Law & Order follows the fictional cases of a group of police detectives and prosecutors who represent the public in the criminal justice system. Since its September 1990 dbeut, each season features a main cast of six main characters: two detectives and their supervising officer (Law) within the New York City Police Department, alongside two prosecuting district attorneys and the Manhattan District Attorney (Order). The first season followed detectives Max Greevey (George Dzundza) and Mike Logan (Chris Noth), Captain Donald Cragen (Dann Florek), ADAs Ben Stone (Michael Moriarty) and Paul Robinette (Richard Brooks), and District Attorney Adam Schiff (Steven Hill).
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. 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).
Contents
Police
Prosecutors
Assistant District Attorneys
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.