for the franchise. The creator has stated that he's inspired by the daily headlines, which always produce stories about crime and scandals. However, while real-world stories have informed the procedural franchise for over 30 years, this approach has also led to some legal nightmares for the creators behind the scenes.

In 2004, New York attorney Ravi Batra filed a suit against 35 defendants, including Wolf and NBC Universal, for libel-in-fiction.

According to , the attorney argued that the "Law & Order" character Ravi Patel (Eric Avari) — an Indian-American lawyer who bribes a Supreme Court judge in one episode — was based on him. As documented by , Batra was also closely affiliated with a politician who allegedly accepted bribes in the past, and the episode in question, "Floater," deals with similar subjects. That said, it's worth noting that Batra has never been found guilty of bribing anyone.

Wolf's lawyers argued that the similarities were abstract. However, due to the uniqueness of the character's name, ethnicity, and appearance, the real-life attorney felt that there was a clear connection to him and that the episode was defamatory. Furthermore, those identifiable traits could also be obvious to viewers who were familiar with Batra at the time.

The Law & Order lawsuit was a 'landmark case'

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As The Hollywood Reporter article noted, Justice Marilyn Shafir stated that ordinary viewers could potentially mistake the "Law & Order" character's corruption as being truthful in regard to Ravi Batra. Therefore, the case was moved forward to the discovery round, which pleased the real-life attorney.

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