The medical series The Good Doctor is getting a legal drama spinoff called The Good Lawyer.
The in-development potential series at ABC will be introduced as a backdoor pilot during The Good Doctor’s upcoming season 6. Sources told Deadline that two main characters from The Good Lawyer, Joni and Janet, will first appear in season 6, episode 13 of The Good Doctor.
What will The Good Lawyer be about?
Written by The Good Doctor co-showrunners David Shore and Liz Friedman, The Good Lawyer will focus on Joni, a brilliant 20-something female lawyer who battles obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Funny, eager, self-aware, and a bit anxious, Joni aced law school and her Bar exam, but her OCD symptoms take a severe toll on her personal and professional life. Living with OCD, Joni has never wanted to be treated differently and is often embarrassed of her symptoms.
Despite all these, Joni is a great lawyer. Though she’s a relatively new recruit to her upscale law firm, Joni’s attention to detail, compulsive over-thinking, and analytical skills have proven time and again that she’s one of the best in the field. She, however, was forced to threaten to sue the firm for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act when they tried to fire her because of her peculiar behaviors.
One superior at the firm involved in the attempt to fire Joni is Janet, a highly-regarded attorney and partner at the firm who has represented The Good Doctor’s Dr. Aaron Glassman (Richard Schiff) in several legal matters throughout the years.
When The Good Doctor lead character Dr. Shaun Murphy (Freddie Highmore) finds himself in legal trouble, Aaron turns to Janet to represent Shaun. But when Shaun declares that he wants Joni to represent him, the cynical Janet, who is known for her fierce intellect and dry, rapier wit, is forced to reconsider her assessment of Joni.
While Janet and Joni resemble the mentor-mentee pair of The Good Doctor’s Aaron and Shaun, the dynamic between the two The Good Lawyer characters is different, at least on the beginning of the potential series.
Friedman executive produces The Good Lawyer alongside Shore and Erin Gunn who exec produce for Shore Z. Sony TV and ABC Signature, which co-produce The Good Doctor, also co-produce The Good Lawyer.
The Good Lawyer cast
Casting details for The Good Lawyer are not yet known, but Deadline noted that the role of Joni is listed as open to all ethnicities and abilities.
The Good Lawyer release date
The Good Lawyer doesn’t have a release date yet. The decision on whether or not the project will be picked up to series is expected to come out after it aired its backdoor pilot.
The Good Doctor season 6 release date
The Good Doctor season 6 is set to premiere on Monday, October 3rd 2022, at 10 p.m. ET on ABC.