Law & Order can be seen as the end of Steven Hill's long career. He was one of the longest-serving cast members on the show on he exited in 2000, the year of his final acting roles. Hill passed away in New York on Aug. 23, 2016, at the age of 94.

"Dr. Elizabeth Olivet" is a clinical psychologist who works for the 27th Detective Squad and the District Attorney's office in Manhattan. One of her many jobs is to interview murder suspects to determine whether they are legally sane or not.

Carolyn McCormick moved on to narrate and voice in a few different productions such as The Hunger Games audiobook franchise as well in the movie The Dust Bowl in 2012. She recently appeared on the Showtime series Billions playing the role of "Steph Green," and reprised her Law & Order role on SVU in 2018.

"Lennie Briscoe" is a senior detective at the New York City Police Department. Before joining the 27th Detective Squad, he was assigned to the 116th Detective squad in Queens, New York City.

Jerry Orbach was also one of the longest starring Law & Order characters on the show, even winning a Primetime Emmy Award in 1997. He went on to star in other NBC series like Homicide: Life on the Street as well as two Law & Order spin-offs. Orbach was diagnosed with prostate cancer in January of 1994 and eventually succumbed to his disease in December 2004 at age 69.

"Anita Van Buren" succeeded Captain "Donald Cragen" as commander of the 27th precinct detective squad after he transferred to the Anti-Corruption Task Force. She is in charge of most of the detectives throughout the show including "Ed Green," "Rey Curtis," and "Joe Fontana."

S. Epatha Merkerson actually first appeared in season 1 of Law & Order where she played a grief-stricken mother. The producers were so impressed with her performance that they chose Merkerson to take Dann Florek's place as detective chief in season 4. She later moved on to star in Come Back, Little Sheba in 2007. In 2012, she became the host of the show Find Our Missing which was dedicated mainly to finding missing people of colour. She most recently has been portraying "Sharon Goodwin" in the Chicago TV franchise on NBC.

"Jack McCoy" is a 24-year veteran and is appointed executive assistant attorney by "Adam Schiff" during the premiere of season 5. He quickly establishes himself as the more unconventional type of attorney often bending the rules or just outright breaking them to achieve his goals.

Sam Waterston moved on to voice act and narrate in different productions such as the NBC documentary The Great Race and Lewis & Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery. In 2015, Waterston joined the cast of the Netflix series Grace & Frankie after starring in the HBO hit The Newsroom from 2012 until 2014.

"Rey Curtis" was introduced as a homicide detective in the New York Police Department. He has a more black-and-white perspective on serving justice to criminals: whoever commits a serious crime, he or she should go to jail regardless of the reasons or circumstances.