‘The Good Doctor’ Sets Backdoor Pilot For ‘The Good Lawyer’ Legal Spin-Off On ABC

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‘The Good Doctor‘ may be getting a spin-off series if all goes to plan, as ABC announces a backdoor pilot for legal drama ‘The Good Lawyer’.

‘The Good Lawyer’ comes from David Shore and Liz Friedman, EPs on the main series, and would centre on Joni, a 20-something woman who battles OCD but is a brilliant lawyer. The pilot episode will be slotted into the season six run of ‘The Good Doctor’, and would see Joni as the defence attorney for Shaun (Freddie Highmore) who finds himself in legal trouble.

Relatively new to her upscale law firm, Joni, who is funny, eager, self-aware and a bit anxious, is part of Shaun’s legal defence team. Despite breezing through law school and her Bar exam, Joni’s 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 by her symptoms. She is a great lawyer, using her attention to detail, compulsive over-thinking and analytical skills as a superpower, but 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 behaviours.

In addition to seeing Joni, the pilot episode would introduce us to Jane, a highly regarded attorney and partner at the firm. Armed with a fierce intellect and a dry, rapier wit, Janet has represented Dr. Glassman (Richard Schiff) in several legal matters over the course of 30 years. So when Shaun gets into legal problems, Glassman turns to her to represent his protégé. Having seen it all, Janet has developed a cynical side, which contributed to her attempt to fire Joni. But when Shaun declares that he wants Joni to represent him, Janet is forced to give Joni the rope to possibly hang both of them.

David Shore and Liz Friedman would executive produce ‘The Good Lawyer’ with Erin Gunn for Shore Z. Sony TV and ABC Signature would co-produce the series.

This would be the second recent procedural spin-off for ABC, having recently ordered ‘The Rookie: Feds’ which is due to land on the US network in September (no sign of it in the UK yet.) We should stress, The Good Lawyer’ is only a pilot at the moment, so might not go to series. Casting is underway for the roles of Joni and Jane.

‘The Good Doctor‘ airs on Sky Witness and streaming service NOW in the UK.