NBC lawyers up for L&O spin-off

Law & Order: SVU is said to be TV’s longest-running live-action series

NBC in the US has handed a straight-to-series order to another Law & Order spin-off, this time focusing on the role of lawyers within the criminal justice system.

Law & Order: For the Defense marks the latest extension to the popular and long-running TV franchise.

Carol Mendelsohn (CSI) will serve as showrunner and executive producer of the show, along with Law & Order creator Dick Wolf, plus Arthur Forney, Julie Weitz and Peter Jankowski.

The series will be produced by Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, and Wolf Entertainment.

DIck Wolf

The show promises to take an “unbiased look” inside a criminal defence firm, putting the lawyers under the microscope, along with the criminal justice system with every week delivering the promise of a contemporary morality tale, NBC said.

“We spent the last 30 years on shows that played offence. Now it will be great to play defence, and being able to do it with Carol is an honour and an opportunity for both of us to do television that hasn’t been done before,” said Wolf.

“We can’t wait to bring audiences the latest chapter of Law & Order, which will explore a different angle of the criminal justice system,” added Lisa Katz, president of scripted programming at NBCUniversal’s television and streaming unit.

The Law & Order brand has been a stalwart of the NBC schedule dating back to the original Emmy-winning Law & Order, which debuted in 1990.

Law & Order: SVU, starring Mariska Hargitay, is currently in its 22nd season, making it the longest-running live-action series in the history of television.

Wolf is also the executive producer of the brand’s most recent instalment, Law & Order: Organized Crime, which premiered last month.

In addition to the Law & Order brand, Wolf is the executive producer of the Chicago franchise on NBC, as well as FBI and FBI Most Wanted on CBS.