The final season is quite good

It's a shame that the audience never returned, because the final season - while not as good as the first five - is certainly better and more consistent than seasons 6 and 7.

The good:

- A renewed focus on legal cases, rather than silly plots like Douglas getting stuck in a giant dryer.
- No more Roxanne, save for one guest appearance (her character was really out of gas)
- Debi Mazar as Denise, a breath of fresh air
- Steven Eckholdt as shady new lawyer Patrick Flanagan (he clearly would have been a major player had the show returned for a ninth season).
- A renewed focus on inter-office politics (Jonathan essentially holds a gun to Leland's head in order to be made partner; Daniel suddenly quits and is never seen again after his partners go against his wishes and hire Flanagan).
- No more Melina Paros, the worst regular character ever.

The not-so-good:
- Too many partners and not enough associates. By the last season, there were only two associates (including Jonathan, who should have been partner already). Everyone else was a partner, and that upset the balance of the show a bit.
- Jane Halliday, the Christian lawyer. Nice try at a different kind of character, but Alexandra Powers' spacy, chilly performance didn't really connect.
- Not enough female lawyers. I really missed the type of mentoring relationship between Ann and Abby. Ann and Jane had very few scenes together, and Ann was never especially warm toward Jane.
- Too much Benny (and his friend Dominick). He was another character who was played out, and should have been reduced to recurring.
- Too few multi-part cases. Rarely during this season did they even have to start with a "Previously on L.A. Law" recap. I always liked the semi-continuing aspect of the show.

Despite the shortcomings, season eight was a good way to wrap up the series.