John Larroquette joining show, four others leaving

"Boston Legal" is bulking up its cast for the 2007-08 season, adding multiple Emmy winner John Larroquette to the oddball group of attorneys at the firm of Crane Poole & Schmidt.

The show has also made Christian Clemenson -- who won an Emmy last year for outstanding guest actor -- a regular and added Tara Summers ("Dirt") to the cast as well.

Their arrival coincides with the departure of four actors from the series. Mark Valley, Julie Bowen, Rene Auberjonois and Constance Zimmer won't be back, according to the showbiz trade papers, their options for next season having not been picked up.

Larroquette will play a senior partner who transfers from the firm's New York office to Boston, where, presumably, he'll come into conflict with the likes of Denny Crane (William Shatner) and Shirley Schmidt (Candice Bergen).

"Boston Legal" creator David E. Kelley has employed Larroquette before, in a recurring role as killer Joey Heric on "The Practice." Larroquette won a guest-acting Emmy for the role in 1998 and was nominated again in 2002.

He also won four consecutive Emmys in the 1980s for his role as Dan Fielding on "Night Court." More recently he's starred as private eye Mike McBride in a series of movies for the Hallmark Channel and appeared in "Southland Tales" and served as the narrator for the two recent "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" movies.

Clemenson, meanwhile, will become a regular on the series after recurring as socially inept lawyer Jerry "Hands" Espenson over the past two seasons. His credits also include "United 93" and roles on "Veronica Mars," "CSI" and "The West Wing," among many others.

Summers will play a new associate at Crane Poole & Schmidt. She had a recurring part on FX's "Dirt" earlier this year and has also appeared in "What a Girl Wants," "Alfie" and "Factory Girl."