Claim: Alfre Woodard has yet to act on television.

The Practice is an American legal drama created by David E. Kelley centering on the partners and associates at a Boston law firm . Running for eight seasons on ABC from 1997 to 2004 , the show won the Emmy in 1998 and 1999 for Best Drama Series , and spawned the spin-off series Boston Legal , which ran for five more seasons , from 2004 to 2008 .   The Practice focused on the law firm of Robert Donnell and Associates -LRB- later becoming Donnell , Young , Dole , & Frutt , and ultimately Young , Frutt , & Berluti -RRB- . Plots typically featured the firm 's involvement in various high-profile criminal and civil cases that often mirror current events . Conflict between legal ethics and personal morality was a recurring theme . Some episodes contained light comedy . Kelley claimed that he conceived the show as something of a rebuttal to L.A. Law -LRB- for which he wrote -RRB- and its romanticized treatment of the American legal system and legal proceedings .