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Serena Southerlyn was an Assistant District Attorney on Law & Order. Southerlyn joined the District Attorney's office in 2001 as an ADA, replacing Abbie Carmichael. She worked under Nora Lewin, Arthur Branch, and Jack McCoy.

Not much is revealed about education except she sat three seats in front of Kay Hartley in her contracts class (L&O: "Mother's Day") and took Professor Ira Simpkis' criminal law class her freshman year. (L&O: "Genius") She often disagreed and fought with McCoy over their trial strategies in cases where she saw the defendant's crime as a byproduct of social circumstances such as homelessness or racism.

She had an especially antagonistic relationship with Branch, a conservative who replaced Lewin as District Attorney in 2002.

Branch dismissed Southerlyn because he felt that she was too sympathetic to the defendants.

In her final episode, she is revealed to be a lesbian. (L&O: "Ain't No Love")

This self-outing is generally believed by critics and viewers alike to have been poorly handled in terms of both story continuity and character development.

The revelation is also inconsistent with dialog in the final act of L&O: "Girl Most Likely", in which the DAs use the threat of outing a woman to force her into accepting a plea.

Trivia[]

Appearances[]


Icon L&O Law & Order - Main Characters
Law

Senior Detectives: Max GreeveyPhil CerretaLennie BriscoeJoe FontanaEd GreenCyrus LupoKevin BernardFrank CosgroveJalen Shaw

Junior Detectives: Mike LoganRey CurtisEd GreenNick FalcoNina CassadyCyrus LupoKevin BernardFrank CosgroveJalen ShawVincent Riley

Commanding Officers: Captain Donald Cragen • Lieutenant Anita Van Buren • Lieutenant Kate Dixon

Order

Executive Assistant District Attorneys: Benjamin StoneJack McCoyMichael CutterNolan Price

Assistant District Attorneys: Paul RobinetteClaire KincaidJamie RossAbbie CarmichaelSerena SoutherlynAlexandra BorgiaConnie RubirosaSamantha Maroun

District Attorneys: Adam SchiffNora LewinArthur BranchJack McCoyNicholas Baxter

Others

Elizabeth OlivetAlfred Wentworth

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