The Firm

After a decade in Federal Witness Protection, Mitch McDeere and his family step back into the open hoping to rebuild a normal life. Mitch once toppled Bendini, Lambert & Locke, exposing the Memphis firm as a front for Chicago organized crime, and those actions upended his career and safety. Now that he has resurfaced, old enemies and new forces keep testing the limits of his legal skill and his family's resolve. The show follows Mitch as he tries to reestablish a law practice, protect his loved ones, and figure out how much of his past he can leave behind without putting everyone at risk.

Created for television by Lukas Reiter with input from John Grisham, the series premiered in 2012 as a small screen continuation of Grisham's story. It adapts the novel's world into an episodic format, translating the novel and the famous 1991 film into a serialized legal thriller for TV audiences.

The series generated conversation because it brought a well known film character back in a different medium, asking how a familiar movie plot would stretch across a season. Fans of Grisham and legal dramas took notice that Mitch McDeere was given more room to breathe and to evolve, even if the show didn't reach the same cultural ubiquity as the original movie.

Critics and viewers gave the show mixed reviews, with praise often going to Josh Lucas's portrayal of Mitch and to courtroom tension in several episodes, while some critics pointed to uneven pacing and limited character development outside the core family. Recurring themes include the cost of whistleblowing, the fragility of safety, the maze of legal and illegal power, and how personal ethics survive under constant threat.

The series did not attract major industry awards or prominent nominations during its run. Its reception was more modest, remembered by some viewers for attempting to continue a popular legal thriller in a television format rather than for awards season success.