The term "Law & Order franchise" is commonly used to describe a number of related American television programs created by Dick Wolf and originally broadcast on NBC, all of which deal with some aspect of the criminal justice system. Shared people and resources in a common fictional setting are the connecting links between the shows, e.g., Hudson University and the New York Ledger tabloid newspaper. Many supporting characters, such as district attorneys, psychologists and medical examiners are also shared among the shows.

Occasionally, crossovers of main characters and/or shared storylines between two of the shows will occur. A few major characters have also left the cast of one show within the franchise only to eventually join another. The franchise also crossed over on several occasions with the independently conceived Homicide: Life on the Street.

The music, style and credits of the shows tend to be similar. The original Law & Order, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Law & Order: Trial by Jury, and the two Russian series arguably contain the most visual similarities within the franchise, particularly with respect to their opening credits sequence. Law & Order: UK?s opening sequence differs significantly from the others, but that programme's visual and narrative styles are otherwise nearly identical to those of the original New York-based prorgram.

Past episodes of the American series are in syndication with TNT, USA Network, and Bravo!showing episodes sometimes up to six times a day.

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