According to Deadline, ABC has greenlit The Good Lawyer, a spinoff of The Good Doctor set in the legal field and starring female protagonists. executive producers David Shore and Liz Friedman will be joining the new programme as well, having worked on the original The Good Doctor. This announcement follows closely on the heels of the revelation that The Rookie will be getting a spin-off. In The Good Doctor, Freddie Highmore portrays Dr Shaun Murphy, an autistic surgical resident with savant powers. He is encouraged to pursue a career in medicine and moves to New York City, where he will train under Dr Aaron Glassman at St. Bonaventure University Hospital.
The young surgeon faces suspicion from his peers and must find a method to connect with his team in order to demonstrate his competence. The effects of living with an invisible impairment on one’s career and personal life are examined in the episode. A lawyer named Joni, who has been employed by the company that represents Drs. Glassman and Murphy will serve as a character in The Good Lawyer who is comparable to the one in the original. Joni, a young and ambitious lawyer, is discriminated against because of her obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), which affects every part of her life. Janet, her jaded supervisor and a seasoned lawyer, is wary of her because of her condition.
The interplay between Joni and Janet, while superficially similar to that of Murphy and Glassman in The Good Doctor, will likely result in a totally different perspective on the topic of disability in the workplace. Nearly a year has passed since former Sony TV Studios head Jeff Frost said a spinoff of The Good Doctor “was always a possibility” and something the company “would love to see happen.” He went on to say that he didn’t want to make something that would “affect the mothership,” but that a spinoff was possible. Since the original Korean series on which The Good Doctor is based did not have a spinoff, the idea for the sequel must be completely unique. For Shore Z Prods, Friedman will join executive producers David Shore and Eric Gunn. Additionally, Sony Pictures Television will join Shore Z in producing the show.