Production[]
January[]
- 8 January
- L&O: "Entrapment" airs.
- 15 January
- L&O: "Legacy" airs.
February[]
- 5 February
- L&O: "Menace" airs.
- 12 February
- L&O: "Barter" airs.
- 19 February
- L&O: "Matrimony" airs.
- 26 February
- L&O: "Working Mom" airs.
March[]
April[]
- 4 April
- L&O: "Mad Dog" airs.
- 16 April
- L&O: "Double Down" airs.
- 30 April
- L&O: "We Like Mike" airs.
May[]
September[]
- 24 September
- L&O: "Thrill" airs.
October[]
- 8 October
- L&O: "Denial" airs.
- 15 October
- L&O: "Navy Blues" airs.
- 29 October
- L&O: "Harvest" airs.
November[]
- 5 November
- L&O: "Nullification" airs.
- 12 November
- L&O: "Baby, It's You" airs.
- 19 November
- L&O: "Blood" airs.
- 26 November
- L&O: "Shadow" airs.
December[]
- 10 December
- L&O: "Burned" airs.
- 17 December
- L&O: "Ritual" airs.
Other events[]
February[]
- 1 February
- Cynthia Belgrave dies.
May[]
- 12 May
- Odeya Rush is born.
August[]
- 15 August
- Cassidy Hinkle is born.
December[]
- 11 December
- Ben Cook is born.
1997 in the Law & Order Universe[]
April[]
- 26 April
- Jury finds Hank Coburn guilty of 2nd-Degree Murder for his part in the deaths of Larry Rice and Lorna Kaminsky. (L&O: "Terminal")
- Manhattan District Attorney Adam Schiff terminates his wife's life support. ("Terminal")
October[]
- 16 October
- Detective Jet Slootmaekers is born.
- Undetermined Date
- Nicole Wallace gives birth to her daughter Hannah June Bartlett with her lover Rohan Bartlett, whom she would later murdered three years later at the age of three in the waters off of Stradbroke Island, in Australia. The body is not found until a year later; the evidence suggests foul play. (CI: "Great Barrier")
| 1996 | Production timeline | 1998 |