The Lincoln Lawyer: One Major Star Not Returning for Season 3

Netflix announced on Wednesday that hit legal drama The Lincoln Lawyer is officially coming back for a third season. The new installment will follow the fifth book in Michael Connelly’s Lincoln Lawyer novel series, The Gods of Guilt, and will see Manuel Garcia-Rulfo reprise his role as Mickey Haller. The press release also mentioned that Becki Newton, Jazz Raycole, Angus Sampson, and Yaya DaCosta will reprise their roles in the new season as well. Perhaps the most notable name among the main cast members, Neve Campbell, wasn’t mentioned.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Campbell won’t be returning to The Lincoln Lawyer in Season 3, at least not as a series regular. Campbell’s character, Maggie McPherson, had a smaller role in Season 2 and let for a new job in a new city at the season’s end. Maggie is also not a part of The Gods of Guilt, so it makes sense from a story perspective.

The report did indicate, however, that the door is open for Campbell to return to the series in a future season.

“The audience response to the show has been so gratifying and wonderful, and we are thrilled to have the opportunity to dive back into Michael Connelly’s universe and bring Mickey Haller and his world to the screen again.” Co-showrunners and executive producers Ted Humphrey and Daily Rodriguez said in a statement.

“We’re thrilled to bring back The Lincoln Lawyer for a third season,” added Peter Friedlander, Vice President of Scripted Series, Netflix, US and Canada. “Ted Humphrey and Dailyn Rodriguez have taken us deeper into Mickey Haller’s world, building out characters and stories that have connected with our global audience, and we look forward to seeing what they have in store for everyone’s favorite lawyer. The show continues to top our global lists and it’s a testament to the work from a creative powerhouse team including Michael Connelly, David E. Kelley, Ross Fineman and our partners at A+E Studios.”

The Lincoln Lawyer Season 3

With the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes still ongoing, there’s no telling when work on the new season will actually begin, nor when it will eventually return to Netflix. What we do know, however, is that the setup for Season 3’s story began in the finale of Season 2.

“The season ends with a cliffhanger that clearly tees up the next season. The last 10 minutes of this season are the first couple of chapters of the next book that we’re gonna adapt,” Humphrey told Collider in a recent interview. “We had begun the process of that. We had convened our writers and began the process of that when the writers strike happened. Hollywood is obviously in a state of crisis right now. We obviously had to stop, as soon as the strike happened, but we’re very excited to get back to that, as soon as the strike is resolved. We are not officially greenlit for a third season. Netflix won’t do that until after the numbers come out from the second season, but everything looks positive. It was a vote of confidence in the show that they greenlit a writers room for a third season. So, we know where we’re going. We know what we’re basing it on.”