FX has purchased thirteen episodes of the legal drama “Damages.”

The legal thriller, from FX Prods. and Sony Pictures Television, is set to premiere in the summer, a year after the show’s creators/executive producers Todd A. Kessler, Glenn Kessler and Daniel Zelman delivered their first draft to the network.

That is an uncustomarily quick turnaround for FX, which has been looking for years to launch a legal franchise.

“It’s a very well-written, well-acted thriller, a legal show that never goes into the court room,” FX Networks president and GM John Landgraf said. “It’s very unusual relative to any legal shows you’ve seen.”

In “Damages,” which will begin production in May in New York, Close will play Patty Hewes, one of America’s foremost litigators going after corporate titans. Co-starring on the show — described by some as the legal world’s “The Devil Wears Prada” — are Rose Byrne as a first-year associate at Hewes’ firm, as well as Ted Danson, Tate Donovan and Zeljko Ivanek. The pilot was directed by Allen Coulter.