I'm trying to get a list together of all the recurring defense lawyers. Please add to the list; I'll add more as time permits.

*Danielle Melnick (Tovah Feldshuh): 11 episodes. Tenacious, aggressive. Frequent rival of Jack McCoy.

*Norman Rothenberg (Jeffrey DeMunn): 7 episodes--plus TBJ appearance. Law professor. Seems to represent scumbags frequently.

*Shambala Green (Lorraine Toussaint): 7 episodes. Legal aid attorney. Frequent rival of Ben Stone. After a long absence, returned in 2002.

*Peter Behrens (Tom O'Rourke): 6 episodes plus a TBJ appearance (I think). More often now seen as a judge on SVU.

*Helen Brolin (Maria Tucci): 6 episodes.

*Arthur Gold (George Grizzard): 6 episodes. Wealthy, venal lawyer. Ben Stone's personal nemesis.

*Charles Garnett (James Rebhorn): 5 episodes. One of my personal favorites.

*Anne Paulsen (Glynnis O'Connor): 5 episodes.

*Lionel Granger (David Thornton): 1 episode plus 4 SVU appearances.

*Sally Bell (Edie Falco): 4 episodes. Legal aid attorney--capable.

*Leon Chiles (Joe Morton): 4 episodes.

*James Granick (Ned Eisenberg): 4 episodes. Capable if somewhat obnoxious. Basically the same character as Eisenberg's SVU nemesis, Roger Kressler. Eisenberg also played "Jerry Kleinert," in the L&O movie and in an SVU episode.

*Al Archer (Dennis Boutsikaris): 3 episodes. Law professor interested in defense theory.

*Rodney Falon (Giancarlo Esposito): 3 episodes. Kind of a theatrical attorney--tends to get on soapboxes.

*Erica Gardner (Kate Burton): 3 episodes. Good attorney, good relationship w/Jack McCoy.

*Dan Metzler (John Cunningham): 3 episodes. Cunningham has played several one-shot attorneys, all basically the same character.

*Richard Berkley (Dennis Boutsikaris): 2 episodes. Generally represents wealthy/corporate clients.

*Julia DeBakey (Charlotte Moore): 2 episodes. Attorney concerned about civil freedoms.

*Adele Diamond (Cynthia Harris): 2 episodes. Harris also played the one-shot lawyer Ms. Gifford.

*Randall Dworkin (Peter Jacobson): 2 episodes. Humorous, flamboyant lawyer, unafraid of using cheap tactics like race-baiting.

*Brad Feldman (Bruce Altman): 2 episodes.

*Vanessa Galliano (Roma Maffia): 2 episodes.

*Marge Lawson (Katherine Borowitz): 2 episodes.

*Gary Lowenthal (Eric Bogosian): 2 episodes. Capable lawyer not afraid to tackle controversial, racial cases.

*Ruthie Miller (Patti LuPone): 2 episodes. Extremely flamboyant.

*Howard Pincham (Chris Sarandon): 2 episodes.

*Lanie Stieglitz (Elaine Stritch): 2 episodes. Tenacious and ethical lawyer. Former law school colleague of Ben Stone.

*Wendy Weiss (Mimi Leiber): 2 episodes.

*Gerard Wills (Gerry Becker): 2 episodes. Scumbag lawyer--probably guilty of witness intimidation.


You can also add purely SVU lawyers, such as Oliver Gates (Barry Bostwick) and his 3 episodes with his chuckleheaded defenses.

Yay! Awesome idea.

I liked Shambala Green a lot.

I still see Bostwick as Mayor Winston.

Whatabout that sleazebag Connors? He was in one episode of L&O. I thought he'd be disbarred, but he was back, in an episode of TBJ.
And, there's this balding, middle aged defense attorney named Gillum (sp?) Last I saw the actor, he played a judge on (I think) L&O.

Gerry Bamman played Stan Gillum in four episodes of L&O. (I could have sworn it was more, but maybe TNT runs those episodes more.) He has also played other roles, such as the aforementioned judge. More on him here.

Peter Gerety was Dean Connors on episode of L&O and TBJ each. In TBJ he was a legal aid attorney.

Jamie Ross did appear as a defense lawyer twice, I think. On TBJ she apparently gained a judgeship and was in a few episodes.

I remember "School Daze" where she squares off against Abbie Carmichael. Is there another?

I thought it was twice, though there are so many episodes I may be confused.

I wonder if they will ever have Judge Ross on any of the other shows?

Bamman actually played his first defense attorney in "Guardian" as Jon Cypher's lawyer (not Gillum). He is very noticeable--he has a a nice role as an IAB jerk in "The Blue Wall" in the first season and as a bad guy in the SVU episode "Wrong is Right."

David Lipman played wisecracking arraignment Judge Toroletsky on Law & Order. Now, he plays Judge Cohen on SVU. I can't understand why they had to change the character's name, especially since many viewers watch both series.

Steven Weber played a defense lawyer in tonight's SVU finale.

Jack Gilpin played a lawyer named Axtell in four episodes of Law & Order. I wonder why the writers never gave the character a first name. And again, I could have sworn Gilpin played Axtell in more than just four episodes.