Characters / Law & Order

The following lists all characters, major and minor, of the "mothership" Law & Order series.

Police

Max Greevey

Sergeant Max Greevey

Appearances: Law & Order

Played By: George Dzundza (Season 1)

"Seventeen-year-olds shouldn't be doing the thing that makes babies."

• Big Fun: Is noticeably larger than most characters, but is still a likeable guy.
• Character Death: After Dzundza decided not to come back for the second season, Greevey was shot by a bad guy seeking to prevent him from testifying in a corruption case.
• Cigar Chomper: Often seen with a stogie in the corner of his mouth, but it's never lit.
• Deadpan Snarker
• Dropped a Bridge on Him: Got shot in the first episode of Season Two.
• Happily Married: One of the few main characters who has a stable and loving marriage. This makes his sudden death with his wife watching all the more difficult to deal with.
• Moral Guardian: He’s very judgmental about anything that doesn't fit his conservative worldview. He once asked to be taken off of a case because he didn’t approve of the victim’s sex life, and he was very uncomfortable handling a case that revolved around an abortion clinic bombing.
• Noble Bigot with a Badge: His blunt and casual racism - he refers to a doctor from the Indian subcontinent as "Gunga Din" in private conversation with the other cops - is striking, but it doesn't affect our perception of him as an unambiguous good guy.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: He appeared in only one season of the show, which considering its length is absolutely nothing.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: He hates walkup apartment buildings and "media cases".

Mike Logan

Detective Mike Logan

Appearances: Law & Order | Exiled: A Law & Order Movie | Law & Order: Criminal Intent

Other Appearances: Homicide: Life on the Street

Played By: Chris Noth (Seasons 1-5)

Secretary: Are you in charge of this ape?

Max Greevey: My cross to bear.

"She was a bottomless pit. Always 'give me your undivided attention'. And when my old man couldn't take it anymore and whacked her, she'd turn around and whack me. She got this look in her eye- I knew it was coming. And that cold witch in there... she's got that same look."

• Abusive Parents: His dad hit his mom. His mom got drunk and hit him.
• Alcoholic Parent: His Lady Drunk mother.
• Beleaguered Childhood Friend: A posthumous example. The case that uncovered his Rape as Backstory past kicks off with the death of a policeman who was Logan's friend when they were young.
• Breakout Character: Most people with an opinion say it's not Law & Order without Lennie Briscoe, but there's a good number who don't think it's Law & Order without Lennie Briscoe or Mike Logan.
• Catchphrase: "(Criminal commits some crime and then does something mundane or fun?)... Now THAT is cold."
• Cowboy Cop: Not so much a cowboy as he is a hothead, but the practical outcome can be pretty similar.
• Deadpan Snarker: Consistently. His partnership with Briscoe was a war of one-liners.
• Doom Magnet: His partners sure do get shot a lot.
• Fatal Flaw: Mike has a very short temper, which is what finally causes his undoing.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: He's very volatile and quick to anger which has hurt his career quite a few times.
• Hollywood Atheist: Due to his abusive childhood at the hands of religious individuals. Logan has no faith in the Catholic church as an institution, but his thoughts on God are a bit less clear. This thread is tugged again in the Criminal Intent series with a somewhat open resolution. He does make it inside a church again before death.
• Hot-Blooded: He's the first through the door when it's kicked down and the most likely to put his hands on a suspect.
• It's Personal: After Max is killed, which is ironic given the bad blood between the two actors.
• Mr. Fanservice: He's played by Chris "Mr. Big" Noth.
• Noble Bigot with a Badge: During his time on the show, he makes comments that could variously be described as sexist, xenophobic, Islamophobic, and homophobic (although he seems to more or less get over that one in his final episode). He seems to be a misanthropist above all else and does show legitimate remorse when he sees how the black (and offensive) humour common in the force is taken by outsiders.
• Put on a Bus: After punching out a homophobic city councilman (and probable murderer) for claiming a "Not So Different" Remark, he was exiled to Staten Island. The Made-for-TV Movie Exile: A Law & Order Movie brought him back five years later, and he eventually returns as part of the Law & Order: Criminal Intent cast.
• Quip to Black: His designated job before passing the baton to Briscoe.
• Rape as Backstory: He may have been molested by a Catholic priest (he says only that the priest "put the moves on" him, leaving it unclear whether it was merely an attempt or he actually succeeded), alongside other kids. A friend (who was a victim as well) also eventually tried to bribe him with baseball tickets to be molested by the same priest.
• Really Gets Around: Mike has a lot of ex-girlfriends, given the number of references he makes to them and Briscoe's comments about his love life.
• Reassigned to Antarctica: After publicly punching a homophobic politician, who got off a murder charge on a technicality, Logan is sent to Staten Island on the Domestic Disputes Department, a severe demotion for such a talented detective. The only reason he wasn't fired outright was because the politician in question was such a creep.
  • Eventually subverted when Captain Deakins of Law & Order: Criminal Intent finally manages to get him reinstated as a detective in his unit.
• Transplant: From the original series to Law & Order: Criminal Intent.
• Urban Legend Love Life: Despite his promiscuity being mentioned repeatedly, only two of his love interests have ever been shown on-screen.

Donald Cragen

Captain Donald Cragen

Appearances: Law & Order | Exiled: A Law & Order Movie | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Played By: Dann Florek (Seasons 1-3)

The entire city is enraged at the deaths of people who, normally, they wouldn't have time of day for.

• The Alcoholic: Part of his backstory. He finally got off the sauce when he came out of a blackout in the middle of Lexington Avenue pointing his gun at a cabbie "because I didn't like the way he was honking his horn".
• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: His departure wasn't explained until the episode "Bad Faith" three years later, which revealed that he was heading up the Anti-Corruption Task Force.
• Clear My Name: In "Blue Wall," in which he is suspected of corruption due to guilt by association.
• Da Chief: First head of the 27th in the series. He's hard-nosed and stern with his detectives, but he gives them room to run with their hunches when they seem plausible.
• Deadpan Snarker: Merciless. Don't ask him about verbal altercations.
• Happily Married: To his wife, Marge, in the original series. She dies offscreen sometime between his departure from the mothership and the premiere of SVU.
• No Indoor Voice: Considering the rate of turnover, can you blame him?
• Team Dad: Averted. He takes on this role in SVU.
  • He has his moments with Logan.
• Transplant: From the original series to Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With Greevey, since they used to be partners before Cragen got promoted. They'll argue, particularly when Greevey's morals conflict with the case, but in the end they're still friends.

Phil Cerreta

Sergeant Phil Cerreta

Appearances: Law & Order

Played By: Paul Sorvino (Season 2, eight episodes of Season 3)

Dubbed By: Roger Carel (European French)

Thirty years... charmed life... I never even... fired....

• Big Eater: In the second season episode "Star Struck", when Cragen orders Logan and Cerreta to knock on doors to find who attempted to murder a soap opera actress, Cerreta insists they have some pasta first before knocking on doors.
• By-the-Book Cop: Never uses any form of trickery, and is always polite to even the worst of suspects, but is still a very effective detective.
• Cool Old Guy: Same deal as Max.
• Family Man: One of the few L&O franchise characters to boast a relatively functional home life, he's dedicated to his wife and five children. With young victims in particular, Cerreta can be downright fatherly.
• Put on a Bus: Shot by a gun dealer in "Prince Of Darkness", Cerreta accepted a desk job afterwards.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: For Max Greevey. They look so similar a casual viewer might not figure it out. Except that only one of them dies for real. Both of them are rather large men. According to Jerry Orbach, while he was filming one of his first episodes on the streets of New York City, a kid said to him, "You're the new fat guy, right?"
• We Hardly Knew Ye: One season and eight episodes. Replaced with Lennie Briscoe, the man who became the face of the franchise, so most people don't even remember Phil, even though he was on for longer than Greevey.

Lennie Briscoe

Detective Lennie Briscoe

Appearances: Law & Order | Exiled: A Law & Order Movie | Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Law & Order: Trial by Jury

Other Appearances: Homicide: Life on the Street

Played By: Jerry Orbach (thirteen episodes of Season 3, Season 4-14)

If I was kidding I'd be wearing a Fez and no pants.

• The Alcoholic: A major part of his backstory as well as a plot point in one episode. When introduced, he's sober. In "Aftershock," he falls off the wagon, which starts the chain of events that leads to Claire's death. He starts going back to AA after the events of that episode.
• The Atoner: To his children. Not surprising, as he was raised Catholic.
• Berserk Button: As a father himself, one good way to get on his bad side is to put harm towards children. In Precious, once a father admit to burying his infant's corpse by the Hudson River, after recovering the body, Lennie can only look away in disgust towards the father.
• Big Eater: Lennie will take absolutely any opportunity to eat while on the job, a habit pointed out by his co-workers.
• Breakout Character: There is a large group of people who think it's not Law & Order if it doesn't have Lennie Briscoe. He was the face of the show along with Jack McCoy.
• The Character Died with Him: Not apparent immediately, but Logan, Green, and Curtis all make comments about Lennie's death in later years. It's strongly implied that the character's in-series death was right around the same time that Orbach died in real life.
• Contrasting Replacement Character: He's notably different from his predecessors. Where they were both fairly reasonable, well-adjusted family men, Briscoe is a snarky, cynical recovering alcoholic with two failed marriages behind him.
• Cool Old Guy: Lennie Briscoe was the defining example on 1990s television.
• Deadpan Snarker: Lennie made the Quip to Black trope. One series of adverts for the show were titled Briscoe's Best.
• Disappeared Dad: Because of his drinking and divorce, he wasn't the best father, and his present day relationships with his daughters are strained at best. He blames himself for the death of his younger daughter Cathy, believing that if they'd had a better relationship she wouldn't have started dealing drugs and subsequently been killed by her former dealer.
• Dirty Cop: There are hints of this in his past, when he was a drinker. In the present, it's a role he plays to the hilt to get snitches to trust him, but the audience never sees anything but decency from him. However, his knowledge of the dirty cop play book often gives him the inside track on cases.
  • Generally, if a defense attorney wants to make Briscoe look bad on the stand, they'll imply he's this, to varying degrees of success.
• Evil Lawyer Joke: Briscoe was an absolute master of these.
  Defense Attorney: Why whack Jensen [a defense attorney], why not the D.A.?
  Briscoe: You kill the D.A., somebody might actually care.
• Fatal Flaw: Briscoe had drinking problems.
• Honorary Uncle: to Detective Curtis’ daughters, so much so, they refer to him as Uncle Lennie. Upon Curtis’ sudden retirement, Briscoe reassures him that he will stop by to see the girls.
• Iconic Sequel Character: One of the most synonymous characters with the show, but doesn't make an appearance until the third season.
• Informed Judaism: Justified, as in "Blood Libel" he confirms that while his father was Jewish, his mother wasn't, and he was raised Catholic.
• Innocently Insensitive: He didn't mean any harm, but he didn't take Rey being sexually harassed by his female boss very seriously.
  Rey: It's why I transferred here.
  Lennie: So, can I transfer there?
• Intergenerational Friendship: He's considerably older than all three of his partners but gets along great with them all the same, especially Rey with whom he shares a paternal bond.
• It's Personal: When an old friend of his in "Corruption" turns out to be a Dirty Cop and swiftly throws Briscoe under the bus to try to save his own ass, Lennie loses all patience with the debacle to get out of the firing line. Said old friend is Driven to Suicide once Lennie flips the script on him to avoid jail time and being forced to testify against a cartel drug dealer the cop had taken a deal from.
• Jewish Smartass: Downplayed since he's only half-Jewish (on his father's side) and was raised Catholic, but still applicable.
• Known Only by Their Nickname Lennie's full name isn't seen or spoken until his final episode: it's Leonard J. Briscoe.
  • The nameplate on his desk, however, read Leonard W. Briscoe.
• Noble Bigot with a Badge: It's downplayed in later episodes, but his first appearance has him make some pretty xenophobic remarks about Italians and Latinos. He also made some pretty harsh comments about Muslims and Arabs in an episode released shortly after 9/11.
• Papa Wolf: Although he doesn't get along well with his daughters, he loves them both dearly and is devastated when one of his daughters is murdered near the end of the eighth season. Then, he's offered a chance to put a hit on his daughter's killer. His daughter's killer later turns up dead, allegedly from a heroin overdose; whether or not Lennie was involved is left ambiguous.
• Parental Neglect: Unfortunately, he was this to his daughters due to his alcoholism; his present-day relationships with them are strained as a result, and he deeply regrets it.
• Parents as People: His alcoholism made him a less-than-stellar father, and while he deeply regrets his actions, his daughters don't have much contact with him and he recognizes that there isn't much he can do to atone.
  • Despite being a police officer, he's shown to be tempted when a criminal offers to put a hit out on his daughter's killer in exchange for leniency on the charges he's facing. While his daughter's killer does turn up dead in the next season, the audience never finds out whether or not Lennie was involved.
• Quip to Black: The Trope Codifier.
• Really Gets Around: In the first crossover episode with Homicide: Life on the Street, we find out Briscoe had a brief affair with Munch's first ex-wife. In the second crossover episode, when Briscoe identifies Munch as the one whose ex-wife he slept with, Van Buren quips he's going to have to be more specific than that.
• Revolvers Are Just Better: Lennie predates the regular issuing of automatics, so he keeps his .38 to the day he leaves the show.
• Sherlock Scan: When he first shows up at a crime scene, he immediately and correctly deduces that the uniformed officer on the scene was lying about what he was doing and where he was, and identifies both: eating donuts at a particular shop, based on the powdered sugar on his blues.
• Transplant: Orbach left the show to do Trial By Jury, because his prostate cancer was getting worse and Trial By Jury, being a Law Procedural, made his work less demanding. Unfortunately, Orbach succumbed to his cancer, which had made him so weak that they had to re-write his last scene in the series to accommodate him.
• Tranquil Fury: There are a few times when Lennie was extremely angry. Most notably in Precious, he learns from the father himself that he and his wife killed their newborn infant and played it off as a missing baby. As soon as he reveals the body's location inside a cooler, all Lennie can do is walk passed the father, gives him the definition of "If looks could kill" stare at him and walks away.
• UST: Frequently flirts with Dr. Rogers, though it's hard to say what he actually feels. But he did take her to the opera once, according to her.
• Weaksauce Weakness: He can't run very fast. Whenever a suspect attempts to run away, they will either be caught by Lennie's younger partner, or manage to escape.

Anita Van Buren

Lieutenant Anita Van Buren

Appearances: Law & Order | Exiled: A Law & Order Movie | Law & Order: Trial by Jury

Played By: S. Epatha Merkerson (Seasons 4-20)

Oh, am I sitting too close? What, I remind you of somebody? Your mother? Was she dark-skinned? High yellow? Redbone? You're scared now, aren't you? You been scared for almost 40 years.

---

• Black Boss Lady: Black, the boss, a lady. What more can be said?
• By-the-Book Cop:
  • Demands that her detectives toe the line, and when they engage in unethical or illegal conduct (such as when Briscoe perjured himself to try and convict a cop-killer) she will chew them out for it.
  • She furiously tells Curtis off when Curtis lets a father slap his son in the interrogation room, saying that in her house no one lays a hand on a suspect. When Curtis balks, she sharply tells him if he doesn't like it he can transfer out.
• Da Chief: Second head of the house, from Cragen's departure to the very last episode.
• Don't You Dare Pity Me!: God help you if you try to baby her, she will not stand for it.
• Do Wrong, Right: When Lupo and Bernard are involved in the shooting of a suspect, Van Buren remarks that one of them killed the man... and the other needs to hit the target range.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: Van Buren finishes out the series engaged to her new boyfriend, and after a grueling battle with cancer, the final moments of the entire series are her receiving a phone call that she's in the clear.
• A Mother to Her Men: She tried several times unsuccessfully to have Logan transferred back to her unit, after he was exiled to Staten Island. And once the internal politics around her denied promotion come into play she does everything she can to protect her detectives from the brunt of it.
• Good Cop/Bad Cop: As a Reasonable Authority Figure, Van Buren will sometimes step in and play Good Cop in contrast to her own detectives' Bad Cop. Some suspects might wish they'd stuck with the Bad Cops, though, as Van Buren can be a chillingly effective interrogator without ever raising her voice. In one episode she has a very sweet, kind chat with a suspect about their children — and without even bringing up the crime at all, manipulates the suspect (a mother who had killed her own son) into spontaneously breaking down and giving a full confession.
• Heroic BSoD: Goes through one in "Myth of Fingerprints" when it comes out the case she closed that got her promoted to Detective (and made her career) was tainted by a fingerprint analyst who was falsifying her results to assure convictions. She gets a pep talk from Lennie that she's more than earned her gold shield and that one case isn't going to undo everything.
• Hero with Bad Publicity: See Limited Advancement Opportunities, below. However, this is touchingly averted in the series finale when her detectives hold a fundraiser to assist with Van Buren's medical bills. The chief of police himself shows up with checks from various higher-ups, including the mayor of New York, telling Van Buren she's made a lot of friends in the city.
• Iconic Sequel Character: One of the most synonymous characters with the show, but doesn't make an appearance until the fourth season.
• Limited Advancement Opportunities: She applied to be Captain at one point, but a white woman with less seniority was promoted instead. She then sued the NYPD, which resulted in internal police politics coming into play making things harder for her and her unit, to the point where she was told by her superior she would have to resign to get her detectives the resources they needed; a judge later dismissed her lawsuit, and she never received a promotion in all of her time on the show.
• Never Mess with Granny: You will regret it. Granny has a force of personality and intensity that are enough to make you cower in fear, and she carries a gun.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Especially when she first appeared. She replaced Captain Cragen, who continually harped to his subordinates of what can't be done, she focused on directing her troops on what can be done.
• The Stoic: She remains an Iron Lady on top of her precinct even when battling cancer and the attendant medical bills.
• Suddenly Always Knew That: Van Buren used to work vice, so when they need to find a suspect who's working as a truck stop prostitute, she effortlessly directs Lupo through his cover as a gay trucker soliciting the guy for sex. Both Bernard and Lupo are hilariously taken aback by her expertise.
• Tranquil Fury: After Cutter ambushes her on the witness stand with invasive questions about her personal medical history. Van Buren's voice barely rises above its normal volume, but her anger is nuclear when she calls Cutter out afterwards.
• Twofer Token Minority: Her original role on the show could easily be seen this way. Indeed, Merkerson has often noted that at the time she was hired, no black woman in the NYPD had yet risen to the rank of Lieutenant.

Rey Curtis

Detective Rey Curtis

Appearances: Law & Order

Other Appearances: Homicide: Life on the Street

Played By: Benjamin Bratt (Seasons 6-9)

Rey Curtis: No, what you've got is a lot of nerve, Lennie, making it sound like I agree with you, partner.
Lennie Briscoe: It never occurred to me that you wouldn't, partner. What, you wanna see this scum bounce?
Rey Curtis: I wanna see him strapped down with a needle in his arm but I'm not gonna perjure myself to make it happen!

• The Atoner: After cheating on his wife, he does everything he can to salvage their marriage. More generally, he's a faithful Catholic who plays by the rules and the least cynical of all the detectives to appear on the show.
• Back for the Finale: Well, the final season, anyway. He returns to New York for his wife's funeral, which Van Buren attends, and they have a brief but touching scene together, in which Curtis informs Van Buren that he had actually spoken to Briscoe before he died, and that Briscoe was "still his old wisecracking self up until the end."
• Berserk Button: Encountering racism really pissed him off. One of his first appearances had him pull his gun on someone for calling him a "spic" and he was clearly angry in "Charm City" when a sleazy defense attorney tried to undermine his credibility by bringing up his race
• Bilingual Bonus: His ethnicity and fluent Spanish enabled him to develop a rapport with witnesses and victims, garnering necessary information the detectives might otherwise not have gotten.
• By-the-Book Cop: In his methods, yes, to the point of exasperating others.
• Character Development: He starts off quite judgmental, aloof and self-righteous, which creates tension with the more laid-back Briscoe. A few years on the job (and a slip in his morality after he has a brief affair), he's more relaxed about things and has a better working relationship with Briscoe.
• Chick Magnet: While Mike Logan's success with the ladies was more of an Informed Ability, our boy Rey is quite popular with the females. Examples include Jamie from S6s "Aftershock", Lisa from the S7s LA trilogy, his female boss at OCCB who sexually harassed him, and about 80% of the women that are witness, suspects, friends of witnesses and suspects, and plain old friends who help out on cases.
• Contrasting Replacement Character: Like his predecessor Logan, he's young, good-looking, Catholic—and that's where the similarities end. Logan was lapsed to the point of being disdainful of his religion and a womanizer, whereas Curtis is both devout and Happily Married. In addition, while Logan would often frequently bend, and sometimes even break rules to catch a suspect, Curtis did his job strictly by-the-book, at one point actually ferociously reaming out Briscoe for perjuring himself to try to convict a cop-killer.
• Even the Guys Want Him: Not just women are attracted to him. During a Crossover with Homicide: Life on the Street, Detective Rene Shepard makes a man as gay because he was checking Curtis out rather than her. In another episode, a male suspect comes on to him pretty strongly (though the man is a Depraved Bisexual who comes on to Jamie just as strongly a few minutes later).
• Expository Hairstyle Change: He decides to cut his hair later in the series; symbolizing his more relaxed personality.
• Fair Cop: Considering that Bratt was cast to replace Noth, this was guaranteed.
• Fatal Flaw: Curtis couldn't curb his infidelity.
• The Fundamentalist: One of his worst qualities. It's clear that he prefers humans over animals, such as in "Corpus Delecti" when overseeing a case about a murdered horse, he kept calling it a nothing case. He also coldly told Van Buren during a case of destroyed eggs at a fertility clinic in "Scrambled" when she was empathetically discussing her sister's difficulty getting pregnant that perhaps she wasn't meant for children.
• Happily Married: His wife considers divorce after his affair, but they stay together. When Bratt decided to leave the show, Curtis stepped down to a desk job so he could spend more time with his wife (who had recently been diagnosed with MS).
• Iconic Sequel Character: One of the most fondly remembered characters in the show, but doesn't make an appearance until the sixth season.
• Inspector Javert: He has an initially unyielding black-and-white view of crime and criminals, but this softens slightly over time.
• Mr. Fanservice: Oh, yeah. The show was always quick to call attention to his good looks and a whole scene during his and Lennie's trip to LA has Rey in just a vest to show off his impressive physique.
• Rabid Cop: His early appearances had him as this. He once pulled his service pistol on a biker because the guy referred to Curtis as a spic (which is offensive to be certain, but not worth pulling a gun over). Thanks to Briscoe and Van Buren's influence he mellowed out pretty quick.

Ed Green

Detective Ed Green

Appearances: Law & Order | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Law & Order: Trial by Jury

Other Appearances: Andy Barker PI

Played By: Jesse L. Martin (Seasons 10-18)

Defense Attorney: Detective! Put a leash on your partner!

Lennie Briscoe: We gave up, he chewed through all of ours.

• The Atoner: He taught his girlfriend how to gamble, and it ruined her life.
• Badass in a Nice Suit / Sharp-Dressed Man: He's one of the more sharply dressed detectives on the show. His off-duty wear is pretty stylish, too.
• Brutal Honesty: He's very blunt with both suspects and his colleagues, part of what makes him a good complement to Briscoe.
• Character Development: From a rash, short-tempered Cowboy Cop to mature, wise mentor to his younger partners.
• Cowboy Cop: Van Buren notes he already has some discipline issues for excessive force, and early on he tends to be much more physical with suspects than absolutely necessary.
• Cunning Linguist: Speaks fluent Spanish, as well as a decent amount of French and some Russian "enough to get a date".
• Fair Cop: Green earns a fair number of points for supplying the sexy voice, tall stature, and (albeit rarely seen) beautiful smile.
• The Gambling Addict: It's referred to several times, usually mentioning his frequent trips to Atlantic City, though it's never known how severe a problem it was. It even comes back to bite him in the ass during "Burn Card"—he mentions that his despondency over Lennie's retirement and later, his death was enough to trigger a relapse, kicking off a chain of events that led to his downfall.
• Graceful Loser: After said downfall. He thanks Lupo for being a good cop, even if it was Lupo's policework (in an effort to exonerate Green) that uncovered everything Green was trying to keep covered up.
• Heroic BSoD: In his final episode. Van Buren even tells him there's a chance to rehabilitate himself, and to return to policework while fighting his gambling addiction. Green admits he's too exhausted to keep fighting.
• Honor Before Reason: In his last episode, he adamantly refuses to speak in his own defense, even if it means going to jail. Turns out he is protecting a girlfriend who is also a fellow gambling addict.
• Iconic Sequel Character: One of the most synonymous characters with the show, but doesn't make an appearance until the tenth season.
• Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique: In his first appearance, he did this to a wounded suspect. At the time it was supposed to be an Establishing Character Moment, but it ended up being a case of Early-Installment Weirdness.
• The Nicknamer: He calls Briscoe "Old Spice", even after Lennie tells him he doesn't like nicknames.
• Open Mouth, Insert Foot: In one episode he and Lennie are having an argument about whether or not children are safe in schools, and he says, "You're just lucky your kids are grown." Immediately after he says this he remembers that one of Lennie's daughters was horribly murdered several years prior, and he swiftly apologizes.
• Real Men Eat Meat: Averted, he is a badass Cowboy Cop who also happens to be a vegetarian.
• Real Men Get Shot: In Season 15, while trying to escort a reluctant witness to trial, he takes a round in the chest when an assassin guns the witness down. Green is seriously wounded, but he recovers from the injury and returns to the job. ^note This was actually a Written-In Absence so that Martin, who had previously played Tom Collins in the Broadway production of RENT, could reprise his role for the film version.
• Tall, Dark, and Handsome: At 6'3", he's the tallest of the detectives on the mothership, and the third-tallest of all the detectives in the American versions (behind Detectives Goren and Nichols, who are both 6'4").
• Scary Black Man: He isn't actually, but he'll often pretend to be during interrogations. Which ironically leads to him being Mistaken for Racist when he makes a sarcastic comment to a perp about the perks he gets for beating up black suspects.

Joe Fontana

Detective Joe Fontana

Appearances: Law & Order | Law & Order: Trial by Jury

Played By: Dennis Farina (Seasons 15-16)

Suspect: Is that a threat?

Joe Fontana: A threat? No. A threat would be more like... 'If you stonewall this investigation any more I'm gonna break your jaw. And when you're on the ground, I'm gonna kick you 'till you spit blood you cheap shyster.' That would be a threat. This is more of a request.

• Blatant Lies: Whenever he says he's "authorized", he almost certainly is not. He also loves weaving completely fabricated stories about his life and (non-existent) wife and kids in order to get closer to witnesses and suspects.
• Catchphrase: "We're authorized."
• Cowboy Cop: More than once, he tells a suspect or someone obstructing the investigation that if they don't start cooperating he'll start getting more physical with them until they do.
• Cool Old Guy: Don't let his smooth talk and slick style fool you - if he has to get rough, he will.
• Dirty Cop: This was suggested in a long-running B-plot that backed up several episodes, due to the fact that he always had a money clip filled with at least a couple of grand on him, lived in an expensive condo, wore tailored suits, and drove a sports car, all on a cop's salary.
• Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique: On more than one occasion. Don't kill a cop or kidnap a kid near him.
• My Greatest Failure: In "Ghosts" he's forced to confront a rape-homicide case from ten years prior that he had worked on, strongly assuming even to the present that it was the father the entire time. Then the episode unveils the actual culprit and gets him convicted, forcing Joe into this as realizes how badly he screwed up and ruined the father's life.
• Rabid Cop
• Revolvers Are Just Better: Carries a .357 Smith & Wesson Model 19. Possibly a holdover from his days with Chicago PD, as that weapon was never authorized by NYPD.
• Royalties Heir: The true origin of his wealth; his uncle was "The original Chef Luigi," and he lived off his share of the inheritance.
• Sharp-Dressed Man: Tailored suits, Italian silk shirts...Fontana always looked impeccable, and would complain loudly if catching a suspect involved damaging his threads.

Nick Falco

Detective Nick Falco

Appearances: Law & Order

Played By: Michael Imperioli (Four episodes of Season 15)

• The Bus Came Back: For one episode, in which he's a murder suspect. And he's the one who keeps finding all the key evidence, even though he's on suspension. He was framed.
• By-the-Book Cop: A pragmatic example: Falco is studying law, and as such is very fastidious about making sure he and Fontana don't do anything that could get their evidence suppressed by a judge.
• Temporary Substitute: He replaced Ed Green for four episodes when Jesse L. Martin was filming RENT.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: Only appeared in four episodes as a regular, along with a guest appearance one season later.

Nina Cassady

Detective Nina Cassady

Appearances: Law & Order

Played By: Milena Govich (Season 17)

Anita Van Buren: What is your issue Cassidy? You're always leadin' with your chin, always playin' tough. It's not smart. A good cop never takes the bait, never escalates.

"Mr. Glover, if I really had it in for your client, I could have dropped him with a justifiable shooting when I found him stabbing his own daughter to death. But I didn't. Because I exercised the control I learned in my training. That control is why your client is still alive today."

• Action Girl
• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Not mentioned again after Season 17, though the finale implied Van Buren was going to get her transferred out after one too many slip-ups.
• Cowboy Cop: At times, she's worse than Logan or Green ever were because she seems to be using attitude to compensate for her lack of experience. Van Buren calls her out more than once for it.
• Ensign Newbie: Very young to have moved from being a uniform cop to a homicide detective. Van Buren in particular feels that Nina is too inexperienced and only got her gold shield because the brass wanted some good PR after all the attention she garnered as a result of the Noodle Incident (see below).
• Fair Cop: The fairest of them all.
• Noodle Incident: How Nina got tagged "The Beauty Queen Detective" was barely addressed and only in her debut episode.
  • Once Done, Never Forgotten: The incident is one of the reasons her co-workers at the 27th have a hard time taking her seriously.
  • It's implied, actually, that when Nina was in the 97th, she did an undercover operation at a beauty salon that went out of hand. Her impulsive bravery in that situation was widely admired by the press, but the police believe that she did it to garner sensationalism.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: Appeared in one season before she disappeared.

Cyrus Lupo

Detective Cyrus Lupo

Appearances: Law & Order

Played By: Jeremy Sisto (Seasons 18-20)

• The Alcoholic: Started as Drowning My Sorrows due to job related PTSD, but spiraled from there.
• Broken Ace: Lupo is introduced as a cool and mysterious anti-terrorism agent, but his past is filled with alcoholism and regret.
• Closet Geek: He's into graphic novels.
• Cool Shades: Wears them quite often and makes them work.
• Deadpan Snarker
• Faux Yay: Not quite often enough to become a Running Gag, but on two separate occasions Lupo goes undercover pretending to solicit sex from other men in order to catch a suspect.
• It's Personal:
  • The case that brought him into the 27 was his brother's death (via assisted suicide). Van Buren initially bars him from investigating for this very reason, but authorizes him when a second body pops up.
  • Gets a Call-Back in Green's last episode, with Lupo admitting Green helped him keep it together after his brother's death. Which is why Lupo keeps investigating Green's case, determined to clear his name.
• Loophole Abuse: Lupo loves attempting this, as he's studying to be an attorney himself and knows enough to find technically legal tactics during investigations. Often subverted, however, as defense attorneys jump all over evidence obtained this way, frequently succeeding at getting it excluded from trial.
• Perma-Stubble
• Pet the Dog: Literally. While investigating a dogfighting ring, he makes multiple comments to the effect that he'd be interested in adopting one of the seized dogs, which the local cop repeatedly warns him against. The final scene of the episode reveals he did it anyway, and seems to be getting along quite well with his new pet.
• Quip to Black
• Remember the New Guy?: Van Buren said that he was a patrolman in the 27th precinct before Ed Green joined.
• Seriously Scruffy: Fitting with his Broken Ace background, Lupo's often disheveled and sporting a five o'clock shadow. When he loses the stubble and starts dressing more nicely in later seasons, it's noticeable enough to draw remarks from other characters.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: His failed attempts at Loophole Abuse, mentioned above, often get him smacked down by Cutter or McCoy for causing needless difficulties at trial. In turn, as a former anti-terrorism agent, Lupo's Berserk Button is easily touched off by the DA's office stretching anti-terrorism laws to prosecute crimes that are plainly not terrorism.

Kevin Bernard

Detective Kevin Bernard

Appearances: Law & Order

Played By: Anthony Anderson (Four episodes of Season 18, Seasons 19-20, Season 21)

Suspect: Are you sure it [the Rapture] didn't happen?

Bernard: I'm still here, aren't I?

• Blue Oni, Red Oni: He's the blue oni, far more cool-headed and controlled than his partner Lupo. This dynamic extends to his new partner Cosgrove.
• By-the-Book Cop: In the season 21 premiere, he tells Cosgrove that police work is under a microscope and to back off on roughing up a suspect.
• Comical Overreacting: He flashes his badge while interviewing a gold dealer, and is extremely put out when the guy prices his badge at $11. A scene later he's still venting to Lupo about it.
  Lupo: You want it to be made out of solid gold?
• Disappeared Dad: An episode in season 20 reveals that he has a son he's never met (which he and the child's mother mutually agreed on).
• Embarrassing Nickname: St. Bernard. It's why he does not like dogs.
• Hidden Depths:
  • In "Brilliant Disguise" he knows enough about fine art to identify that the 'Houdini' sculpture a suspect was bragging about was the work of 'Houdon'. Lupo needed it explained to him.
  • Likewise, while investigating the house of a murdered art dealer, he was able to identify several paintings and their painters with a mere glance.
  • "Fault Lines" show him having a major interest in tennis, something that makes Dixon and Frank raise their eyebrows.
• Iconic Sequel Character: One of the most fondly remembered characters of the show, but doesn't make an appearance until the eighteenth season.
• Internal Affairs: Though he hated it and took the first chance he could to get out of IA. Even so, he acknowledged that his time in IA was educational and made him see the importance of policing the police.
• Perma-Stubble: He starts off with one, eventually opting for a full beard.
• Put on a Bus: Anthony Anderson signed up for one season of the revival.
• Real Men Love Jesus: Implied in "Rapture," though he has little patience for the suspects professing the end of days.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: He's introduced as a hardass from IA investigating Ed Green's shooting of a suspect. However, he takes it respectfully when Van Buren accuses him of only doing "50% of an investigation". And when Lupo angrily presents him with additional evidence, Bernard's willing to reconsider his seemingly airtight conclusions and even takes Lupo himself along to investigate.
• The One Who Made It Out: He grew up in a hard neighborhood, part of the reason he now favors a tough-on-crime approach that would make Abbie Carmichael proud.
• Two First Names: His last name, Bernard, can also be used as a first name.

Frank Cosgrove

Detective Frank Cosgrove

Appearances: Law & Order | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Law & Order: Organized Crime

Played By: Jeffrey Donovan (Seasons 21-22)

I catch 'em, you cook 'em. That's how this is supposed to work.

Kevin's partner in season 21. While he has old-fashioned views on policework and other current issues, he means well in his pursuit of justice.

---

• Broken Pedestal: He once sang the praises of Detective Ryan, his mentor. When it's implied that Ryan planted evidence to get the bad guy, he cuts ties with him, telling him to get out of his house.
• Everyone Has Standards:
  • He's far from liberal, but even he's repulsed by an Alex Jones Expy Villain of the Week.
  • Even though he prefers the old-fashioned way of policing, he calls out a fellow officer for doing a stop-and-frisk on a person who did not match the suspect's description.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's easy to irritate and is quite abrasive on the job, but he's surprisingly quite compromising on his values when it comes down to it.
• Papa Wolf: He is very protective of his children, and doesn't allow them to have social media accounts in case of predators.
• Politically Incorrect Hero: He means well, but his views are somewhat old-fashioned, at best.
• Put on a Bus: The first episode of season 23 mentions that Frank was let go after getting jammed up for "being too honest about things people aren't too honest about these days."
• Quip to Black: He is a detective on Law & Order after all.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: He's red to Kevin's blue.
• Remember the New Guy?: In the 2022 premiere crossover event, Stabler marches in mad that he trampled on his case. Nothing in his first season is hinted that they knew each other until the former barges into the 2-7.

Kate Dixon

Lieutenant Kate Dixon

Appearances: Law & Order | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Law & Order: Organized Crime

Played By: Camryn Manheim (Seasons 21-)

Anita Van Buren's successor as the commanding officer of the 2-7. She's devoted to getting justice through any means, but is highly conscious of the department's reputation due to the political climate.

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• A Day in the Limelight: "Wicked Game" has her take charge when the homicide of the week connects back to one of her old cases.
• Hidden Depths: "Camouflage" sees Dixon uses ASL to talk with the suspect's daughter. She reveals to Jalen later on that she knows ASL because her son is deaf.
• Large and in Charge: She's a full-figured and physically imposing woman who's in charge of the department.
• Slave to PR: She often expresses concern about the department's political reputation, and is very conscious of the pressure on her to deal with high-profile cases.
• That One Case: In "Wicked Game", she reveals she investigated a similar case that aligns with the methodology of the victim of the week's murder. She becomes determined to solve the case as she is convinced that the suspect was the same one from her past case. She is proven to be right.

---

Jalen Shaw

Detective Jalen Shaw

Appearances: Law & Order | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Law & Order: Organized Crime

Played By: Mehcad Brooks (Seasons 22-)

Frank's new partner, spending five years in Narcotics before transferring to Homicide. He was a former lawyer before becoming a detective.

---

• Blue Oni, Red Oni: The levelheaded, pragmatic Blue Oni to Frank's hot-headed, old-fashioned Red Oni.
• By-the-Book Cop: Downplayed. He tells Frank to knock off the roughing antics, and to fight smarter, in a way that looks favorable in the eyes of the law. He rationalizes this in that he went to law school at NYU and practiced for 3 years, before joining the academy.
• Experienced Protagonist: He's new to homicide, but spent 5 years in Narcotics prior to his introduction. He mentions in "Gimme Shelter" that he practiced law for three years, but decided to join the police academy after deciding that law wasn't for him.

---

Violet Yee

Detective Violet Yee

Appearances: Law & Order | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Law & Order: Organized Crime

Played By: Connie Shi (Seasons 22-)

A detective primarily tasked with studying surveillance footage and other electronic data.

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• Big Brother Is Watching: Yee specializes in accessing the archives of the omnipresent surveillance cameras around New York City in order to track suspects and uncover clues.
• Fake Guest Star: Appears in every episode from Season 22 onward but is not listed in the opening credits.
• The Smart Gal: Very technologically proficient & almost always seen at a computer.

---

Vincent Riley

Detective Vincent Riley

Appearances: Law & Order

Played By: Reid Scott (Seasons 23-)

Jalen's new partner.

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• Dark and Troubled Past: Four years prior to joining Team Dixon in Manhattan North, he slugged a "sexist son of a bitch" police captain that Lieutenant Dixon had argued with, leading to a six month suspension.
• Family Man: Deconstructed. He tried to balance between being a good husband and father, and a dutiful son, but it didn't work out. They got divorced and his father died.
• Remember the New Guy?: In the season 23 pilot, it's mentioned he and Dixon seem to have history.
• Standard Cop Backstory: His wife took his kids and left while he was working several hours overtime to pay for his dying father who died anyway.

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Prosecutors

Ben Stone

Executive Assistant District Attorney Benjamin "Ben" Stone

Appearances: Law & Order

Played By: Michael Moriarty (Seasons 1-4)

Dr. Edward Auster: When you practice medicine, Mr. Stone, sometimes the patient dies.

Ben Stone: And when you're a lawyer, Dr. Auster, some of the people you prosecute are convicted.

The first Executive Assistant District Attorney. Dogged in his pursuit of justice, but always following the letter of the law.

---

• Berserk Button: Cases where kids are the victims like those in "Indifference" and "Mushrooms" are a surefire way to see Ben go from a reserved and pragmatic man who avoids taking things personally to an explosive powder keg of barely contained rage who will stop at nothing to get those responsible.
• Beware the Nice Ones: He's warm and cordial, but he's also absolutely ruthless to anyone he has to prosecute, especially when it involves kids.
• Bus Crash: After one of the longest bus rides on record, the character is killed off on Spin-Off Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in February 2018, almost 24 years after his last onscreen appearance. Fittingly, his eulogy is delivered by the character who replaced him, Jack McCoy (whose own bus came back).
• By-the-Book Cop: While dogged in his pursuit of justice, he insists on following the letter of the law, in direct contrast to his successors.
• Career-Building Blunder: When he was a young prosecutor, he accidentally sent confidential information to the defense. Even though it cost them the case, the DA at the time kept him on knowing the mistake would make Stone a better attorney.
• Deadpan Snarker: So deadpan you might not even realize he was snarking. Like the time a defendant proclaims that the charges presented against her don't hold up before God and the defense is about to loop on the matter.
  Ben Stone: Objection, this case is being judged on the temporal plane, your honor!
• Death Glare: Pulls off an absolutely chilling one in "Indifference" towards a man who let his child be abused, resulting in her death, while he did nothing. His look and body language make it clear he's using all the restraint he has to not beat the scumbag to death with his bare hands right then and there.
• Gentleman Snarker: When he calls you "sir", it means he doesn't like you.
• Glasses Pull: The reigning king of it on the series.
• It's Personal: Generally speaking, Ben doesn't take cases personally due to both the requirements of his position and his own unemotional demeanor. When he does though, such as with especially horrible cases like when the victim is a child, he will move to the ends of the earth to get those responsible.
• Large and in Charge: He stands at 6'4 which only serves to make him even more imposing.
• Opt Out: Resigns when one of his prosecutions results in the implied death of a woman who he had put on the stand as a witness.
• Schiff One-Liner
• The Stoic: Ben had the emotional range of a brick. It made him all the scarier.
• Stoic Spectacles: He wears horn-rimmed glasses which nicely fits his detached, academic nature.
• Tranquil Fury: Ben can display intense anger without every losing his reserved demeanor or even raising his voice and the effects are chilling. Masterfully portrayed by Michael Moriarty in "Indifference" and "Mushrooms". During the prosecution of a scumbag spousal/child abuser, the look he gives the aforementioned defendant makes it clear that he would beat him to death with his bare hands if he could and in the latter episode, he threatens to utterly tear a man's life apart in a truly terrifying manner while barely speaking above a whisper.

Paul Robinette

Assistant District Attorney Paul Robinette

"Don't tell me that tearing down a 200-year old justice system, no matter how flawed, is going to alter the consciousness of a society. Now, we're past the separate drinking-fountain stage. We're past legal discrimination. We're at the hearts and minds stage. And believe me, there's no quick fix."

Appearances: Law & Order

Other Appearances: Chicago Justice

Played By: Richard Brooks (Seasons 1-3)

Ben Stone once said I'd have to decide if I was a lawyer who was black or a black man who was a lawyer. All those years I thought I was the former. All those years...I was wrong.

From "Custody" (ep.6-14)

The first (and only male) ADA. Working exclusively under Ben Stone, he would leave the District Attorney's Office to go into private practice as a defense lawyer and would return several times going up against Jack McCoy.

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• '80s Hair: The Flattop of Justice. The first time Robinette guest starred, Richard Brooks had notably shaved his hair.
• Amoral Attorney: In his return appearances as a defense attorney.
• Hidden Depths: The first episode that he guest-starred in proved him to be a more than competent attorney, competent enough to deadlock a jury. In contrast, when he was a regular Stone mostly had him do leg work.
• Malcolm Xerox: When he comes back as a defense attorney, and slings race cards like Al Sharpton on meth.
• Put on a Bus: Although he has come back for the occasional guest appearance, and his departure was explained in a deleted scene in Season 4 where it's revealed he's gone into private practice.
• Token Minority: For the first three seasons, the only black character on the show.

Alfred Wentworth

District Attorney Alfred Wentworth

Appearances: Law & Order

Played By: Roy Thinnes

Appeared only in the pilot episode, and thus appears for the fewest episodes out of any regular cast member (1).

Adam Schiff

District Attorney Adam Schiff

Appearances: Law & Order | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Played By: Steven Hill (Seasons 1-10)

Adam Schiff: You got what you wanted. Take the rest of the week off.

Jack McCoy: It's Friday, Adam.

Adam Schiff: So it is. See you on Monday.

The first District Attorney. Rising up from the ranks as ADA, he occasionally tends to fret about how trials will affect his chances for reelection but he will never let his politics interfere with justice.

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• Benevolent Boss: He's not afraid to say when McCoy is driving him crazy, but at the end of the day he has his attorneys' backs.
• Boring, but Practical: Like most real-life prosecutors, he prefers to cut deals with suspects, which, while not as flashy and risky as trials, are much less expensive and time consuming and ensure the suspect is punished.
• Catchphrase: "Cut a deal."
• Commander Contrarian: Schiff's style is to appear resistant to any idea. At least this way, he can outsource blame.
• Cool Old Guy: Not the most fun person to be around but Schiff is a very capable leader and still has an excellent legal mind in his later years, to say nothing of his razor sharp wit.
• Deadpan Snarker: Probably the snarkiest person in the DA's office.
• Devil's Advocate: Often takes this position, though more often than not it's to point out the flaws or holes in Stone's or McCoy's arguments.
• Grumpy Old Man: Oh so much. At one point Kincaid makes a comment that implies he's a curmudgeon.
  Schiff: "I'm a sweetheart. And I'm middle-aged."
• Jews Love to Argue: He was big on arguing with McCoy especially, sometimes because it needed to be done and sometimes just because.
• Parental Substitute: For both Stone and McCoy. His relationship with Stone was more nurturing, and Adam was disappointed when Stone chose to resign. Schiff's relationship with McCoy, however, is more adversarial.
• Pragmatic Hero:
  • He's personally opposed to the death penalty, but he's still willing to use it if the public demands it. He's also not above using the publicity of gruesome crimes and trials to get himself reelected. After all, he can't serve the justice system if he loses his position.
  • Gets a Call-Back in a season 18 episode when a witness wants a fairly mild favor from newly minted District Attorney McCoy, who balks at starting a precedent of doing favors. Cutter remarks that Schiff would've done it with his eyes closed.
• Schiff One-Liner: Trope Namer
• Skewed Priorities: Played with. He often comes off as more concerned about a trial's impact on his chances for reelection than actual justice. However, when it comes down to it, unless his subordinates really push the boundaries of the law, Schiff will back them up during controversial trials.
• Team Dad
• Who Needs Enemies?: If a personal friend of his appears in an episode then it's likely they're corrupt and will sell out Schiff and the DA's office at the drop of a hat.

Claire Kincaid

Assistant District Attorney Claire Kincaid

Appearances: Law & Order

Other Appearances: Homicide: Life on the Street

Played By: Jill Hennessy (Seasons 4-6)

Great. Now we can all pile into a little clown car and go tell it to the judge. It doesn’t pass the laugh test, guys. Bring me probable cause, then we'll talk.

Paul Robinette's replacement who set the trend for subsequent ADAs to be female. She worked under Ben Stone and then Jack McCoy, and was very idealistic for a prosecutor.

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• Belligerent Sexual Tension: Downplayed, she and Jack would bicker a little about some cases and eventually began a relationship.
• Bus Crash: Quite literally. Claire was originally supposed to only be paralyzed in the car crash in the Season 6 finale and then Put on a Bus, but when actress Jill Hennesey declined to return for a final episode in Season 7 she was killed off instead)
  • Interestingly, Jill Hennessey has stated that she wanted to return and was not aware that her character was killed off until someone watched the episode and told her.
• Hello, Attorney!
• Iconic Sequel Character: One of the most fondly remembered characters in the show, but doesn't make an appearance until the fourth season.
• Insult Backfire: When McCoy accuses her of "latent feminism," she immediately retorts that it's not latent.
• May–December Romance: With Jack. The actors were born 28 years apart. It's not clear if the characters are the same age as the actors who play them but Claire is clearly in her twenties and Jack is old enough to have been a young adult in The '60s.
• The McCoy: Amusing, given her boss' name.
• Retirony: She debates either resigning from the DA's office or quitting law altogether (and Jack talks her out of it) shortly before she's injured/killed in a car accident. Jack ends up feeling very guilty about this.
• Sleeping with the Boss: Although only indicated through very subtle Ship Tease hints during her time on the show, during an episode sometime after her death, it is confirmed on screen that she had been sleeping with McCoy, after her having told him when they first met that nothing of the sort would happen.
  • She once had an affair with a judge she clerked for.
• Wide-Eyed Idealist: Schiff criticizes her for it, but still keeps her on.
• Wham Line: In "Aftershock," Claire has a conversation with a law professor who seems to be a former teacher of hers, talking about the execution she witnessed and her feelings on various aspects of the legal system in general. Then just as Claire turns to leave:
  Mac: You know, your mother would like you to come by one of these days for dinner.

Jack McCoy

Executive Assistant District Attorney Jack McCoy (later District Attorney)

Appearances: Law & Order | Exiled: A Law & Order Movie | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Law & Order: Trial by Jury

Other Appearances: Homicide: Life on the Street

Played By: Sam Waterston (Seasons 5-20, Season 21-23)

Jack McCoy: Ask me how I sleep at night.

Connie Robirosa: How do you sleep at night?

Jack McCoy: Like a baby.

Ben Stone's replacement. Hot-headed and willingly to bend the law to its limits to win a conviction, he eventually became the District Attorney himself.

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• Abusive Parents: As revealed in "Aftershock" Jack's father was a policeman who drove him to succeed at all times and pushed him into law school rather than become a cop like him. He was also a chain-smoking drunk who regularly beat Jack's mother (and its implied he hit Jack as well). Jack still has something of a Broken Pedestal towards him, telling Cutter that he still remembers when he realized that his dad was "a son of a bitch."
• Belligerent Sexual Tension: Downplayed, he and Claire would sometimes disagree during cases but eventually began a relationship.
• Berserk Button: Bigots and children who get hurt are sore spots for him. So when he's prosecuting someone guilty of a hate crime or a crime against children, McCoy gets even more hostile towards the man or woman. Following the events of "Aftershock", drunk driving becomes this for him as well.
  • One nasty trigger is those in government or military service abusing their positions and power. As an advocate of the law, betraying the law that holds the country together gives him extreme contempt. And god help you if you terrorized or harmed veterans, to boot.
• Big Good: Becomes this once he becomes the head District Attorney, having to direct Rubirosa and Cutter through their cases from the side and keep order in the precinct.
• Big Ol' Eyebrows: Notable for Sam Waterson's large eyebrows, which helps highlight McCoy's expressions spectacularly.
• Breakout Character: He didn't show up until the 5th season, but he became the face of the franchise, arguably even moreso than Lennie Briscoe. This was helped by the fact that, unlike Orbach, Waterston survived the series and Orbach's death made the District Attorney's office much more important.
• Catchphrase: "Murder two, depraved indifference!" seemed to be his go-to.
• The Chains of Commanding: When he becomes the DA, he's the one calling the shots which means he can no longer afford to take the reckless chances he did when Schiff, Lewin, or Branch had his back and his quick to lay down the law, much to the chagrin of his subordinates, who are well aware of his colorful legal record.
• Character Development: Becomes less reckless and ruthless as he got older, especially when he becomes the District Attorney, and reprimands Cutter's actions, just as other DA's did with him. To wit, in person he actually withdrew a plea deal at a hearing revolving around the surgery of young girl, much to Cutter's fury.
  • At Ben Stone’s funeral, the one thing Jack chooses to praise about him was his dedication to prosecutorial ethics. When Jack was first introduced as Ben Stone’s replacement, the main characteristic that distinguished him from Stone was his looser interpretation of such restrictions.
• Commuting on a Bus: After he becomes District Attorney.
• Contrasting Replacement Character: The complete opposite of his predecessor Ben Stone, Jack is known for being reckless, hot-blooded, and willing to bend the law to it's limits to get justice.
• Deadpan Snarker: He can match Adam Schiff in snark easily.
  • To elaborate: while his screen time got diminished, he still had more of an active role than previous DAs.
• Determinator: The things he will do to get his way legally...
• Everyone Has Standards: In Sympathetic Murderer cases where the killer didn't royally botch things up for others or abuse the law in other ways, he is willing to be lenient on certain elements and plea deals. However, this only applies in the most extreme cases; should the killer genuinely have messed something up, or make a mockery of the law in particular, his standards for the law take precedence. And if they refuse to admit guilt in any way, then he simply recants his mercy and continues the prosecution.
  • He'll also put his own job and career on the line to do the right thing. In "Over Here", the government outright pressured him to be silent about the downright horrible conditions in a veteran's hospital ward that had been used regardless and can be attributed to the murderous psychosis the defendant suffered from. He turns around and basically announces it to the world anyway to put everyone involved on full blast and media attention, a move that has feds calling for his head so to speak - which does annoy the hell out of Branch after warning him previously, but he agrees in his own way that it was a good thing overall. Considering McCoy managed to hang onto his job and still get promoted, that says a lot.
  • He doesn't hold defense attorneys in contempt either unless they explicitly go out of their way to earn it. When Rubirosa is basically forced by a judge to play a defendant's side, much to her awkward disagreement on the matter, and gets harassed by some of the paralegals about "working for the dark side", McCoy is quick to express his open contempt for the idea that doing her duty is somehow wrong, and ends with an open threat to demote the whole lot.
  • In "Compassion", McCoy can't bring himself into sending Doctor Allison to prison for murder because she genuinely believed what she did was good for the children she claimed she failed to save. Her insantiy defense is proven false because she knew killing was wrong, but she was so mentally drained that it's hard to dispute. He finds a middle ground with her lawyer to send her to a psychiatric hospital and will only be released once a counsel of doctors see that she is safe to be released.
• Good Is Not Nice: Think McCoy will play soft when justice is on the line? He doesn't care if you're a teenager, a cripple, gay, a veteran or even a retired old person, if you're an affront to his belief in the law and the case is on his lap he'll prosecute you to the best of his ability.
• Grand Finale: "Last Dance" is his final episode.
• Guys are Slobs: A mild case. In “Double Down”, Briscoe, Curtis, Ross, and Van Buren come by McCoy’s apartment at 2 am to discuss a case. It is noticeably disheveled, mostly strewn with books and papers. Ross appears to be reluctant to sit down, though the older and wiser Van Buren is unfazed.
• Heel Realization: The older he gets, he looks back on the more outrageous stunts he pulled that got him chewed out by Schiff, Lewin, Branch or dragged before the Bar Committee with regret. This is especially pronounced when he becomes the DA and he often argues with Cutter, who's just as reckless but less moral. Cutter tries to defend himself by pointing out that Jack did the same thing, only for Jack to retort that his actions had consequences for him and he's trying to stop Cutter from making the same mistakes he did.
• Hero with Bad Publicity: Due to some of the questionable ethics and legality of stunts he pulled by the time he becomes the actual DA he doesn't get that much respect from the Legal Establishment.
• Hot-Blooded: In sharp contrast to Adam Schiff and his predecessor Ben Stone, Jack is always emotional and hot-tempered.
• Hypocrite: Before taking the DA's office, if the law worked in his favour he would defend it to death. If those same laws got in the way of a conviction he would complain about them and do everything possible to subvert them.
• Iconic Sequel Character: One of the most synonymous characters with the show, but doesn't make an appearance until the fifth season.
• Irony: In Arthur Branch's last episode Branch says McCoy may one day fill his seat. McCoy responds that he has no mind for politics. The very next episode, McCoy is filling Arthur's seat as District Attorney.
• It's Personal: The deaths of Claire Kincaid, ADA Ricci, and Alexandra Borgia cause him to go on legal Roaring Rampages of Revenge of sorts. All come close to getting him disbarred.
  • Specifically: Following Claire's death, McCoy later collaborates with a judge to frame a drunk driver for first degree murder (the driver really killed the people, but was so intoxicated he couldn't form the intent needed for a murder charge. McCoy and the judge collaborated to keep evidence proving that the man was drunk out of court, so McCoy could falsely claim that he wasn't drunk and deliberately killed the people. It is implied that all this was because he was bitter that Claire's killer received a light sentence and wanted to see proper justice done for the victims in this case.
  • When a bit character, ADA Ricci, dies alongside an innocent mother in a Russian mafia assassination attempt on a young boy witness, McCoy suspends habeas corpus and hauls their asses to jail well before he has any evidence to actually convict them yet.
  • After Borgia dies, McCoy sets up a show trial with fake evidence and perjured testimony to try to trick the killer into a confession.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Deliberately cultivates a reputation as a hardass, but frequently backs down when confronted with a defendant who legitimately deserves sympathy.
  To Jamie Ross, "Then you can tell him he's dealing with a junkyard dog."
  McCoy: Four minutes.
  Defense Attorney: Always have to play the tough guy, don't you.
  McCoy: Tough has nothing to do with this.
  Defense Attorney: You feel for the woman, Jack. It doesn't make you weak.
  McCoy: Three minutes.
  Defense Attorney: I could win this case, y'know.
  McCoy: Not when the judge instructs the jury on the definition of legal insanity.
  Defense Attorney: Ten years is a long time.
  McCoy: She killed a man.
  Defense Attorney: A scoundrel. ... Ten years, or until a panel of three medical professionals certifies she's not a threat to herself or others.
  McCoy: Doctors to be chosen by my office.
  Defense Attorney: But in the private psychiatric facility of her choice.
  McCoy: To be approved of by me and located within my jurisdiction. One minute.
  Defense Attorney: Done.
  McCoy: I'll tell the judge. [stands up to leave]
  Defense Attorney: It's not a bad thing, Jack.
  McCoy: What?
  Defense Attorney: Having a heart.
  • It is made even more explicit in the episode, "Burned," where McCoy prosecutes a boy who is obviously mentally ill and needs to be committed to a mental hospital. However, the boy's grandfather interferes with the plea bargaining and blatantly would rather risk his grandson being sent to regular prison than have a mental commitment draw attention to his own fragile mental health. At this, McCoy goes out of his way to prevent that when he could have simply stayed out of the way and score an easy conviction win.
• Karma Houdini: He's done things that in real life would get you disbarred at best and imprisoned at worst. Yet, he some how ends up as DA. He does admit as such at times after taking the DA office.
• Kick the Dog: He's done some really shifty things and taken some downright cruel actions just to ensure he can try a culprit to the fullest extent of the law. Case in point, he got all gay marriages in the state of New York considered to be invalidated by the Supreme Court, solely to uproot spousal privilege so that he could get the testimony necessary from one half of a former couple to convict the other. Serena was pissed, and it backfired when the person would've testified willingly had McCoy not crossed the line, and withholds the testimony on moral grounds instead.
• Knight in Sour Armor: Make no doubts about it, McCoy means well even despite his extreme tendencies. However, after some of the cases he's had to dealt with, never mind particularly harsh ones that he lost, he becomes embittered and cynical. He never quite loses his good intentions compared to some District Attorneys in the franchise though, and even effectively becomes a Big Good once he becomes the DA after Branch.
• Knight Templar: His behavior could dip into this if a case struck close to home or the the cause was justice in his opinion. He's been willing to tear into the First Amendment and equal protection laws if it means a conviction. One infamous situation was "Love Gov" where a murderer hides behind his gay marriage for protection; McCoy outright risks all gay marriages in the state of New York to get the man behind bars, and gains the ire of Serena (who was later revaled to be gay herself) in the process.
• Large Ham: Jack is very emotional and expressive, especially when pissed off which is fairly often.
• May–December Romance: Heavily implied with Claire; confirmed a couple of seasons after Claire's death.
• My God, What Have I Done?: In his pursuit of enforcing the law, there's times where he's so rabid in pursuing a case that he may have the wrong person nearly convicted or even totally fail to catch it before it goes through. While this reaffirms his attempt to catch the culprit for real if there's time left in an episode, it hits him hard nonetheless.
• Noodle Incident: In 2011 he's been replaced, yet he's back in office by 2018. The exact circumstances of this all have never been explained.
• Old-School Chivalry: Subtle, but notice that every time he's speaking with a woman getting into a cab, he opens the door for her. Even if she's opposing counsel, a suspect, hindering prosecution, etc.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: As loud as he can be for the courtrooms and as open in emotion and contempt as he could be in his days as an A.D.A., he only shouts if he's pushed to it in a case or something is downright stupendously offensive to him. The few times he actually raises his voice in unadulterated anger are truly rare, and moments that show that he's either immensely disappointed in you or about to effectively crucify you metaphorically if he gets his way in seeing justice administered.
• Parental Substitute: As noted by Linus Roache, there's a fairly adversarial father-son dynamic between McCoy and Cutter, but generally McCoy acts as a surrogate father to Cutter, who has little-to-no contact with his biological father.
• Persecuting Prosecutor: He nearly crosses this line in "Under The Influence" to bring down a drunk driver because he lost his colleague (and former lover) Claire Kincaid to a drunk driver.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: The moment someone's somehow managed to truly set McCoy off, from a child killer to those around him being targeted, he'll risk his entire career to bring them down. Unlike most uses of the trope, though, he's only mildly successful and loses several trials because of his indignation, never mind if plea deals and higher government positions force him to stay his hand. He grows out of this, partially.
  • In a sense of Irony, however, McCoy also has next to no tolerance for people who pull this trope themselves. In "License to Kill", for example, when a vigilante act kills a mass murderer and the young hostage days later in the medical complications as well as several collateral injuries resulting from the act, McCoy calls upon the law to be followed in abhorrence of rampant vigilantism. The jury doesn't agree. Characters like Branch have called him out on this hypocrisy often, to little avail even as he grew older.
• Schiff One-Liner
• Sleeping with the Boss: Is notorious for having had this kind of relationship with his assistants, all female. When he first came into the District Attorney's office, Claire Kincaid pointed out that he'd slept with all three of his previous assistants (and married one of them), to which Jack replied that all the relationships were mutually consensual. Then Claire declared that nothing of the sort would happen between herself and Jack, to which he agreed...only for them to get intimate later on down the line. After Claire's death, he doesn't get involved with any of his assistants again.
• Team Dad: Once he becomes District Attorney himself, he takes responsibility for the A.D.A.s beneath him and makes sure to cover for them if a case gets particularly controversial.
• What the Hell, Hero?: His actions have been called out by Schiff, his colleagues, the judges, the Bar Association disciplinary committee, and eventually himself.

Jamie Ross

Assistant District Attorney Jamie Ross (later Judge)

Appearances: Law & Order | Law & Order: Trial by Jury

Other Appearances: Homicide: Life on the Street

Played By: Carey Lowell (Seasons 7-8, 21)

Claire Kincaid's replacement. A former defense attorney who switched to prosecution after a former client she acquitted killed again. She eventually leaves the DA's office to spend more time with her daughter. She returns to private practice, then becomes a judge, then is back as an ADA in Season 21.

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• Dark Secret: She may have murdered a serial rapist, or at the very least was an accomplice to his murder, in the Season 21 premiere. We never learn the full truth, as she pleads the Fifth when subpoenaed to testify about it.
• Hello, Attorney!: When interviewing a reluctant witness, she tells him that if he answers her question, she'll owe him a favor. He asks, "As a D.A., or as the most attractive woman to ever set foot in this office?" (She meant as a D.A, but even so, she's the most openly flirtatious assistant McCoy ever had, which several men clearly find appealing.)
• Iconic Sequel Character: One of the most fondly remembered characters in the show, but doesn't make an appearance until the seventh season.
• Mama Bear: Her devotion to her daughter occasionally conflicts with the show, such that she debates quitting more than once and eventually is Put on a Bus because of it. Her Amoral Attorney ex-husband uses it against her to help his client.
• Retool: The character was originally a morally ambiguous ex-defense attorney who became a prosecutor after a client she got acquitted went on to kill again. As such, she was originally a lot more underhanded and devious when it came to court room trickery. Sadly this was quickly dropped and the character was turned into a single mother Suspiciously Similar Substitute of Claire Kincaid.
• Statuesque Stunner: A beautiful woman standing 5'10.
• Transplant: From the original to Law & Order: Trial by Jury, although she was only a recurring guest character in the latter.
• What the Hell, Hero?: She calls out Adam Schiff after he seems gleeful that the horrific rape and attempted murder of a young child happened near an election since a conviction would boost his chances of reelection.

Abbie Carmichael

Assistant District Attorney Abbie Carmichael

Appearances: Law & Order | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Played By: Angie Harmon (Seasons 9-11)

Abbie Carmichael: I have a solution that will make us all happy.
Jack McCoy: What's that?
Abbie Carmichael: No deals for anybody. Let's hang 'em all.

Jaime Ross's replacement, a tough as nails prosecutor who spent four years in Special Narcotics with a 95% conviction rate, which impressed Schiff enough to have her promoted to major felonies as McCoy's assistant. She later leaves to work the US Attorney's office.

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• Aloof Dark-Haired Girl: Brunette? Check that. Beautiful? Check that. Can be a hard-ass? Definitely check that.
• Defrosting the Ice Queen: Starts out very stubborn and aloof, coldly dismissing the detectives leads as "a lot of unverified hunches" . By the halfway point of her first season, she mellows out considerably, even joking with McCoy and the detectives on a few occasions.
• Distaff Counterpart: When Abbie suggested they "hang 'em all" in her first episode, McCoy struggled not to laugh. For those not in the know, McCoy was once dubbed "Hang 'Em High McCoy" for his Draconian approach.
• Everyone Has Standards: An old perp having Alzheimer's causes her to realize that if they get convicted to a New York prison facility that she personally visited, one could arguably apply the Eighth Amendment of "cruel and unusual punishment" with how absolutely terrible the living conditions for mental patients would be there. Of all people, she's the one that tries to talk down Jack from trying to convict them to a full murder sentence, which at least gets them work a halfway house plea bargain.
• Hello, Attorney!: Among the most attractive and well-remembered female prosecutors on the show.
• Iconic Sequel Character: One of the most fondly remembered characters on the show, but doesn't make an appearance until the ninth season, and was only on it for three.
• Inspector Javert:
  • Often displays a black-and-white view of crime and criminals, to the point where in early season 9 ("Punk") she has zero sympathy towards a young woman she sent to prison on a minor drug charge who is now accused of arranging the murder of a guard who was abusing her (demanding sexual favors from her and threatening to harm her daughter if she didn't comply). It's especially disturbing considering that Abbie is a rape survivor herself, yet her attitude towards the woman is essentially disbelief mixed with, "It's your fault for doing something that put you in jail in the first place". She eventually relents and convinces McCoy to set up a good deal for the woman.
  • When she's at an arraignment hearing, there's a venom in her voice as she makes the people's case why the defendants should not be given bail as opposed to the other ADA's who did this part of their job with a strict professionalism.
  • She's not opposed to listening to alternate perspectives and even sympathetic ones in favor of the accused, but provided they're not from the mouth of the accused themselves.
• Knight Templar: She's very keen to push for the highest possible punishment for a crime, including the death penalty if applicable. In short, don't expect any mercy from her. But...
• Know When to Fold 'Em: In her guest appearance in the SVU pilot, she makes a merciful deal with the perp, given the victim's history with said perp and the co-conspirator's suicide. However, it's also unlikely that she would've gotten a conviction should the case go to trial.
• Rape as Backstory: Abbie was date-raped by a law student when she was a college freshman.
• Smug Smiler: Whenever the Prosecution drops the bomb on the Defendants with new evidence or a witness that nails, she loves doing this.
• Statuesque Stunner: 5'10'', and sometimes taller than some men on the show. Angie Harmon was a former model.
• When She Smiles: Abbie’s default facial expression is usually varying degrees of scowl. When she does manage to crack a smile, it brightens up the room and the atmosphere.

Nora Lewin

District Attorney Nora Lewin (Seasons 11-12)

Appearances: Law & Order | Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Played By: Dianne Wiest

The Interim District Attorney, appointed to finish out Adam Schiff's term after he left the position to work on the Holocaust Project. A former law professor.

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• All There in the Manual: Her departure is never explained in the show, but rather in a companion book to the series called Law & Order: Crime Scenes; apparently she found herself disenchanted with the position of district attorney and chose not to run for election when her interim term was up.
• Beware the Nice Ones: A sweet woman who is new to her job and nervous about having to fill the shoes of Adam Schiff. She will also take you down if you threaten her office or anyone in it.
• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: After the end of season 12.
• The McCoy: She and Serena share this trait, which was part of why she chose to hire Serena after Abbie left.
• Pragmatic Hero: Like her predecessor, she is personally against the death penalty but recognizes that completely avoiding it might cause the DA's office to be seen as too soft on crime.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Applies the law even when it conflicts with her personal beliefs, such as when she has to make the decision to pursue the death penalty against a defendant.

Serena Southerlyn

Assistant District Attorney Serena Southerlyn

Appearances: Law & Order

Played By: Elisabeth Röhm (Seasons 12-14, thirteen episodes of Season 15)

"Is this because I'm a lesbian?"

Abbie Carmichael's replacement, chosen by Nora Lewin since her liberal idealism mirrored her own. She had a more strained relationship with Branch, who ultimately dismissed her for being too sympathetic to the defendants.

---

• Alliterative Name: Serena Southerlyn.
• Didn't Think This Through: As Characterization Marches On, Southerlyn became more and more openly vocal and antagonistic towards McCoy and Branch when trying to think up counterpoints to probable cause and the thoughts around defendants she'd have to help prosecute. This even caused her to jump the gun in multiple cases where someone comes to her with additional info, a confession, or otherwise that fudges their prosecution up. It's not much wonder Branch decided to drop her.
• Gaydar: In an unintentional bit of foreshadowing, she correctly picks up on a Psycho Lesbian (who had been presenting herself as a mere concerned witness) as the real culprit in a murder, rather than the person they actually have on trial.
• Hello, Attorney!
• Lipstick Lesbian: In her final episode, it was revealed with almost no buildup that she was gay, when she accused Branch of firing her because of that.
• The McCoy: To the point where it got her fired.
• Shout-Out: Serena is named after one of Dick Wolf's kids.
• Sweeps Week Lesbian Kiss: She didn't kiss anybody, but the effect was much the same.
  • Interviews with Dick Wolf suggest that he wrote that scene just to shock the viewers and get them talking, implying that any and all foreshadowing was unintentional. This is reflected in viewer response, which was not 'Oh, that's so edgy' like Wolf expected, but more 'Oh, that's so cheap'.
• Strawman Political: Serena existed as the Fox News Liberal of the show, offering weak liberal talking points only to be invariably slapped down by the more conservative Branch.
• Wide-Eyed Idealist

Arthur Branch

District Attorney Arthur Branch

Appearances: Law & Order | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Law & Order: Trial by Jury | Law & Order: Criminal Intent

Other Appearances: Conviction

Played By: Fred Thompson (Seasons 13-17)

Dubbed By: William Sabatier (European French)

Nora Lewin's replacement as District Attorney, after she decided not to run for election. A hardass conservative who was elected to make New Yorkers feel safe after 9-11.

---

• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: When Fred Thompson decided to return to politics, Arthur was abruptly written out with Jack taking his place as DA. He was mentioned once or twice, afterward.
• Everyone Has Standards: He's a conservative but he makes clear he has no regard for Ann Coulter types who seem to care more about getting a response and attention than actually discussing issues in a productive manner.
• Good Is Not Soft: He was elected to make New Yorkers feel safer in the wake of 9/11. When district attorneys are getting murdered in "Open Season" due to the episode's Neo-Nazi suspect picking everyone that goes against him off, Arthur is the one that decides to breach usual attorney-client privilege against Danielle Melnick to prevent more murders. Even McCoy is surprised, but then McCoy is mostly protesting because of his personal ties to Danielle. Arthur's rare risk pays off, as Danielle's client was using her as an unwitting patsy to set up the targets.
• Good Ol' Boy
• Iconic Sequel Character: One of the most recognizable characters of the show, but doesn't make an appearance until the thirteenth season.
• Large and in Charge: At 6'6", he was most certainly this (and to date, the tallest character/actor in the Law & Order universe.)
• Reasonable Authority Figure: He's more of a hard liner than Schiff or Nora Lewin but he's not a fanatic. He supports the death penalty but doesn't use it unless truly necessary and is quite willing to acknowledge when "tough on crime" ventures like the war on drugs do more harm than good and benefit no one but politicians.
• Southern-Fried Genius: Highly intelligent and well-skilled at playing the political game of being District Attorney.
• Team Dad: Neither affectionate nor even really nice, but always ready with encouragement or to make an attempt at convincing before he ordered. Even when he fires Serena, he points out that she has the skills and mindset of a superb defense attorney...which simply don't work for a prosecutor.
• Token Religious Teammate: He is known to regularly attend church, but he doesn't allow it to influence his work. In fact, he's personally offended by any defendant who tries to use religion to justify their crime.

Arthur Branch: I may be pro-life, but I'm even more pro-law.

• Transplant: Sort of. He became a regular cast member on spin off Law & Order: Trial by Jury, but he was still a cast member on the original series at the same time.)

Alexandra Borgia

Assistant District Attorney Alexandra Borgia (ten episodes of Season 15, Season 16)

Appearances: Law & Order

Played By: Annie Parisse (Seasons 15-16)

Arthur Branch: So, what now? We pat each other on the back and break out the blue label?

Jack McCoy: Alexandra always hated that.

Arthur Branch: I just assumed she didn't like scotch.

Jack McCoy: The whole old boy ritual. It was a little much for her.

Serena's replacement. A consummate professional who never lets her political views, dictate her conduct.

---

• Cruel and Unusual Death: She was kidnapped and viciously beaten. The beating caused her to vomit, but as she was gagged she choked on it. She choked to death on her own vomit.
• Dropped a Bridge on Him: In the cruelest way possible.
• Flat Character: She really didn't have much of personality beyond the standard "compassionate" assistant, although her conservatism endeared her to Branch.
• Forgotten Fallen Friend: A meta version. In advertisements for Law & Order: LA promoting the upcoming murder of Rex Winters, it was described as "an event not seen on Law & Order in twenty years" referring to the murder of Max Greevey. Apparently Alex Borgia and Danny Ross didn't count.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: She had the shortest tenure of any ADA — a season and a half totaling only 33 episodes.

Connie Rubirosa

Assistant District Attorney Conseula "Connie" Rubirosa

Appearances: Law & Order | Law & Order: LA | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Played By: Alana de la Garza (Seasons 17-20)

Borgia's successor after she got murdered. A people person, but nevertheless committed to see that justice is done. She eventually moved to Los Angeles to look after her mother and move to one of the spinoffs, and then joined the federal government, leading a joint task force to combat underage sex trafficking.

---

• The Cameo: Pops up in the 15th season of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit heading a federal joint task force on underage sex trafficking.
• Dude Magnet: Every other episode has a man commenting on her good looks.
• Embarrassing Old Photo: Deliberately invoked in one episode where they're trying to buy time to verify if the suspect (an attractive young woman) is the same person as a suspect in a previous crime (a much frumpier woman). The judge expresses disbelief it could be the same person, at which point Connie whips out her own much frumpier high school photo and makes her point.

  Cutter: Whoo. I might have had a chance with you back then.

• Fanservice Pack: Between seasons 17 and 18.
• Good Is Not Dumb: She's much, much nicer than Cutter, but it's not a weakness; she's incredibly observant and sometimes her people skills allow her to catch things her colleagues miss.
• Hello, Attorney!: She's a damn good lawyer, and she's about as hot as any character on the show.
• Iconic Sequel Character: One of the most fondly remembered characters of the show, but doesn't make an appearance until the seventeenth season.
• Let's Get Dangerous!: As a second-chair ADA she doesn't get many chances to show off her courtroom skills; she's mostly limited (like all the second-chair ADA characters) to questioning witnesses, doing research, and other second-banana activities. Then in the 18th-season episode "Strike", the Legal Aid office is on strike, so there are no public defenders available. An arraignment judge dragoons Rubirosa into being defense attorney for the murder suspect of the week. She proceeds to kick Cutter's ass hard in court, using all the tricks she's learned from him. She might well have won the case, but Cutter offers a very good plea-bargain and the defendant takes it on Rubirosa's advice.
• The McCoy: She's not the Wide-Eyed Idealist Serena was, but she tends to moderate Cutter's Persecuting Prosecutor streak.
• Transplant: To Law & Order: LA following the series' (initial) conclusion.
• Twofer Token Minority: As a woman and an Hispanic. She's willing to call out whites for not understanding racism or men for not understanding misogyny. To be fair, she also calls out a Straw Feminist for going over the line.
• Unresolved Sexual Tension: With Cutter. She's jealous of his flirting with a legal assistant, and she knows very well that he's in love with her.

Michael Cutter

Executive Assistant District Attorney Michael Cutter

Appearances: Law & Order | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Played By: Linus Roache (Seasons 18-20)

Cyrus Lupo: Is this some sort of sport to you?

Michael Cutter: Stick with your law books, detective. On the page, the law is a much purer thing.

Jack McCoy's successor as EADA when he was appointed District Attorney. Cutter is just as ruthless, but with fewer scruples and a decidedly grayer outlook on justice, which often leads to friction with his new boss.

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• Ambiguously Christian: He could work with witnesses and colleagues who were believers, but kept mum about his own religious background and current beliefs, if any. In "Bogeyman" he suggests to Connie that he might follow the episode's Church of Happyology, but this is probably a troll. This is a contrast to both his Catholic iconoclast predecessor McCoy and McCoy's still-observing predecessor Stone.
• Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Despite their many disagreements, it’s occasionally shown how much he and Jack genuinely respect one another. Two examples are when Jack publicly thanked Cutter for giving him a What the Hell, Hero? for overcharging a group of defendants, and when Cutter bluffed a corrupt governor, who had declared a personal vendetta against Jack, into resigning.
• Commander Contrarian: He disagrees with Jack, a lot — to the point you wonder why he wasn't fired since he usually acts like he's the one in charge.
• Determinator: Like Jack, he'll do anything to win a case. However, unlike Jack, it seems he's less interested in justice and just interested in winning.
• Everyone Has Standards: Despite his love of winning, he refused to let a senile judge stay on the bench, even though the judge kept ruling in his favor.
  • Almost everything involving "Falling" becomes a demonstration of his standards getting so indignant that it actually interferes with his work and pisses both McCoy and the judge off. The result is a marginal assault charge and probation on the defendant and the ambiguously potential death of a disabled child because Cutter wasn't allowed to hound the case further (though a lack of solid evidence doesn't help).
• Expy: His main talent is identifying the beliefs, insecurities, and delusions that motivate criminals, and using them to manipulate a defendant to confess or cooperate, often in a rather spectacular fashion. This makes him very similar to Robert Goren.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: To the police, since he went out of his way to needlessly antagonize during his tenure even Van Buren.
• Foil: He's just as ruthless as McCoy, but he's more cocky, more difficult to work with, disrespectful to his colleagues and all in all seems more interested in winning a case for winning's sake than for justice.
• Iconic Item: His baseball bat.
• Iconic Sequel Character: One of the most fondly remembered characters of the show, but doesn't make an appearance until the eighteenth season.
• Jerkass: Cutter's extremely abrasive, openly contemptuous of Jack, and goes out of his way to needlessly antagonize his colleagues both at the DA's office and with the NYPD, because he's that much of a prick. Special mention goes to the episode "Falling" where he tried to force a family to accept a plea deal that would explicitly forbid them from doing a controversial operation on their disabled daughter that would make it easier for them to care for her —- something the judge overseeing the case had flat out forbid Cutter to do. Jack, who had ordered Cutter to remove it from the deal, personally intervenes at the sentencing hearing to tell the judge the DA's office is having the stipulation removed from the plea deal.
• Jerkass Has a Point: When Detective Ed Green is facing murder charges, McCoy and Rubirosa balk at charging an officer they know so well. Cutter points out that if it were any other cop they (especially McCoy) would be on the warpath, and continually presents alternate theories that would justify the maximum charges, which is what tends to happen with every other defendant. Of course legal ethics would require that they recuse themselves from the case due to a conflict of interest — it speaks volumes about how cold-hearted Cutter is that he felt no hesitation at all in doing it, instead of passing it on to another ADA who never met or worked with Green.
  • He was also right to call out Lupo for the consequences of taking a shortcut.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He may be a Jerkass who seems to focus on winning as a priority rather than the rule of law itself, but he still has his moments of care for Connie and the detectives, and still has bits of morality when defendants really cross the line. If he's actually out to win a case for someone's sake and/or proper justice, he's even more dangerously determined than normal.
• Manipulative Bastard
• Persecuting Prosecutor: Even more so than Jack that even the detectives are appalled by his methods. To wit, during one trial about a company that made drugs and did illegal human trials, he cross-examines Van Buren out of the blue, about her cancer and how she uses the drugs to treat that are made by the company on trial. She is not happy about it at all, to the point she refuses to even speak with him.
  Stick with your law books, detective. On the page, the law is a much purer thing.
• Rank Up: Averted. When he is transferred to SVU, he's been demoted to Bureau Chief of the Sex Crimes Unit.
• Shadow Archetype: To Jack McCoy. Numerous characters accused McCoy of trying to get a win in his cases regardless of how low he had to go, which often rung hollow since the audience knows it's for his personal view of justice - but for Cutter, victory is usually his goal regardless of how moral or reasonable it can be. While both do fight for justice in the D.A.'s office, Cutter is the equivalent of a McCoy who pursues his work with far fewer scruples, right down to similar outrageous stunts and controversial actions that throw the law into disarray. This also drives a lot of the adversarial dynamic between them, because Cutter believes he's just doing what McCoy would have done in his shoes while the Older and Wiser McCoy derides both Cutter and himself over it.
• Smug Snake: His earlier episodes usually had him disobey Jack's order to prove he knew better than the old man... and it always blew up in his face. He got better.
• Tragic Keepsake: He keeps a murder weapon from a trial he lost in his office to remind himself not to take victory for granted, no matter how strong a case appears.
• Ultimate Job Security: You really have to wonder as to why he hasn't been fired yet. Talented lawyer he may be in no way excuses his blatant and open contempt of Jack, his boss. Especially since Jack had no trouble firing an ADA who told him to his face that he couldn't be trusted with the power of the DA's office.
• Unresolved Sexual Tension: At least one person tells Connie that Cutter carries a torch for her. He really does.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Gets called on his more questionable actions often.
  • One time when McCoy chews him out, he points out McCoy did the same thing, only for McCoy has to remind him he got chewed out for what he did and would suffer consequences.
  • At two different times, Connie shortly, but curtly rips into him for using her good looks as a way to win a trial.
  • Van Buren rips him a new asshole after he blindsides her on the witness stand with extremely personal questions about her cancer treatment.
• Transplant: Played a recurring role on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit for one season after the original was cancelled.

Nolan Price

Executive Assistant District Attorney Nolan Price

Appearances: Law & Order

Played By: Hugh Dancy (Seasons 21-)

A former defense attorney hired as by McCoy to take a different perspective on prosecution. Steadfast in his view of the law, he will work a case through and through even when all odds are against him.

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• Contrasting Replacement Character: McCoy and Cutter were uncompromising and would often go to extremes to win cases, occasionally crossing the line into Knight Templar. Price on the other hand is often too willing to undercharge or offer lenient plea bargains to avoid bad publicity or collateral damage.
• Honor Before Reason: In his first episode, Price agrees with the defense that a confession Cosgrove obtained by lying to the suspect is inadmissable (a legal grey area), making it a lot harder for him to win the case.
• It's Personal: "The Great Pretender" reveals that his brother died of an opiate overdose, which is why he's so adamant to go for the head of a pharmaceutical company.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Jack gives him a single line at the end of 21's "Severance". After Colin is found not guilty by reason of insanity, rather than accept defeat, he tries telling Jack that he still thinks Colin was lying as Jack tries to walk out the door. So Jack tells him something his old boss used to say before leaving, while Nolan can only stand there.
  Nolan: I still think he's lying.
  Jack: My old boss, he used to say: "Lawyers who need to be right, lose more cases than those that don't."——
• Unresolved Sexual Tension: With Maroun, seeming to follow the precedent of Jack/Claire and Cutter/Rubirosa.

Samantha Maroun

Assistant District Attorney Samantha Maroun

Appearances: Law & Order

Played By: Odelya Halevi (Seasons 21-)

Connie Rubirosa's successor after the former became an Assistant U.S. Attorney. She provides a more emotional perspective to cases and is often sympathetic to a person's past regardless of their current situation.

---

• Dark and Troubled Past: Her sister was raped and murdered back in Georgia, but police could not file charges despite knowing the killer. "The Right Thing" sees her use this in the closing argument to persuade the jury.
• The McCoy: While not as extreme as Serena, she is more emotionally involved in cases than Price, especially cases that involve women.
• Unresolved Sexual Tension: With Price, seeming to follow the precedent of Jack/Claire and Cutter/Rubirosa.

Nicholas Baxter

District Attorney Nicholas Baxter

Appearances: Law & Order

Played By: Tony Goldwyn (Seasons 23-)

Jack McCoy's successor as District Attorney

Psychologists

Elizabeth Olivet

Dr. Elizabeth Olivet

Appearances: Law & Order | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Law & Order: Trial by Jury

Other Appearances: New York Undercover

Played By: Carolyn McCormick (Seasons 2-7, 9, 13-20)

A psychologist who often interviews people that are claiming to have insanity defenses, and who also assists with profiling defendants. She comes from an academic background, having earned her degree in psychology through a graduate research program. Olivet is generally non-confrontational when talking to her patients. Often inclined to believe that a given client is insane (or was during the time of the crime), and has disagreed with McCoy vehemently when she feels obligated to do so. Appears in 87 episodes between seasons 2-19.

• Broken Bird
• Cowboy Cop: When she goes after a Smug Snake gynecologist who raped one of her patients—only to become a victim herself.
• Did They or Didn't They?: With Logan; she treated him after Greevey's death and they later became friends, but the exact nature of their relationship isn't clarified until Season 18, when Cutter discredits her during a trial by mentioning that she once had a relationship with a detective who she was counseling over the death of his partner (no names are mentioned, but it's fairly evident that it's meant to be Logan). Olivet admits to it, but adds that she stopped treating him once the relationship started.
• Fake Guest Star
• Promotion to Opening Titles: Briefly.
• Rape as Drama: One episode focuses on her being molested and later raped by a gynecologist.

Emil Skoda

Dr. Emil Skoda

Appearances: Law & Order | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Law & Order: Criminal Intent

Other Appearances: New York Undercover

Played By: J. K. Simmons (Seasons 8-15, 20)

A psychiatrist who handles the psych workups required when a defendant pleads an insanity defense, and who also assists in creating profiles of suspects. His background is in practicing medicine; he was a physician with a specialty in psychiatry before becoming an expert witness. Often disinclined to believe that a patient is insane, to the point of arguing with psychologists (such as Olivet, and in one case, the criminal's victim) about it. Appears in 42 episodes between seasons 8-15, and 3 more in season 20.

• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Disappeared after the 2004 season as the actor (J. K. Simmons) got a job on The Closer, but subverted when he appeared again for two episodes in 2010 with no warning.
• Iconic Sequel Character: One of the most fondly remembered characters in the show, but doesn't make an appearance until the eighth season.

Medical Examiners

Elizabeth Rodgers

Dr. Elizabeth Rodgers

Appearances: Law & Order | Exiled: A Law & Order Movie | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Law & Order: Criminal Intent

Played By: Leslie Hendrix (Seasons 2-20)

Rogers: You get used to the smell.

Det. Ed Green: No you don't.

Wise-cracking doctor who figures out why people died. Blasé about her job, to the point of eating lunch in rooms containing corpses. She at least once had to perform an autopsy in a full HAZMAT suit. Appears in 143 episodes throughout seasons 2-20.

• Autopsy Snack Time: Has a habit of eating lunch in the morgue.
• Deadpan Snarker: Big time. A scene with her and Briscoe is a sight to behold.
• Fake Guest Star: She's been on the show longer than any of the regulars.
• Iconic Sequel Character: One of the most fondly remembered characters in the show, but doesn't make an appearance until the second season.
• May–December Romance: At one point she mentions (being in her late thirties or early forties at the time) having a 27-year-old boyfriend.
• Ship Tease: With Lennie Briscoe. They've gone out to the opera at least once, but whatever relationship they may or may not have had is never confirmed.
• Transplant: Briefly to SVU, permanently to Criminal Intent.

Other police officers and police technicians

Laird

Chief of Detectives Laird

Played by: James Biberi

Van Buren's superior. He supports her through her bout with breast cancer. Appears in 3 episodes in seasons 18-20.

• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: When Van Buren is having a bad time with chemotherapy for her cancer and has to resort to smoking marijuana (which was still illegal in New York at the time, even for medical reasons) to get rid of the pain, he notices, comes to her office, and privately gives her advice on how to get and use it without being detected. When she asks why, he says he had testicular cancer a couple of years ago, and he needed marijuana to get through it himself.

Tony Profaci

Detective Tony Profaci

Appearances: Law & Order | Exiled: A Law & Order Movie

Played By: John Fiore

Another detective in the 27th precinct. Friendly and affable. Was working for the mob. Appeared in 45 episodes in seasons 1-9 and played a bigger role in the TV movie Exiled which revealed his ties to the mob, resulting in his arrest. His replacements are even less known than he is.

• Exposition Fairy: Typically does the work that's too boring to show on-screen and shows up to give the info to the main duo.
• Face–Heel Turn: Was revealed to have started working for the mob in the TV movie Exiled.
• Fake Guest Star

Morris LaMotte

Detective Morris LaMotte

Appearances: Law & Order

Played By: Played by: Larry Clarke

Detective who worked with the squad in seasons 9-10. Burly and cheerful. In one episode he went undercover to a Neo-Nazi rally.

• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Disappeared without explanation, to be replaced by Cordova.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: To some extent he was a non-Italian Profaci.

Cordova

Detective Cordova

Appearances: Law & Order

Played By: Played by: Andrea Navedo

A younger Latina detective who apparently replaced Morris Lamotte and lasted from Season 11 to season 14.

• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Replaced without explanation herself by a nameless African-American woman detective.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Like all of the other Profaci replacements, she does basically the same things running information and manning the phones.

Julian Beck

Julian Beck

Appearances: Law & Order

Played By: Played by: John Cariani

A geeky tech who often analyzes evidence that the detectives bring in. Appeared in 26 episodes in seasons 12-17.

• Endearingly Dorky: He's charming and incredibly nerdy.

Myra Camp

Myra Camp

Appearances: Law & Order

Played By: Megan Byrne

A computer expert who works with the police. Appears 6 times in Seasons 12-14.

• Hackette: She is a woman who is very skilled at hacking.

Kenneth Daniels

Kenneth Daniels

Appearances: Law & Order

Played By: John Michael Bolger

A corrupt police officer whose misconduct resulted in a man being convicted of a murder he had not committed. Appeared in one season 14 episode.

• Broken Pedestal: Ed Green thought very highly of him before finding out what he did.
• Rabid Cop: He once badly beat a suspect that he was sure had killed someone. Unfortunately, the suspect's obvious injuries resulted in the whole case being tossed. Rather than accept this, Daniels decided to keep the suspect's murder weapon and to hang onto it until he could frame the suspect for a different murder.

Defense Attorneys

Danielle Melnick

Danielle Melnick

Appearances: Law & Order | Law & Order: Criminal Intent

Other Appearances: Chicago Justice

Played By: Tovah Feldshuh

McCoy's friend and rival. Zealous, crusading attorney, who often takes on cases to make political points. Appeared 13 times, between seasons 2-17.

• Call-Back: After "Open Season," where she is shot in The Tag, she disappears for several seasons. When she returns, she's using a cane.
• Characterization Marches On: In her first few appearances, she's just another of the show's revolving door of Amoral Attorneys who will work for anyone with the money to pay them. She didn't start being portrayed as a crusader until the episode "Hot Pursuit."
• Crusading Lawyer: Melnick is a civil rights extremist — she even defended a neo-Nazi who had shot a personal friend, because the principles were that important to her. Only problem is, they weren't as important to the defendant...
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist: ... who asked her to send messages to the outside world, in defiance of a communication ban. She did, believing that the ban was cruel and unusual punishment. The messages turned out to be the next target for her client's associates to kill. Oops.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Borders strongly into Disproportionate Retribution, but she breached a court's order of a communication ban which caused her client to be able to assassinate district attorneys. McCoy manages to get her (former) client to drop the conspiracy charges on her because she didn't realize what she was causing — only for her to get shot shortly thereafter by another associate of said client who presumably thought she ratted him out. She barely survives.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Once McCoy hit her with the results of her above actions, she immediately realizes just how badly she messed up and how screwed her career would be for it. It doesn't stop her from trying to do her job, though, which ultimately proved the wrong choice to stick to.
• Never My Fault: When arrested for the above actions, she insisted that she was right, the judge was wrong, and gets extremely mad at McCoy for screwing her over by prosecuting her for a crime she did commit. This goes as far as attempting to guilt trip him multiple times about "screwing over a friend", even after he presses her to begrudgingly admit she messed up.
• Too Dumb to Live: Narrowly averted, as she still gets shot for her association with Preuss in "Open Season" under assumption that she sold him out, but this ultimately only gets her crippled.
• Worthy Opponent: She and McCoy are on much friendlier terms than he usually is with defense attorneys. Doesn't stop her from acting like It's Personal when he realizes she's crossed the line in "Open Season", however.

Norman Rothenberg

Professor Norman Rothenberg

Appearances: Law & Order | Law & Order: Trial by Jury

Played By: Jeffrey DeMunn

A law professor who takes cases for rich clientele, Rothenberg delights in setting precedents that will help later cases — even going so far as to throw one case in order to be able to appeal it and have the appellate court rule certain types of searches unconstitutional. He admits that he only cares about the law, not justice. Appeared in 8 episodes, between seasons 4-18.

• Amoral Attorney
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: In his first appearance, he is clearly a stand-in for Alan Dershowitz (just as his client is the Distaff Counterpart of Claus von Bülow).
• Transplant: Becomes a Recurring Character on Law & Order: Trial by Jury.

Shambala Green

Shambala Green

Appearances: Law & Order

Other Appearances: Chicago P.D.

Played By: Lorraine Toussaint

Generally worked for poor defendants. Was often involved on cases involving systematic oppression such as racism and oppression of mentally disabled people. Appeared in 6 episodes in season 1-4, and one additional episode in season 14.

• Malcolm Xerox
• My God, What Have I Done?: In one episode, a riot after a white motorist gets acquitted after knocking down an African-American child and fleeing the scene leads to an African-American man murdering a white man (who was unconnected to the original incident). Green manages to get the latter defendant acquitted after arguing that this actions were motivated and justified by racial anger. She looks quite satisfied with the result... until she looks over and sees the grieving widow of the second victim.
• Straw Feminist
• Worthy Opponent: Ben Stone seems to have have a lot of respect for her, and vice versa.

Lawrence Weaver

Lawrence Weaver

Appearances: Law & Order

Played By: Bob Dishy

Attorney for the rich. Known for being extremely well-prepared. Appeared in 7 episodes between seasons 4 and 12.

Arthur Gold

Arthur Gold

Appearances: Law & Order

Played By: George Grizzard

Shrewd attorney for the rich and high-profile. Stone had a rivalry with him. Appeared in 6 episodes between seasons 2-11.

• Amoral Attorney
• Batman Gambit: Gold could - and often did - goad Ben Stone into mistakes just by playing up his Smug Snake tendencies.
  • One of these backfires on him when it allows Stone to pull a legal maneuver that wouldn't have been possible if he hadn't been manipulated into his action in the first place.
• Foil: Gold was explicitly designed to embody everything the relentlessly honorable Stone despised. Even his name is a foil for Stone's. (This is why he disappeared after Stone was replaced by McCoy: not enough of a contrast.)
• Manipulative Bastard
• Smug Snake
• Worthy Opponent: A one-sided version at least, since he seemed to genuinely enjoy sparring with Stone (albeit in a rather arrogant, belittling fashion). Stone, conversely, viewed Gold with little more than cold contempt.

Leon Chiles

Leon Chiles

Appearances: Law & Order

Played By: Joe Morton

A lawyer who tends to use affirmative defenses (e.g., "My client did it, but for a good reason.") Notable for having one of the best records of all the show's recurring defense attorneys; his clients were only convicted twice, and one of those was then appealed, with the outcome undetermined at the end of the episode. He appeared in 4 episodes in seasons 10-15.

• Asshole Victim: Chiles argued this at least three times. It worked when he argued that a former Black Panther was justified in shooting a cop because the cops had oppressed the black community, and when he argued that the father of a dead soldier was justified in killing a guy because the other guy insulted the military in front of him. It failed when he argued that a basketball player was justified in killing a guy who was harassing him and his family.
• Malcolm Xerox: In 'Burn Baby Burn', he turned in to this in order to argue that a former Black Panther who killed a white cop shouldn't be jailed.

Randall J. Dworkin

Randall 'Randy' J. Dworkin, Esq.

Appearances: Law & Order | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Played By: Peter Jacobson

A jovial and goofy lawyer, nicknamed 'Squirt', who at first disgusts McCoy but eventually earns his respect. His perpetual irreverence irritates judges, and his creative defenses often frustrate the prosecution. Appears in 3 episodes in seasons 13-16, as well as two more episodes in season 19 of SVU.

• Beware the Silly Ones: He jokes his way through court proceedings and acts like an Ascended Fanboy getting to go up against the legendary Jack McCoy, but proves to be an incredibly wily opponent. In Dworkin's first episode, McCoy barely scrapes out a victory, and in his second McCoy has to trick the defense into accepting a plea by pretending he has evidence he doesn't really have.
  • In his second SVU appearance, he beats McCoy to get an acquittal of a guy that had actually confessed on the stand to the murder he was charged with. He managed to convince the jury that the victim, a brain-dead person, shouldn't really be considered 'alive' to begin with. Notably, McCoy had successfully prosecuted another guy who killed a brain-dead person back in season 8... but that other guy wasn't defended by Dworkin.
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: He dresses like a slob (well, for a lawyer) and talks like a newbie fresh out of law school, and it doesn't seem to be an act. He even tries to banter with judges, which is never a good idea. But he's also a brilliant master of the law and of legal procedures. Most defense attorneys have to work hard just to keep up with McCoy; McCoy has to work hard and stretch to his limit to keep up with Dworkin.
• Chewbacca Defense: Dworkin pretty much operates on this.
• Worthy Opponent: After McCoy learns that his Bunny Ears tendencies are an obfuscation for genuine legal talent. He warns his ADA not to dismiss him. During one trial they have a serious ex parte moment. They share a drink, each admitting they feel terrible about the trial. McCoy because he hates that he's winning using evidence produced by torture, Dworkin because he's defending a man who's vile trash and glad that he's losing.

Neil Gorton

Neil Gorton

Played by: Keith Szarabajka

Jamie Ross's ex-husband. He started off only defending the innocent, but eventually attracted the attention of a client who was guilty of violent crimes but had very deep pockets. Gorton and Ross got the man acquitted, and he went on to commit more crimes. Gorton is willing to do anything to win a trial, including exploiting the terms of his divorce settlement with Ross (which requires them to spend a set number of hours with their children; Gorton, who runs a big law firm, can delegate to his assistants so he can spend the requisite number of hours at home, but Ross, working for the government, can't, putting her custody of the children at risk). Appeared in 3 episodes in season 7.

• Amoral Attorney
• Disappeared Dad
• Evil Sounds Deep
• Smug Snake

Rodney Fallon

Rodney Fallon

Appearances: Law & Order

Played By: Giancarlo Esposito

A defense attorney who often advocates for the downtrodden. Appears in 3 episodes in seasons 14-15.

• Butt-Monkey: Turns into this in 'Vendetta.' Not only is he repeatedly humiliated by McCoy, but his client abducts him and ties him up in a bathroom. There's also the time his deranged client fires him in 'Locomotion' over his own vehement objections.

Mildred Kaskel

Mildred Kaskel

Appearances: Law & Order

Played By: Joyce Reehling

A defense attorney who specializes in affirmative defenses for women claiming to have been abused. Appeared in 2 episodes in season 5.

• Straw Feminist: She defends these, and she is one herself. She even resorts to blatant racism in order to convince a jury that one of her clients was abused by a Japanese man (and thus should be acquitted for killing him).

Stan Shatenstein

Stan Shatenstein

Appearances: Law & Order | Law & Order: Criminal Intent

Played By: Sig Libowitz

An incompetent pro bono defense attorney. Appears twice in the main series, once in season 8 and once in season 15, and also appears once on Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

• Alliterative Name: Stan Shatenstei'n'
• Butt-Monkey: He's bad enough at his job that he usually up as this whenever he goes up against the prosecutors. In his appearance on Criminal Intent, Carver flat-out calls him the worst pro bono attorney he knows.
• Embarrassing Last Name: The first four letters of his last name are 'shat.'

Marcus Woll

Marcus Woll

Appearances: Law & Order

Played By: Jonathan Cake

A stereotypically oily defense attorney, who's an ex-DA. Turned out be more corrupt than anyone suspected.

• Amoral Attorney
• Evil All Along: Arranged to have a defense witness murdered while with the DA's office.
• Face–Heel Turn
• Smug Snake

Jessica Sheets

Jessica Sheets

Appearances: Law & Order

Played By: Susan Floyd

A pro bono defense attorney known for taking controversial cases no one else wants to defend. She makes one appearance each in seasons 13, 14, and 16.

• Amoral Attorney: This is her public image because of the kinds of people she defends; in practice her job is to defend the clients assigned to her and she does her job to the best of her ability. In the same episode, she all but begs McCoy to help her get removed from the case of a client who threatened her life, while also refusing to openly state that he threatened her life because that could constitute a violation of attorney-client privilege. If nothing else, she takes the code of ethics very, very seriously.
• Conditioned to Accept Horror: Her clients include a father who raped and murdered his very young daughter; an 11-year-old who decapitated his mother and displayed her head outside a church; and a man who committed a horrific mass shooting for no apparent reason.
• Everyone Has Standards: Despite being used to dealing with any number of horrific cases, serial killer Mark Bruner terrifies her to the point that she refuses to defend him. She doesn't oppose remand at his bail hearing, goes straight to the prosecutors to try and plead him out, and finally resorts to more or less begging them not to oppose her motion to recuse herself.

Judges

Gary Feldman

Judge Gary Feldman

Appearances: Law & Order

Played By: Cliff Gorman

A judge with political ambitions, who wanted to base his campaign around targeting drunk drivers. He collaborated with McCoy to hide evidence in a case involving a drunk driver who killed three people. When McCoy backed out of the scheme, he vowed revenge and went on to run against Adam Schiff. He was backed by Carl Anderton ('Burned'), who wanted revenge on Schiff for his own reasons. Appeared 3 times in Season 8.

• Amoral Attorney
• Corrupt Politician
• Knight Templar

Morris Torledsky

Judge Morris Torledsky

Appearances: Law & Order | Law & Order: Trial by Jury

Played By: David Lipman

"Your client is getting dangerously close to the textbook definition of chutzpah!"

An arraigning judge who enlivens his boring job with witty comments to his judgments.

• Deadpan Snarker

William Wright

Judge William Wright

Appearances: Law & Order | Law & Order: Trial by Jury

Played By: Ron McLarty

A judge whose defining characteristic was disagreeing with McCoy on everything. Notable appearances included setting aside a 'guilty' verdict for three boys convicted of raping a mentally disabled girl ('Damaged') and setting aside a 'guilty' verdict when McCoy convicted a gun dealer of murder due to his unethical business practices ('Gunshow'). In his final episode, 'Dissonance,' Nora Lewin threatened that she would destroy him unless he judged the trial fairly. Appeared in 4 episodes between seasons 8-11.

• Alliterative Name: William Wright.
• Depending on the Writer Whether Wright is reasonable or not varies drastically depending on the episode that he's in. In "Gunshow", the episode takes his side, indicating that the gun dealer, while evil, hadn't actually violated any law, and that McCoy was basically engaging in prosecutorial misconduct by trying to get him convicted for being a bad guy, not for violating any actual statute. In "Damaged", on the other hand, Wright is shown as a heartless and stupid jerk who refuses to even consider that the mentally disabled girl could have been raped, even though McCoy provided ample evidence that the girl was incapable of consenting to sex.
• "Not If They Enjoyed It" Rationalization: Wright's reasoning for why he wouldn't reverse his decision to set aside the guilty verdict in "Damaged".
• What the Hell, Hero?: Calls out the jury for convicting the three boys of rape.

Janice Goldberg

Judge Janice Goldberg

Appearances: Law & Order | Law & Order: Criminal Intent

Played By: Fran Lebowitz

A sarcastic and outspoken arraignment judge. She makes 12 appearances between seasons 11-17, and one in season five of Criminal Intent.

• Deadpan Snarker: Has a dry one-liner for pretty much every case.
• Seen It All: She frequently displays this attitude throughout her cases.
• The Unapologetic: Refuses to back down or apologize when a defence attorney wants to force her to recuse from the case on the grounds that she's a vocal opponent of the defendant's father, a Senator.

Politicians

Carl Anderton

Carl Anderton

Appearances: Law & Order

Played By: Robert Vaughn

An old friend of Adam Schiff's. When his son was arrested for murder, he refused to allow his grandson to plea to an insanity defense, even though it would get his son better treatment. It turned out that this was because his grandson's insanity was genetic, and if it were known that his son had the illness, people would suspect him of having it too. When Schiff refused to allow him to sacrifice his son, Anderton sponsored Judge Feldman in the forthcoming election for District Attorney. Appeared 3 times in season 8. Played by Robert Vaughn.

Donald Shalvoy

Governor Donald Shalvoy

Appearances: Law & Order

Played By: Tom Everett Scott

At first an ally of McCoy, he turned against the district attorney when McCoy said he'd reveal that Shalvoy was seeing prostitutes as part of a case. Shalvoy then sabotaged the case and began trying to destroy McCoy, going so far as to sponsor someone to run against him in the next elections. He appeared 4 times in seasons 18-19.

• Antagonistic Governor
• Arch-Enemy: To McCoy. Everything that Jack tries to do involving stuff that Shalvoy happens to be involved with ends up with the latter stonewalling investigations and screwing him over to cover his own ass, to the point that he works entirely against all of McCoy's habits and standards like he knows them personally. This becomes notable when Cutter has the chance to rip into him instead and shuts down Shalvoy so hard by not being McCoy that Shalvoy resigns.
• Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Shalvoy tries to bring down former ally Jack McCoy after the latter attempts to expose his use of prostitutes, he then offers to take down new ally Joe Chappel, McCoy's rival for District Attorney, to bribe McCoy, and then sells out his own WIFE to keep from losing his position as Governor.
• Corrupt Politician
• Hate Sink: By the time the season 19 finale rolls around, you're rooting for his downfall.
• It's All About Me: He constantly harasses McCoy with proclamations that the latter's trying to run for politics and get in his way, and stonewalls multiple investigations because they happen to draw publicity onto his own reputation. When he's finally one-upped by McCoy, he ends up even giving up his wife to save his ass to avoid any potential backlash.
• Jerkass: If anything is to be taken from Shalvoy, it's that he's universally a massive douche the moment he stopped treating McCoy as a friend.
• Karma Houdini: Repeatedly obstructs the District Attorneys and Detectives throughout his four episodes, escaping any comeuppance for three of them and turning cases dead cold in the process. However...
• Karma Houdini Warranty: This doesn't last forever, as in his final episode he's pressured so hard by Cutter that he has no seeming choice but to resign from being Governor in face of the backlash from the line-up of prostitutes he kept visiting that were tied to the Excalibur case. The best part? When McCoy confronts him on it with disapproval of potential blackmailing, Cutter just had a blank white sheet of paper, legally bluffing Shalvoy into a complete and utter loss.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Pissing off the New York City district attorneys by constantly sticking his nose into their business and ruining several cases ends up causing both McCoy and Cutter to start learning how to deal with his bullshit, ironic given his work to avoid any attention at all usually.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: Starts out as a thinly vieled Expy of New York Governor Elliot Spitzer, then became a thinly veiled Expy of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich.
• Our Presidents Are Different: President Corrupt and President Playboy.
• Smug Snake

Others

Deborah Curtis

Deborah Curtis

Appearances: Law & Order

Played By: Pat Moya

Rey Curtis' wife.

• Bus Crash: She was diagnosed with MS. Curtis ended up leaving when her condition deteriorated. The next time she comes up, is at Curtis's next appearance at her funeral.

Cathy Briscoe

Cathy Briscoe

Appearances: Law & Order

Played By: Jennifer Estlin

One of Briscoe's daughters, who isn't very close to him. Gets caught up in a drug operation, with fatal consequences.

• Character Death: Is murdered by her drug dealer after testifying against him to reduce her own charges.
• Deadpan Snarker: Gets it from her dad.
• Parental Neglect: Briscoe neglected her and her sister Julia when they were younger due to his alcoholism.

Valerie Knight

Dr. Valerie Knight

Appearances: Law & Order

Played By: Deirdre O'Connell

Van Buren's doctor, who treated her when she developed ovarian cancer. Appeared in 4 episodes in season 20.

John Robertson

John Robertson

Appearances: Law & Order

Played By: Keith David

The former Bronx DA, who had an antagonistic relationship with Lewin and McCoy. He appears in one episode of season 11 and is referenced in other episodes during this season.

• Glory Hound: He is prepared to let an innocent man serve a life sentence for a murder he didn't commit, just to protect the reputation of the Bronx DA's office.
• Jurisdiction Friction: He absolutely hates anyone else claiming a case that he sees as rightfully his division.
• Laser-Guided Karma: By season 12, Robertson had been replaced as Bronx DA - suggesting that the fall-out of his actions either forced him to resign or led to him being swiftly voted out of office.
• Never My Fault: He refuses to entertain the possibility that he may have convicted the wrong suspect, instead accusing Lewin of trying to undermine his authority.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: He is blatantly an Expy of the controversial real-life Bronx DA Robert Johnson, to the point where a disclaimer had to be aired with the episode.
• Obstructive Bureaucrat: He and his EADA behave this way to deflect scrutiny of their actions.

Notable Suspects

Jacob Lowenstein

Jacob Lowenstein

Appearances: Law & Order

Played by: David Groh

A drug-dealing therapist who was tried for the murder of his young daughter. Killed in a deliberate hit-and-run fifteen years later after being paroled.

• 0% Approval Rating: Absolutely nobody in the regular cast grieves for him after his maiming and eventual death. And the person who did it (the therapist who treated him in prison) ends up getting acquitted.
• Back for the Dead: After a fifteen-year absence, he is let out on parole and promptly run over.
• Domestic Abuse: Was nothing but an abusive monster to his wife and children, and showed no signs of changing after being paroled.
• It's All About Me: Exhibits total disregard for everybody but himself in both of his appearances. After his hit-and-run he has the nerve to ask why anybody would want to hurt him.

Michael Dobson

Michael Dobson

Appearances: Law & Order

Played by: Larry Miller

A comedy club owner (later restauranteur) who is investigated for the murders of both his wives.

• The Bluebeard: Arranged the deaths of both his wives after taking out lavish life insurance policies on both of them, and would have inevitably done the same to his probable third if she hadn't turned state's witness.
• Karma Houdini Warranty: Was released in "Coma" when the charges against him were dropped, only to be sent to prison in "Encore".
• Smug Snake: It comes with the territory of being a comedian portrayed by Larry Miller.

Mark Bruner

Mark Bruner

Appearances: Law & Order

Played by: Ritchie Coster

A taxi driver and Serial Killer responsible for the deaths of seventeen teenaged girls.

• Ax-Crazy: A subdued but no less unnerving example.
• The Dreaded: Briscoe and Green are immediately put on edge when they meet him, Southerlyn is creeped out by him, and the defense attorney who initially takes his case ends up literally begging McCoy to help her get reassigned.
• Nightmare Fetishist: Keeps the bodies of his victims at a location he refuses to disclose, and shows them off to his next defense attorney.
• Nightmare Fuel Station Attendant: The detectives draw their weapons on Bruner when he approaches them with a knife, which he is actually using to cut cheese.
• Serial Killer: Killed seventeen girls by the time Briscoe and Green caught up with him.
• Troll: Spends the latter half of his episode refusing to divulge the location of the victims' bodies, for the sheer fun of it. He showed the bodies to his lawyer, who refuses to give up the info himself citing attorney-client privilege.

Lorraine Dillon and April Troost

Lorraine Dillon and April Troost

Appearances: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Law & Order

Played by: Lynda Carter (Lorraine), Estella Warren (April)

A mother-and-daughter team of brilliant con artists.

• Karma Houdini Warranty: Manage to avoid prison in SVU. They are not so lucky on the main show.
• No Honor Among Thieves: April perjures herself by blaming Lorraine for a murder she committed, resulting in Lorraine being imprisoned. Lorraine ends up returning the favor by giving up April in exchange for a lesser sentence.
• Would Hurt a Child: April is so ice-cold that she refuses to give up the location of her newborn baby (which she conceived solely to carry out a blackmail scam) until after she is assured she has immunity. Later it's revealed that April previously buried a previous infant son over a birth defect, when the baby was alive.

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