The bold and the meek – personality types in a legal drama

I was watching an episode of Boston Legal yesterday evening. It was the second episode of season 3 which introduces some new characters to the cast. One of these characters was a guy named Jeffrey Coho. He played the archetype of the alpha-male mentality lawyer who comes right in on day one ready to show everyone else who is top of the league. I was thinking when I first saw that character that it would simply be a duplicate of Brad Chase, a junior partner at the firm who had appeared in the earlier two seasons of the episode. Jeffrey was confronted by Brad who attempted to put Jeffrey in his place by telling him that there was only one guy at the firm who could play the macho guy who gets all the women, and that was Brad himself.

I never quite find such characters likable. They tend though to appear as an stereotypical archetype in a lot of lawyer shows. The more recent production named Suits features a law firm consisting of such figures with such excessive alpha-male syndromes. I don’t identify myself with such characters, neither do I find them likable. I prefer characters which display a certain humane quality in their characters such as compassion and a desire to help the weak gain justice. For me, Alan Shore, played by James Spader is my favourite character amongst all lawyer characters in law dramas. I don’t find the other protagonist of law shows likable, whether this be Denny Crane, or Harvey Spector.

I wonder how far those at the law school where I am studying at display the alpha-male mentality. I guess there are a diversity of personalities and characters that I have encountered during my time at law school. I do see some fellow law student who seem to be trying to imitate the bad, brash behavior of the show protagonist in these law films. They come off as arrogant, and condescending. But there are also nice people, who display the more gentle, Christian qualities.

I sometimes wonder whether my more genial personality is suited to the legal profession especially when I watch these lawyer shows where the characters come off as being aggressive. I suppose there might be different roles in the legal profession suited for different people with different personalities. For example, being a litigator might be suited for someone who is able to handle the stress of competition, whilst a meeker, more meticulous person might be better at drafting corporate deals. But I want to be careful not to stereotype, and I dislike the idea that one has to come off as what seems to me to be a jerk in order to be successful at what he does.