The Deep End was created by David Hemingson, a co-executive producer of How I Met Your Mother, who based the series on his own early experience working as an attorney at a law firm.

To cut production costs, the series was filmed on a soundstage in Las Colinas, a planned real estate development in Irving, Texas, rather than in Los Angeles where the story is set, though local L.A. landmarks were still referenced.

Texas Film Commission head Bob Hudgins estimated the show's production costs at about $20 million.

Matt Long's performance as idealistic hero Dylan Hewitt was described as an 'older version' of Jack McCallister, a character he had played from 2004 to 2005 on the series Jack & Bobby.

Creator David Hemingson made the character Adelaide 'Addy' Fisher a Case Western Reserve University alumna because one of the most intelligent people he knew personally had attended that school.

Ben Lawson's character Liam Priory, a first-year associate from Australia, made his first appearance in the pilot episode with his pants down to his ankles.

Creator David Hemingson described the show as combining 'the back-stabbing of The Devil Wears Prada and the sun-drenched bed-hopping of Entourage', and it was widely pitched as a cross between L.A. Law and Grey's Anatomy.

The series premiered on January 21, 2010 as a midseason replacement for FlashForward, drawing 7 million viewers but only a 1.7 rating among adults 18-49, and it was cancelled by ABC in May 2010 after just one six-episode season.