The Practice

Overview

In its first season, the firm Robert Donnell and Associates is led by Bobby Donnell, the only partner, who founded it ten years earlier alongside his receptionist, Rebecca Washington. The associates are Ellenor Frutt, Eugene Young, and Lindsay Dole. Jimmy Berluti joins as an associate after losing his finance job, brought on to help the firm with a loan. The second season sees Eugene, Lindsay, and Ellenor become partners after Lindsay pushes for equity, and the firm is renamed Donnell, Young, Dole and Frutt.

Rebecca, though not a lawyer, also receives some equity. Assistant district attorney Helen Gamble becomes a regular presence in both the cases and personal lives of the firm’s staff; she is a friend of Lindsay’s, and it is revealed several episodes into the season that she and Bobby have been having a secret on-again, off-again affair. That romantic relationship ends after a high-profile murder case puts them on opposing sides. In season three, Rebecca, who had been secretly attending law school, passes the bar and becomes an associate, and Lucy Hatcher is hired as the new receptionist.

The fourth season introduces assistant district attorney Richard Bay, who frequently alternates between ally and opponent for the firm, and Bobby and Lindsay marry at the season’s end. In season five, Lucy takes on a second role as a rape crisis counselor while still working as receptionist; Richard Bay is assassinated after refusing to rig a murder trial; and Bobby and Lindsay have a son. Season six features assistant district attorney Alan Lowe as a short-term antagonist for the firm.

In season seven, after being convicted of murder and having her conviction overturned, Lindsay leaves the firm to start a new one with Claire Wyatt. Jamie Stringer is hired as an associate to fill her spot, and Bobby departs in the season finale. By season eight, the firm has been renamed Young, Frutt and Berluti, with Eugene taking over as senior partner. Lucy has left to work full-time as a rape crisis counselor, Rebecca has left for reasons not explained, and Helen is no longer involved with the firm’s cases. Tara Wilson is brought on as a paralegal, and Alan Shore becomes an associate.

Notable guest stars

The Emmy Awards record for most wins and nominations in the Guest Actor and Actress categories belongs to this series. Winners include John Larroquette, Edward Herrmann, James Whitmore, Beah Richards, Michael Emerson, Charles S. Dutton, Alfre Woodard, Sharon Stone, and William Shatner. Nominees who did not take home the prize were Tony Danza, Paul Dooley, Henry Winkler, Marlee Matlin, René Auberjonois, and Betty White. Larroquette won for a second-season guest spot, then received another nomination for a sixth-season episode but lost.

The show claimed the Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series award for five straight years, from 1998 through 2002. A long list of other notable guest stars appeared: Tony Amendola, Gabrielle Anwar, Rosanna Arquette, Ed Asner, René Auberjonois, Dylan Baker, Kathy Baker, Lake Bell, Gil Bellows, Tempestt Bledsoe, Andre Braugher, Christian Clemenson, Jon Cryer, Viola Davis, John de Lancie, Rebecca De Mornay, Patrick Dempsey, Kevin Dunn, Charles Durning, Charles S. Dutton, Aunjanue Ellis, Giancarlo Esposito, Calista Flockhart, Billy Gardell, Gina Gershon, Anthony Heald, James Hong, Doug Hutchison, Andie MacDowell, Virginia Madsen, Chi McBride, Thomas McCarthy, Paul McCrane, Gates McFadden, John C. McGinley, Leslie Moonves, Chris O'Donnell, Vincent Pastore, Robert Picardo, Teri Polo, CCH Pounder, Victoria Principal, Kim Raver, Christopher Reeve, Rider Strong, Ralph Waite, Donnie Wahlberg, and James Whitmore.

Home media

The first DVD release of The Practice, titled Volume 1, arrived as a four-disc set in North America on June 12, 2007. It contained the complete first season of six episodes along with the first seven episodes of season two, plus a bonus featurette called "Setting Up The Practice." This same set came out in Region 4 on June 6, 2007, and in Region 2 on June 29, 2008. On January 3, 2014, Shout!

Factory obtained the Region 1 rights and put the final season on DVD on April 15, 2014. In 2012, Medium Rare Entertainment secured the Region 2 rights, releasing the first two seasons in the United Kingdom on February 27, 2012. StudioCanal handled the German market in 2014, issuing the first two seasons across three volumes with both German and English audio; the third, fourth, and eighth seasons followed in 2016, with plans for the fifth and sixth later.

Volume 1 also appeared in Italy and Greece on July 1, 2007. For streaming, all episodes became available on Amazon Prime Video in March 2019, and by 2021, seasons one through eight were on Hulu.