The Lincoln Lawyer season 2 is officially in the works! Netflix announced it has renewed the legal drama for 10 episodes, which will be based on the fourth book in Michael Connelly’s Lincoln Lawyer crime novel series, The Fifth Witness.
The show dropped in mid-May and rocketed to the No. 1 spot on Netflix's Top 10 list in the U.S. It also earned positive reviews, with a 79 percent critics' rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 75 percent audience score.
Connelly’s popular Mickey Haller crime novel was previously adapted into the 2011 movie starring Matthew McConaughey (which arguably kicked off the McConaissance).
David E. Kelley created the series and drew from Connelly’s second book, Brass Verdict, for season 1. Manuel Garcia-Rulfo takes over the lead role of Mickey Haller, a defense attorney whose painkiller addiction upended his career and marriage to prosecutor Maggie McPherson (Neve Campbell). Now sober, Mickey inherits a caseload from a murdered colleague and begins working on them from the back of his Lincoln Town Car.
Here's everything we know so far about The Lincoln Lawyer season 2.
The Lincoln Lawyer season 2 release date speculation
Netflix hasn't yet announced it has renewed The Lincoln Lawyer season 2, so we'll need confirmation before speculating on a release date.
If/when season 2 gets a green light, it might follow a similar schedule to season 1, which filmed from March to August 2021 and premiered May 13, 2022. Nine months is a long post-production period for a legal drama that requires little in the way of special effects.
If series creator David E. Kelley and the team of writers can finish season 2's scripts in a few months, filming could begin as early as this fall and conclude in early spring. If they can speed up post-production, it's possible fans could get The Lincoln Lawyer season 2 by summer 2023.
The Lincoln Lawyer season 2 cast
The cast of The Lincoln Lawyer is led by Manuel Garcia-Rulfo as Mickey Haller, a defense attorney in Los Angeles who works out of a chauffeur-driven Lincoln Town Car rather than an office.
He will be joined by several returning series regulars, including:
- Neve Campbell as Maggie McPherson, Mickey's first ex-wife and a criminal prosecutor
- Becki Newton as Lorna Crain, Mickey's second ex-wife and his legal aide
- Jazz Raycole as Izzy Letts, Mickey's former client and current personal driver
- Angus Sampson as Cisco, Mickey's investigator
Also possibly making appearances:
- Elliot Gould as Legal Siegal, a family friend of Mickey and his father
- Krista Warner as Hayley Haller, Mickey's and Maggie's daughter
- Carlos Bernard as Robert Cardone, a District Attorney running for re-election
- Kim Hawthorne as Janelle Simmons, also running for District Attorney
- Jamie McShane as Detective Lee Lankford
- Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine as Detective Raymond Griggs
- Michael Graziadei as Jeff Golantz, Deputy District Attorney
- Lamont Thompson as Judge James P. Stanton
The Lincoln Lawyer season 2 plot and season 1 ending
Before getting into possible storylines for The Lincoln Lawyer season 2, let's recap what happened in the season 1 finale. It tied up several threads and introduced new ones for Mickey, Maggie, Lorna, and Cisco.
Season 1's big case involves Trevor Elliott, a video game billionaire accused of murdering his wife and her yoga instructor lover Jan. He was found not guilty, but it turns out that he committed the deed and tricked Mickey and the jury.
In the finale, Mickey survives an attack by Glenn McSweeney, who was planted as Juror No. 7 from the Trevor Elliott case. A confrontation with Trevor followed, but he claimed not to be behind the hit. However, Trevor is then shot and killed by Carol DuBois, a relative of Jan.
In the other major case, Mickey is able to get the exoneration of Jesus Menendez, his former client who was wrongly convicted of murder. He is able to prove that Detective Lankford prevented the testimony of a key witness.
On top of all that, Mickey puts the pieces together about who killed Jerry Vincent, his friend who bequeathed him the practice. It turns out to be Judge Holder! She was running a jury-rigging side hustle and Jerry had figured it out. Mickey has her arrested.
Meanwhile, Maggie's case against human trafficker Angelo Soto implodes because it rests on the testimony of newly-exposed dirty cop Lankford. Cardone even removes her from the office. However, she goes over his head and sends the case to federal agents.
As for Cisco, he visits Road Saints motorcycle club leader Teddy to insist on paying his own debts rather than letting Mickey settle them. Teddy offers him a deal, which likely involves illegal dealings.
According to Netflix, season 2 will be based on Michael Connelly’s novel The Fifth Witness. Mickey defends a woman accused of murdering a very tall man, though her short stature doesn't fit with forensic evidence. To demolish the case, he tries to persuade a witness into taking the Fifth Amendment, which would create doubt in the jury's minds.
Connelly fans who are hoping for a familiar cameo will be disappointed. The Lincoln Lawyer won't be bringing on Mickey's half-brother, Harry Bosch. Connelly has previously confirmed that the detective-turned-PI — the protagonist of the Prime Video series Bosch and Freevee's Bosch: Legacy — won't be crossing over from Amazon.
