Just like everyone else, some of what we learn is wrong. In Germany, young lawyers make motions in court that are unknown to German law because they saw them on American TV shows. A new law firm in Washington, D.C., conducted meetings every morning in which the lawyers reported on their cases. It was a total waste of time, but they got the idea from L.A. Law.

I wonder what the source for that is. But I have certainly noticed German TV series that show the German lawyer using the kind of court rhetoric usually associated with the common-law systems.

Five lawyers write on what they learned from films.

(Michael Asimow, How I Learned to Litigate at the Movies, ABA Journal)