Lorraine Toussaint will return to her old role as defense lawyer Shambala Green in the backdoor pilot of "Chicago P.D." spin-off series titled "Chicago Justice."
Toussaint first portrayed the role in "Law & Order" in 1990 as a recurring character for seven episodes until 2003. She moved on to portray various roles in other successful TV dramas, including Vee in Netflix's "Orange Is the New Black" and Donna Rosewood in Fox's new medical drama "Rosewood."
While the scope of her character in the upcoming series is still under wraps, The Holywood Reporter revealed that Toussaint's guest-starring status in the series will not affect her full-time appearance in "Rosewood."
The report also mentioned that this is not the first time that a show from the "Chicago" franchise will recruit a cast member from the "Law & Order" series. Actress S. Epatha Merkerson, who used to portray the role of Lt. Anita Van Buren in the award-winning police procedural legal drama that concluded in 2010, is now with "Chicago Med" as chief administrator Sharon Goodwin.
News about the development of "Chicago Justice" came out after NBC Entertainment president Jennifer Salke revealed during the 2016 winter press tour of the Television Critics Association in January that the network and series creator Dick Wolf are developing a new "Chicago" series. The working title for the project at that time was "Chicago Law."
"The Chicago universe will continue to grow as we are in active development on Chicago Law (working title)," Salke said, via TVGuide.
Aside from Toussaint, the backdoor pilot of "Chicago Justice" stars "The Player" actor Philip Winchester; "Heroes Reborn" alum Nazneen Contractor, who will portray the role of Assistant District Attorney Dawn Harper; "Justified" star Joelle Carter; and "Rocky" star Carl Weathers, who will portray the role of well-respected State Attorney Mark Jefferies.
"Chicago Justice" will be piloted during the 21<sup>st episode of "Chicago P.D." season 3, airing sometime this spring.
