Adapted from the play by Elmer Rice, Counsellor at Law was one of Wyler's first important films.

“As the self-made lawyer driven almost to suicide by his unfaithful wife and saved only by the devotion of his secretary (Bebe Daniels), John Barrymore gives one of his most clear-headed performances. The single-set location of the play was an almost insurmountable barrier to real cinematic movement, but Wyler, by expanding the sets from one office to three and varying the action between them, managed to instill some flexibility into the static situations. Dated today in its dialogue, Counsellor at Law remains refreshingly clear in characterisation and agreeably well acted by a cast of seasoned professionals.”