I was actually hoping that the 'telling Mr Mckabe to run' thing would come and bite Alan a lot later than that but oh well they handled the story quite admirably. This was a moderately good episode, it showed that Denny can still be surprising on the courtroom floor, and put Alan in the shows of a defendant which disarmed him more than I expected. I hope that D.A. doesn't disappear I think he is quite a good adversary for Alan. That judge is getting to be a little overused, but I think he's still good for a little more shtick.
The Edwin Poole and Shirley Schmidt story line was very very good, although I hope this isn't the last we see of Poole for a while it's good to bring him around more often, his name is on the door after all and he makes Denny look a lot less mad-cowish. KI like the thought of court cases lasting more than one episode like Shirley's case against the sugar manufacturer will since it makes the show seem a lot more realistic and sometimes these big cases need more than just a portion of an episode, also I want to see Shirley spar more with that horrid woman with the eyebrows, that's entertainment.

Note: Don't forget to watch next week everyone Parker Posey Guest stars, I'm SO excited, she's just hilarious.