Shatner to join ‘Practice’ spin-off

LOS ANGELES - William Shatner is expected to join James Spader in the cast of producer David E. Kelley’s spinoff to canceled legal drama “The Practice.”

Both have already appeared in “The Practice,” which is wrapping its eight-year run this season, Spader as the lead and Shatner as a guest star.

Shatner’s character, Danny Crane, is the senior partner in Crane, Poole & Schmidt, the law firm that represents Alan Shore (Spader) in his wrongful-termination lawsuit against Young, Frutt & Berluti, the outfit around which “The Practice” revolved. Shore subsequently joins Crane’s firm.

Fay Masterson and Lake Bell are on track to star in the spinoff, with their characters being introduced in the final episodes of “The Practice.” Masterson will play a tough, capable attorney, while Bell will play a free-spirited law school graduate. Both will work for the Crane firm.

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