his teenaged daughter Neala (Jenny Lewis), Shannon found himself starting over with his own small firm in a low-rent Philadelphia building filled with low-rent professionals, including lawyers like ambulance-chaser Lou Gondolf (Martin Ferrero). He also found himself going up against his old adversary Todd Spurrier (Miguel Ferrer), who had moved to the DA's office to lay the groundwork for a political career. Though he gained a loyal assistant in Lucy Acosta (Elizabeth Peña) when he freed her boyfriend from a wrongful charge, he quickly discovered that practicing law was now a far different venture, as he worked cases involving crime, corruption, and corporate greed from the other side without the vast resources of his old law firm. Shannon gained another unlikely ally in Wilmer Slade (Richard Edson), a former welterweight boxer turned enforcer for one of the many loan sharks to whom Jack is in debt. Always striving for self-improvement through vocabulary studies and night school, Wilmer eagerly took on the role of investigator for Shannon when needed. Shannon's skill as an attorney was only matched by his flair as a poker player with an uncanny ability to deal himself a winning hand more often than not. Now Shannon relies on that same talent to work out deals for his clients without having to go to court. Shannon's Deal explored various aspects of the law as Jack took on police and government corruption, union disputes, child custody, the murky underside of creative ownership in the music business, and even the viability of the church as sanctuary for an illegal immigrant. Lucy soon broke up with her boyfriend, and there remained an undercurrent of attraction between Jack and Lucy throughout the series that was never fully realized. Shannon continued to battle his gambling addiction, even as he used his poker skills to help work out his cases. Cast and characters Jamey Sheridan as Jack Shannon Elizabeth Peña as Lucy Acosta Richard Edson as Wilmer Slade Jenny Lewis as Neala Shannon Episodes Season one (1990) Season two (1991) Production and development Shannon's Deal was based in part on the experiences of executive producer Stan Rogow as a lawyer in the 1970s. Representing poor people, Rogow never wanted to go to court because he knew he would lose going up against corporate law firms with huge resources. Later getting into the film industry, Rogow met and worked with writer-director John Sayles, who had