T

he Godparents of legal thrillers on screen have teamed up to bring John Grisham’s 1991 bestselling novel, The Firm, to the TV screen.

The makers of The Practice, Boston Legal, Law & Order, House and SVU will debut their program, filled with courtroom intrigue, action and romance on Feb. 19 at 8:50 p.m. The program will be aired on AXN.

The series continues the story of Mitch McDeere and his family 10 years after the events of Grisham’s novel and the 1993 film adaptation starring Tom Cruise.

As a young associate, Mitch (Josh Lucas, The Lincoln Lawyer) brought down Bendini, Lambert & Locke — a prestigious Memphis law firm operating as a front for the Chicago Mob. After a turbulent ten years under the Federal Witness Protection Program, Mitch and his family emerged from isolation, determined to reclaim their lives.

However, the past has a way of catching up with them.

The Chicago Mob are seeking revenge and Mitch needs to play his cards right to keep his family safe. Viewers can expect to see the back-story threaded through the plot, as the characters are developed in new directions. After 10 years, Mitch no longer fits the shoes of Tom Cruise walking out of Harvard with the world at his feet.

“They’re [all] very different people at this point,” Lucas told AXN. “I think they’re more paranoid and angrier.”

Yet “great integrity” and a “deep personal drive to do the right thing” shines through Mitch’s realistically flawed character.

In a press release, provided by AXN to The Jakarta Post, Grisham noted, “It’s a lot of action but also a lot of good drama where you see the characters stop, think and reflect. You know, they’re real people.”

With 22 episodes shot, the producer Lukas Reiter, director David Straiton, and star-studded cast (Josh Lucas, Callum Keith Rennie, Molly Parker, Tricia Helfer, Shaun Majumder, Natasha Calis and Juliette Lewis) are confident in The Firm’s future.

Grisham’s track-record also points toward a successful series. Between 15 and 20 million copies of his novel have been sold in 40 languages, and the film was the highest grossing of all of eight films adapted from Grisham’s novels.

Yet, as Mitch tells his wife, Abby (Molly Parker Dexter) in the special two-hour series opener, “It’s happening again”.

Another legal thriller has been made.

— Jenée Tibshraeny