EXCLUSIVE: Aaron Korsh, who was signed into an overall deal by UCP following the success of his USA Network legal drama Suits, is getting back on the studio’s overall deal roster ahead of the premiere of his upcoming offshoot for NBC, Suits LA.
Under the new pact, Korsh will continue to serve as showrunner on Suits LA, which debuts Feb. 23, and will develop and produce original series for different platforms exclusively with UCP, a division of Universal Studio Group.
Created, written and executive produced by Korsh, Suits LA revolves around Ted Black (Stephen Amell), a former federal prosecutor from New York who has reinvented himself representing the most powerful clients in Los Angeles. His firm is at a crisis point, and to survive he must embrace a role he held in contempt his entire career.
Josh McDermitt, Lex Scott Davis, Bryan Greenberg, and Troy Winbush also star in the NBC series, which will be available next day on Peacock. David Bartis and Doug Liman of Hypnotic, who were both executive producers on the original, are also EPs, along with Gene Klein.
Korsh, who worked as an investment banker before pursuing writing, originally conceived Suits as an Entourage-style comedy set on Wall Street, with the format eventually changing to hourlong and the setting to a law firm.
While he was still at UCP following the end of Suits‘ nine-season run on USA from 2011-19, Korsh pitched a new series inspired by CAA agent Ted Chervin, about a former New York prosecutor coming to Hollywood to work as a talent agent.
That idea didn’t go forward at the time, and the project went through multiple incarnations at other places until, following Suits global resurgence on Netflix in the summer of 2023, it was piloted by NBC as a Suits spinoff set at a Los Angeles law firm with UCP as the studio. The pilot was ultimately picked up to series for a midseason 2025 launch.
“After Aaron hung up his suit as an investment banker, he brought audiences some of the most entertaining lawyers ever to hit our screens,” said Beatrice Springborn, President of UCP and Universal International Studios. “Suits LA is bold, ambitious and imaginative — just like its creator. We’re excited Aaron is making his home at UCP, and we look forward to breaking new ground with him.”
Prior to Suits LA, Korsh created and executive produced another Suits spinoff, USA Network’s Pearson starring Gina Torres, also produced by UCP.
“I am incredibly pleased to have a home and to be back in business with the people of UCP,” Korsh said.
Suits, starring Gabriel Macht, who is reprising his role on Suits LA, Patrick J. Adams, Rick Hoffman, Meghan Markle, Torres and Sarah Rafferty, broke Nielsen’s record in 2023 for the highest year-end total minutes viewed on streaming ever recorded.
Korsh is repped by UTA, Dennis Kim at Literate and Mitch Smelkinson from Goodman Genow Schenkman.
