The WORST episodes of The Practice
Every episode of The Practice ever, ranked from worst to best by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The worst episodes of The Practice!
The Practice focused on the law firm of Robert Donnell and Associates (later becoming Donnell, Young, Dole, & Frutt, and ultimately Young, Frutt, & Berluti). Plots typically featured the firm's involvement in various high-profile criminal and civil cases that often mirror current events. Conflict between legal ethics and personal morality was a recurring theme. Some episodes contained light comedy. Kelley claimed that he conceived the show as something of a rebuttal to L.A. Law (for which he wrote) and its romanticized treatment of the American legal system and legal proceedings.
#1 - Lawyers, Reporters and Cockroaches
Season 3 - Episode 15 - Aired 2/21/1999
Tensions boil over at the firm when Ellenor discovers Lindsay's salary is more than double hers. Ellenor demands justice and tries to recruit partners to her side. It eventually escalates into a knock-down drag-out brawl. Bobby and Lindsay represent a restaurateur forced out of business by a deceptive television reporter. The reporter, under the guise of doing a positive feature, aired an exposé on cockroaches in the kitchen. Helen prosecutes a teenager for killing his neighbor's cat.
#2 - Axe Murderer (2)
Season 2 - Episode 26 - Aired 4/27/1998
Bobby works with the firm of Cage and Fish to help in the defense of Marie Hanson, an apparent axe murderer who may have been Lizzie Borden in a past life. Ellenor discovers that her new boyfriend, Fred Spivak, is the crooked chiropractor treating Rebecca, while Lindsay and Helen discuss Helen's future with the DA's office. This is part 2 of a 2 part episode. Part 1 aired as a crossover event on Ally McBeal - S01E20 - The Inmates (1).
#3 - Cheers (a.k.a Adjourned: Series Finale)
Season 8 - Episode 22 - Aired 5/16/2004
How it all ends for the cast: The Firm Closes, Eugene becomes a Judge, Jimmy and Jaime become Neighbourhood Lawyers with their own firm, Ellanor takes a hiatus from practicing law to raise her daughter, Alan Shore hooks up with Sally and continues working for Denny Crane. The final shot is of old music playing as the camera moves through the firm's offices which are packed up and all the lights are still on. Bobby Donell is sitting at his old desk crying. Despite all he had said he was the only person not to move on
#4 - Man and Superman
Season 6 - Episode 15 - Aired 2/24/2002
The wife of a schizophrenic who thinks he's Superman seeks Jimmy's legal counsel after her husband accidentally causes harm to an innocent victim while under hospital care. As it seems impossible to prove what was actually going through the man's head when he caused the accident, the jury must sort through the legal finger-pointing to determine who — the defendant, his wife or the hospital — is ultimately at fault.
#5 - Race With The Devil
Season 2 - Episode 12 - Aired 12/13/1997
When Bobby's priest performs an exorcism on a parishioner, who dies during the procedure, Bobby must manipulate the system to shield Father Martin from murder charges; Eugene represents Martin Parks in a bizarre malpractice suit. Jimmy decides to tape a television commercial, a decision that proves unpopular with his colleagues.
#6 - New Hoods on the Block
Season 8 - Episode 21 - Aired 5/2/2004
Eugene considers an exciting new offer for his future... could this mean the end of the practice? Meanwhile, Jimmy is shaken by an ominous run-in with neighborhood lawyer Lenny Pescatore, as their turf war heats up, and Ellenor clashes with sexy and ruthless attorney Hannah Rose of Crane Poole & Schmidt.
#7 - Food Chains
Season 2 - Episode 25 - Aired 4/6/1998
The furor over Lindsay's demand for partnership continues. Bobby discovers that Lindsay's not the only associate looking for another job. Rebecca is involved in a car accident she believes is a scam. Rebecca and Jimmy go undercover to ferret out the guilty. Ellenor meets up with an old friend in the midst of a chimpanzee custody trial.
#8 - Ties that Bind
Season 2 - Episode 18 - Aired 2/2/1998
Lindsay and Ellenor defend a pornographic star accused of killing her co-star. Complications arise in the Moreno case when it appears Rebecca's ID of the suspect may have been tainted. Lindsay's fondness for having her elbows sucked works against Bobby when he sucks on Helen's elbows.
#9 - The Heat of Passion (1)
Season 8 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/26/2003
A complex murder case implicating a white supremacist embroils Eugene; malpractice fears haunt Jamie; the defense of accused killer Roland Huff embattles Shore, whose tactics astonish Tara and precipitate a run-in with a judge.
#10 - In Deep
Season 2 - Episode 21 - Aired 3/2/1998
The Luis Moreno case finally comes to trial with Rebecca more determined than ever to testify. Ellenor rushes off to defend Cruikshank again, leaving Lindsay to defend a man being cited for using too much water in his toilet. Eugene faces his own prejudices during an altercation with a dry cleaner.
#11 - Reasonable Doubts
Season 2 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/20/1997
Bobby's judgment is called into question by the firm's other members when he becomes romantically involved with a beautiful, icy client who shot to death a male neighbor she claims was attempting to rape her. The prosecution says it was murder.
#12 - Les Is More
Season 7 - Episode 19 - Aired 4/7/2003
A crazed fame-seeker takes CBS CEO Les Moonves hostage in a ploy for TV time to be negotiated by Jimmy, also a hostage.
#13 - Of Human Bondage
Season 3 - Episode 14 - Aired 2/7/1999
Bobby takes over the defense of a teenage prostitute accused of murder when her previous attorney withdraws, claiming he represents her 'john' (who's also her alibi). Ellenor revisits her past when her very first client is found passed out in a dealer's apartment with a bag of cocaine on his chest. Jimmy cuts a deal with opposing counsel so that both parties in a very bitter divorce get satisfaction.
#14 - A Day in the Life
Season 3 - Episode 12 - Aired 1/10/1999
Bobby and Eugene travel to a friend's home to counsel him when his daughter's newborn child is smothered. Bobby is forced into an ethical dilemma; his two options being to either contact the police, or conceal evidence in a possible homicide. Lindsay helps Jimmy defend a shipwrecked man accused of murdering a companion to save his own life. Rebecca gets a drug dealer off when the arresting officer recites an implausible story on the stand.
#15 - Line of Duty
Season 2 - Episode 15 - Aired 1/5/1998
Bobby is arrested and tried for the deaths of three police officers, after he tips off a client, using information obtained during a sleepover at Helen's, that the police are planning to raid him. Jimmy has to defend himself when an opposing attorney claims he's unfit to practice law.
#16 - The Lonely People (2)
Season 8 - Episode 6 - Aired 11/2/2003
Eugene and Jimmy's defense of the leader of a white supremacist group takes an unexpected turn when surprising new developments come to light. Meanwhile, Shore continues in his quest to free Roland Huff from prison, and Jamie and Eugene must come to terms with their differences.
#17 - Of Thee I Sing
Season 7 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/13/2002
A resolution reached in Lindsay's murder conviction has emotional repercussions; and First Amendment issues figure oddly in Jamie's first trial, the defense of an accused flasher.
#18 - Race Ipsa Loquitor
Season 4 - Episode 15 - Aired 2/20/2000
Jimmy is tempted to compromise his integrity to get convicted murder (and insect admirer) Henry Olson released. Eugene and Rebecca represent a woman who's suing a plastic surgeon when her husband dies during a liposuction procedure. They soon realize they're as much on trial as the surgeon when the opposing attorney makes several references to their race.
#19 - Split Decisions
Season 3 - Episode 11 - Aired 1/3/1999
Eugene defends a high school friend, Jerry Green, when Jerry is arrested after a high-ranking politician solicits him for sex. Helen is pressed to go after the politician, destroying Green's life in the process. Ellenor's proposed new client, an asbestos company, is rejected by a partnership vote, enraging Ellenor. Bobby discusses inappropriate questions with Lucy.
#20 - The Means
Season 2 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/8/1997
A black client is tried for the brutal beating of a department store security guard during a riot. Bobby plans to use a defense very unpopular with both his client and second-chair Eugene. Meanwhile, Ellenor's obnoxious cousin wants to sue the travel agent that booked her honeymoon on allegations of 'emotional distress'.
#21 - Truth and Consequences
Season 2 - Episode 16 - Aired 1/12/1998
Rebecca's life is threatened after she witnesses a murder and picks the killer out of a police lineup. Jimmy continues his case against the electric company.
#22 - In Good Conscience (1)
Season 8 - Episode 16 - Aired 3/14/2004
There are major shake-ups at the firm, as tensions rise between Eugene and Alan Shore. Meanwhile, the firm takes the case of a young man who is suing the doctor he feels is responsible for the death of his wife during childbirth.
#23 - Choirboys (1)
Season 7 - Episode 15 - Aired 3/10/2003
Helen faces up against the firm in a case involving an accused killer whose protective mother provides alibis. A disturbed former client jarringly reenters Lindsay's life.
#24 - Neighboring Species
Season 7 - Episode 5 - Aired 11/3/2002
Political, religious and moral issues surface in a trial involving medical research. Also, Lindsay, now on her own, defends a client whose singing gives a neighbor the blues.
#25 - Death Penalties
Season 4 - Episode 18 - Aired 4/9/2000
Bobby and Helen clash in an assisted suicide case. Bobby remembers his experiences of 'pulling the plug' on his mother and acts as though he were on trial. Meanwhile, Ellenor flies to Pennsylvania to try to exonerate a 31-year-old death row inmate who claims to be innocent of a double homicide.