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Main Characters
Abigail "Abby" Bianchi
Abigail "Abby" Bianchi
Played By: Jewel Staite
The oldest daughter of Harry Svensson, and a former corporate lawyer. After puking on a client in court, Abigail was fired from her old job and put on probation, leaving her forced to turn to her estranged father for help. Now she works at Svensson & Sons as a family attorney.
- The Alcoholic: At the start of the series, her drinking habit has gotten so bad that her old firm fired her for puking on a client in court.
- Alpha Bitch: She has a reputation for being a colossal bitch, which was useful when she still worked in corporate law, but doesn't do her any favors when she moves to the family courts.
- Antagonistic Offspring: Her relationship with Harry is... not good, to put it mildly.
- Big Sister Instinct: Finally kicks in at the end of season 1, where she threatens to hand a lucrative case over to her old firm unless Harry gives Daniel a partnership. She's also quick to take in Lucy after the latter gets kicked out by her wife.
- Character Development: She starts the series as a washed-up, bitter drunk on probation whose only goal is surviving long enough to get back to her life of being a wine mom. Working in family law reminds her that she actually did used to care about things, and this helps her get sober, which in turn causes her to become a much better person. By the end of season 2, she's seen as a rising star again and is offered a partnership at her old firm.
- Daddy's Little Villain: At the start of the series, her reputation is that of the Svensson kid who took Daddy's lessons too far, becoming a heartless corporate lawyer. This is one of many things she has to overcome as she adjusts to the field of family law, where judges prefer data and testimony to theatrics.
- Mama Bear: Whatever her other faults, she is fiercely protective of her kids, to the point that she was banned from her son's school after threatening his bully.
- Recovered Addict: By the end of the first season, with Jerri's help, she's managed to put some sober time together.
- Token Evil Teammate: "Evil" might be an exaggeration, but she's a lot more willing to bend the rules than Daniel is.
Harry Svensson
Harry Svensson
Played By: Victor Garber
The founder of Svensson & Sons, and a high-powered family-law attorney. Also the father of Abigail, Daniel and Lucy.
- Dating Catwoman: The penultimate episode of season 1 reveals that he's been dating Crystal Steele, the firm's fire-breathing right-wing nemesis. He considers breaking it off for the sake of his kids, but then decides to keep seeing her, because despite their political differences, he enjoys her company. He does end up breaking up with her later, after she outs of one his firm's underage clients in order to boost the ratings for her show.
- Season 2 reveals that he dated Cordelia Bernstein back in college. Bernstein would end up fighting Daniel and Abigail in a few court cases.
- Everyone Has Standards: While he's made a name for himself as a ruthless, cold-blooded divorce attorney, there are still lines that he won't cross. For instance, he chastises Abigail in one case for proposing a strategy that would help their addicted client win full custody of her kids, because the first rule of family law is that the kids' needs always come first.
- In "I Now Pronoun You", he stops putting up with Crystal's right-wing antics after she outs a transgender teenager on her show.
- Honorary Uncle: He is the godfather to Jerri's oldest daughter, Christina.
- Papa Wolf: In season 2, with Abby's marriage falling apart, Harry's parental instincts kick in and he insists on trying to help her with the divorce proceedings.
- Really Gets Around: He's been married three times, cheated on all three of his wives, and has had a string of affairs since his third wife's death. Much to his kids' horror, at least one of his former flings ended up being a client of theirs afterwards, and another ended up dating Daniel.
Daniel Svensson
Daniel Svensson
Played By: Zach Smadu
The only son of Harry Svensson, and the half-brother of Abigail and Lucy. A loyal employee of Svensson & Sons, he was hoping for a promotion to partner, and is frustrated when he's instead put in charge of training his older half-sister.
- Acquired Situational Narcissism: At the opening of season 2, he finally becomes a partner, and it quickly goes to his head, to the point that he actually turns down a pro-bono case because it might make him look too desperate for a client. He undergoes another ego boost in season 3, when Harry gets suspended and he becomes the de facto senior partner for a month.
- Affectionate Nickname: Danielle called him "Pooh-bear". This also becomes Abigail's somewhat-less affectionate nickname for him, although she drops it after he breaks up with Danielle.
- Ambiguously Jewish: He doesn't talk much about his upbringing, but he was effectively raised by his Jewish neighbors, and has a Hebrew given name. "Bass Fishing" finally introduces his mother, Zina Silva, but while she acts vaguely like a stereotypical Jewish Mother, her religion is not explicitly stated.
- Green-Eyed Monster: In season 2, he gets filled with jealousy when Harry gives Abigail more responsibilities, even as she's supposedly reaching the end of her probation. And he really doesn't take it well when Harry hires Abigail to a permanent position at the firm.
- Holier Than Thou: In sharp contrast to his cynical father and big sister, and his laid-back little sister, Danny is very self-righteous and prone to only taking cases that fit his vaguely liberal worldview, even though it often means doing pro bono work. This seems to run in the family; he mentions that his mother is doing volunteer work in Guatemala.
- Hypocrite: He never tires of reminding Abigail that she has very little experience as a family lawyer and that the only reason she has her job at Svensson & Sons is because their father is the boss, all the while ignoring the fact that the only reason he has his job is because the boss is his dad.
- He constantly complains about Abby cutting corners and bending rules to win her cases, but when he finds out that his client, Sabrina Bass, has been embezzling money, he chooses to ignore it up so that she can extract a settlement from her ex-husband and thus win the case.
- Not So Above It All: He is usually utterly serious and professional, but becomes considerably less so when Craig the pug is around.
- Ridiculously High Relationship Standards: Daniel's standards for dating are that the woman has to be successful enough that he can bring her to meet his family and they'll be impressed with her, but not so successful that they'll overshadow him or be the dominant one in the relationship. He ends up rethinking this strategy after finding out that the reason his latest girlfriend gets on so well with his dad is because they're Amicable Exes; after that, he finally ends up with Martina, a chef who pushes him out of his comfort zone.
- The Unfavorite: By the end of season 2, Daniel's inflated ego, bad attitude, and seemingly pathological inability to stop talking shit about his own family/coworkers (and his failed attempt to fire Cecil) has firmly cemented him as Harry's least favorite child.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: He's been working at the family firm for seven years, desperately hoping that he'll earn his dad's approval (and a promotion to partner.)
Lucy Svensson
Dr. Lucinda "Lucy" Svensson
Played By: Genelle Williams
The younger daughter of Harry Svensson, and the half-sister of Abigail and Daniel. Unlike her siblings, she became a psychiatrist.
- Affectionate Nickname: Harry calls her "Loosie-Goosie".
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Beneath her sweet and helpful exterior, she's got a mean streak, gleefully starting a betting pool about when her brother's going to dump his girlfriend and cheating on her wife. Season 2 reveals that she also cheated on a previous girlfriend with Maggie.
- Cool Aunt: Abigail's kids adore her.
- Daddy's Girl: Oh, very much so. Harry loved her mother Monique very much and consequently has kept Lucy sheltered for much of her life, even letting her set up shop in the Svensson offices and paying her rent and utilities.
- Granola Girl: Her reputation around the office is that of a calm, kindly therapist who's always there to help.
- Hard-Drinking Party Girl: When not at work or at home, she's a fixture at the Velvet nightclub, where she likes to drink and hook up in the bathroom.
- Twofer Token Minority: She is a biracial lesbian.
Jerri Rifkin
Jerri Rifkin
Played By: Bobbi Charlton
The office manager at Svensson & Sons, and frequent confidante of Harry and his children.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: She puts up with a lot from Harry because he hired her when she was still getting clean from alcohol.
- Berserk Button: She doesn't mind if you call her a man, but do not call her a secretary. She is an office manager.
- Dark and Troubled Past: She spent years struggling with alcohol before transitioning, and it destroyed her relationship with her oldest daughter, to the point that she was forbidden from having any contact with her granddaughter for years.
- Friend to All Children: Having parented three kids with her wife, she's very good with them. Nico and Sofia immediately take to her, and she's a huge help when the team takes on the case of a transgender teenager.
- Happily Married: She and her wife Eleanor have been together for decades and raised three children together, and their marriage even survived Jerri coming out as trans.
- The Heart: Jerri is the person who keeps the firm's fragmented parts together. She's even still on good terms with Joanne, who generally wants nothing to do with anyone connected to her ex-husband.
- Honorary Aunt: She was an honorary uncle to Harry's kids when they were growing up, before she transitioned, and is still a beloved fixture in the family. She is the only person at the firm that Abigail has any fondness for at the start of the series, and plays a role in helping her get sober.
Cecil Patterson
Cecil Patterson
Played By: Brett Kelly
A paralegal at Svensson & Sons.
- Acquired Situational Narcissism: In "A River in Egypt", Winston gives him a makeover so that Abigail can use him to bait a con artist who targets rich losers. The new suit and a surprisingly-active dating profile give him a large boost in confidence and inflate his already high opinion of himself, as does Harry recruiting him to spy on his co-workers during the latter's suspension.
- Butt-Monkey: The universe seems to delight in humiliating him.
- Chick Magnet: Much to everyone's shock, a makeover and a dating profile suddenly causes him to develop an active love life.
- Fox News Liberal: He is the office's token conservative whenever the series wades into difficult politics, and is often presented as such a wimp that he won't even admit to being a conservative, even as he's frequently shown watching Crystal Steele's show during office hours.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: He's not held in much high regard among his co-workers, due to his cluelessness and frequent lack of professionalism.
- Innocently Insensitive: He has a tendency to say or do things that he probably wouldn't if he had the capacity to read the room, such as hiring a barbershop quartet to celebrate Daniel's engagement (unaware that Daniel had called it off) or opining that a lesbian who marries a woman with a child could never truly be considered the child's co-parent (in front of Lucy, whose wife had just become pregnant.)
- Oblivious to Love: In season 3, he strikes up a friendship with Roz, the cute court clerk, and she keeps inviting him out to dinner and back to her place to watch movies, but it doesn't even occur to him that she's romantically attracted to him. Fortunately Winston points it out to him just before Roz decides that she'd really like him to stay the night at her place.
- Odd Friendship: Despite his lack of professionalism, Harry is oddly fond of Cecil, giving him several special tasks and even intervening to prevent Danny from firing him in season 2.
Winston Verdad
Winston Verdad
Played By: Ryan Lino
The new receptionist in season 2.
- Contrasting Replacement Character: Where Nina was laid-back and cheerful, Winston is eager to please but also snarky. When Cecil takes credit for work that he did, he spends half the episode making Cecil's work harder until Cecil apologizes, at which point he admits that he's just so used to being unappreciated that Cecil's carelessness touched a nerve.
- Education Mama: His mother was apparently one of these; she once berated him for only getting a silver medal in a STEM competition.
- Inferiority Superiority Complex: He's highly competent and reasonably charming, but is stuck as a receptionist because of his snarky attitude, which he's admitted is a defense mechanism because he's still self-conscious about being gay in the conservative Filipino diaspora. Lucy once suggested that he's a classic case of the "best little boy", a high-performing gay man who feels that he constantly needs to rack up achievements to "offset" his sexuality.
- Sink or Swim Mentor/Tough Love: In "Arrested Development", Cecil is at risk of being fired after Jerri discovers that he never completed the exam to become a paralegal. After seeing that Cecil actually does know everything he needs for the exam but is procrastinating on actually taking it out of fear that he'll freeze up during it, Winston finally forces him to take the exam, but arranges for him to receive extended time.
- Twofer Token Minority: He is the sole Filipino and the only gay man in the main cast.
Family
Joanne Kowalski
Joanne Kowalski
Played by: Lauren Holly
Abigail's mother, and Harry's first wife.
- Affectionate Nickname: Her grandchildren call her "Jojo".
- The Alcoholic: She drinks quite a lot, to the point that Abigail learned how to make all of her favorite drinks by the time she was a teenager.
- Alcoholic Parent: Abigail inherited her love of alcohol.
- Mama Bear: While she often acts like an aloof, uncaring parent, when she finds out about Frank's infidelity, she immediately summons Harry to help her find Abby the best divorce attorney possible.
- Really Gets Around: She has a lot of dating apps on her phone, much to her daughter's mortification.
- We Used to Be Friends: She was best friends with Daniel's mother... up until she found out Harry was sleeping with her. They don't talk much after that, and she is noticeably frosty towards Daniel.
Frank Bianchi
Frank Bianchi
Played By: Luke Camilleri
Abigail's ex-husband, and frequently her opponent in court.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Throughout season 1, he plays the role of the aggrieved but understanding husband who only cheated on Abigail once out of desperation, and only took away custody of the kids so that Abigail could focus on her recovery. The first-season finale reveals that he's been cheating on her for far longer than he claimed, and in season 2, he gleefully abuses the fact that he has custody of the kids to .
- Dirty Coward: In the second-season premiere, when Abigail declines to move back in, Frank decides to let Sofia think it's because her mother had a relapse, rather than admit that it's his fault. When Abby decides that they need a divorce, Frank initially agrees to present a united front for the kids when announcing it... only to turn around and tell them that the divorce was Abby's idea so that he can look like he wanted to make things work.
- Fair-Weather Ex: In the first half of season 2, Frank tries repeatedly to get Abby to reconcile, not because he regrets cheating on her repeatedly, but because he wants their kids to see him as the "good guy" who tried to "save" their family, whereas Abby would be the "bad guy" who "abandoned" them. After Abby calls off any further marriage counseling and serves him with divorce papers, he abandons any pretense of being a nice guy, exploiting the fact that he has temporary custody of the kids to make Abby's life miserable.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Throughout the first two seasons, Frank uses the kids' welfare as an excuse to inflict increasingly draconian and humiliating restrictions on Abigail, culminating in his ordering her to undergo a comprehensive psychological evaluation. All of this ends up blowing up in his face at the end of season 2, as the final report draws a direct line between his cruel behavior towards Abigail and the worsening behavioral problems with Sofia and Nico. Consequently, the same judge who gave him custody of the kids in season 1 ends up restoring Abigail's custody and declares that he now has to share the house with her... because she decides that that is better for their kids' welfare.
- Hypocrite:
- He accuses Abigail of wrecking their family with her drinking, but the first-season finale reveals that he's been cheating on her for months, and continued cheating on her even when they briefly reconciled.
- In season 2, he forces Abby to agree not to take another boyfriend until a year after the divorce, because he's jealous that she managed to get a boyfriend after separating from him. In season 3, he suddenly agrees to drop this condition from their divorce agreement... because he's dating another woman and the kids found out.
Sofia Bianchi
Sofia Bianchi
Played By: Eden Summer Gilmore
Abby and Frank's teenage daughter.
- Antagonistic Offspring: In the first season, she is incredibly hostile towards Abby, because her mom's drunken antics ended up on YouTube. She switches targets in season 2, after finding out that her dad cheated on her mother.
- Hidden Depths: In "I Now Pronoun You", she's revealed to have an interest in makeup coordination.
- Like Mother, Like Daughter: Sofia inherited Abigail's fierce temper and judgmental tendencies. According to Joanne, she acts exactly like Abigail did when she was a teenager. On the upside, she also inherited her mom's concern for trans rights; in "I Now Pronoun You", she enlists Abigail to help her trans classmate access hormone-replacement therapy.
Nico Bianchi
Nico Bianchi
Played By: Brendan Sutherland
Abby and Frank's preteen son.
- Chekhov's Skill: His talent for forging signatures comes in handy in "Truthiness", when he forges a signature to allow the daughter of Abigail's anti-vaxxer client to get a measles vaccine without her mother's knowledge, effectively defusing an ugly custody battle that had almost turned into a kidnapping.
- The Cutie: With his little stuffed Capuchin monkey and perpetually cheery nature, he charms pretty much everybody. He ruthlessly exploits this, developing a lucrative business forging signatures for his classmates.
- Hidden Depths: He develops a knack for forging signatures, much to his parents' horror.
Maggie Roth
Maggie Roth
Played By: Ali Liebert
An EMT, and Lucy's ex-wife.
- Dark and Troubled Past: She's alluded a few times to having been in a very bad relationship before meeting Lucy.
- Wet Blanket Wife: In contrast to Lucy, who loves to go clubbing, Maggie prefers staying in and nesting. Justified in that she's an EMT and works extremely long hours, and she has to be at work early and thus can't afford to stay out all night.
Danielle Lim
Danielle Lim
Played By: Yvonne Chapman
A PR expert, and Daniel's fiancee in season 1.
- Affectionate Nickname: Daniel called her "Little Roo" when they were still dating.
- Defrosting Ice Queen: Inverted; she was sweet and lovely when she and Daniel were still together, but when he dumped her, she became all business.
Zina Silva
Zina Bayat Silva
Played By: Carmen Aguirre
Daniel's mother, and Harry's second wife. Since her divorce from Harry, she's become a lawyer in her own right, usually specializing in social-justice causes.
- Ambiguously Jewish: Much like her son, it's not entirely clear what Zina's ethnic background is. While "Zina" sounds like a stereotypical Jewish name, it's actually Arabic, while "Bayat" is usually a Turkish or Iranian name and "Silva" is Portuguese but also pops up in non-Portuguese families.
- Honorary Aunt: Before she became Harry's second wife, she was best friends with Joanne, and was "Auntie Zina" to young Abigail.
- My Greatest Failure: She deeply regrets getting romantically involved with Harry, as it ruined her friendship with Joanne, cost her a potential stepmother-stepdaughter relationship with Abby, and ultimately fell apart a few years after Daniel was born.
- We Used to Be Friends: She was best friends with Joanne until she slept with Harry and got pregnant by him.
Recurring Characters
Nina Beasley
Nina Beasley
Played By: Kelli Ogmundson
The receptionist at Svensson & Sons.
- Daddy's Girl: Oh dear lord, yes. Her dad delivers packages for the office, and frequently uses this excuse to drop in and make sure his little girl is having a good day.
- Happily Adopted: In the first-season finale, she discovers that Bryan is not her biological father, but he's still the dad who raised her and loves her.
- The Pollyanna: She is easily the most cheerful and agreeable person in the office.
- Put on a Bus: She leaves midway through the second season, deciding to celebrate her newfound wealth by taking a year off to see the world with her dad.
Crystal Steele
Crystal Steele
Played By: Lynda Boyd
A fiery right-wing pundit, and frequent antagonist towards Svensson & Sons.
- Heteronormative Crusader: She hates gay people and trans people, and has made a name for herself opposing their rights.
- Hypocrite: She rails about declining moral values, but she first crosses paths with Svensson & Sons after they take on her husband's ex-boyfriend as a client, who reveals that Crystal was part of a polyamorous arrangement. She also dated Harry Svensson, despite his adultery being well-known.
- Would Harm a Child: In "I Now Pronoun You", she resorts to outing a transgender teenager in order to score ratings, leading to the poor girl getting harassed at school.
Aiden
Aiden
Played by: Spencer Lord
A fireman, and Abby's new beau starting in season 2.
- Firemen Are Hot: Deconstructed; While Abby is definitely taken by him, and while his profession is a factor in that attraction, she struggles to find time to be with him because his job keeps him busy, and there's no privacy at his place because he lives with a bunch of other firemen.
Kelly Garcia
Dr. Kelly Garcia
Played By: Aliyah O'Brien
A therapist who befriends Lucy in season 3, and later her new love interest.
- Ambiguously Gay: She is very friendly towards Lucy, but doesn't talk much about her personal life, and thus it takes Lucy a few episodes (and some observation from Daniel) to determine if Kelly's actually interested in her or just being nice.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: She does not like how much influence Lucy's family has over her.
- I Reject Your Reality: After finding out Kelly kept her from speaking to Maggie for months, Lucy angrily kicks her out. When she comes home later, Lucy is rocked to find Kelly just sitting there reading, talking as if they just had a minor tiff and heading to a guest room, confident that she and Lucy are still together.
- Toxic Friend Influence: Over the course of season 3, she increasingly drives wedges between Lucy and her family. At first, she seems to have a point when she calls out Abby's insensitivity and Danny's self-absorption, but when she goes behind Lucy's back and blocks and deletes Maggie's number from her phone without her knowledge, it becomes clear that her intentions are not pure.
Chip Crombie
Judge Charles "Chip" Crombie
Played By: Paul McGillion
A former rival of Harry's who got promoted to the bench in season 3, and Abigail's nemesis.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: He was a mediocre lawyer before suddenly being elected to be a judge, and in season 3, he becomes a huge pain in the ass for Daniel and Abigail. Luckily for the both of them, he's ruined when a heart attack causes him to be exposed as a bigamist, causing him to be deemed unfit to continue as a family court judge.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: He's gleefully sexist and condescending, and openly abuses his power to issue unfavorable rulings to Abigail and Daniel just because Abigail refused to kiss his ass at a party.
- Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: Despite being a squat, unpleasant little man, he has two attractive wives. Simultaneously.
Phil Sterling
Phil Stirling
Played By: Peter James Bryant
Harry's longtime arch-rival, and also the closest thing he has to a best friend.
- Go-Karting with Bowser: When he and Harry aren't sparring in court, they're hitting the links or the bars together.
- Kayfabe: One episode has Harry and Phil representing a pair of moronic social-media influencers who want to negotiate a pre-nup, and they spend the whole episode adding increasingly-absurd clauses to the pre-nup, making it so complicated and nasty that the young couple decide that they don't want to do a pre-nup anymore. The end of the episode has Phil and Harry celebrating, as they've both predicted that their clients will be divorced in a year, and without a pre-nup, they're looking at a long and nasty divorce that will be extremely lucrative to both their firms.
Cordelia Bernstein
Cordelia Bernstein
Played By: BJ Harrison
A college girlfriend of Harry's who now works as a rival lawyer. She also becomes Abby's divorce lawyer in season 2.
- Brutal Honesty: As Abigail's lawyer, she does not sugar-coat how bad her divorce from Frank will get, especially with Abigail still on probation.
- The Cobbler's Children Have No Shoes: She's never had kids, despite often negotiating custody agreements.
- Dating Catwoman: She dated Harry back in college. Now she often spars in court with both him and his kids.
- The Dreaded: She's nicknamed "The Flamethrower" because anyone who faces her in court can expect to see their money burn.
Asha
Asha
Played By: Celia Reid
Lucy's mistress in season 1.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: It's unclear what's become of her since Lucy stopped seeing her.
- Woman Scorned: She decides to expose her affair with Lucy to Maggie to get back at Lucy for ghosting her.
