| The Practice : Season 8 (2003-04)
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- Cheers (series finale, aired May 16): Eleanor decides to close down the firm now that Eugene has become a judge and Jimmy has started his own practice, which Jamie has decided to join. Alan and Denny defend a CEO who is accused of assaulting his disabled employees. New!
- We the People (season 8 premiere, aired Sept. 28): Eugene and Jimmy defend a woman who killed a drug-dealer but are not allowed to invoke "defense of others" (1) as a defense. Alan Shore, an antitrust lawyer fired for embezzling from his firm (2), takes on a small criminal case in order to get a job with the stripped-down, retooled practice.
- The Chosen (aired Oct. 5): Eleanor and Jamie defend Brad Stanfield who is accused of killing his wife and unborn son, and they get the charges dropped after the man's young daughter Emma admits she did it. The client then tells Eleanor and Jamie that he actually did commit the murder, hoping that he will be protected from a retrial by double-jeopardy and attorney-client privilege (1). Alan Shore represents a friend who believes she can hear God's thoughts and wants to sue her old law firm for disability discrimination, even though she does not consider herself disabled (2).
- Cause of Action (aired Oct. 12, 2003) : Alan Shore reveals Brad Stanfield's confession (1) to the district attorney and gets threatened with disbarment. Sheila represents a husband who wants to sue his wife (2) after catching her having an affair.
- Blessed Are They (aired Oct. 19, 2003) : A judge rules that Brad Stanfield's confession is inadmissible and that Stanfield can go free because of double jeopardy (1). Eugene takes over the representation of Roland Huff who has killed his wife and her lover. Alan is drafted into representing a man caught performing lewd behavior in a public area, and Sheila represents a man accused of stuffing a human head.
- The Heat of Passion (aired Oct. 26, 2003) : Alan tries to decide what strategy he should take in defending Roland Huff of murder charges (1). Eugene is drafted into defending a white supremacist who is accused of ordering a follower to commit murder and fears going to prison (2); Eugene realizes that the client may be falsely implicated in the shooter's crime. Jamie misses a filing deadline and compounds her problems by lying to her client (3); Alan ultimately helps Jamie by committing some fraud of his own.
- The Lonely People (aired Nov. 2, 2003) : Alan manages to get Roland Huff free by invoking diplomatic immunity (1). Eugene defends Jonathan Macklin, a white supremacist who once fathered a child with a black woman. Eugene and Jamie discuss their own interracial relationship (2), and the prosecutor at one point asks Macklin what he thinks about Thomas Jefferson and the allegations that he fathered a child with one of his slaves (3).
- Rape Shield (aired Nov. 9, 2003) : Jimmy doesn't bother to read his client's file before going to trial and is prevented from asking the supposed victim about two prior instances where she lied about being raped (1). Jamie and Alan get caught for having lied to Jamie's client two episodes earlier after Jamie missed a filing deadline for her client (2).
- Concealing Evidence (aired Nov. 23, 2003) : Alan has a very busy few days. He defends a murder suspect who tries hiding a bloody knife in the firm's conference room (1). And he represents a woman suing a pharmaceutical company for a drug that she says caused her husband to commit suicide (2). He commits many ethical violations along the way.
- Victim's Rights (aired Nov. 30, 2003) : Alan represents a Romanian girl seeking political asylum (1) so that she does not have to return to Romania and participate in an arranged marriage. Eugene provides legal advice to Lawrence Gilbert (2), whose wife was killed by a man who may get acquitted. Gilbert takes the stand and tries pleading the Fifth Amendment when asked if he was in love with someone else when his wife was killed (3).
- Equal Justice (aired Dec. 7, 2003) : Alan argues that a drug dealer committed murder in self-defense (1). Tara gets to try her first case (2).
- Police State (aired Jan. 11, 2004): Eugene leads an effort to stop the police from torturing a murder suspect and from using the suspect's confession against him. But the story probably would not end there.
- Avenging Angels (aired Jan. 18, 2004): Alan and Tara engage in dirty tactics while representing a friend whose wife, Eve, has been committing adultery. Jimmy and Jamie defend an elderly man who is trying to kill the people responsible for his daughter's death.
- Going Home (aired Feb. 15): Alan Shore returns to his hometown to help a friend, Paul Stuart, whose mistress has been found killed in her home.
- Pre-Trial Blues (aired Feb. 22): Alan Shore prepares to defend his friend Paul Stuart who faces murder charges.
- Mr. Shore Goes to Town (aired March 7): Alan defends his friend Paul Stewart, who is on trial in Dedham court, where Sacco and Vanzetti (1) were convicted of murder charges in 1921. Alan wins but learns that Paul committed the crime after all (2).
- In Good Conscience (aired March 14): Eugene plans to fire Alan from the practice with Jimmy's help and without Eleanor's knowledge. Eleanor and Jamie represent a young man who is suing for the death of his wife during labor, but try to get around a $20,000 malpractice cap (1) that they think is unfair.
- War of the Roses (aired March 21): Alan begins a campaign against the practice and hires Denny Crain to help prevent the practice from forcing Alan to stop. Eleanor defends a woman who is accused of assaulting a police officer after she was ordered to go to a designated protest zone away from President George W. Bush's motorcade (1). The woman said she supported Bush but was protesting his administration's alleged editing of a report on global warming (2).
- The Case against Alan Shore (aired March 28): Alan Shore takes his case against the practice to trial, arguing that he is entitled to his "slice" of the practice's profits. Eugene argues that Alan demeaned the practice of law. Alan counters by calling the legal system an unscrupulous business, invoking O.J. Simpson's acquittal and Rubin "Hurricane" Carter's convictions (1).
- The Firm (aired April 18): Alan gets settled in at his new firm and confronts Denny Crain on his possibly suffering from Alzheimer's disease (1). Hannah, a junior partner at Alan's new firm, works around rape-shield laws (2) to defend a client's son from rape charges and confronts an associate who dresses improperly for the office. Jimmy decides to leave the practice and start his own one-man shop.
- Comings and Goings (aired April 25): Eugene is being considered for a position as a Superior Court judge (1). Alan convinces a prosecutor to not bring assault charges against a hockey player by recommending drastic changes to National Hockey League rules (2). Jimmy starts his own practice and meets the local competition.
- New Hoods on the Block (aired May 2): Eugene defends himself as he seeks a nomination as a Superior Court judge (1). He is asked for his views on the death penalty in Massachusetts (2) given Gov. Romney's recent efforts at its possible introduction there. Bobby Donnell appears to defend Eugene's character and to question the character of some leaders (3). Eleanor confronts Hannah at Alan's new firm over a discovery dispute. Jimmy fights to establish himself in the old neighborhood.
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Jimmy should have read his client's file earlier, but rape-shield laws should not have prevented him from asking if the victim had lied in the past.
Alan Shore got Roland Huff off from murder charges in the United States because of diplomatic immunity, but Roland could still face charges in Croatia.
Brad Stanfield (played by Chris O'Donnell) probably should have been re-tried for murder. In any event, he probably still would be convicted for perjury and put away for many years.
Despite what Alan told her, Sheila (played by Sharon Stone) could sue her old law firm for disability discrimination even if she did not believe herself to be disabled.
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By Stephen Lee
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