Joanna Klein

Joanna Klein is a character on the Apple TV+ limited series, Defending Jacob. She is portrayed by Cherry Jones.

Joanna Klein is the top defense lawyer in the area, who worked on Jacob Barber's murder case. She was brought in after Andy was removed from the Benjamin Rifkin murder case and the Barber family felt it appropriate to have an outside figure defending Jacob.

With the case against Jacob building, it was up to Joanna to make a solid defense case and use her expert knowledge to navigate Jacob to safety. Interviewing Jacob to ascertain the events that occurred in Cold Spring Park on the day Ben Rifkin was murdered proved a test of her patience as Jacob's story was inconsistent.

Having to leave the interview early, Joanna moved to a case that attacked the prosecution's evidence rather than a story that defended Jacob. This was much to the dismay of Andy but was what she felt was the best course of action to free his son.

During the trial, Joanna had to deal with damaging evidence towards Jacob from Derek Yoo which revealed that Jacob wrote a story online that bore a resemblance to Ben Rifkin's murder. Joanna was unsure if this would be too damaging for Jacob's case to overcome.

However, this proved inconsequential as it was revealed to the court that Leonard Patz, another known suspect, had confessed to the murder and hang himself. This lead to a victory for the Barber family and Joanna as their defence attorney.

The need for Joanna was not finished however as Laurie, still not trusting Jacob, had left two missed calls on Joanna's phone in the early hours of the morning on the day Laurie would crash into a wall, putting Jacob in a coma and her in hospital.