Casey Novak is an Assistant District Attorney on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, portrayed by Diane Neal from 2003 to 2008, and 2011 to present.
It was revealed in early season 5 that Novak graduated from Harvard Law School. Novak initially joined the Manhattan DA's office in the Investigations department in the White Collar division.
Casey replaced Alexandra Cabot in the episode "Serendipity" after Cabot joined the Witness Protection Program. She was shown to be a persistent and tough ADA. Elizabeth Donnelley later states that she has a 71% conviction rate. Her first case dealt with a child rapist and Casey ended up saving one of the victims herself, figuring out that the rapist was a fisherman and later where he stashed the girl while Stabler and Benson were trying to get the location out of the rapist. She then carries the victim to safety herself while the rapist is arrested. At the end of the episode, she asked Arthur Branch if she could have out of the job because she couldn't let go of what happened to the little girl she saved. Arthur Branch said that at first he wasn't sure if Casey was right for the job, but the fact she was affected by the case made him know she was perfect. Arthur Branch denied her request to leave saying she will want the job later.
In the episode "Night", Casey was brutally attacked by a mysterious figure who was being investigated for committing a string of rapes, involving female illegal immigrants. He had used the guise of a flower delivery to get face-to-face with her. Olivia was the one to find Casey beaten down, on the floor of her office. When the two of them got to the hospital, Casey shared a tearful recollection of the event, and asks who could have enough hatred to attack her. Thanks to Elliot Stabler’s check of the security cameras, they discover that it was actually the brother of a Muslim victim. He is arrested and explains that, under his interpretation of fundamentalist Islam, Novak deserved to die as she revealed that his sister wasn't pure. Casey then had been told to compel the woman to testify.
In the season 6 finale, "Goliath", is a supporter for the Troops saying that her father was a door gunner on a huey in Vietnam. He was in three chopper crashes and received a purple heart, a U.S. military decoration awarded to members of the armed forces who have been wounded in action.
Casey Novak was attacked in the courtroom twice, once when she was held at gun point in the season 7 episode "Raw" and the other is when she was choked in the the season 9 opener, "Alternate".
In the season 8 episode, "Outsider", she was asked out by Chester Lake and their future as a couple is unknown.
Casey revealed in "Influence," that she was once engaged to a schizophrenic man, but he refused to take medication, and she eventually left him. The last time she'd heard of him, he was homeless. The topic was mentioned again in "Blinded", when Olivia Benson accused Casey of letting her guilt over the experience cloud her judgment regarding schizophrenic sex offender Saul Picard. In this episode, Jack McCoy learns that Casey's fiancé, Charlie, attacked her when he was off his meds, and she used her job as an ADA to make sure no abuse charges were laid. She tells Olivia that six months before, Charlie was killed in an accident, carrying her business card in his pocket. She expresses guilt, wondering if he'd still be alive if she'd stayed with him. She is also a Catholic, as stated in the season 8 episode "Haystack."
In the season 9 finale "Cold," her conduct during the trial of a police officer accused of raping two illegal immigrants leaves her facing a lengthy suspension. In the season ten episode "Confession", Novak's replacement ADA Kim Greylek asserted that Casey Novak was disbarred for her actions. It was later revealed that she was not disbarred; she only had her license suspended for three years. She returned to the DA's office, but her trustworthiness was challenged on her first case back as she needed a conviction to restore her reputation.
In the episode "Mean", while cross-examining one of the teens, Casey reveals that her birthstone is sapphire, making her month of birth September.
ADA Novak returned as a recurring character, along with ADA Cabot, in Season 13. She was last seen as the lead prosecutor in "Valentine's Day", in which she goes up against Defense Attorney Marvin Exley, who is defending a woman who seems to have fabricated her own abduction.
Career in the District Attorney's Office
| Time Period | Position | Bureau | Office | District Attorney | Predecessor | Successor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001–2003 | Assistant District Attorney | Investigations
(White Collar) |
Manhattan District Attorney's office | Nora Lewin/Arthur Branch | Unknown | |
| 2004–2008 | Special Victims | Arthur Branch/ | Alexandra Cabot | Kim Greylek | ||
| 2008–2011 | Censured | |||||
| 2011–present | Assistant District Attorney | Special Victims | Manhattan District Attorney's office | Jack McCoy/
Unknown |
Gillian Hardwicke | – |
 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit - Main Characters
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Senior Detectives: Elliot Stabler • John Munch • Odafin Tutuola • Olivia Benson • Amanda Rollins Junior Detectives: Olivia Benson • Monique Jeffries • Odafin Tutuola • Chester Lake • Amanda Rollins • Nick Amaro • Dominick Carisi, Jr. • Katriona Tamin • Joe Velasco • Grace Muncy Squad Supervisors: John Munch • Olivia Benson • Odafin Tutuola Commanding Officers: Donald Cragen • Olivia Benson • Christian Garland Assistant District Attorneys: Alexandra Cabot • Casey Novak • Kim Greylek • Rafael Barba • Peter Stone • Dominick Carisi, Jr. Others: Melinda Warner • George Huang | |
Casey Novak
Notes
- Novak is a redhead, although she had her hair dyed strawberry blond and blond for some of her appearances.
- She is Catholic.
- Actress Diane Neal's twitter hinted at sexual tension between Novak and Detective Benson.
- She is ranked as a Senior ADA, as stated in the season 8 episde "Haystack".
- Novak has the highest conviction rate of any ADA in the Law and Order Universe.
- Novak lives on the Upper West Side.
- She was once in a relationship that led to domestic violence, as she revealed to Benson in season 7.
- Novak has been physically assaulted five times in the series.
- ADA Casey Novak has been in more episodes than any other SVU ADA.
- She is possibly of Slovak descent.
- Was censured for violating Brady law.
- Novak was born in September, as revealed in the season 5 episode "Mean", when she cites her birthstone as Sapphire.
- Her father was a doorgunner in the Vietnam War, and once took down a huey.
- Her initial return was cemented by a conviction, albeit a rocky one.
- As of season 13, her tension with Benson seems to have escalated, witnessed particularly through their fight in the first episode she appears in.