Court of Last Resort Created by author/attorney Erle Stanley Gardner, this series dramatized real cases in an effort to help people wrongly accused of committing crimes. Each case was investigated by a committee of crime experts.

Divorce Court As a precursor to reality television shows like The People's Court, this series, which started in 1958, featured courtroom sessions of divorce proceedings. With actor Voltaire Perkins sitting as the "Judge" and Colin Male quietly narrating the scene, real attorneys tried cases with actors filling in as litigants.

Perry Mason This popular show, which ran on CBS from 1957 to 1966, was based upon a series of novels by lawyer Erle Stanley Gardner. Attorney Perry Mason, portrayed by actor Raymond Burr, became known as a lawyer who never lost a case. In each episode Mason usually represented a defendant wrongly accused of murder. At the end of each show, the identity of the true killer was revealed at the last minute thus clearing Mason's client of the crime. Other actors in the cast included Barbara Hale who played the part of Mason's secretary Della Street, Paul Hopper as detective William Drake and William Talman as District Attorney Hamilton Burger.

The Verdict is Yours Hosted by Jim McKay who later went on to be the host of ABC's Wide World of Sports, this show dramatized actual cases tried by real attorneys and a presiding judge with the studio audience sitting in as the jury.

Other legal shows from this period include:

• Accused (1958-1959) [IMDb]
• Traffic Court (1958-1959) [IMDb]