"Disillusioned" because he successfully defended his client? I'm no lawyer but, from the little I do understand about law (and several law professors encouraged me to pursue law, they thought I'd have been a shoe in for a shining legal career), this is silly.

"Guilt" is determined through due process. Before the judge or jury reaches a verdict, no one - not the defense, not the prosecutor, not the judge...not even the jury itself - legally "knows" if the defendant is guilty or not. And, up until the verdict is reached and delivered, the defendant is innocent.

A defense lawyer's job is not to pass judgment on a client who is still, legally, innocent; it is to test the prosecution's case and ensure the prosecution meets all the burdens of due process so that, when a verdict is reached, society can feel reasonably confident that the right verdict was reached and that innocent people are not being robbed of their rights.

If the prosecution fails to prove its case, what, do we just start locking people up anyway? No! If the prosecution fails to prove its case, free citizens are free to remain free.

So, if this character became disillusioned, it must be because he wasn't paying attention in law school.

PS. I wrote the thread title to be a tad facetious - of course, I know anyone can be disillusioned when their job challenges their moral compass. And, I never even saw the show - this was more about a much-needed legal conversation in the public arena.

[Edit]. And, it's not as though James Woods has kept his politics to himself — nope, he's very conservative. This seems like a platform for his views (you know, kinda how conservatives cry about liberals making movies that are "woke"?) Same with Bruce Willis' interpretation of Death Wish.