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Netflix’s legal drama will return in 2025 with filming ongoing through to May 2024. Mickey Haller is coming back to Netflix for The Lincoln Lawyer season 3. A lot is already known about the show’s upcoming season, which has begun production and cast many new faces for the upcoming episodes. Here’s everything we know so far about The Lincoln Lawyer season 3.
Released in July and August 2023 across two volumes, season 2 of The Lincoln Lawyer adapted The Fifth Witness (with some key differences), seeing the return of Manuel Garcia-Rulfo plus the addition of some new faces such as Lana Parrilla playing the role of Lisa Trammell.
Has The Lincoln Lawyer Been Renewed for Season 3?
Official Renewal Status: Renewed on August 30th
On August 30th, Netflix confirmed that the show had been given a third-season renewal.
Ahead of its official renewal, we heard rumblings of a third season for The Lincoln Lawyer season 3 ahead of volume 2 released, with early plans drawn up for an additional season ahead of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes from May through November 2023.
Season 3 will again consist of 10 episodes and will be based on the fifth book in The Lincoln Lawyer series by Michael Connelly, The Gods of Guilt.
Neve Campbell’s Return
Neve Campbell, who plays Maggie McPherson on the show, reportedly originally wasn’t expected to return in any capacity for the new season. However, that doesn’t seem to be the case, as we’ll cover in the production news section below. Her character (spoiler alert) has moved to San Diego in the show, so she may only feature henceforth with text messages or mentions by Mickey’s daughter.
Showrunners’ Comments on Renewal
Ted Humphrey and Dailyn Rodriguez (showrunners on the series) said on the renewal:
“The audience response to the show has been so gratifying and wonderful, and we are thrilled to have the opportunity to dive back into Michael Connelly’s universe and bring Mickey Haller and his world to the screen again.”
Netflix Executives on Renewal
Peter Friedlander, Vice President of Scripted Series, Netflix, US and Canada said:
“We’re thrilled to bring back The Lincoln Lawyer for a third season. Ted Humphrey and Dailyn Rodriguez have taken us deeper into Mickey Haller’s world, building out characters and stories that have connected with our global audience, and we look forward to seeing what they have in store for everyone’s favorite lawyer. The show continues to top our global lists and it’s a testament to the work from a creative powerhouse team including Michael Connelly, David E. Kelley, Ross Fineman and our partners at A+E Studios.”
Showrunner’s Insights on Renewal
The NYTimes spoke to the showrunner Ted Humphrey, who confirmed that a writer’s room for the third season had been established before the WGA strike beginning on May 1st, 2023.
Humphrey, when asked what’s next for the show, told them:
“Right now it depends not only on how Season 2 does, but also on the resolution of the strikes. We had to shut down our writers’ room for Season 3 when the Writers Guild contract expired. We’ve done Michael Connelly picket events where Michael and the staff from The Lincoln Lawyer and Bosch have picketed together. We’re out there because the issues are real and have to be resolved, and the only way that’s going to happen is by the companies sitting back down with us to make a fair deal. Hopefully that happens soon, and once it does, we will be back to work on a third season.”
Indeed, a WGA listing currently appears for The Lincoln Lawyer season 3, once again suggesting that the show was headed for renewal ahead of the strike.
Had the show been released a little earlier in the year, we’d have likely seen it given an early renewal order afforded to The Diplomat, FUBAR, and others.
In conclusion, it looks like The Lincoln Lawyer is eying up a renewal, assuming it can hit internal Netflix targets (not available to Joe public) and the strikes come to a resolution soon.
How Well Did The Lincoln Lawyer Season 2 Perform on Netflix?
Every Tuesday, Netflix updates its top 10 website to get a weekly snapshot of how many hours were watched globally and how many completed viewing equivalents (CVE for short) were done.
Unlike most shows where we can tell pretty quickly how well they’re doing, sadly, season 2 of The Lincoln Lawyer isn’t quite like that. That’s because the season was split, and when volume 2 comes out, all viewing stats that Netflix releases are muddied together within season 2 (Netflix does not split volumes 1 and 2 separately.
With that said, season 2 featured in the Netflix top 10s for eight weeks, picking up 235.10 million hours watched, which equates to 40 million completed viewing equivalents.
Where is The Lincoln Lawyer Season 3 in Production?
When the series was first renewed, it was unclear where production was. Given the renewal, we suspect scripts were in development ahead of the May 2023 WGA stoppage.
In mid-November 2023, following the end of the SAG-AFTRA strike, we learned that The Lincoln Lawyer would be one of the first returning Netflix Originals to get back into production in January 2024.
First-Look Production Pictures
On January 18th, Netflix confirmed that filming was underway for the new season and provided a first-look production picture and first-look picture of Neve Campbell as Maggie Mcpherson and Manuel Garcia-Rulfo as Mickey Haller in the new season.
Budget and Filming Location
The budget for the series is reportedly somewhere between $3 and $5 million an episode, and it will continue to be filmed in the Los Angeles area.
Filming Wrap-Up
Filming concluded on the new season in early June 2024. Sierra Marshall posted on Instagram on June 3rd:
“That’s a wrap! Lincoln Lawyer Season 3 is in the books, and let me tell you, it’s a wild one! For those who watch this @netflix show, you are in for a treat in 2025. I am so thankful for all the experiences with this lovely cast and crew. We did it!”
When Will The Lincoln Lawyer Season 3 Be Released on Netflix in 2024 or 2025?
The title was notably missing from Netflix’s slate reveal for 2024, so at the moment, The Lincoln Lawyer season 3 will be coming to Netflix sometime in 2025. However, there’s some dispute on whether that’ll actually be the case.
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Given the production schedule, we’d expect that to be pretty early in the year (Q1-Q2 2025). There’s no word on whether they’ll split up season 3 like they did with season 2.
As of July 2024, it still remains off of the 2025 TV slate document and above; Sierra Marshall said the series would return next year. That said, in the Netflix Q2 2024 earnings call, co-CEO of Netflix Ted Sarandos suggested the show would be coming in late 2024.
The Lincoln Lawyer Season 3 Episode Titles, Writers, and Directors
We’re still piecing together the puzzle of all the episodes for season 3 of The Lincoln Lawyer, but our understanding is that there may only be 9 episodes for the next season.
List of Episode Teleplays
Per the Writer’s Guild of America, here’s who’s behind the scripts this season:
Episode 301
Teleplay by: Ted Humphrey & Dailyn Rodriguez
Episode 302
Teleplay by: Gladys Rodriguez
Episode 303
Teleplay by: Matthew J. Lieberman
Episode 304
Teleplay by: Lisa Quintela
Episode 305
Teleplay by: Ryan Hoang Williams
Episode 306
Teleplay by: Katy Erin
Episode 307
Teleplay by: Dailyn Rodriguez & Isabella A. Rodriguez
Episode 308
Teleplay by: Gladys Rodriguez & Jake Bernstein
Episode 309
Teleplay by: Matthew J. Lieberman
The episode titles may give us some indication as to what we can expect going into season 3. In no particular order:
- Ghosts
- La Culebra
- Man on Fire
- Mystery Man
- Rearview Blindspots
- Relevance
- Special Circumstances
- Strange Bedfellows
- What Happens in Victorville
What to Expect from The Lincoln Lawyer Season 3
Spoilers Ahead
Season 2, Episode 10 results in Mickey Haller winning one of his most challenging cases to date, with Lisa’s case finally ending. Although Lisa got a Not Guilty verdict, we’re presuming that she did get arrested for the murder of her ex-husband. Mickey now meets with a new client, which seems to set up the plot for season 3 with the lawyer identifying Gloria Dayton (aka Glory Days), who has been murdered.
TV Insider confirmed the book that will be adapted for season 3 is The Gods of Guilt. Here’s a quick synopsis of that book for what we can expect (spoiler warning):
“Mickey Haller gets the text “Call me ASAP – 187,” and the California penal code for murder immediately gets his attention. Murder cases have the highest stakes and the biggest paydays, and they always mean Haller has to be at the top of his game. When Mickey learns that the victim was his own former client, a prostitute he thought he had rescued and put on the straight and narrow path, he knows he’s on the hook for this one.
Worse still, Haller realizes he’s been set up, framed for the murder by a cunning killer whose evil surpasses anything the lawyer has ever encountered. Now, Haller is up against the cops, prosecutors, and a vicious killer and he’s got only one client he can count on: himself.”
In our article previewing The Lincoln Lawyer season 3 (here), we’ve gone further into what we’re expecting from the new season.
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