Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
The assistant district attorneys are important characters inLaw & Order : SVU , with the best ones among the show ’s most compelling case . The long - running police adjective focuses equally on the court side of cases take sex wrongdoer . Thus , ADAs heavily work whether the victim in each case set out the justice they deserve , and many ofLaw & Order : SVU ’s best episodesinvolve ADAs go above and beyond the call of duty to secure sentence against herculean people that seemed unbelievable at best .
During the 26 years thatLaw & Order : SVUhas been on the tune , many ADAs have either helped or hindered jurist . Many of these attorney have become close friends to Olivia Benson and the eternal rest of the SVU squad , though some have been thorns in their side . Current ADA Sonny Carisi is the latest in a long line of attorneys who have prosecute fictionalcrimes based on real - life cases inLaw & Order : SVU . Here is how Sonny compare to the rest of the show ’s best ADAs .
14Sonya Paxton
Played By Christine Lahti
Sonya Paxton is the bad ADALaw & Order : SVUhas ever had . Actress Christine Lathi ’s ADA Paxton was self-important and cynical , often assuming that suspect were guilty until demonstrate impeccant or else of the other way around . Worst of all , she had nothing but contempt for Benson and Stabler and made short effort to shroud her genuine tactual sensation . Thus , her bearing on - screen sapped the audience ’s push and every panorama she was in was became frustrating for some audiences .
Dominick Carisi ’s recent Law & Order : SVU season 26 plot line effectively spotlight one of the most overlooked aspects of the eccentric .
Paxton ’s incompetence led to her downfall . When she accidentally played a tape that had not been allowed into grounds instead of one with faceless , data processor - generate characters during a trial , the judge drop the accusation against the suspect . Paxton rick to alcohol to deal with her guilt and plethora over her failure . gratefully , after she come to homage intoxicate , she was ordered to wait on rehab , and the SVU squad was finally rid of her .
13Mikka Von
Played By Paula Patton
Mikka Von was also an annoying and incompetent ADA , but as luck would have it , she only last one episode . She arrive from Chicago duringLaw & Order : SVUseason 12 , sequence 5 to facilitate out with a case involve a biology professor accused of using poisoned mushrooms to wipe out a adult female . During that display case , Von testify herself to be as ridiculous as Paxton when she offered the defendant ’s attorney a vacation so that he would not be in court of law when trial take up .
Von ’s forgetful term of office spend a penny her a mostly forgettable character .
This antic deservedly got Von terminate , write the audience ’s provocation . Had she stayed in the serial publication beyond her first instalment , she might have go past Paxton as the worst lawyer in the series ' history . As it was , she did some harm to the court ’s unity . However , justice was served in the end , both for the victim and for the DA ’s office . Von ’s short land tenure makes her a mostly forgettable character .
12David Haden
Played By Harry Connick Jr.
Although Haden could have been an interesting and good assistant district lawyer , he is easily known for having a relationship with Benson that compromised his ability to prosecute effectively . Haden was ab initio bring in as having been from a family of district attorneys , which could have made him correspondent to the fuzz on CBS’Blue Bloods , and was played by well - fuck actor Harry Connick , Jr. Thus , his comparatively unmemorable front onLaw & Order : SVUis particularly dissatisfactory .
These 10 Elliot Stabler episodes on Law & Order : SVU represent Christopher Meloni ’s well work on the series his part was first introduced on .
Furthermore , Haden leftLaw & Order : SVUafter his relationship with Benson ended , further cementing in the interview ’s mind that their affair was the only purpose of his character . The thing ultimately put Benson in a precarious posture when defence lawyer Bayard Ellis ( Andre Braugher ) deduced that the two were see each otherwhile pushing Haden to let a wrongfully convicted man that Benson had turn back eight years ago out of prison house . Benson break things off with Haden after that , and he was not seen again , but their affair ache her otherwise immaculate repute , make Haden even less likable .
11Sherri West
Played By Francie Swift
Sherri West was not incompetent or unethical . However , she only appeared in a few installment and is well know for becoming a defence mechanism attorney after she was finished with her Erolia minutilla asLaw & Order : SVU ’s assistant dominion attorney . Thus , she is mostly forgettable to all except the most die - grueling lover of the serial publication , as she was not there for long enough to make much of an impression .
West ’s appearance as a defense lawyer inLaw & Order : SVUseason 13 , sequence 4 cement her image as a goofy fictional character , as she had turn to DoD work to pay for her shoe collection .
West ’s first appearing involve prosecuting a youngster molester in a case where one of the untested victims was so traumatized that she initially could n’t speak , but was unable to persuade a jurist to hold the defendant without bail . This was follow by the suspect almost immediately took his own life . Thus , she belike would not have been a strong ADA if she had stayed longer . West ’s appearance as a defense lawyer inLaw & Order : SVUseason 13 , episode 4 cemented her image as a goofy role , as she had turned to defense piece of work to pay for her shoe collection .
10Casey Novak
Played By Diane Neal
Novak prosecuted some ofLaw & Order : SVU ’s saddest casesand is one of the intimately have it away attorneys from the series . She was meant to be a replacement for Stephanie March ’s Alex Cabot once the democratic ADA left the series , but was not nearly as appealing or interesting . Although Cabot and Novak both sometimes engage in unethical behavior , Novak became more associated with it . to boot , she did n’t get along with Benson and Stabler and was often to a fault aggressive in the courtroom .
Before being throw away as Casey Novak in time of year 5 ofLaw & Order : SVU , Diane Neal appeared in season 3 instalment 10 , " Ridicule , " as a woman accused of sexually assaulting a man . That character had no exonerated link to Novak .
Novak was disbar after she lied about grounds in club to render to get a convictionagainst a fuzz who had raped two undocumented woman . Although this same incident led to Detective Chester Lake ’s arrest for fatally sprout the defendant , it was not the end of Novak ’s life history . Instead , she returned on a recurring base in seasons 12 and 13 before give without account , which further cement her legacy as an overzealous ADA who got away with more than she should have .
9Peter Stone
Played By Philip Winchester
Peter Stone ’s kinsperson connection should have made him one ofLaw & Order : SVU ’s most interesting fictional character , but unfortunately , he did n’t work out as an ADA specializing in sex crimes case . Stone was the son ofLaw & Order ’s Benjamin Stone , who was the original ADA when the flagship series premier in 1990 . Peter had an emotional storyline call for his feeling that he had never lived up to his recent begetter ’s expectation .
Stone may not have been as democratic as he should have been because he was a graft from the failedOne ChicagoseriesChicago Justice .
Stone may not have been as democratic as he should have been because he was a transplanting from the failedOne ChicagoseriesChicago Justice . This meant his inclusion in a adjective set in New York felt out of place for some audience . Nevertheless , his precipitous decision to leave because of his feeling for Benson was disappointing , especially because he had become near with her son , Noah . Stone feel like a wasted opportunitywithinLaw & Order : SVU .
8Jo Marlowe
Played By Sharon Stone
Jo Marlowe is another ADA who was only in a handful of episodes . However , she is more interesting than most because of her background signal . Like Carisi , Marlowe is a former cop that became an attorney and now prosecutes sexuality crimes — in fact , she was an honest-to-god spouse of Stabler . It would have been interesting if she and Carisi were ever to have a reason to divvy up stories .
One Chicago is only one of three Dick Wolf franchise on TV , but all of his other shows are connected to the franchise in various elbow room .
Marlowe ’s short clip onLaw & Order : SVUmakes her less memorable than other ADAs . However , she had an emotional storyline in which she dealt with an fast-growing type of breast cancer , which allowed actress Sharon Stone to do great work . Surprisingly , Marlowe ’s exit did not have to do with her cancer , and in fact was never explained at all on the series . However , she might have been too traumatize to continue working after being book surety in a dead room by a distraught defendant who stole an officer ’s gun .
7Abbie Carmichael
Played By Angie Harmon
Abbie Carmichael was originally an ADA onLaw & Order . She was brought over from the flagship show forLaw & Order : SVU ’s first season to help show the new spin - off as part of the same universe . Thus , she feel jolly like a filler character who was there to harbor the space until a lasting ADA character could be created to take her spot . Additionally , she did n’t quite go the survivor - center cultivation of the Special Victims Unit , which may be part of why she did n’t last beyond the first season .
Carmichael ’s heart was in the correct lieu even if she did n’t wholly fit into the Modern series .
Carmichael was unapologetically buttoned-down , so some of her pro - life view did n’t really go the ethos of a unit dedicated to women ’s rights . However , when she was inLaw & Order , she had sympathy for a suspect who had been sexually assualted and unveil to McCoy that she had also once been a victim of this type of criminal offence . Thus , her inwardness was in the right place even if she did n’t completely fit into the new serial publication .
6Michael Cutter
Played By Linus Roache
carver is a popular fibre , butit is hard to judge him proportional to other ADAs because he had been promote to SVU Bureau Chief by the time he appear onLaw & Order : SVU.Thus , he in general did not hear cases himself , instead directing the ADA underneath him when they took on eccentric affect special victims . However , the fact that he issue forth from the originalLaw & Ordergave him a firm connector to the show than the unexampled Bureau Chief that Carisi works under .
Since first appear as Olivia Benson on Law and Order : SVU in 1999 , Mariska Hargitay has brought the character to many other Dick Wolf shows .
Given Cutter ’s association with the franchise , it is unsatisfying that his exit is never explained . Instead , the Bureau Chief position stopped being of import enough to feature inLaw & Order : SVUuntil Carisi gained a place as an ADA , moving over from the cop side , and a new head was necessitate to be an antagonist who interfered with the way Carisi wanted to try on cases .
5Gillian Hardwicke
Played By Melissa Sagemiller
Hardwicke followed on the heels of Marlowe , Von , and West , make her the first longer - terminus ADALaw & Order : SVUhad in a while . She also was excellent at her job , boasting a 92 % condemnation pace before she joined SVU . Unlike many of the previous ADA , she wanted this job because she admired Benson and Stabler . This was a marked improvement from the parade of ADAs who had contempt for them or treated them like they were obstruction to justice instead of colleagues who were equally important in their mission .
Melissa Sagemiller , who play Hardwicke , also dally Jules in the pilot light instalment ofChicago PD .
Hardwicke ’s warmth for getting justice for survivors made her a compelling character as well as as a good set forLaw & Order : SVU . alas , the case did not get the respect she deserved when she left the show , as she disappear without explanationafter a bizarre case involving a char who was secretly the twin of the military personnel she charge of violence against her current boyfriend . This relieve oneself her departure all the more disheartening .
