I’m watching My Cousin Vinny right now as I type this. Movies about lawyers are generally boring, but this one, which is very old now, is a) hilarious, and b) impressive in that it follows procedural rules pretty closely, and follows some really effective trial techniques and strategies. Not quite “Law & Order” closely, but pretty close.

One glaring omission, though, is that there’s no way some guy fresh out of passing the bar in New York comes down to Alabama and gets licensed, temporarily or otherwise, without also taking the Alabama bar exam, tries a capital murder case without local co-counsel. Alabama doesn’t offer reciprocity with anybody, as though people are just clamoring to practice law in the Yellowhammer State. They aren’t.

There are good reasons for why Vinny Gambini wouldn’t just be able to waltz into the Beechum County courthouse and try a murder case. Every state in the country has different laws, and courts that have made libraries worth of decisions interpreting those laws. Lawyers that practice in those states are expected to know what those laws are. Vinny Gambini, in the 80s before online legal research was a thing, would have a hell of a time researching what the Alabama murder statute was, what the rules of criminal procedure were, what the rules of evidence were, what the courts have said about any of the above. And yet he wins, because it’s a great plot device in a movie.

UNITED SOCCER LINKS: