Confirmation, Cast, & Everything We Know

The Lincoln Lawyer just premiered its fourth season, but even ahead of the release, the legal drama was renewed for a fifth. It’s no surprise, given the positive reception of its plot, characters, and the way the story continues to develop from one season to the next. While we know for certain that a Season 5 is coming, there’s a lot to unpack about what this might entail, when it might arrive, and who will be in it. And a few details we already know.

When Will We See Season 5 of ‘The Lincoln Lawyer’?

Netflix

Netflix has confirmed that Season 5 of The Lincoln Lawyer is already in development. The official statement from Netflix Tudum reads: “Mickey Haller (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo) will climb into the backseat of his Lincoln Navigator for the fifth season of The Lincoln Lawyer. The legal drama, which follows the Haller and Associates team as they defend LA’s trickiest clients, has been renewed ahead of the launch of Season 4 on February 5.”

“Season 4 is the most challenging and intensely personal journey we’ve taken Mickey Haller on yet,” continue co-showrunners Ted Humphrey and Dailyn Rodriguez, “and we’re thrilled and grateful to be able to continue the ride in Season 5.”

With Season 4 of The Lincoln Lawyer just now streaming, it’s almost definitive that we won’t see Season 5 until 2027. Based on the history of the show’s previous seasons, it’s anyone’s guess when exactly the season will arrive. Season 1 was released in May 2022, followed by Season 2 in two parts in July and August 2023. Season 3 came out in October 2024, which means we waited more than a year for Season 4. Thus, Season 5 likely won’t arrive until the Spring or Summer of 2027, at the earliest.

The season will have 10 episodes, as have all other previous seasons, Netflix confirms. Netflix seems to have abandoned the split-season release schedule from Season 2, so we can expect that all 10 episodes will be available to stream at once for your binge-watching pleasure. Production is reportedly set to begin in March 2026.

‘The Lincoln Lawyer’ Season 5’s Plot

It’s far too early to determine the plot, though we can infer some details based on how things ended for Season 4 and the fact that the season will be based on the Michael Connelly book series Resurrection Walk. Those who have read the novels know that they follow Mickey teaming up with his half-brother, who happens to be Harry Bosch. This Connelly character has been adapted for the Amazon Prime Video series Bosch, and is played in that show by Titus Welliver.

In the novel, the brothers work together to help a wrongfully convicted woman get out of prison. “A woman is imprisoned for murdering her husband, a sheriff’s deputy,” reads the book’s summary. “But the evidence doesn’t add up; the department pushed for quick closure in the killing of one of its own. But is this rushed justice, or something more sinister?” If this is the storyline that’s followed for Season 5 of the show, it means Mickey could find himself in the crosshairs of corrupt law enforcement again, solidifying his position as the worst enemy of police and government officials trying to cover up crimes. The book description adds that it is a “David versus Goliath court battle” with “secrets [that] could set an innocent woman free [that] could also be worth killing for.”

The overarching theme of those novels is Mickey being approached by many incarcerated individuals who swear they’re innocent. Given the trajectory of Season 4, with Mickey successfully getting out of false charges against him, even with such damning proof, it makes sense that the firm’s phone would be ringing off the hook from wrongfully convicted individuals convinced that he can work miracles for them.

Fans have been hopeful that Welliver might crossover from Bosch to play the character of Mickey’s brother. But it appears this character has been replaced in the series by Cobie Smulders’s character. How she’s his sister, and how and when she discovered this, remains to be answered. This gender-swapped version of this story could suggest she somehow works in law enforcement (she astutely detected a gun and managed to shove Mickey to the ground to save his life, suggesting she has cop-like instincts) and is seeking his help to exonerate someone. But that hasn’t been confirmed yet, since the season ended on a cliffhanger, Mickey was left bewildered at the revelation that he even has a sister.

Who Will Star in The Lincoln Lawyer Season 5?

Mickey standing behind Lorna and Cisco looking at a laptop in The Lincoln Lawyer.

It’s a given that Garcia-Rulfo will return to reprise his role as Mickey in the show, one of the most addictive legal drama series of the 2020s so far, along with all other main characters, including Campbell, Newton, Jazz Raycole as Izzy, and Angus Sampson as Cisco. As far as new characters from Season 4, Smulders will obviously return, but the other new cast members may have only been single-season guest stars. Alexander could viably return as Agent Dawn Ruth, and perhaps Mickey finds himself face-to-face with Dana Berg (Constance Zimmer) in another case. Given the character’s death, Gould will not return as Legal unless it’s through flashbacks.

As noted, the focus on Mickey’s secret sister will probably result in more of Hayley (Krista Warner), Maggie, and Elena as Mickey dives deeper into his past and the backstory that explains her presence.

Will There Be a Lincoln Lawyer Spin-off?

Lorna with a client in The Lincoln Lawyer.

Interesting, there are rumors of a potential spin-off of the series, with co-showrunner Humphrey telling Screen Rant that he has a “wider universe for these characters in mind.” But he leaves it up to the audience to help determine not only how many seasons the core show will have, but whether the universe expands beyond it. In other words, if reception is positive, maybe a spin-off is in the cards.

“We definitely want to expand the world of Mickey’s personal life,” he adds, “his family, who this guy is, and where he finds himself, and who are the people that he calls family. Let’s put it that way.”

So, while there are no definitive plans for a spin-off show yet, what we do know for sure is that there will be a Season 5 of The Lincoln Lawyer. And that’s good news as Mickey’s story continues with more personal drama and professional cases to navigate, dangers to face, bad guys to put away, and sometimes maybe help get out of trouble, too.