I recall seeing Legally Blonde (2001) when it first came out, or shortly thereafter. I enjoyed it, but I didn’t think it was anything special. Not so with David Lat:
So is Legally Blonde “more relevant than ever,” as the Times contends? Does the movie stand the test of time?
My own verdict: yes. Legally Blonde is one of my favorite films, law-related or otherwise, and I owe it a debt of gratitude. Just as some people can say they went to law school because of Legally Blonde, I can say that the movie influenced my own move from practicing law to writing about it. My first blog—Underneath Their Robes, as pink as Elle’s resume, in which I pretended to be an attractive blonde woman obsessed with law and fashion—definitely drew inspiration from Legally Blonde.
And even Zach somewhat agrees, conceding that Legally Blonde is solid. When I asked him where LB ranks in the law-film pantheon, he responded “Better than MCV, although not on the level of The Devil’s Advocate—but what is?”
A reader of Lat’s Original Jurisdiction adds:
Legally Blonde featured prominently at the National Advocacy Center for federal prosecutors during the two-week trial advocacy course I attended as a brand-new AUSA.
I hope Jurassic Park (1993) hasn’t had similar influence on paleontologists.
