Producers of TV series Law & Order were sued for $15m (€11.5m) on Friday, by an angry attorney who accuses them of portraying him as a villainous lawyer.

Ravi Batra complains an episode titled 'Floater' deliberately inflicted emotional, monetary and professional injury on him by featuring an Indian-American, Brooklyn-based lawyer named Ravi Patel who has similarities to Batra - including a bald head and a beard.

And the character Batra claims is based on himself is found guilty of fixing matrimonial cases, corruptly selling consultancies and appointments to judgeships.

The lawsuit says people who know Batra "were disturbed and distressed by the story line of criminal conduct attributed to plaintiff (Batra) by the defendants".

Law & Order creator Dick Wolf's spokesman says: "This episode, like all Law & Order episodes, is fictional."