New 'Law & Order' Spinoff Gets Series Order at NBC

Yet another Law & Order spinoff is making its way to NBC. On Monday, Deadline reported that NBC gave a straight-to-series order for Law & Order: For the Defense. The show was created by Dick Wolf, who is also the creator behind Law & Order, which initially premiered in 1990, and its many spinoffs including Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and, most recently, Law & Order: Organized Crime.

As the name suggests, Law & Order: For the Defense will take viewers into a criminal defense firm. Not only will the show focus on the lawyers and their respective cases, but it will also shine a light on the criminal justice system in the United States. Wolf is partnering with Carol Mendelsohn, who has worked on CSI, for this new series. She will serve as Law & Order: For the Defense's showrunner. In response to the news about the newest show in the Law & Order franchise, Wolf released a statement in which he said that he couldn't be more "excited" about this new series. The creator said, "This new show is exciting for me personally. We spent the last 30 years on shows that played offense. Now it will be great to play defense, and being able to do it with Carol is an honor and an opportunity for both of us to do television that hasn't been done before."

Law & Order: For the Defense is one of the many spin-offs from the original Law & Order series that NBC has produced over the years. Other spin-offs include Law & Order: SVU, Law & Order: Organized Crime, Law & Order: True Crime, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Law & Order: Trial by Jury, and Law & Order: Los Angeles. Lisa Katz, the President of Scripted Programming for NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, released a statement about the spin-off news, noting that the network is thrilled to add another show to the popular drama show's ever-growing franchise.

"We can't wait to bring audiences the latest chapter of Law & Order, which will explore a different angle of the criminal justice system," Katz said. "We're excited about Dick Wolf's perpetually thought-provoking approach as well his collaboration with Carol Mendelsohn, who we have been eager to do a series with for a long time." The news about another Law & Order spinoff comes about a month after Law & Order: Organized Crime premiered on NBC. The show stars Christopher Meloni as he reprises his role of Elliot Stabler, which he originated on Law & Order: SVU.