Suits - quick witted comedy or re-hashed legal garbage?

I must admit I was intrigued by the trailers for the pilot of 'Suits,' the characters appeared to be interesting and the dialogue fast and witty. The basic premise appears to be that a highly intelligent but under-achieving young man, Mike Ross (Patrick J.Adams) somehow finds himself in an interview for a law associate and using his superior memory skills and knowledge of the law to impress his employer, Harvery Spektor (Gabriel Macht) and talk his way into the position. The only problem is that he is not a qualified lawyer, in fact he is a college drop out! As you can imagine hyjinx immediately ensue!!

There is no question that the pilot was fast paced and entertaining. The relationship between the main characters is dynamic and is a perfect example of the mentor style relationship that many people may have experienced or wished they had in their twenties. The scenario is also appealling to a generation of people who are coming out of college and stuck working jobs that neither satisfy them nor often relate to their training. The idea of getting an oppertunity to turn everything around, get the dream job and be appreciated is the perfect escapism for the recession generation. So what's the problem, perfect show right?!

Well I've only two main problems, the first is the legal aspect of the show. The legal scene was done to death in the nineties with dozen of shows revolving around the lawyers offices and their court dates. I can honestly say that these shows also painted a vastly unrealistice view of the life of a lawyer, hinting at the long hours and piles of paper work but focusing on the court-room drama. If you were to ask a lawyer I know you would discover that the majority of time is in fact dedicated to the endless paperwork.

Which brings me to my second problem - the lack of paperwork. The first quarter of the pilot repeates ad nauseaum the fact that this enormous law firm 'only hire from Harvard,' Then we see that Harvey Spektor will lie for the young man and send him to Harvard while he works there, but Mike Ross doesn't even get into Harvard he appears to use his fast wit to sneak in somehow. All-in-all it doesn't sit right with me. I understand that this is a fantasy world in which everything is beginning to fall into place for young mister Ross but somehow this top legal firm and the admission board in one of the top schools in America will ignore the neccessary paper-work and let him in on the basis of his winning charm? It's too good to be true.

However that said the good in this show cannot be ignored. I thoroughly enjoyed the pace, humour and bare-faced cheekiness in this show and will continue to tune in, but possibly have to turn off my brain slightly, to be entertained by this witty and fantastical show. I'd recommend you try it and decide for yourself.