Dick Wolf's Law & Order had a good thing going with its "ripped from the headlines" technique. Generally, writers take an of-the-moment story, twist a few facts and turn it into a fictionalized scenario. Except for Manhattan lawyer Ravi Batra, the show's fictional "Ravi Patel" was too close for comfort.

In 2004, he sued the show for "libel in fiction," accusing producers of making its fictional Ravi – who bribes a judge – too close to the real Ravi, who was politically tied to a divorce lawyer who got preferential treatment from a judge he sent gifts to, but was never charged with any wrongdoing.

Producers argued anyone could tell the two Ravis apart; the viewing public should've known only the real Ravi is based in Manhattan and never appeared for a corrupt judge. The judge handling the case didn't agree, siding with Batra's version of things: "he was one of only six lawyers in New York City with the given name Ravi and the only one of the six with the same age and physical description as the Patel character."

So now the case moves forward … to discovery. What will they discover? That Law & Order also made fun of Britney Spears and Kevin Federline, but those two ain't suing.