Floater (12 Nov. 2003)

A murder investigation leads detectives to a judge who may be taking bribes from a select group of divorce lawyers to rig their cases.

Director:

Richard Dobbs

Writers:

Dick Wolf (created by), Eric Overmyer

Stars:

Jerry Orbach, Jesse L. Martin, S. Epatha Merkerson

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Jerry Orbach	...	Detective Lennie Briscoe
Jesse L. Martin	...	Detective Ed Green
S. Epatha Merkerson	...	Lt. Anita Van Buren
Sam Waterston	...	Jack McCoy
Elisabeth Röhm	...	A.D.A. Serena Southerlyn
Fred Dalton Thompson	...	D.A. Arthur Branch
Jan Maxwell	...	Judge Ruth Alexander
Sean Cullen	...	Gene Marchetti
Leslie Hendrix	...	Dr. Elizabeth Rodgers
Erick Avari	...	Ravi Patel
John Cariani	...	Julian Beck
Jason Kolotouros	...	Derek Greer
David Lipman	...	Judge Morris Torledsky
Zena Grey	...	Lena Marchetti
William Bogert	...	Alvin Hartmann

Storyline

A murder investigation leads detectives to a judge who may be taking bribes from a select group of divorce lawyers to rig their cases.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Details

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 November 2003 (USA)

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Wolf Films, Universal Network Television

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

References You Bet Your Life (1950)

User Reviews

Subjective and Sealed

A woman's body snagged by a fisherman on the Hudson River bank is the case that Briscoe and Green catch in this Law And Order story. She's been there a while, but she's finally identified as a missing court house employee going through a messy divorce with Sean Cullen.

Which of course makes him look good for it especially in the eyes of that noted divorce expert Jerry Orbach. But again it's Elizabeth Rohm who spots certain inconsistencies that send the DA looking in other directions.

What we have here is a divorce racket in the divorce part of the Supreme Court in New York County. Judge Jan Maxwell consistently favors a certain group of lawyers in her court. The beauty of this is that divorce cases are automatically sealed except for the parties and attorneys involved. And the decisions are for the most part subjective with alimony, community property, and custodial rights left completely at the judge's discretion. If it weren't for the fact that the deceased was a court employee you couldn't possibly catch on.

Maybe Lennie Briscoe has a reason to be so cynical about matrimony and divorce.