Lawyers + Reality TV = Great Match!

Do lawyers make particularly good reality-show contestants? (Corollary question: can you make a good reality show about lawyers? Answer: do you remember David E. Kelley’s The Law Firm? Didn’t think so.)

Perhaps the stereotypical lawyer skill set — analysis, negotiation, perfectionism, competitiveness — is the right recipe for game-show success. On the other hand, like other desk drones, lawyers aren’t always models of physical strength and fitness. With that to think about, consider three recent examples:

1. Attorney Craig R., was recently eliminated after 6th Rose Ceremony on this season’s the Bachelorette after vigorously fighting for Ali’s heart. Unfortunately his witty humor and upbeat conversations with her were not enough to out-duel “romantic” Roberto or Frank. More importantly, he did give many lawyers out there searching for love the glimpse of hope.
2. Attorney siblings Victor and Tammy Jih recently won this season’s (fourteenth!) installment of The Amazing Race on CBS. Victor Jih is a partner at O’Melveny & Myers, while Tammy Jih is a Quinn Emmanuel associate. The duo outlasted ten other teams to take the big prize.
3. Over in the cable realm, Chicago immigration attorney Carolyn Yamazaki (firm bio; show bio) can currently be found on Discovery’s Out of the Wild: The Alaska Experiment. She will be helping us figure out whether associate life is tougher than being dropped into the Alaskan wilderness with eight near-strangers and no food and told to hike your way out. I vote associate life is worse.