol J. Williams

Carol J. Williams is former senior international affairs writer for the Los Angeles Times. A foreign correspondent for 25 years, she has won five Overseas Press Club awards, two Sigma Delta Chi citations and was a 1993 finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in international reporting. She has served as Times bureau chief in Budapest, Vienna, Moscow, Berlin and the Caribbean. A native of Rhode Island and irrepressible Red Sox fan, Williams speaks Russian, German, French and Spanish, and has reported from more than 80 countries. She left The Times in 2015.

QUICK TAKES - July 23, 2009

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