History Main / SimpleCountryLawyer

[[folder:Film]]

* Keanu Reeves in ''Film/TheDevilsAdvocate''.

* ''{{Film/Lincoln}}'': Despite being the President, Lincoln still projects this vibe, and often tells stories from his lawyer days.
-->'''Roger Ebert''': I've rarely been more aware than during Steven Spielberg's ''Lincoln'' that Abraham Lincoln was a plain-spoken, practical, down-to-earth man from the farmlands of Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' pushed the trope to its limits by introducing the simplest, countriest attorney possible: Cirroc, the Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer, whose legal arguments were sterling examples of this tactic.

* ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' - The host segments of episode 815 (''Film/AgentForHARM'') have Mike being put on trial for [[MikeNelsonDestroyerOfWorlds inadvertently destroying several planets]]. His defense attorney is Professor Bobo, who evokes the trope down to the white suit and Southern drawl.
** Bobo also directly references the "panties" spiel from ''Anatomy of a Murder''.

[[folder:Webcomics]]

-->'''Stu''': Juries smile at me, cause I'm the old, dumb country lawyer who just talks plain ''sense''.

[[folder:Web Originals]]

* WebVideo/BennettTheSage puts on a white shirt, suspenders, and accent of a simple country lawyer to point out a blatant contradiction in the anime he's reviewing.
* A gag in one episode of ''WebVideo/{{AtopTheFourthWall}}'' had Linkara as Galactus trying this in the court of the Living Tribunal.

** A humanoid chicken who calls himself "just a simple hyperchicken from a backwoods asteroid". His name is generally treated as "The Hyper-Chicken", but according to a deleted scene from ''Into The Wild Green Yonder'', said chicken's name is "[[Series/{{Matlock}} Matcluck]]". Despite this trope, he holds an on-screen perfect record of 2 successful defenses and 2 successful prosecutions, having been representation for Planet Express staff, the planet Earth, and the Democratic Order of Planets. He managed to negotiate a sweet deal for Bender ''while under arrest himself'', "awaitin' trial for that there ''incompetence.''" in "The Birdbot of Ice-Catraz". One of those insanity defenses was simply saying "Well for starters, they hired ''me'' as their lawyer".

** The Evolution vs. Creationism episode in TheSimpsons had a fat, southern Simple Country Lawyer.
** PlayedForLaughs in yet another episode of ''TheSimpsons'':

'''Homer:''' Now I'm not a fancy big city lawyer... ''[Congregation gasps]'' ...but it seems to me that a senior citizen has to be over 55. Isn't that so?\\

'''Ned:''' [sighs] I suppose if you must know, I'm... well, I... I'm 60.

-->''"Judge Iapereau sends his best regards, and this. ''(hands Buck Strickland a court order) ''It tells you when you gotta leave, which is now, and where you gotta go, which is out. There. You all caught up."''

* BennettTheSage puts on a white shirt, suspenders, and accent of a simple country lawyer to point out a blatant contradiction in the anime he's reviewing.

* In a ''Webcomic/{{Fans}}!'' [[http://www.faans.com/books1-6/?p=954 alternate future]], Stu explains his role as half of the law firm of Smit & Jackson:

** A humanoid chicken who calls himself "just a simple hyperchicken from a backwoods asteroid". His name is generally treated as "The Hyper-Chicken", but according to a deleted scene from ''Into The Wild Green Yonder'', said chicken's name is "[[Series/Matlock Matcluck]]". Despite this trope, he holds an on-screen perfect record of 2 successful defenses and 2 successful prosecutions, having been representation for Planet Express staff, the planet Earth, and the Democratic Order of Planets. He managed to negotiate a sweet deal for Bender ''while under arrest himself'', "awaitin' trial for that there ''incompetence.''" in "The Birdbot of Ice-Catraz". One of those insanity defenses was simply saying "Well for starters, they hired ''me'' as their lawyer".

** A humanoid chicken who calls himself "just a simple hyperchicken from a backwoods asteroid". His name is generally treated as "The Hyper-Chicken", but according to a deleted scene from ''Into The Wild Green Yonder'', said chicken's name is "Matcluck". Despite this trope, he holds an on-screen perfect record of 2 successful defenses and 2 successful prosecutions, having been representation for Planet Express staff, the planet Earth, and the Democratic Order of Planets. He managed to negotiate a sweet deal for Bender ''while under arrest himself'', "awaitin' trial for that there ''incompetence.''" in "The Birdbot of Ice-Catraz". One of those insanity defenses was simply saying "Well for starters, they hired ''me'' as their lawyer".

->''I'm just a humble country lawyer trying to do the best I can against this brilliant prosecutor from the big city of Lansing.''

* Website/TheAgonyBooth: Now, Mr. Mendo's not one of those big city lawyers, but it [[http://www.agonybooth.com/video1135_Commando_1985_Movie_Review.aspx seems to him]] that there's a huge plot-hole in Rae Dawn Chong's back-story!

Something of a DeadHorseTrope nowadays, although it still gets PlayedStraight occasionally. {{Deconstruction}}s may have the lawyer display ObfuscatingStupidity or using a ChewbaccaDefense. Parodic examples will usually be a ShoutOut to {{Matlock}}, but also occasionally Creator/JimmyStewart or [[Literature/ToKillAMockingbird Atticus Finch]].

* Creator/MarkTwain wrote a sequel to ''Literature/TomSawyer'', in which the title character has grown up to become one.

* ''Series/TheGoodWife'' had recurring antagonist Nancy Crozier, a young blond lawyer fresh from law school. In actuality she was a [[BitchInSheepsClothing ruthless bitch]], but she loved claiming to juries and opposing attorneys that she was "just a simple girl from Michigan" who was inexperienced with city life and sophisticated business dealings, which annoyed Alicia every time they crossed swords.

* A mythology has built up around UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln which seeks to paint him as this trope. Whilst he might have ''started'' that way, he built his firm into a ruthless business-law juggernaut which cornered the market in Springfield. Abe Lincoln was more akin to a modern corporate lawyer; he was placed on retainer by Illinois Central Railroad in 1853, he later demanded $2000 ($54,380 in 2012 money), and, when they refused to pay, took them to court and won $5000 ($135,950 today). He also once offered to desert them and represent their opponents if they could match his fee. He was basically the [[Franchise/AceAttorney Franziska von Karma]] of the ''antebellum'' legal world.

* The UrExample is the film ''Film/AnatomyOfAMurder'', in which Creator/JimmyStewart plays Paul Biegler, a lawyer from the fairly backwoods Upper Peninsula of UsefulNotes/{{Michigan}}, defending a man in a murder trial. Along with the local D.A., an Assistant Attorney General from the state capital of Lansing has been brought in to prosecute, and Biegler gets a fair amount of mileage out of displaying himself as David facing off against the massive Goliath of the state government, culminating in the page quote. Of course, since he's from the U.P., and so's the jury, while the prosecutor and even the judge aren't, he's really playing it up for them.
** This is doubly funny for actual Michiganders, in that Lansing isn't that big itself: a Lansing lawyer could pull the same thing off if they were pitted against one from Detroit (and a Detroit lawyer could pull it off pitted against one from Chicago or New York).

** {{Lampshaded}} in yet another episode of ''TheSimpsons'':

* ''{{Film/Lincoln}}'' Despite being the President, Lincoln still projects this vibe, and often tells stories from his lawyer days.

* In ''Literature/ToKillAMockingbird'', Atticus Finch was a well-educated man who abhorred the opinions of his neighbours, but incompetent parodies or portrayals presume he is supposed to be this trope.
* Creator/JohnGrisham plays with this trope a lot, especially in stories set in [[DeepSouth Ford County]].

** Their impersonation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions claims to be this trope well. Of course the gag being that Sessions' very thick southern accent, Senator Allen Franken has a hard time figuring out if Sessions is claiming to be this or a "Simple Country Liar".
* ''Series/TheGoodWife'' had recurring antagonist Nancy Crozier, a young blond lawyer fresh from law school. In actuality she was a [[BitchInSheepsClothing ruthless bitch]], but she loved claiming to juries and opposing attorneys that she was "just a simple girl from Michigan" who was inexperienced with city life and sophisticated business dealings.
* ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' - The host segments of episode 815 (''Film/AgentForHARM'') have Mike being put on trial for [[MikeNelsonDestroyerOfWorlds inadvertantly destroying several planets]]. His defense attorney is Professor Bobo, who evokes the trope down to the white suit and Southern drawl.

** A humanoid chicken who calls himself "just a simple hyperchicken from a backwoods asteroid". His name is generally treated as "The Hyper-Chicken", but according to a deleted scene from ''Into The Wild Green Yonder'', said chicken's name is "Matcluck". Despite this trope, he holds an on-screen perfect record of 2 successful defenses and 2 successful prosecutions, having been representation for Planet Express staff, the planet Earth, and the Democratic Order of Planets. He managed to negotiate a sweet deal for Bender ''while under arrest himself'', "awaitin' trial for that there ''incompetence.''" in "The Birdbot of Ice-Catraz". One of those insanity defenses was just saying "well for starters, they hired ''me'' as their lawyer".

* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers''' Tiny Attorney has lines like "I may just be a [[Film/TotalRecall1990 growth on the stomach of an inbred simpleton]], but...". Not to mention he actually says "I'm just a simple country lawyer" at one point.

** A humanoid chicken who calls himself "just a simple hyperchicken from a backwoods asteroid". According to a deleted scene from ''Into The Wild Green Yonder'', said chicken's name is "Matcluck". Despite his trial for incompetence, he holds an on-screen perfect record of 2 successful defenses and 2 successful prosecutions. And he managed to negotiate a sweet deal for Bender ''while under arrest himself'', "awaitin' trial for that there ''incompetence.''" in "The Birdbot of Ice-Catraz". One of those insanity defenses was just saying "well for starters, they hired ''me'' as their lawyer".

* Surprisingly, the great [[{{AncientRome}} Roman]] orator, lawyer and politician Creator/{{Cicero}} fills this trope quite well. Whereas most of the senators, magistrates and lawyers in AncientRome were more or less [[{{Nepotism}} patrician]] (not necessarily [[{{ImpoverishedPatrician}} with money]] though), Cicero was an ''eques'' (well-off, but hardly rich) and from Arpinium--a town in southern Latium which had been conquered, assimilated, and granted (plebeian) citizenship by the Romans over the course of the 200 years before Cicero's birth. He played on this fact both implicitly and explicitly in many of his major speeches appealing to the NouveauRiche, such as in the ''In Verrem'' speeches. This makes this trope OlderThanFeudalism.

** This is doubly funny for actual Michiganders, in that Lansing isn't that big itself: a Lansing lawyer could pull the same thing off if they were pitted against one from Detroit.

* Now, [[TheAgonyBooth Mr. Mendo's]] not one of those big city lawyers, but it [[http://www.agonybooth.com/video1135_Commando_1985_Movie_Review.aspx seems to him]] that there's a huge plot-hole in Rae Dawn Chong's back-story!

* DustinHoffman plays the Simple Country Lawyer in ''Film/RunawayJury'', going against the jury-rigger played by Gene Hackman.

* ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' pushed the trope to its limits by introducing the simplest, countriest attorney possible: Cirroc, whose legal arguments were sterling examples of this tactic.

* Sam Ervin, a U.S. Senator from North Carolina who became nationally famous as head of the Senate Watergate Committee in 1973, was fond of referring to himself as one of these.