"Custody" is an episode of the NBC

NBC

The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

 legal drama

Legal drama

A legal drama is a work of dramatic fiction about crime and civil litigation. Subtypes of legal dramas include courtroom dramas and legal thrillers, and come in all forms, including novels, television shows, and films. Legal drama sometimes overlap with crime drama, most notably in the case of Law...

 Law & Order

Law & Order

Law & Order is an American police procedural and legal drama television series, created by Dick Wolf and part of the Law & Order franchise. It aired on NBC, and in syndication on various cable networks. Law & Order premiered on September 13, 1990, and completed its 20th and final season on May 24,...

. It aired on February 21, 1996, as the 126th episode of the series.

Plot

When a social work

Social work

Social Work is a professional and academic discipline that seeks to improve the quality of life and wellbeing of an individual, group, or community by intervening through research, policy, community organizing, direct practice, and teaching on behalf of those afflicted with poverty or any real or...

er is murdered, his gambling habit and scam of the foster-care system are revealed. A drug-addicted mother desperate to reclaim her baby becomes a suspect, but her lawyer — former ADA Paul Robinette

Paul Robinette

Paul Robinette, played by Richard Brooks, is a fictional character who appeared in the TV drama series Law & Order from the pilot episode in 1990 until the final episode of the third season, "Benevolence," in 1993...

 — proves to be a challenge for McCoy

Jack McCoy

John James "Jack" McCoy is a fictional character in the television drama Law & Order, created by Michael S. Chernuchin and played by Sam Waterston since 1994. He is the second-longest tenured character on the show, after Lt. Anita Van Buren . On January 28, 2009, McCoy's character ended the longest...

 and Kincaid

Claire Kincaid

Assistant District Attorney Claire Kincaid is a fictional character on the television series Law & Order, played by Jill Hennessy from 1993 to 1996.-Character overview:...

.

Cast

• Jerry Orbach
  Jerry Orbach
  Jerome Bernard "Jerry" Orbach was an American actor and singer. He was well known for his starring role as Detective Lennie Briscoe in the Law & Order television series and as the voice of Lumière in Disney's Beauty and the Beast. As well, Orbach was a noted musical theatre star...
  
   - Det. Lennie Briscoe
  Lennie Briscoe
  Leonard W. "Lennie" Briscoe is a fictional character on NBC's long running police procedural and legal drama television series Law & Order. He was featured on the show for 12 seasons, from 1992 to 2004. He was created by Walon Green and René Balcer, and was portrayed by Jerry Orbach...
  
  
• Benjamin Bratt
  Benjamin Bratt
  Benjamin Bratt is an American actor. He is most famous for his role as Rey Curtis on the TV series Law & Order; and his appearances in the movies Blood in Blood Out, Miss Congeniality, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Traffic, and Piñero.-Early life:Bratt was born in San Francisco, California,...
  
   - Det. Rey Curtis
  Rey Curtis
  Reynaldo "Rey" Curtis is a fictional character on the TV drama Law & Order, created by Ed Zuckerman and played by Benjamin Bratt from 1995 to 1999.-Character overview:Curtis is introduced as homicide detective in Manhattan's 27th Detective Squad...
  
  
• S. Epatha Merkerson
  S. Epatha Merkerson
  S. Epatha Merkerson is an American film, stage, and television actress. She has won a Golden Globe, Emmy Awards, Screen Actors Guild Awards, Obie Award and four NAACP Image Awards. She has also received two Tony Award nominations...
  
   - Lt. Anita Van Buren
  Anita Van Buren
  Lt. Anita Van Buren is a fictional character on NBC's long running police procedural and legal drama television series Law & Order, portrayed by S. Epatha Merkerson. By episode count, she is the longest-running character on the show...
  
  
• Sam Waterston
  Sam Waterston
  Samuel Atkinson "Sam" Waterston is an American actor and occasional producer and director. Among other roles, he is noted for his Academy Award-nominated portrayal of Sydney Schanberg in 1984's The Killing Fields, and his Golden Globe- and Screen Actors Guild Award-winning portrayal of Jack McCoy...
  
   - Jack McCoy
  Jack McCoy
  John James "Jack" McCoy is a fictional character in the television drama Law & Order, created by Michael S. Chernuchin and played by Sam Waterston since 1994. He is the second-longest tenured character on the show, after Lt. Anita Van Buren . On January 28, 2009, McCoy's character ended the longest...
  
  
• Jill Hennessy
  Jill Hennessy
  Jillian Noel "Jill" Hennessy is a Canadian actress and musician known for her television roles on Law & Order and Crossing Jordan.-Early life:...
  
   - Claire Kincaid
  Claire Kincaid
  Assistant District Attorney Claire Kincaid is a fictional character on the television series Law & Order, played by Jill Hennessy from 1993 to 1996.-Character overview:...
  
  
• Steven Hill
  Steven Hill
  Steven Hill is an American film and television actor. His two better-known roles are District Attorney Adam Schiff on the NBC TV drama series Law & Order, whom he portrayed for ten seasons , and Dan Briggs, the original team leader of the Impossible Missions Force on CBS's television series...
  
   - Adam Schiff
  Adam Schiff (Law & Order)
  Adam Schiff is a fictional character on the TV drama series Law & Order. He was played by Steven Hill from 1990 to 2000. Schiff was one of the main characters of the series and appeared in every episode of the first ten seasons except for Everybody's Favorite Bagman, which was produced before Hill...