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Science Fiction's Greatest Legal Minds - Revealed!
Science Fiction's Presidents Of The 21st Century

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Grey_Area
07/13/09

In reply to Science Fiction's Greatest Legal Minds - Revealed!
I was really hoping to see a mention of Jorj X. McKie from the Bureau of Sabotage in Frank Herbert's Whipping Star and The Dosadi Experiment.
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Ghede
07/13/09

In reply to Science Fiction's Greatest Legal Minds - Revealed!
What about Massey? Human lawyer with a Partnership Drone implant giving him access to a large legal library in his brain.
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Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H.
07/12/09

In reply to Science Fiction's Greatest Legal Minds - Revealed!
The unaired episodes of "Century City" got aired on HDNet. Other episodes included the "virtual rape" idea, genetic alteration in sports (and lawyers), and a few other near-future things handled pretty well.
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Alessar
07/13/09

@Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H.: I never even heard of this show. CBS must have terribly mis-marketed it, considering I scavenge the internet for media news.
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Killa_Charlie
07/12/09

In reply to Science Fiction's Greatest Legal Minds - Revealed!
When I saw this title, I just knew I would have to add Hyper-Chicken, to my surprise you already did. Bravo.
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The Curse of Millhaven
07/12/09

In reply to Science Fiction's Greatest Legal Minds - Revealed!
There is always Rip Torn in "Defending Your Life." (Clip is a little longer than the humor warrants)
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franklinshepard
07/13/09

@The Curse of Millhaven: A terrific movie, although I don't quite think Rip Torn deserves to be on this list (I had completely forgot he was even in this movie, actually.)
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The Curse of Millhaven
07/13/09

@franklinshepard: I may love him almost entirely for the bit, later, when Brooks asks him how he knows some stuff and Torn replies "Your just not getting the hang of the whole big-brain-little-brain thing, are you?" Couldn't find that clip though.
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RexMaximus
07/12/09

In reply to Science Fiction's Greatest Legal Minds - Revealed!
I would have included Jubal Harshaw from Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land. Both a doctor and a lawyer, as well as Heinlein's mouthpiece, he was just an all-around awesome old man with a "harem" of secretaries.
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Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H.
07/12/09

@king rex: Lawyer, doctor, writer, lech -- the man did it all.
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Dr Emilio Lizardo
07/12/09

In reply to Science Fiction's Greatest Legal Minds - Revealed!
I had to pull "I, Robot" off the shelf, but it confirmed what I remembered. It's pretty clear that Stephen Byerley was a robot. In fact, it's much more clear that Byerley was a robot than it was that Deckard was a replicant.

Unrelated cool fact: My copy of "I, Robot has the same cover, but costs 25 cents less.
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Alasdair Wilkins
07/12/09

@Dr Emilio Lizardo: Yeah, I'd say it's pretty certain, although no one ever really rebuts Susan Calvin's arguments that a robot couldn't prosecute the case Byerley had handled. Thus my caution.
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AmishJohn
07/12/09

In reply to Science Fiction's Greatest Legal Minds - Revealed!
I'm glad to see that I'm not the only person in creation to read Illegal Alien. Just be careful and don't confuse it with Phil Foglio's Illegal Aliens.
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brentbent: C.O.C.K.R.O.A.C.H. )for all the queer super villians out there(
07/12/09

In reply to Science Fiction's Greatest Legal Minds - Revealed!
No love for Socrates Poole, played by the brilliant Christian Clemenson, from The Adventures of Brisco County Jr.? How many western steampunk lawyers are out there that you forgot him? Your penance: hop on one foot three times while purring. Not to mention that two of the prop pistols from this show ended up as the pistols Zoe Washburne used on Firefly! Yes, unconnected but too cool not to mention.
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Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H.
07/12/09

@brentbent: He was one of the rare guys who can hold his own in coolness with Bruce.

Great character.
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franklinshepard
07/13/09

@brentbent: Socrates Poole is fantastic! I third his nomination for this list.
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Roklimber
07/12/09

In reply to Science Fiction's Greatest Legal Minds - Revealed!
Couldn't you have had a bigger picture of that green girl? She's one fine-looking Orion woman.
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crashedpc - Haifisch
07/12/09

@Roklimber: She's She Hulk, yo... she'll tear you limb from limb.
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Roklimber
07/12/09

@crashedpc /sarcasm: How interesting that a She Hulk looks as hot as a hot non-hulk woman. Still, I'd rather think of her as an Orion girl.

As for tearing limbs, that's ok. My limbs grow back when torn.
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Roklimber
07/12/09

@crashedpc /sarcasm: Ok, after educating myself about She-Hulk there at the Wikipedia School of Knowledge, I have this to say: I'd date her any day of the week.
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crashedpc - Haifisch
07/12/09

@Roklimber: Do they all come back as the same limb? Will you have four arms if I rip all four limbs off?
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Roklimber
07/12/09

@crashedpc /sarcasm: Actually, I don't know. No one has ever managed to tear any of my limbs yet. And, believe me, there have been creatures who tried, but they're all now in my private collection of embalmed alien creatures.
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disco2000
07/12/09

In reply to Science Fiction's Greatest Legal Minds - Revealed!
The Hyper-Chicken is one of my all time favorite portrayals of lawyers, and I've referenced him several times at work leading to blank looks from the partners.

Also, I've been aspiring to be more like Phil Hartman's Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer lately. Unfreezing cavemen can count as sci-fi, right?
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Alasdair Wilkins
07/12/09

@disco2000: I certainly thought about him, but I couldn't quite convince myself he was science fiction (Harvey Birdman seemed like enough of a stretch).
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Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H.
07/12/09

@disco2000: Totally! He was unfrozen by SCIENTISTS!
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disco2000
07/12/09

In reply to Science Fiction's Greatest Legal Minds - Revealed!
One of the reasons I love TOS so much is that in the 40 years since the show aired, we've already advanced to develop or exceed a lot of their technology.

Legal books on paper? That's been old fashioned for years now. I've never read a case out of an actual book, except for textbooks.

But all those volumes look oh so impressive on your bookshelf! Especially when you're filming a commercial.
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OW-Holmes:Bringer of Fear
07/12/09

@disco2000: Am I the only one who prefers books over Westlaw? Something so much more lawyeresque about them.

I mean I am just an unfrozen caveman, your computers are crazy and scare me.
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disco2000
07/12/09

@OW-Holmes:Enemy of R.O.A.C.H.: I never learned how to use books, other than the practice guides. Books get outdated so quickly anyway.

And all a caveman really needs is a slick speech to persuade the judge. We didn't have fancy things like written word back in my day. But there is one thing I DO know...
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Rasselas
07/12/09

In reply to Science Fiction's Greatest Legal Minds - Revealed!
Does any SFF lawyer work like most lawyers? I.e., suffocating under a mountain of paper, attempting to dig a way out with coffee-stained fingernails, occasionally answering the phone to a chorus of "Can you...? Why haven't you...? Did you ... yet?"?
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liash
07/12/09

In reply to Science Fiction's Greatest Legal Minds - Revealed!
this is off topic, but to my mind, the profession truly missing from science fiction is a non-stereotypical presentation of journalists (as opposed to mobs of people holding microphones and shouting obnoxious questions at Our Heroes). Trials show up quite frequently, and justice is important in most universes. Public transparency? not so much.
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Grey_Area
07/13/09

@liash: Off the top of my head is Laurent Michaelmas from the 1977 novel of the same (last) name by Algis Budrys. He's a journalist who secretly runs the world through his control of the internet.
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littlewade
07/12/09

In reply to Science Fiction's Greatest Legal Minds - Revealed!
why would you think worf was a hundrend and 50 years old ?the judge called him Colonel Worf and he had different ridges on his head,worf's dad supposedly died defending kithomer it was screamingly obvious it was supposed to be his ancestor
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Alasdair Wilkins
07/12/09

@littlewade: Well, to be fair, I was about twelve at the time, hadn't seen much TNG, and was watching Star Trek VI on a somewhat fuzzy VHS. Also, I was kind of joking...
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