One is gritty, grounded, and built on real trials. The other is slick, soapy, and legally impossible. Fans keep linking them — but insiders say the overlap is pure illusion

Netflix’sThe Lincoln Lawyer frequently gets compared to one popular legal drama, but it’s time we stop. The wait for The Lincoln Lawyer season 4 is getting completely unbearable, and I, like many others, am cycling through similar shows to fill the time.

I’m open to the recommendations of others, and I frequently share mine as well. However, one title consistently appears on virtually every list of shows like The Lincoln Lawyer and in nearly every Reddit recommendation thread, which doesn’t make sense to me. While it’s highly rated, I think it’s time we stop comparing The Lincoln Lawyer to this successful TV show.

The Lincoln Lawyer & Suits Are Two Of The Most Popular Legal Dramas

Legal dramas are a genre with many options to choose from, but The Lincoln Lawyer and Suits are two of the most popular. The Lincoln Lawyer has top-notch storytelling and character development, plus excellent dramatic courtroom scenes. On the other hand, Suits was well-received upon release due to its sharp dialogue and iconic characters. Ultimately, it found a second life on streaming.

Both shows hold impressive Rotten Tomatoes scores, with The Lincoln Lawyer holding a 90% Tomatometer score and Suits holding a 91%. Despite both being popular and well-received, The Lincoln Lawyer and Suits are nothing alike, and I’m confused why we continue to compare them.

The Lincoln Lawyer & Suits Follow Different Types Of Law

At a very basic level, The Lincoln Lawyer and Suits differ significantly because they focus on different parts of the law. The Lincoln Lawyer focuses pretty much exclusively on criminal law, meaning Mickey and, later, Lorna are constantly preparing for trials and in the courtroom defending their clients. They focus primarily on violent crimes and significant theft and fraud cases.

Meanwhile, Suits is a wildly unrealistic hodgepodge of various legal specialties, rather than one specific type. Technically speaking, the law firm in the show focuses on corporate law. However, all the lawyers in Suits work in litigation, mergers and acquisitions, employment negotiations, patent applications, criminal defense in white collar crimes, and real estate.

If the characters were placed in each other’s legal fields, it’s unlikely they would be able to thrive the way that they do. Mickey wouldn’t necessarily know how to handle the legal fields in Suits, and the Suits characters aren’t the most competent when handling the few violent criminal cases they deal with.

Mickey Haller & Harvey Specter Are Exact Opposites

Since The Lincoln Lawyer and Suits are two of the most popular legal dramas, comparisons frequently pop up, asking “Which character is better, Mickey or Harvey?” However, the choice to compare the two seems misguided since these two might both be lawyers, but they’re almost nothing alike upon closer examination.

Harvey Specter and Mickey Haller are also both willing to bend the rules, but they do it for drastically different reasons. Harvey’s less-than-ethical choices benefit himself. Meanwhile, Mickey uses unethical tactics for the sake of justice, a driving force in his personal and professional life. Harvey works with corporations, while Mickey deals with individual people.

Additionally, Mickey frequently engages in morally gray situations and understands the nuances, while Harvey has a more black-and-white way of thinking when it comes to his moral values. Though money and prestige drive Harvey’s client selection, Mickey is much more willing to work with clients who can’t pay much, like Izzy and Eddie.

On a personality level, Mickey is a family man who loves deeply and expresses his emotions openly. His relationships might be complicated, but he tries hard to maintain them. Harvey doesn’t have as many emotional scenes because he’s closed off about his feelings. This changes a little bit in later seasons. However, by and large, there’s a different level of emotionality.

Ultimately, other than their willingness to bend the rules and their charming personalities, Mickey Haller and Harvey Specter are exact opposites. That doesn’t make one inherently better than the other, as viewers will have their own preferences. However, I highly doubt they would get along if put in the same show.

Suits Throws Legal Realism Out The Door While The Lincoln Lawyer Embraces It

Another reason why it baffles me that we’re still comparing Suits to The Lincoln Lawyer is the fact that they take entirely different approaches to representing real-life law.

Collider broke down the legal accuracy, and it aligns with my understanding that Suits isn’t remotely realistic. The very premise of Suits throws legal realism out the door. It’s exceedingly rare that someone will practice law without a law degree, and it’s unlikely they would be able to go so long without getting outed.

On top of that, real legal professionals wouldn’t do all of the specialties in Suits, as that would be unthinkable. They would also typically choose between litigation and transactional law. The timelines in the show are also quite unrealistic, with them being truncated for the sake of storytelling. The few courtroom scenes also have minimal basis in reality.

On the other hand, Michael Connelly’s The Lincoln Lawyer books are lauded for their legal realism, and the Netflix show gets many parts of the law and court cases right. They pay attention to detail when it comes to specific legal guidelines, such as trial in absentia and the prosecution turning over all evidence to the defense.

The timelines in the murder trials are also much more realistic, stretching out over almost a year. While California has different guidelines about the right to a speedy trial, murder cases across the US take months to years.

The Lincoln Lawyer & Suits Are Still Both Worthwhile Watches

While I don’t think they’re comparable, The Lincoln Lawyer and Suits are both shows worth watching, depending on what an audience member is looking for. The Lincoln Lawyer is more for audiences who enjoy criminal justice and courtroom dramas. Meanwhile, Suits is more catered to people who like interpersonal drama and soapy workplace TV shows.

These Venn diagrams of these categories definitely have crossover, but they aren’t a circle. As such, this breakdown of the two shows can help guide the viewing decisions for those who might have preferences in their style of legal dramas.