L.A. Takes Inspiration from a Real-Life Entertainment Lawyer

Suits was a quietly popular legal drama that aired on the USA Network from 2011 through 2019. Fans who watched back then fell in love with the story and characters. Most notably, that includes Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams), a genius college dropout with a photographic memory, and Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht), his mentor at a prestigious New York law firm. There was just one small but crucial detail hanging over his head: despite working as a lawyer, Mike never actually graduated from law school.

In 2023, four years after the show ended its nine-season run, Suits was added to Netflix and Peacock and its popularity surged. A whole new audience became enamored with the show. To capitalize on that, NBC Universal announced the development of a spin-off called Suits: L.A. While Suits: L.A. will have an entirely different cast led by Stephen Amell, best known for his role in Arrow, there’s an interesting twist behind this take on the story: the lead character is reportedly based on a real person.

Ted Chervin Inspired Suits: L.A.’s Protagonist

Stephen Amell’s character is called Ted Black and is reportedly based on real-life CAA agent and former ICM Partners managing director Ted Chervin, according to Deadline. In fact, Deadline reports that the show was initially just going to be called Ted. The tagline for Suits: L.A. describes the show as being centered around Black, a former New York federal prosecutor who has made the big move to Los Angeles while trying to escape the mob. Thanks to his reputation and charm, he takes on some of the most powerful clients in the city.

Similarly, Chervin started his career as a federal prosecutor in New York after graduating from Harvard Law (much like many of the characters in the original series Suits) where he did indeed work to take down monsters and organized crime kingpins. Like Black, he eventually moved to Los Angeles with the hopes of becoming a Hollywood talent agent.

Ironically, Chervin claimed his career path was inspired by the character Ari Gold from another show, the HBO series Entourage. That character, played by Jeremy Piven, was also supposedly inspired by a real person: Ari Emanuel, CEO of Endeavor, a talent and media agencies holding company. “I basically traded my Justice Department badge to try to become a real-life Ari Gold,” Chervin once said during a TED Talk.

Bringing the story full circle, the original series Suits was also inspired by Entourage. According to Deadline, Suits and Suits: L.A. creator Aaron Korsh developed Suits as an Entourage-like comedy set on Wall Street. The main character was inspired by Korsh’s boss at the time. When USA Network felt the world of law would be more interesting than the world of finance, he pivoted the script.

How Is Suits: L.A. Connected to Suits?

Knowing this background, it seems Suits: L.A. might not really be Suits, but rather a show Korsh had already been working on that was re-branded to include the Suits name. Since the focus is on Hollywood talent, the only real crossover is the fact that Black is a lawyer.

Can a new Suits series work? Knowing that the show has the same writer behind it, one can expect that the tone and feel will be similar to Suits. According to Deadline, Korsh told NBC Universal that he was looking to create a Suits universe that he likened to Yellowstone, with every show having a new setting and new characters. The show will also have a more glamorous backdrop of Hollywood along with clients who are in the entertainment versus financial business. This will add a unique dynamic to the concept: sunglasses and glamor versus hot dog carts and briefcases.

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“[Black’s] firm is at a crisis point,” reads the show’s official logline, “and in order to survive, he must embrace a role he held in contempt his entire career.” Thus, Black sounds a lot like a mix of Mike Ross and Harvey Specter, a moral and just man who still knows how to get the job done and fight for his clients, no matter the situation. Nonetheless, Suits: L.A. will be missing the magic of the initial storyline that drew fans to Suits in the first place — Mike Ross not having a license to practice. That dark cloud loomed over every case he touched. Every time someone came close to the truth, it created a sense of intensity that this new show will have to find a way to replicate.

Who Else Will Be In Suits: L.A.?

While Suits: L.A. won’t officially see any of the original cast members reprise their roles, Beatrice Springborn, President of Universal International Studios, told Variety that the show will “have the same energy and good-looking people that the original did.” In addition to Amell as Black, Josh McDermitt (The Walking Dead) will play his old friend and partner Stuart Lane. The hope is that the pair will have the same electric chemistry that Macht and Adams shared on screen as co-workers, friends, and even, at times, rivals.

Lex Scott Davis (Training Day, The L Word: Generation Q) will appear as Erica Rollins, a rising star at the firm while Troy Winbush (The Wilds) will be Black’s old friend Kevin, a former FBI agent who now works as a private detective. Alice Lee (Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist) will also guest-star as Leah, a young associate attorney. Others confirmed to appear include Bryan Greenberg (The Mindy Project), Rachelle Goulding (Firefly Lane), Kevin Weisman (Alias, Goliath, Marvel’s Runaways), and Victoria Justice (Victorious).

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It’s not entirely off the table to see members of the original cast, like Adams, Macht, Rick Hoffman, Sarah Rafferty, and Gina Torres, reprise their roles in cameos. It’s highly unlikely, however, to see Meghan Markle come back to her role as Rachel, given that she has given up acting to focus on her family life and as a member of the British royal family. Davis told People that “maybe there will be some rollover from the original cast. It’s not impossible.” There will also be celebrity cameos, similar to Entourage which also took place within the glitz and glamor of Hollywood. John Amos (Coming to America, Good Times), for example, has already been confirmed to appear and play himself.

It’s not yet known when Suits: L.A. will officially premiere, but it’s likely to arrive sometime in summer or fall 2025. Suits: L.A. will be available to watch on NBC, and will likely also stream on Peacock, NBC’s streaming service. For now, stream the original Suits on Netflix and Peacock.