List of Law & Order characters

The American television police procedural and legal drama Law & Order (1990–2010 and 2022–present) follows the fictional cases of a group of police detectives and prosecutors who represent the public in the criminal justice system. Each season features a main cast of six main characters: two detectives and their supervising officer (Law), alongside two prosecuting district attorneys and the Manhattan District Attorney (& Order).

The series, with a run of more than 20 seasons to date, is known for its revolving cast, with most of its original having left the show within the first five seasons.^[1] The progression of the record for longest serving main cast members of the series is: Jerry Orbach as Det. Lennie Briscoe (1992–2004, 274 episodes), S. Epatha Merkerson as Lt. Anita Van Buren (1993–2010, 390 episodes) and Sam Waterston as EADA/DA Jack McCoy (1994–2010 and 2022–2024, 405 episodes).

Characters

Character	Portrayed by	Position	Seasons
Character	Portrayed by	Position	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	M	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25
Max Greevey	George Dzundza	Senior Detective Sergeant	M	Does not appear
Mike Logan	Chris Noth	Junior Detective	M					Does not appear				M	Does not appear
Donald Cragen	Dann Florek	Captain	M			Does not appear	G	Does not appear				M	G	Does not appear				G	Does not appear
Ben Stone	Michael Moriarty	Executive Assistant District Attorney	M				Does not appear
Paul Robinette	Richard Brooks	Assistant District Attorney	M			Does not appear		G	Does not appear										G		Does not appear
Adam Schiff	Steven Hill	District Attorney	M									Does not appear	M	Does not appear
Phil Cerreta	Paul Sorvino	Senior Detective Sergeant	Does not appear	M		Does not appear
Lennie Briscoe	Jerry Orbach	Senior Detective	Does not appear		M													Does not appear
Anita Van Buren	S. Epatha Merkerson	Lieutenant	Does not appear			M																		Does not appear
Claire Kincaid	Jill Hennessy	Assistant District Attorney	Does not appear			M			Does not appear
Jack McCoy	Sam Waterston	Executive Assistant District Attorney Interim Assistant District Attorney District Attorney	Does not appear				M																				Does not appear
Rey Curtis	Benjamin Bratt	Junior Detective	Does not appear					M					Does not appear										G	Does not appear
Jamie Ross	Carey Lowell	Assistant District Attorney	Does not appear						M		Does not appear		G		Does not appear									G	Does not appear
Abbie Carmichael	Angie Harmon	Assistant District Attorney	Does not appear								M	Does not appear	M		Does not appear
Ed Green	Jesse L. Martin	Junior Detective Senior Detective	Does not appear										M									Does not appear
Nora Lewin	Dianne Wiest	Interim District Attorney	Does not appear											M		Does not appear
Serena Southerlyn	Elisabeth Röhm	Assistant District Attorney	Does not appear												M				Does not appear
Arthur Branch	Fred Thompson	District Attorney	Does not appear													M					Does not appear
Joe Fontana	Dennis Farina	Senior Detective	Does not appear															M		Does not appear
Nick Falco	Michael Imperioli	Junior Detective	Does not appear															M	G	Does not appear
Alexandra Borgia	Annie Parisse	Assistant District Attorney	Does not appear															M		Does not appear
Nina Cassady	Milena Govich	Junior Detective	Does not appear																	M	Does not appear
Connie Rubirosa	Alana de la Garza	Assistant District Attorney	Does not appear																	M				Does not appear
Cyrus Lupo	Jeremy Sisto	Junior Detective Senior Detective	Does not appear																		M			Does not appear
Michael Cutter	Linus Roache	Executive Assistant District Attorney	Does not appear																		M			Does not appear
Kevin Bernard	Anthony Anderson	Junior Detective Senior Detective	Does not appear																		M				Does not appear
Frank Cosgrove	Jeffrey Donovan	Junior Detective Senior Detective	Does not appear																					M		Does not appear
Kate Dixon	Camryn Manheim	Lieutenant	Does not appear																					M			Does not appear
Nolan Price	Hugh Dancy	Executive Assistant District Attorney	Does not appear																					M
Samantha Maroun	Odelya Halevi	Assistant District Attorney	Does not appear																					M
Jalen Shaw	Mehcad Brooks	Junior Detective Senior Detective	Does not appear																						M			Does not appear
Vincent Riley	Reid Scott	Junior Detective Senior Detective	Does not appear																							M
Nicholas Baxter	Tony Goldwyn	District Attorney	Does not appear																							M
Jessica Brady	Maura Tierney	Lieutenant	Does not appear																								M
Theo Walker	David Ajala	Junior Detective	Does not appear																									M

Main characters

Actor	Character	Rank/Position	Seasons		Notes
Actor	Character	Rank/Position	Regular	Guest	Notes
George Dzundza	Max Greevey	Senior Detective Sergeant	1
Chris Noth	Mike Logan	Junior Detective	1–5		Appeared in Exiled
Dann Florek	Donald Cragen	Captain	1–3	5, 10 & 15	Appeared in Exiled
Michael Moriarty	Ben Stone	Executive Assistant District Attorney	1–4
Richard Brooks	Paul Robinette	Assistant District Attorney	1–3	6, 16 & 17
Steven Hill	Adam Schiff	District Attorney	1–10
Paul Sorvino	Phil Cerreta	Senior Detective Sergeant	2 & 3
Jerry Orbach	Lennie Briscoe	Senior Detective	3–14		Appeared in Exiled
S. Epatha Merkerson	Anita Van Buren	Lieutenant	4–20		Appeared in Exiled
Jill Hennessy	Claire Kincaid	Assistant District Attorney	4–6
Sam Waterston	Jack McCoy	Executive Assistant District Attorney Interim District Attorney District Attorney	5–23		Appeared in Exiled
Benjamin Bratt	Rey Curtis	Junior Detective	6–9	20	Appeared in Exiled
Carey Lowell	Jamie Ross	Assistant District Attorney	7 & 8	10, 11 & 21
Angie Harmon	Abbie Carmichael	Assistant District Attorney	9–11
Jesse L. Martin	Ed Green	Junior Detective Senior Detective	10–18
Dianne Wiest	Nora Lewin	Interim District Attorney	11 & 12
Elisabeth Röhm	Serena Southerlyn	Assistant District Attorney	12–15
Fred Dalton Thompson	Arthur Branch	District Attorney	13–17
Dennis Farina	Joe Fontana	Senior Detective	15 & 16
Annie Parisse	Alexandra Borgia	Assistant District Attorney	15 & 16
Michael Imperioli	Nick Falco	Junior Detective	15	16	Temporarily assigned
Milena Govich	Nina Cassady	Junior Detective	17
Alana de la Garza	Connie Rubirosa	Assistant District Attorney	17–20
Jeremy Sisto	Cyrus Lupo	Junior Detective Senior Detective	18–20
Linus Roache	Michael Cutter	Executive Assistant District Attorney	18–20
Anthony Anderson	Kevin Bernard	Junior Detective Senior Detective	18–21
Jeffrey Donovan	Frank Cosgrove	Junior Detective Senior Detective	21 & 22
Camryn Manheim	Kate Dixon	Lieutenant	21–23
Hugh Dancy	Nolan Price	Executive Assistant District Attorney	21–present
Odelya Halevi	Samantha Maroun	Assistant District Attorney	21–present
Mehcad Brooks	Jalen Shaw	Junior Detective Senior Detective	22–24
Reid Scott	Vincent Riley	Junior Detective Senior Detective	23–26
Tony Goldwyn	Nicholas Baxter	District Attorney	23–present
Maura Tierney	Jessica Brady	Lieutenant	24–present
David Ajala	Theo Walker	Junior Detective	25–present
James Badge Dale	Rob Calvino	Senior Detective	26–present

Main character summary details

Police

Sergeants

Name	Portrayed by	Year	Episodes	Junior Partners	Notes
Max Greevey	George Dzundza	1990–1991	23	Mike Logan	Murdered in 1991.^[2]^[3]^[4] Note: The title card for the episode indicates his murder occurred on Friday, April 6, which would mean he was murdered in 1990.^[5]
Phil Cerreta	Paul Sorvino	1991–1992	31	Mike Logan	Transferred to a desk job at the 110th Precinct after being shot.

Senior detectives

Name	Portrayed by	Year	Episodes	Junior Partners	Notes
Lennie Briscoe	Jerry Orbach	1992–2004	273	Mike Logan Rey Curtis Ed Green	Retired (2004); became an investigator for the DA's office (2005) Deceased (due to Jerry Orbach's death in December 2004) (2005).
Joe Fontana	Dennis Farina	2004–2006	46	Ed Green Nick Falco	Retired (2006).
Ed Green	Jesse L. Martin	2006–2008	198	Nina Cassady Cyrus Lupo	Promoted to Senior Detective (2006). Retired following his absolution during an IAB investigation (2008).
Cyrus Lupo	Jeremy Sisto	2008–2010	63	Kevin Bernard	Transferred from Intelligence Division (2008). Promoted to Senior Detective (2008).
Kevin Bernard	Anthony Anderson	2022	60	Frank Cosgrove	Transferred from IAB (2008). Promoted to Senior Detective (2022)
Frank Cosgrove	Jeffrey Donovan	2022–2023	32	Jalen Shaw	Promoted to Senior Detective (2022). Resigned (2023) Let go by IAB (2024)
Jalen Shaw	Mehcad Brooks	2022-2025	57	Vicent Riley	Promoted to Senior Detective (2024). Promoted to Senior Detective (2024). Went back to Brooklyn to take a new position at the 88th Precinct (2025).
Vincent Riley	Reid Scott	2024–2026	TBD	Theo Walker	TBA (2026).
Rob Calinvino	James Badge Dale	2026-	TBA	Theo Walker	TBA (2026).

Junior detectives

Name	Portrayed by	Year	Episodes	Senior Partners	Notes
Mike Logan	Chris Noth	1990–1995	111	Lennie Briscoe	Assigned to Staten Island after punching a homophobic politician (1995-2005). Solved a major murder & police corruption case in Exiled (1998). Joined One Police Plaza's Major Case Squad (2005). Retired after solving a cold case (CI: "Last Rites") (2008).
Rey Curtis	Benjamin Bratt	1995–1999	94	Lennie Briscoe	Transferred from transferred from OCCB (1995). Took early retirement so he could care for his ill wife (1999). Returned to bury his deceased wife in New York (2009).
Ed Green	Jesse L. Martin	1999–2006	198	Lennie Briscoe Joe Fontana	Promoted to Senior Dectective (2006).
Nick Falco	Michael Imperioli	2005	5	Joe Fontana	Temporary replacement from Brooklyn for Ed Green, while Green was recovering from a gunshot wound (2005). Appears again as a murder suspect, but was later cleared (2006).
Nina Cassidy	Milena Govich	2006–2007	22	Ed Green	Nicknamed "Detective Beauty Queen" after her involvement in a shooting that led to her promotion (2006). Dismissed, although no reason is given on the show.(2007)
Cyrus Lupo	Jeremy Sisto	2008	63	Ed Green	Transferred from Intelligence Division (2008). Promoted to Senior Detective (2008).
Kevin Bernard	Anthony Anderson	2008–2010	51	Cyrus Lupo	Transferred from IAB (2008). Promoted to Senior Detective (2022).
Frank Cosgrove	Jeffrey Donovan	2022	10	Kevin Bernard	Promoted to Senior Detective (2022).
Jalen Shaw	Mehcad Brooks	2022–2024	22	Frank Cosgrove	Transferred from a different Homicide Division (2022). Promoted to Senior Detective (2024).
Vincent Riley	Reid Scott	2024–2025	36	Jalen Shaw	Recruited by Lieutenant Kate Dixon (2024). Promoted to Senior Detective (2025).
Theo Walker	David Ajala	2025–	TBD	Vincent Riley Rob Calvino	Transferred from Narcotics (2025).

Supervising officers

Name	Portrayed by	Rank	Year	Episodes	Notes
Donald Cragen	Dann Florek	Captain	1990–1993	66	Transferred to the Anti-Corruption Task Force and later to the Manhattan Special Victims Unit. Left the NYPD in 2014, taking a six month vacation that brought him up to the mandatory retirement age. Returned briefly in 2015 to help the SVU re-examine a decades-old rape case. Returned in 2021 via video chat to help the SVU on a case. Returned in 2022 and 2024 to assist Stabler in Organized Crime. Died off screen (cause unknown), a wake was held in the 27th season premiere of SVU (2025).
Anita Van Buren	S. Epatha Merkerson	Lieutenant	1993–2010	390	Possibly retired (2010).
Kate Dixon	Camryn Manheim		2022–2024	45	Tagged along with her son Patrick after he accepted a job offer in Miami (2024).
Jessica Brady	Maura Tierney		2024–		Transferred from the 2-9 precinct (2024).

Prosecutors

Executive Assistant District Attorneys

Name	Portrayed by	Year	Partners	Episodes	Notes
Benjamin Stone	Michael Moriarty	1990–1994	Paul Robinette Claire Kincaid	88	Resigns due to his feelings of guilt over the death of a witness whose safety he tried to guarantee (1993). Adam Schiff informs Jack McCoy that Stone is travelling in Europe (1996). In an episode of Law & Order: SVU discusses his death, and shows his funeral (2018}.
Jack McCoy	Sam Waterston	1994–2007	Claire Kincaid Jamie Ross Abbie Carmichael Serena Southerlyn Alexandra Borgia Connie Rubirosa	405	Promoted to interim New York County District Attorney (2008). Begins his campaign to be elected as Manhattan DA, with support from Adam Schiff (2009).
Michael Cutter	Linus Roache	2008–2010	Connie Rubirosa	63	Promoted to Bureau Chief of the Sex Crimes Unit of the DA's office (2011).
Nolan Price	Hugh Dancy	2022–	Samantha Maroun	TBD

Assistant District Attorneys

Name	Portrayed by	Year	Partners	Episodes	Notes
Paul Robinette	Richard Brooks	1990–1993	Ben Stone	66	Resigns to pursue private practice (1993). Appears in three subsequent episodes as a defense attorney (1996-2005).
Claire Kincaid	Jill Hennessy	1993–1996	Ben Stone Jack McCoy	68	Dies in a car crash (1996).
Jamie Ross	Carey Lowell	1996–1998	Jack McCoy	48	Resigns to pursue private practice and to spend more time with her daughter, whom she had a bitter custody battle for with her ex (1998). Reappears as a defense attorney in 1999 and 2001. Reappears as a judge in two episodes of Law & Order: Trial by Jury (2005). Reappears in season 21 episode "The Right Thing" (2022).
Abbie Carmichael	Angie Harmon	1998–2001		72	Resigns to accept a job at the United States Attorney General's Office (2001).
Serena Southerlyn	Elisabeth Röhm	2001–2005		85	Fired by Arthur Branch for being inappropriately sympathetic towards a defendant she was prosecuting (2005).
Alexandra Borgia	Annie Parisse	2005–2006		34	Dies after being kidnapped and beaten during a murder trial (2006).
Connie Rubirosa	Alana de la Garza	2006–2010	Jack McCoy Michael Cutter	85	Moves to Los Angeles and joins the DA's office there as a DDA (2011). Later appears in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as a federal prosecutor leading an investigation into an underage sex trafficking operation (2014).
Samantha Maroun	Odelya Halevi	2022–	Nolan Price	TBD

In the 1997 season 7 episode "We Like Mike", Caleb Duff is listed as Assistant District Attorney beneath Adam Schiff as District Attorney and John J. McCoy as Executive Assistant District Attorney at the New York County District Attorney's Office, though he never appears on screen.

Manhattan District Attorneys

Name	Portrayed by	Terms	Episodes	Notes
Alfred Wentworth	Roy Thinnes	1988	1	Only appears in "Everybody's Favorite Bagman"
Adam Schiff	Steven Hill	1990–2000	228	Leaves office to work overseas for The Holocaust Project with Simon Wiesenthal and to investigate Swiss banks (2000). Went with former President Jimmy Carter as part of a delegation to Zimbabwe (2008).
Nora Lewin	Dianne Wiest	2000–2002	48	Prior to her appointment as interim DA by the Governor of New York, she was a law professor, which often provoked her critics to dismiss her as a detached academic with no practical experience (2000).^[6] Chooses not to run for election following her interim term (2002). The first woman in the program's history to hold the position of New York County District Attorney.
Arthur Branch	Fred Thompson	2002–2007	116	Branch's departure, the reason for which was never specified on the series, occurred after Thompson announced his campaign for the Republican Party's nomination for President (2008).
Jack McCoy	Sam Waterston	2007–2010 & 2022–2024	405	Appointed Interim DA after Branch's departure (2008). Begins his election campaign to become DA, winning the election that year (2009).
Nicholas Baxter	Tony Goldwyn	2024–	TBD	Appointed District Attorney after the departure of Jack McCoy.

References

↑ Carlson, Erin (October 31, 2008). "Can 'Law & Order' outlive 'Gunsmoke'?". San Jose Mercury News. Associated Press. Retrieved November 6, 2008.
↑ Jane Hall (August 20, 1991). "The High Cost of Reality : Television: The producers of NBC's 'Law & Order' say filming the hourlong drama in Manhattan costs 20% more than re-creating New York on a Los Angeles back lot--but the results are worth it". LA Times. Retrieved October 25, 2023.
↑ Jennifer Mashuga (January 6, 2022). "The Impact Of Greevey's Death In Law & Order". Looper. Retrieved October 25, 2023.
↑ "Stolen". Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Season 3. Episode 3. October 12, 2001. NBC.
↑ Greevey's Death - Law & Order, retrieved January 28, 2024
↑ "Endurance". Law & Order. Season 11. Episode 1. October 18, 2000. NBC.

[APMercury-1] Carlson, Erin (October 31, 2008). "Can 'Law & Order' outlive 'Gunsmoke'?". San Jose Mercury News. Associated Press. Retrieved November 6, 2008.

[LA-2] Jane Hall (August 20, 1991). "The High Cost of Reality : Television: The producers of NBC's 'Law & Order' say filming the hourlong drama in Manhattan costs 20% more than re-creating New York on a Los Angeles back lot--but the results are worth it". LA Times. Retrieved October 25, 2023.

[Impact-3] Jennifer Mashuga (January 6, 2022). "The Impact Of Greevey's Death In Law & Order". Looper. Retrieved October 25, 2023.

[S3E03-4] "Stolen". Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Season 3. Episode 3. October 12, 2001. NBC.

[5] Greevey's Death - Law & Order, retrieved January 28, 2024

[endurance-6] "Endurance". Law & Order. Season 11. Episode 1. October 18, 2000. NBC.

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