Hulu has given a series order to Conviction, a legal drama starring Elisabeth Moss and written by House and The Good Doctor creator David Shore from 20th Television. It is based on the 2023 book of the same name by Jack Jordan, who has signed a development deal at 20th TV, with series adaptations of his novels Redemption (2024) and Deception (2026) in the works. Moss and Shore executive produce Conviction with Warren Littlefield and Bert Salke who together bought and developed the book and oversee Jordan’s deal.
Written by Shore, Conviction centers on criminal Defense Attorney Neve Harper (Moss), a confident lawyer who finally has her shot at a career-making case: a high-profile murder where the husband is accused of killing his wife by setting their home on fire. But when a mysterious stranger begins blackmailing Neve, she is forced to compromise every legal, moral and ethical obligation to gain an acquittal — or else risk her dark secrets being exposed.
While Conviction had been in development for a while, its green light came pretty quickly. After the initially commissioned pilot script written by Shore was delivered, Hulu requested additional material, including an outline-type document on the second episode, sources said. Instead of doing that, I hear Shore surprised executives by writing a full second script. After it was submitted, a series order soon followed.
A writers room for Conviction is expected to open in 10 days, with production slated to begin in June in New York.
Conviction marks Moss and Littlefield’s third series for Hulu following the Emmy-winning The Handmaid’s Tale, in which Moss also starred, and the upcoming sequel The Testaments, which premieres April 8.
Shore and Erin Gunn executive produce for Shore Z Productions; Littlefield, Ann Johnson and Lisa Harrison for The Littlefield Co.; Salke for Co-Lab21; and Moss and Lindsey McManus for Love & Squalor Pictures. Jordan also executive produces. 20th Television, a part of Disney Television Studios, is the studio.
Jordan’s multiyear development deal with 20th TV includes upcoming novels and original scripts. As part of it, Redemption has been put into development by Disney Entertainment’s International Originals EMEA team from 20th TV, The Littlefield Co, Co-Lab 21 and Jude Law and Ben Jackson’s Riff Raff Entertainment (Black Rabbit). In the works at 20th TV is an adaptation of Deception, the next book in the series by Jordan, which will be published in June.
This is the first series greenlight for Shore under the 20th TV overall deal he signed in 2024. Shore creating a legal drama had been on 20th TV executives’ wishlist since he joined the studio.
A former practicing attorney and partner at a boutique law firm in Toronto, Shore worked on several legal series including The Practice, Law & Order and Family Law before he created Fox’s medical drama House and subsequently ABC’s medical drama The Good Doctor, serving as executive producer and showrunner/co-showrunner on both.
Meanwhile, a main draw for Shore to go to 20th TV as his only third studio home after Universal Television and, most recently, Sony Pictures TV, was the fact that the studio produces both for broadcast and streaming. In addition to Conviction at Hulu, Shore is executive producing medical drama Under Pressure, based on a Brazilian format, which is in development at ABC.
Conviction marks his second streaming series after Sneaky Pete for Prime Video. He is repped by CAA, The Shuman Co. and attorney Bill Sobel.
Moss, who is coming off her Emmy-winning role on The Handmaid’s Tale, recently starred in and produced the FX on Hulu limited series The Veil. She next stars in and executive produces the Apple TV series Imperfect Women and executive produces Testaments. Moss is repped by WME, Ocean Avenue, Ribisi Entertainment Group and HJTH.
Littlefield shared with Moss the Outstanding Drama Series Emmy Award for The Handmaid’s Tale; he also has an Outstanding Miniseries Emmy for Fargo. Littlefield recently executive produced The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox for Hulu. He first signed an overall deal with Fox 21 TV Studios, then run by Salke, in 2016. Littlefield has been in the fold ever since, with his deal expanding to include 20th Television two years later.
Jordan’s Conviction and Redemption were longlisted for the top crime writing prize in the UK, Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year in 2024 and 2025, respectively. His novels also include Anything for Her (2015), My Girl (2016), A Woman Scorned (2018), Before Her Eyes (2018), Night by Night (2019) as well as the 2022 thriller Do No Harm, which was a Sunday Times bestseller and shortlisted for Thriller of the Year at the Capital Crime Fingerprint Awards. Jordan is repped by Madeleine Milburn Agency, WME and FKKS.