Why You Recognize Law & Order Guest Star Michael Potts, Who Played a Defense Attorney
Law & Order's latest guest star Michael Potts has conquered the screen and stage, with memorable roles in some of TV and Broadway's biggest hits.
Actor Michael Potts may have been trying to keep his client out of prison while playing a defense attorney in the latest episode of Law & Order, but many viewers may remember him for a prior gig he had as a detective committed to sending the guilty away.
If Potts looked familiar as defense attorney Kenneth Lowell in the “Inherent Bias” episode of the series, which debuted on April 10, 2025, there’s good reason for that.
The actor has had a versatile, decades-long career, playing every kind of part from a cerebral detective to an impeccably dressed enforcer for hire on some of television’s most critically-acclaimed series. Also famous for his work on stage, Potts was one of the original cast members in the Broadway hit The Book of Mormon.
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To learn more about his impressive career and the role he took on in Season 24 of Law & Order, read on.
What else has actor Michael Potts been in?
Potts is probably best known to TV viewers for his roles in the crime drama series, The Wire and True Detective. On The Wire, he played enforcer Brother Mouzone, a man known for his distinctive bow tie, ruthlessly calm demeanor, and quest for vengeance.
The Yale School of Drama-trained actor later spent time on the other side of the law as Detective Maynard Gilbough on the first season of the anthology series True Detective in 2014. Gilbough was memorably one of two detectives who interrogated detectives Rust Cohle (Matthew McConaughey) and Martin Hart (Woody Harrelson) about their actions to catch a killer.
Potts has also had roles in series such as East New York, The First Lady, Prodigal Son, The Irrational, Madam Secretary, Person of Interest, and Gotham, according to his IMDB profile.
His film credits include Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and The Piano Lesson, both of which were adaptions of August Wilson plays.
Potts is also a renowned stage actor. He was an original cast member on Broadway's The Book of Mormon, in which he played the part of Mafala Hatimbi. He also performed on the Great White Way in The Piano Lesson, The Iceman Cometh, The Prom, and more, according to Playbill.
Potts is no stranger to the Law & Order universe either. He's held several different roles on Law & Order over the years, and he played Cole Draper, a member of the NYPD's Internal Affairs Bureau, across multiple episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
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Who did Michael Potts play in Law & Order’s “Inherent Bias” episode?
In “Inherent Bias,” Potts played skilled defense attorney Kenneth Lowell, who went up against Executive Assistant District Attorney Nolan Price (Hugh Dancy) in court. Lowell defended Darius Cain (Isaiah Johnson), a physical therapist accused of killing a popular female basketball player.
In court, Lowell was quick to point out the highly circumstantial nature of the case and tried to explain away any evidence that linked his client to the murder. He also seized on the potential racial bias in the case, referencing studies that found that facial recognition programs like the one that tied Cain to the crime scene weren’t as accurate for Black men as they were for people of other races. The polarizing case even had Detectives Vincent Riley (Reid Scott) and Jalen Shaw (Mehcad Brooks) divided.
In the end, however, jurors sided with Price, and Cain was convicted, despite his continued claims of innocence.
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To find out what case the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office will take on next, watch Law & Order on Thursdays at 8/7c p.m. on NBC or stream episodes on Peacock the day after they air.
