True Stories of Law & Order- Dwyer & Fio on crime, justice, and candy -

When a TV show has been on the air as long as Law & Order has, the producers need to stir things up a bit to keep fans on their toes. And no one stirs things up quite like a New York City criminal defense lawyer. L&O has featured some colorful defense attorneys to say the least. Here are some of the standouts from over the years, along with (of course) our opinion of them. All in all, if you find yourself in a legal scrape, we suggest you hire Randy Dworkin.

Randolph “Randy” J. Dworkin (Peter Jacobson)
Quirkiness: √√√√√
Legal moxie: √√√√√
Passion for winning: √√√√√
Talent for driving McCoy to drink: √√√√√
Favorite Quote: Dworkin: “My client pleads ‘innocent.’”
Judge: “That’s not an option.”
Dworkin: “I’ve always found that interesting.”
Actor Fact: Peter Jacobson once played a ghost on the sitcom Scrubs. Now he’s Doctor Taub on House.

Danielle Melnick (Tovah Feldshuh)
Quirkiness: (w/out cane) √√ (w/cane) √√√
Legal moxie: √√√
Passion for winning: √√√√√
Crankiness: √√√√√
Favorite Quote: “[My client] is accused of a crime, but that doesn’t make
him Hannibal Lechter.”
Actor Fact: You can hire Tovah Feldshuh to arrive at your house doing an impersonation of Tallulah Bankhead, an actress who nearly played Scarlett O’Hara in Gone With the Wind.

Rodney Fallon (Giancarlo Esposito)
Quirkiness: √
Legal moxie: √
Passion for winning: √√√√√
Penchant for becoming apoplectic: √√√√√
Favorite Quote: “Are there any amendments the people haven’t violated?”
Actor Fact: In Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing, Giancarlo Esposito plays the character Buggin’ Out (the guy who flips out when a neighbor rides his bicycle over his new sneakers).

Vanessa Galiano (Roma Maffia):
Quirkiness: √
Legal moxie: √√√√
Passion for winning: √√√√√
Desire to make McCoy squirm: √√√√√
Favorite Quote: (to Jack) “Are you really that thick or are your boxers just tied in a knot because of the citizenship thing?”
Actor Fact: Maffia, who, incidentally is not Italian, is named after the Italian capital.

Lionel Granger (David Thornton)
Quirkiness: √√
Legal moxie: √√√
Passion for winning: √√
Coiffure: √√√√√
Favorite Quote: “It’s clear that my client is off her nut.”
Actor Fact: David Thornton and Cyndi Lauper fell in love in 1991 on the set of Off and Running (which co-starred Detective John Munch, aka, Richard Belzer) and were married by the Reverend Little Richard the same year.

Ruthie Miller (Patti LuPone)
Quirkiness: √
Legal moxie: √√√√
Passion for winning: √√√√
Penchant for sarcasm: √√√√√
Favorite Quote: “You know, we’re all full of crap.”
Actor Fact: As a teenager, Patti and her twin brothers formed a singing group called the LuPone Trio. (LuPone just won the Tony and a slew of other awards for her performance as Rose in the Broadway musical “Gypsy.”)

Shambala Greene (Lorraine Toussaint):
Quirkiness: √
Legal moxie: √√√
Passion for winning: √√√√
Quest for justice: √√√√√
Favorite Quote: Shambala Greene: I’m going for temporary insanity.
Ben Stone: Your’s or your client’s?
Actor Fact: Lorraine Toussaint was born in Trinidad and raised in Brooklyn, NY. She now lives in L.A. with her dog Kaia. Word has it she’s got a green thumb for gardening.