The Practice is an American legal drama television series created by David E. Kelley centering on partners and associates at a Boston law firm.

Helen Gamble, an assistant district attorney, becomes regularly entangled in the cases and personal lives of the employees of the firm.

In season 4, Assistant District Attorney Richard Bay, like Helen, becomes a frequent ally and opponent of Donnell, Young, Dole and Frutt.

In season 7, Lindsay leaves Donnell, Young, Dole and Frutt to start a new law firm with Claire Wyatt.

Alan and Tara are hired by another firm, Crane, Poole and Schmidt and their story is continued in Boston Legal.

Emmys went to John Larroquette, Edward Herrmann, James Whitmore, Beah Richards, Michael Emerson, Charles S. Dutton, Alfre Woodard, Sharon Stone and William Shatner.

In addition, Tony Danza, Paul Dooley, Henry Winkler, Marlee Matlin, René Auberjonois and Betty White were nominated but did not win.

By the end of the seventh season, faced with sagging ratings, ABC conditioned the show's renewal on a drastic budget reduction.

As a result, Dylan McDermott, Kelli Williams, Lara Flynn Boyle, Chyler Leigh, Marla Sokoloff, and LisaGay Hamilton were fired as regulars.

Instead, Kelley would create a new spin-off series called Boston Legal which starred Spader, Mitra, Lake Bell, William Shatner[2] and Candice Bergen.

[6] In 2012, Medium Rare Entertainment acquired the rights to the series in Region 2 and released the first and second seasons on DVD in the United Kingdom on February 27, 2012.

The exposure from its January 30, 2000, post-Super Bowl episode (attracting 23.8 million viewers) plus their weekly lead-in from early 2000 to mid-2001, the then mega-hit Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, helped the series reach its ratings peak.