Kathy Bates Portrays Harry Korn, the Shoe Store Lawyer, in "Harry's Law"

If ever I'm in dire need of a criminal lawyer, I'm heading to the nearest shoe store and looking for someone just like Harry Korn, Kathy Bates' character on the new NBC series "Harry's Law." Harry may not win my case, but she'll give it all she's got.

I admit it, I like Kathy Bates. I think one reason I like her is we're both Southern gals. Another reason I like her is because she has something many Hollywood types don't have -- believability. Unlike someone trying to convince us in "Pretty Woman" that Julia Roberts could be a prostitute, when a viewer watches Kathy Bates as Harriet Korn pull out her gun and shoot a rat in the office, it's not hard to believe it.

When the season begins, Harriet "Harry" Korn is a successful patent attorney in a large firm. The problem is that Harry is burned out and going through her own mid-life crisis. Getting caught sitting in her office smoking pot, she finds herself fired from her job. Later she sets up her own office in a poor neighborhood where she encounters a number of locals needing her assistance. It happens that her new office was a former shoe store, and the previous tenant left a large assortment of fashionable shoes. Her assistant, Jenna Backstrom, played by adorable Brittany Snow, talks Harry into letting her sell the shoes to help supplement their income. Thus, Harry's reputation in the neighborhood becomes the "shoe store lawyer."

After accidentally hitting Harry with his car, it's not long until young attorney Adam Branch, played by Nate Corddry, joins forces with Harry to represent the neighborhood clients. His first case is representing the neighborhood "protection" agent who shoots a would-be robber in the leg. When Harry encourages him to go back to his safe, cushy job with the larger firm, Adam refuses citing that this work is too exciting to leave. Soon Harry realizes Adam, like a lot of other things in her life, is pretty much out of her control.

As much as I like Kathy Bates, there is a lot of preaching on the evils of the world in "Harry's Law." The show is entertaining because of the diverse neighborhood characters, but the grandstand monologues and arguments on such things as legalizing drugs, poverty of seniors and lack of police protection seem reminiscent of David E. Kelley's other shows and get a bit tiresome.

Overall, Kathy Bates and her cast of characters on "Harry's Law" make it a good show and worth watching. If nothing else, it's time well spent watching Harry's exasperated reactions at life going on around her. Definitely, she's lost her burn-out problem.

"Harry's Law" airs on Monday nights at 10 p.m. on the NBC network. The shoe store lawyer has found a home.

Sources:

www.nbc.com/harrys-law/bios/kathy-bates/