These days, it is practically impossible to turn on the television without immediately seeing some show involving scenes in the courtroom. So, how realistic are the television shows compared to real life courtroom situations?

To say the courtroom dramas are a popular subject on television would be a minor understatement. From shows like CSI to Law & Order to whatever happens to draw your attention, the ratings do not lie. Millions upon millions of people watch the shows. In truth, I often watch them. They're pretty dramatic, but are they a realistic representation of what goes on in a courtroom?

The simple answer to the question is yes and no. Are their dramatic moments that occur during a trial regardless of whether it is civil litigation or criminal? Absolutely. Just like you see on television, witnesses are caught in lies and rather stirring arguments are made by legal counsel for both sides. This is particularly true in criminal cases where the subject matter of the trial is usually fairly dramatic. Just about everything involved in a murder trial is going to carry a certain amount of drama and tension.

On the other hand, civil litigation tend to quite a bit less dramatic. By their nature, many of these trials involve some sort of business dispute. In such a situation, there can be long periods of boredom in the courtroom because the introduction of evidence can be a pretty dry process. For instance, assume I am suing a insurance company for failing to honor one of my claims. At the trial, my attorney will have to introduce many of the documents that the insurance company maintained regarding my account. As you might imagine, this can account for literally thousands of documents. Since each document has to be authenticated before the court will accept it as evidence, we are talking about a long time been undertaken to introduce this evidence. Your heart can literally come close to shutting down.

A second area where civil litigation is often not like what you see on television is in the arena of the subject matter of the trial. On television, the act that is at the heart of the trial is always something very dramatic. This is not always the case in civil litigation. For instance, let's assume that I buy a home in a new development, and believe the construction is defective. This type of trial is called construction defect litigation. In construction defect litigation, most of my neighbors will also be plaintiffs in the lawsuit. If there are over 100 homes in the development, the trial can take as long as six to nine months. Can you imagine sitting for six to nine months while lawyers argue over whether some form of construction is defective or not? It is not exactly riveting stuff. From a lawyer’s perspective, half the battle in winning such a case is getting the jury to pay attention! Simply put, it is not the stuff of which television shows are made.

So, are the television courtroom dramas accurate? For criminal trials, they can be quite accurate. For civil litigation, however, they are certainly more dramatic than the real thing.

Gerard Simington is with FindAnAttorneyForMe.com - an online attorney directory with free legal information.