List of Boston Legal characters

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The following is a list of characters from the ABC legal drama Boston Legal. Five of the show's characters (Alan Shore, Denny Crane, Tara Wilson, Sally Heep, and Catherine Piper) first appeared in The Practice.

Contents 1 Main characters 2 Former main characters 3 Recurring characters 3.1 Active within the last few episodes 3.2 Not Active in the last few episodes

[edit] Main characters

• Alan Shore (played by James Spader) — A crooked lawyer with a heart of gold. Illicit computer hacking, blackmail, disguise, and bribery are all tools he uses without hesitation. Alan is, however, unwavering in his defense in the underdog (unless he is representing the other party)and an indefagitable patron of various left-wing causes such opposition to Global Warming. Wherever he works, he treats his coworkers with levity and refuses to take himself seriously. Alan suffers from night terrors, has a fear of clowns, and in one episode, suffered from word salad. He has resigned himself to the fact that he will never be made partner at the firm due to his unpredictable behavior and lack of trustworthiness. Is best friends with Denny Crane. Alan is also an obscene womanizer.
• Denny Crane (played by William Shatner) — Founding and Senior Partner of Crane, Poole & Schmidt. Denny considers himself a legend and loves to say his own name to "sign" his verbal utterances. In one of the final episodes of The Practice, he explained that often people don't believe they're in the room with a legend, so he says his own name to let them know it's true. Denny has no problem sleeping with the wives of judges and clients. He is a conservative who believes gun control is for "communists" and refuses to defend anyone who is accused of extremely heinous acts; in one episode, he shoots a client because of the nature of his crime. Denny is also a womanizer. Though he marries another woman in Season 2, he still pines for Shirley Schmidt.
• Shirley Schmidt (played by Candice Bergen) — Founding and Senior Partner of Crane, Poole & Schmidt. Shirley first appeared in the middle of the first season. She used to have a romantic relationship with Denny, a past she now views with sardonic detachment, often making jokes about it.
• Brad Chase (played by Mark Valley) — The man who the others turn to when they need something done, relying on his Marine Corps background to intimidate others. Brad helped Denise Bauer rescue a kidnapped child by extracting information from a priest, accidentally chopping off the priest's fingers in the process. Later, he went undercover to discover if Paul Lewiston's daughter was still using meth. Brad hated Alan initially, but is now slightly more tolerant of him. He was made a partner in Season 2.
• Paul Lewiston (played by Rene Auberjonois) — Partner and legal advisor of Crane, Poole & Schmidt. Unlike Denny and Alan, Paul generally does things strictly "by the book." He has had several antagonistic run-ins with Denny and Alan over their apparent lack of respect for the law. His middle-aged daughter, Rachel, is introduced in Season 2 as a meth addict, and Paul has her placed in a rehab center and takes custody of her daughter (and his granddaughter), Fiona.
• Denise Bauer (played by Julie Bowen) — An aggressive young attorney introduced at the start of Season 2, Denise is thrown when her husband files for divorce and insists that she pay him so he can live while setting up his career as a mediocre golf pro. Her distractions over the divorce cause her trouble with some cases.
• Claire Simms (played by Constance Zimmer) — A smart, sexy lawyer who, along with Jeffrey Coho, joins the firm in the second episode of Season 3. She has done undercover work in the Scott Little case and a penchant for flirting with witnesses. She joined the main character list in the eighth episode of Season 3.
• Clarence Bell (play by Gary Anthony Williams) - Also known as Clarice, he originally sued his place of employment for gender discrimination. Since then, he has been befriended by Claire and has taken a job at Crane, Poole, and Schmidt. He joined the main cast in the eleventh episode of Season 3.

[edit] Former main characters

• Lori Colson (played by Monica Potter) — A junior Partner and former prosecutor at Crane, Poole & Schmidt. Lori found herself inexplicably attracted to Alan during the first season. In the second season, she nearly filed a sexual harassment claim against Denny. Lori has since left the firm, either under pressure from or fired by Shirley.
• Tara Wilson (played by Rhona Mitra) — A paralegal at Young, Berluti & Frutt, she graduated from law school in time to go with Alan to Crane, Poole & Schmidt. After a long flirtation on both The Practice and the half of the first season of Boston Legal, Tara and Alan finally began a sexual relationship, but the arrival of an old boyfriend led her to break up with Alan and quit the firm.
• Sally Heep (played by Lake Bell) — An associate at Crane, Poole & Schmidt. First introduced in The Practice, Sally began a relationship with Alan that crossed over into Boston Legal. However, after he used her to get information from a witness against their client so they could subdue his testimony, she broke up with him. Shortly after Shirley entered the Boston offices, she fired Sally.
• Sara Holt (played by Ryan Michelle Bathe) — Introduced in the second season premiere, Sara is a smart lawyer who isn't above using her own beauty to help her client. She has since disappeared from the show.
• Garrett Wells (played by Justin Mentell) — Also introduced in the second season premiere, Garrett is a brash young attorney who is obviously attracted to Denise. He does go over her head with some clients but aids her by blackmailing her ex-husband's attorney/pastor to get him to back down from his demands for money. Garrett has since disappeared from the show.
• Jeffrey Coho (played by Craig Bierko) — An intense, grandiose criminal defense attorney from the New York branch of Crane, Poole & Schmidt who joins the Boston firm in Season 3, accompanied by Claire Simms. Jeffrey is as comfortable with making enemies as he is making friends. After finding out Denise's baby is not his, Jeffrey leaves the firm in episode 15 of season 3 wearing his Buzz Lightyear costume.

[edit] Recurring characters

[edit] Active within the last few episodes

• Clark Brown (played by Henry Gibson) — A 70 year-old judge who still lives with his mother, Judge Brown likes to humiliate criminals he convicts in addition to normal punishment. Although Judge Brown claims to be a "conscientious fact finder," both Alan and Denny are able to appeal to his insecurities to gain favorable rulings. Initially thought to be a virgin, Brown admitted to having relationships with men on the February 6th, 2007 episode.
• Bethany "The Badger" Horowitz (played by Meredith Eaton) — A dwarf attorney romantic interest and (recently) the possible daughter of Denny Crane.
• Judge Robert Sanders (played by Shelley Berman) — A serious-minded, crotchety old judge. He refuses to allow "Jibber Jabber" in his courtroom, and both Alan and Denny have used his crankiness to their advantage.
• Jerry 'Hands' Espenson (played by Christian Clemenson) — A brilliant lawyer with Asperger's syndrome who earned his nickname by constantly placing his hands on his thighs. Jerry was so irate over missing out on partner status that he pulled a knife on Shirley, only backing down when Alan agreed to be his lawyer. Alan convinced Shirley to drop any charges against Jerry when his condition became known. Jerry is currently working on his own, having left the firm after the incident. Alan defends Jerry again when he fires a lawyer who was a scientologist. The next week, during Halloween, Jerry finds himself being sued by the United States for perjury when he is found to have lied about not opposing the death penalty. The case was urged on by both Alberto Gonzales and the rest of the pro-death penalty community. However, in a shocking decision to everyone, Jerry was acquitted and his defense of Massachusetts' death penalty ban was found to be honorable.

[edit] Not Active in the last few episodes

• Edwin Poole (played by Larry Miller) — The third Senior Partner at Crane, Poole & Schmidt. Edwin escaped from a psychiatric hospital, much to Denny's concern, and he successfully participated in one case before deciding to go back. He returned again for one episode in Season 2 after being released, focusing his efforts on finding someone to sue. Edwin returned to the hospital on Shirley's advice.
• Bernard Ferrion (played by Leslie Jordan) — A small man who first met Alan when he whacked his mother over the head with a frying pan. She proceeded to die from that blow, but Alan got Bernard off because the police had no evidence on him. Later, Bernard intentionally whacked a neighbor over the head with a frying pan to keep her from contacting the police regarding the incident with his mother. Alan refused to represent him, claiming him "evil," and instead turned him over to Tara Wilson, who proceeded to keep him out of prison due to lack of evidence. Catherine Piper met Bernard shortly after and tried to introduce him to God. Convinced he would kill again, Catherine struck Bernard down with a frying pan, killing him.
• Daniel Post (played by Michael J. Fox) — Denise's love interest with terminal lung cancer. Daniel is a hugely wealthy businessman who initially goes to Denise for help winning a case against a man who is suing him for using his influence to get a test drug that might save his life. Their relationship develops until he restarts his radiation therapy and then goes off to Europe, presumably to die. Daniel returns in the season finale, alive, and proposes to Denise. In the third season, he died during a lung transplant, however, and his remains were lost on the black market. Denise was able to recover his head in Salem, Massachusetts.
• Chelina Hall (played by Kerry Washington) — Prior to coming to work for Crane, Poole & Schmidt in Boston, Chelina worked on behalf of death row inmates for the Texas Innocence Project by petitioning the Texas High Court to reconsider execution sentence. She lost her temper during her final appearance before the court, calling the chief judge "a disgusting, fat pig." Later, when one of her previous cases comes up for appeal, Chelina fears this incident may have prejudiced the judge against her and convinces Alan to argue the case in her stead. She was originally intended to appear in several episodes near the end of the first season, but when these episodes were retooled to appear near the end of the second season, her burgeoning romance with Alan was apparently cut short. Alan reencounters Chelina in the second season episode "Race Ipsa," and in a comment that broke the fourth wall, Alan says that that she has left the show "to be in movies" (which she did in real life), also making reference to the change in the show's airing time.
• Marlene Stanger (played by Parker Posey) — A stone-cold, ruthless attorney Known at her old firm as "The Squid" (in mythology, the only animal that can kill a shark), Marlene is not above using underhanded tactics to win cases, and specializes in undermining her associates. She finds herself very unnerved by Alan, and eventually had a bout of sex in his office. Her hostile relationship with Denise led to the ruining of Denise's chances for Partner. At the end of Season 2, Marlene was made Partner but in the third season premiere, she transferred to the New York office.
• Donny Crane (played by Freddie Prinze, Jr.) — A young lawyer who was believed to be Denny's illegitimate son, the product of an affair with an anonymous woman. Denny, however, did not see him for 15 years. Denny later confessed to Alan that when Donny's mother slapped him with a paternity suit, he settled, and Donny's mother later admitted that he wasn't the father. Many jokes were made about the closeness of Donny and Denny's names. When Donny found out that Denny was not his biological father, he was crushed, and his relationship with Denny became very strained. Just like Denny, Donny uses his own name as an exclamation at inappropriate times.
• Catherine Piper (played by Betty White) — Alan's former assistant, first introduced in The Practice. A church-going woman who enjoyed being privy to the goings-on at Crane, Poole & Schmidt, Catherine took to the matricidal Bernard Ferrion in an attempt to introduce him to God. Convinced Ferrion would kill again, she later murdered him. With Alan's representation, Catherine was acquitted of the crime, but was subsequently fired by Shirley. However, Catherine returned and was hired as a food delivery person at Crane, Poole & Schmidt.
• Ivan Tiggs (played by Tom Selleck) — Shirley Schmidt's ex-husband.
• Missy Tiggs (played by Meredith Patterson) — The eccentric, Broadway musical-loving, singing, hilarious snort-laughing, and very young sixth ex-wife of Ivan Tiggs.
• Donald Diddum (played by Kurt Fuller) — A perverted minister who is also a lawyer. He is the lawyer for Denise Bauer's ex-husband who handles his divorce. Donald starts being targeted by Garrett Wells and Sara Holt after they find out he has three sexual harassment complaints. Sara approaches him and coerces him to make a deal in the divorce proceedings in favor of Denise. Eventually, Donald requests a whiff of Sara's panties so that he does not disclose this potentially damaging information.
• Malcolm Holmes (played by Rupert Everett) — An old flame of Tara Wilson's who eventually got her to leave the firm after he started trying to come on to her.
• Al Sharpton (as himself) — He helps Alan twice in cases involving a black Annie and a gay Santa Claus at the request of his old friend, Denny Crane.
• Lincoln Meyer (played by David Dean Bottrell) — Neighbor of Marcia Hooper and a peeping tom. He testified against Scott Little in Hooper's murder. During the trial, Jeffrey Coho accused him of killing her, and there has been some animosity between the two. Meyer then sued Jeffrey for accusing him of murder but lost; later, he takes a shovel to the head of the judge who oversaw that case. He refers to Jeffrey as "Mr. Dirty Mouth." He also hits Gracie Jane's head with a shovel and kidnaps Shirley at gunpoint.
• Gracie Jane (played by Jill Brennan) — A grating media personality who presumably works for CNN and fills in for Larry King, revealed by Denny to have a fetish for S&M. Her character is a parody of Nancy Grace.
• Melissa Hughes (played by Marisa Coughlan) — Alan's secretary, hired when Catherine Piper was fired by Shirley, who has various financial problems. Melissa is attracted to Alan, and tried to seduce him, but Alan did not respond to her advances in an unusual show of restraint. She has, however, showed no quarter in pursuing him. Melissa had since been transferred was the secretary of Jeffrey Coho. It is unclear what her role is now that Coho has departed from the firm.