David E. Kelley is the illustrious creator of Boston Legal and many other distinctive and award-winning television programs, including The Practice, Chicago Hope, Ally McBeal, Boston Public, and Picket Fences. Kelley first came to prominence with the creation of the series Doogie Howser, M.D. but his credentials as a serious drama writer were solidly established with his work on the groundbreaking LA Law. So far in his career, Kelley has received 23 Emmy nominations, winning nine. He was also honored in 2001 with a Lifetime Achievement Award in Television.

Kelley's shows are famous for their quirkiness but also for their willingness to take on difficult and important issues. Since he is a former lawyer, it's no coincidence that several of Kelley's programs have been set in law offices.

Not all of Kelley's programs have been successful, as exemplified by the brief on-air lives of Snoops, Girls Club, and The Brotherhood of Poland, New Hampsire. Kelley has also tried his hand at feature films, which include Lake Placid and Mystery, Alaska.

Besides continuing to write and produce Boston Legal, Kelley has several other projects in the works. These include an American version of the British program Life on Mars (scheduled to pilot in 2007), a sitcom pilot about a sequestered jury, a police drama based on Joseph Wambaugh's novel Hollywood Station, and a feature film about Gordie Howe and the World Hockey Association. His involvement with the latter reflects his love of hockey, which he inherited from his father Jack, famous in his own right as the legendary former hockey coach at Boston University. Additionally, a Kelley-penned screenplay entitled Chasing Montana is currently in production and scheduled for a 2008 release. The film is set to feature Kelley's wife, actress Michelle Pfeiffer.

Despite originally hinting that he might not maintain an active involvement in the writing of Boston Legal, Kelley continues to be the main creative force behind most of the show's scripts and stories. Out of the first 54 episodes of the show, Kelley has writing credits on 35 of them. Nineteen of those scripts were solo efforts.