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Jill Carlan
Jill Carlan
Played by: Hope Davis
- Gilligan Cut: By the ninth episode of season one, Sandra claims she can't see the floor of her office. Just as Allison claims she's exaggerating, Jill comes in and declares she can't see the floor of Sandra's office.
- Ironic Echo: In "Flippity-Flop", concerning a man who was locked in solitary and then forgotten about for four days. "What the DEA did to Torres? Stupid, awful, tragic even. Not criminal." Said by Roger to Jill when she demands he press charges, then Jill to Hope when she has to defend the DEA agent responsible.
- Pyrrhic Victory: Jill feels terrible about having to defend a DEA Agent who locked up an innocent man and forgot about him for four days and winning, especially since she's the one who insisted Roger charge him in the first place.
- This Is Reality: Jill points out that despite having the moral high ground, this isn't a TV show and Sandra's not going to win a case for an American Muslim accused of terrorism in her first case.
Roger Gunn
Roger Gunn
Played by: Ben Shenkman
- Gilligan Cut: When Sandra is assigned to defend a comedian who posted pictures of herself threatening the President, she states that it was obviously a joke. Jill retorts that the US Attorney's Office isn't known for its sense of humor. Cut to Roger Gunn laughing his head off in Seth's face.
Allison Adams
Allison Adams
Played by: Jasmin Savoy Brown
- The Ace: For the defense.
- Alliterative Name: Allison Adams.
- Black Sheep: She's the only lawyer in a family of scientists and mathematicians.
- Common Nonsense Jury: There was a time Allison aimed for jury nullification in order to protect her client.
- Establishing Character Moment: The opening scene of the series where six of the main cast arrive at the Mother Court. Seth and her arrive one after the other, each stating that they're not boyfriend and girlfriend that day because they want to stay professional.
- Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Allison tries to convince the jury to disregard the law for the sake of her client who stole supplies from a relief ship.
Kate Littlejohn
Kate Littlejohn
Played by: Susannah Flood
- The Ace: For the prosecution.
- Deadpan Snarker: No pan is deader.
- Defrosting Ice Queen: Kate starts the series very closed off, but starts to at the very least tolerate those around her as time goes on.
- Establishing Character Moment: The opening scene of the series where six of the main cast arrive at the Mother Court. She arrives shortly after Sandra, tries the door despite Sandra telling her it's still locked, then enforces the rules whether they benefit her (telling Jay to stop eating) or not (telling Sandra she can go in first because she got there first).
- Neat Freak: Kate keeps her office in impeccable order and hates when people intrude.
- Opposites Attract: Her with Anya. They're almost complete opposites in both their looks and personality. Kate is a very uptight attorney who always dresses in business attire but also has short hair. Anya's a more loose ATF agent who is usually in casual wear and has long hair.
- Running Gag: People barging into Kate's office for advice despite her not wanting anyone in her office, not wanting to give advice, and not caring what they have to say.
- Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism: Kate believes that any errors with the government should be addressed by trained and elected professionals rather than civilians taking the law into their own hands.
- Stealth Hi/Bye: Kate pulls this on Roger in "Have You Met Leonard Knox?". By the way he reacts, it's not the first time.
Jay Simmons
Jay Simmons
Played by: Wesam Keesh
- Absurd Phobia: Jay claims to have a legitimate fear of fluorescent colors because of Kate's propensity for neon tabs on her paperwork.Jay: Do you realize I have an actual fear of fluorescent colors because of her? Because of the tabs! A clinically verifiable phobia. I have been treated for this. Unsuccessfully!
- Curse Cut Short: While Jay and Kate are teamed up to meet with a school principal about their case.Jay: Do I look like a prosecutor? Y'know, tightly wound, judgmental, huge stick up my—*sees the principal*—Principal Hatcher!
- Establishing Character Moment: The opening scene of the series where six of the main cast arrive at the Mother Court. He arrives an hour early, but thinks he's late, and is eating a breakfast taco despite the sign saying there's no food allowed.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: Jay's client in the pilot claims to believe his cover story about being part of a shadowy government agency. Jay, ever the idealist, buys it until Kate shows him footage of the man bragging about putting one over on him.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: In "Rahowa", Jay is forced to defend a white supremacist accused of shooting a politician. His closing argument, though expressing that there is plenty of reasonable doubt that said neo-Nazi was actually responsible, doesn't mince words about him still being a terrible person.
Leonard Knox
Leonard Knox
Played by: Regé-Jean Page
- Establishing Character Moment: The opening scene of the series where six of the main cast arrive at the Mother Court. He arrives just before the day begins and walks right into the court despite Kate telling him that Sandra was first.
- Pyrrhic Victory: Leonard clearly feels guilty about winning his first case, since Sandra was on the moral high ground—her client was clearly being entrapped by the FBI.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: It's towards his mom rather than his father.
Seth Oliver
Seth Oliver
Played by: Ben Rappaport
- Don't Explain the Joke: He brings this up when Sandra jumps through hoops to justify that her client pointing a gun at a picture of the President on social media is still satire.
- Establishing Character Moment: The opening scene of the series where six of the main cast arrive at the Mother Court. Him and Allison arrive one after the other, each stating that they're not boyfriend and girlfriend that day because they want to stay professional.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: Seth is the least popular lawyer on the prosecutor's side because he lost his first case thanks to it being against his girlfriend Allison.
Sandra Bell
Sandra Bell
Played by: Britt Robertson
- Afraid of Doctors: She's more afraid of hospitals in general. Her mom died when she was younger, but she was too scared to go into her room to say goodbye and thus never got the chance.
- Crusading Lawyer: She gets very emotionally invested in defending the downtrodden.
- Downer Beginning: The first episode sees Sandra lose her case defending a young man accused of terrorism (in a situation which is clearly entrapment
). - Establishing Character Moment: The opening scene of the series where six of the main cast arrive at the Mother Court. Sandra is there over an hour early, stating that she woke up at 4:30 to get ready.
- Missing Mom: Sandra's mom is dead. Her dying in a hospital is what gave Sandra her fear of hospitals.
- Monumental Damage: Sandra's client Muhammad in the pilot is accused of trying to blow up the Statue of Liberty.
- My Greatest Failure: Sandra sees her loss in the pilot this way, as she failed to protect a young man from being found guilty of terrorism even though he was clearly a victim of entrapment.
- Ripped from the Headlines: Sandra's case from "Have You Met Leonard Knox?" involves a comedian posting an image of herself threatening the President with a gun. It's clearly a reference to Kathy Griffin doing something similar.
- Running Gag: Always leaving her documents all over the place.Allison: Why aren't you in your office?
Sandra: There's stuff in it. - Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism: Idealist Sandra is certain that her client was right for leaking government documents that showed them doing shady actions to target undocumented immigrants.
Tina Krissman
Tina Krissman
Played by: Anna Deavere Smith
- Companion Cube: The judge-selection wheel. She and her family ended up using it for their smaller decisions, and she used it up until the day her husband passed away. When it breaks she goes out of her way to get it repaired by the original creator instead of throwing it away and using a digital system.
- Death Glare: Has an epic one for any attorneys who cross her.
Nicholas Byrne
Judge Nicholas Byrne
Played by: Vondie Curtis-Hall
- Downer Ending: "World's Greatest Judge". Despite trying everything he can do to protect a man being sent to prison for ten years for drug possession (a mere 57 grams), by the end Judge Byrne has no choice but to enforce the mandatory minimum. He makes no attempt to hide his contempt at the law and how little it actually solves.
- Rogue Juror: When Judge Byrne is called for jury duty and gets selected (the defense lawyer didn't even pay attention to his responses) he's delighted at the idea of seeing the criminal justice system by another angle. He soon becomes the lone holdout when the rest of the jury votes "guilty" though. After his attempting to explain why the prosecution didn't prove the accused guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, he gets them to understand even so. They come around to his view and acquit. Unlike in most examples, he admits that most likely the defendant is guilty, but since the prosecution failed to make their case, he should go free.
- Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Tries this in "World's Greatest Judge" when he tries everything he can to stop a man from being sentenced to the mandatory minimum of ten years for drug possession, but it doesn't work out.
Ted
