Bobby Donnell is a fictional character

Fictional character

A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...

, a self-made lawyer and head of a law firm on the former ABC

American Broadcasting Company

The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...

 TV drama, The Practice

The Practice

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 from 1997 to 2004, the show won the Emmy in 1998 and 1999 for Best Drama Series, and spawned the successful and lighter spin-off series Boston...

(1997-2004), set in Boston, Massachusetts. Donnell was played by Dylan McDermott

Dylan McDermott

Mark Anthony McDermott , better known by his professional name of Dylan McDermott, is an American actor, known for his role as lawyer and law firm head Bobby Donnell on the television legal drama The Practice and his role in the series Dark Blue as Lt. Carter Shaw. McDermott currently stars in FX...

.

Early Life and Practice

His father, Stephen Donnell, was a janitor in a corporate law firm. Bobby's relationship with his father is mentioned throughout the early seasons of the show to imply, in various ways, the reason why he is opposed to the firm's expansion. Seeing the way the "blue chip" lawyers treated his father was a motivation to be a lawyer. Bobby was raised in a Roman Catholic household and remained a devoted - if often conflicted - Catholic throughout the series. His parish priest would be a lifelong friend and counselor for him, especially in the days following the death of his mother, something that affected Bobby deeply. Donnell obtained his J.D.

Juris Doctor

Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...

from Suffolk University. Growing up, Bobby also met and befriended Jimmy Berlutti.

Personal life

Bobby was secretly involved with his colleague Lindsay, but ended this affair in order to be with DA Helen Gamble, with whom he had had a love/hate relationship. This soon fizzled out, however, and he eventually got back together with Lindsay, whom he later married and had a son with. He also briefly dated Ally Mcbeal, who appeared in a crossover episode from the show named for her-even though The Practice and Ally Mcbeal appeared on different networks, both shows were produced by David E. Kelly and both were set in Boston.

Around the time Lindsay became pregnant, a psychopathic pseudo-serial killer named William Hinks began threatening her. Bobby arranged for one of his former clients to intimidate Hinks in the hopes of scaring him away from Linsday, but instead, the client ended up cutting off Hinks's head and placing it in the freezer, an apparent homage to Hinks's brutal reign of criminal terror. Upon discovery of the crime, Bobby was arrested as a co-conspirator in the murder.

Bobby and Lindsay's child was named Bobby, Jr.; he was last mentioned by Lindsay, who said she would retain custody of him after they divorced.