To fans of legal drama, CBS’s Matlock stood out for many reasons, including the fact that every case is exceptional. The lawyers, like Kathy Bates’ Madeline “Matty” Matlock, are smart, compelling, and always willing to go above and beyond. This kind of storytelling is almost old-school now, but that’s exactly why most fans and critics loved it.
This list features binge-worthy TV shows with pretty similar DNA to Matlock. These shows come in varieties of slick, gritty, funny on purpose, and funny by accident. But one thing they all have in common is a mix of lawyers who understand the job and won’t quit until they deliver satisfactory verdicts for their clients.
1. The Good Wife (2009 – 2016)
Alicia Florrick’s (Julianna Margulies) life blows up after a huge scandal leads to a jail term for her husband, Peter Florrick (Chris Noth). To keep the lights on, she sinks back to a junior lawyer gig at a cut-throat Chicago law firm. The show brilliantly mixes a “case of the week” format with the long-running drama of Alicia’s family, her relationship with her charming boss, Will Gardner (Josh Charles), and city politics.
Think of this show as business school Matlock. It focuses on doing the boring work better than the next guy. In one of the show’s early episodes, Alicia doesn’t win because of some big speech she gave, but because she noticed a tiny mistake in a super boring document. All in all, the show makes you feel smart for noticing even the smallest detail, and each victory gives that heavy feeling that comes from solving a really complex puzzle.
2. The Rainmaker (2025 – Present)
Rudy Baylor (Milo Callaghan) is a rookie lawyer who barely knows which way to hold a law book. Somehow, though, his first real taste of battle as a lawyer sees him defending a grieving mother against a behemoth medical institution. His situation is the definition of being “in over your head”, but he emerges victorious by the end of the show’s first season.
This show is the ultimate “little guy beats the big bully” story, and it works because it feels totally possible. Rudy doesn’t win with a grand closing argument. He wins because he’s just too stubborn to quit. Dude didn’t know when he was beat. The biggest moment of season 1 is when he finds the “tissue committee” document that the hospital did everything in its power to keep from him because it proved their guilt. Overall, if you loved that Matlock energy of using patience to beat strength, you’ll love this show.
3. Suits (2011 – 2019)
What if a fake lawyer was actually smarter and better than the real ones? That’s more or less the premise of Suits. Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams) has a photographic memory that helps him remember everything he reads, leading to his impressive knowledge of the law. There’s just one problem: he doesn’t have a law degree because he never went to law school. A twist of fate pairs him with superstar corporate lawyer, Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht), and together, they tackle impossible cases while desperately trying to keep Mike’s secret from exploding.
Let’s just cut to the chase. This show is more or less a slicker version of Matlock. It’s all about mind games. Harvey and Mike win by thinking three steps ahead of everyone else. They might win a case by remembering some weird old law or tricking their opposition into showing their cards. That mental sparring gives you the same smart, satisfying buzz you get from watching Matty and Olympia (Skye P. Marshall) in Matlock.
4. Goliath (2016 – 2021)
Billy McBride’s (Billy Bob Thornton) life is what rock bottom looks like. He’s a burnt-out lawyer who seems hell-bent on destroying his liver with alcohol, and the fact that he works out of a crummy bar is just… ironic. The entire picture changes when he lands a case against the huge law firm he helped create. It’s a case that involves a deadly weapons cover-up, and Billy has to dig through several layers of corporate files and dangerous people to find the truth.
Think of this as Matlock on a really, really bad day. It’s much darker and grittier, but it never forgets the logic. Billy doesn’t win in a pretty courtroom; he wins in parking garages, talking to scared engineers who know the truth. He pieces together the case from scraps that everyone else threw away. Sure, there’s nothing pretty about his process, but he still uncovers the truth piece by piece. And that’s what makes the show intriguing to watch.
5. Harry’s Law (2011 – 2012)
Before she was Matlock‘s Matty, Bates played Harriet “Harry” Korn in Harry’s Law, a recently fired patent lawyer who does something crazy after losing her cushy, high-powered job. She opens a law office in the empty backroom of a failing shoe store in a rough Cincinnati neighborhood. Her clients are as scrappy as her neighborhood, and she takes on cases no other lawyer will touch, from wrongful convictions to assisted suicide.
This show has a big heart. Just like Matty, Harry sees the person, not just the problem. She listens to her clients and finds the human angle that other lawyers missed. And then she finds the law to match that angle. In short, she’s smart, but she also cares.
6. Boston Legal (2004 – 2008)
This show is completely unhinged, but in the best way. At the law firm of Crane, Poole, & Schmidt, lawyer Alan Shore (James Spader) takes on the toughest clients and delivers closing arguments that are half genius, half insane. Between cases, he’s on a balcony with his weird friend Denny Crane (William Shatner), drinking and chatting nonsense.
This show is just Matlock with more jokes and more scotch. But underneath all those weird jokes, the show is quite smart about the law. Watching Alan’s closing arguments is like watching a magic trick. He uses pure logic and moral force to lead the jury right where he wants them. Overall, this show is for anyone who enjoys watching a lawyer use words alone to outsmart the system.
7. The Lincoln Lawyer (2022 – Present)
Mickey Haller (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo) is not your typical lawyer. He prefers to work out of the back of his Lincoln Town Car, taking on clients in Los Angeles. In the first season, he thinks he’s landed a dream case defending a rich guy accused of murdering his wife and her lover. But the deeper he gets, the deeper the feeling that he might actually be helping the bad guy, and it’s too late to fix his mistake.
8. Bull (2016 – 2022)
Dr. Jason Bull (Michael Weatherly) doesn’t go to court. He runs a “trial science” firm that utilizes psychology, data, and high-tech analysis to assist lawyers in selecting their juries, determining which arguments will be effective, and predicting how people will react. All in all, his team tries to win cases before they even start, and his clients are usually people who have already been convicted in the court of public opinion.
This is Matlock for the science nerd. It’s less about law books and more about “people” books. Bull’s team wins by understanding how regular people think and feel. They know that sometimes what the law says doesn’t matter as much as who’s listening. It’s a cool, different angle on how to win.
9. Reasonable Doubt (2022 – Present)
Jax Stewart (Emayatzy Corinealdi) is a brilliant lawyer with a messy personal life. The show throws her into morally grey areas where she’s forced to defend people she knows are probably guilty and navigate conflicts of interest. The kicker is that she has to do all this under the intense gaze of the media and colleagues who would love nothing more than to see her fail.
This show fully explores the messy side of being a lawyer that Matlock touched on. It’s not always about innocent clients. Sometimes it’s about making sure that everyone plays by the rules, even the bad guys. Jax’s brain is her weapon, but the job often costs her peace of mind. Overall, this show is a gripping and complicated take on what “just doing your job” really means.
10. How To Get Away With Murder (2014 – 2020)
Annalise Keating (Viola Davis) is a famous law professor and a scary-good defense attorney. When she picks a group of top students from her class to work at her law firm, they immediately get mixed up in a real murder cover-up that spirals out of control throughout the seasons. The plot is full of crazy twists, with secrets piled on top of secrets.
Despite all the chaos, this entry belongs on this list of TV shows like Matlock for one big reason: the law is still the ultimate weapon, and Annalise wields it effectively. Throughout the show, you see this master strategist use her unmatched knowledge of the rulebook to outsmart everyone, cops included. For instance, in season 1, episode 3, “Smile, or Go to Jail,” she doesn’t find new evidence; she gets the judge to throw out existing damning evidence on a technicality. It was a move that completely dismantled the prosecution’s case, and it’s the kind of move you expect from Olympia in Matlock.
Well…It’s up to you now. Just pick any of these shows and get ready for that smart lawyer satisfaction you got from watching Matlock. Then hop in the comments and share the gist.
