Synopsis: David E. Kelley's Emmy Award-winning legal drama, The Practice, returns for its eighth season, promising more provocative, issue-related stories, coupled with the writer's trademark humor.

Set in Boston, "The Practice" centers on a firm of passionate attorneys to whom every case is important and every client worth a fight to the end. Legal maneuvering is the firm's modus operandi, and they have it down to a science, making even the most questionable arguments convincing. And while they can't - and don't - win every trial, the pursuit of justice remains the priority until the final verdict is announcedS and sometimes afterwards. Pursuing justice, however, often confronts them with serious ethical and moral issues of conscience.

The end of last season saw Bobby Donnell quitting the firm and leaving Eugene Young (Steve Harris) in charge. This season finds Eugene not only tackling his new role as head of the firm, but also the new dynamic with co-workers Ellenor Frutt (Camryn Manheim), a single mom known for her fervent commitment to clients and for refusing to take "no" for an answer; Jimmy Berluti (Michael Badalucco), a hard-working "good guy" with a winning record and unparalleled loyalty to the firm; and a budding relationship with Jamie Stringer (Jessica Capshaw), a young associate recently out of law school.

In addition to returning cast memebers Manheim, Harris, Badalucco and Capshaw, this season Kelley will inject the series with intriguing new characters, including acclaimed film actor James Spader, who will play Alan Shore, a complicated and ethically challenged lawyer, and Rhona Mitra, who will play Tara Wilson, a confident paralegal in her third year of law school who is also the firm's new tough-as-nails assistant.

The multiple Emmy Award-winning drama has also earned a Golden Globe Award for Best Drama Series, a Peabody Award, a Viewers for Quality Television Award, an American Bar Association Silver Gavel Award and, most recently, a coveted Humanitas Award. (courtesy ABC, 2003)

The Cast:
Camryn Manheim as Ellenor Frutt
Steve Harris as Eugene Young
Michael Badalucco as Jimmy Berluti
Jessica Capshaw as Jamie Stringer
James Spader as Alan Shore
Rhona Mitra as Tara Wilson

Production Credits:
Created by David E. Kelley

Executive producers: David E. Kelley and Bob Breech

Kathy McCormick is the co-executive producer.

It is produced by Gary M. Strangis and is a David E. Kelley Production in association with Twentieth Century Fox Television.

Episodes:
Episode Guide: Season One

Episode Guide: Season Two

Episode Guide: Season Three

Episode Guide: Season Four

Episode Guide: Season Five

Episode Guide: Season Six

Season Seven Episode Guide

Season Eight Episode Guide
8-1

8- Equal Justice--12/07/2003
Alan Shore uses unorthodox tactics when he's appointed by the court to defend a young man accused of murder. Meanwhile, Tara must try her first case when she's thrown into covering Shore's previously scheduled client.
Written by: David E. Kelley
Directed by: Andy Wolk
Guest stars: