EXCLUSIVE: After a string of successful character-driven light crime procedurals such as The Rookie, High Potential, Will Trent and R.J Decker, ABC is looking to extend the formula to the legal genre. The network is developing Holding Court, written/executive produced by Alfredo Barrios Jr. (Hotel Cocaine) and executive produced by Ross Fineman of Fineman Entertainment (The Lincoln Lawyer).

Holding Court is a character-driven one-hour dramedy following a brilliant, stubborn yet book-smart paralegal who teams up with a charismatic, street-smart attorney who barely passed the bar to help run her father’s law firm after his death.

The setup is somewhat reminiscent of classic dramedy procedural, Moonlighting: a woman owning a company — a legal firm or a PI agency — and partnering with a charismatic guy to run it.

The project taps into Barrios Jr.’s background of a Harvard Law-educated attorney who spent five years as a corporate litigator before segueing to writing. He has worked on a slew of legal dramas, including First Monday, Lyon’s Den, Law & Order, Just Legal, Close to Home, and Justice.

This marks Fineman’s return to ABC where he executive produced David E. Kelley’s drama series Big Sky. He also executive produces Kelley’s Netflix series The Lincoln Lawyer, based on Michael Connelly’s books, as well as Kelley’s latest Connelly adaptation, Welcome To Catalina, which is in the works at HBO Max.

Barrios Jr. was on Burn Notice for its entire seven-season run on USA, rising to executive producer. He served as showrunner and executive producer on the History drama Six, as executive producer on Epix’s Hotel Cocaine and as a co-executive producer on Prime Video’s Shelter and CBS’ Magnum PI. Barrios Jr. made his feature debut with the 2024 Bull Run starring Tom Blyth. He is repped by CAA, The Shuman Co. and Felker McGinnis & Ryan.