Elizabeth "Liz" Donnelly is a fictional character from the NBC crime drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, portrayed by Judith Light.

[3] In their book The Law and Order: Special Victims Unit Unofficial Companion, Susan Green and Randee Dawn described Donnelly as having "a steely presence with a sure moral compass".

Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni) in the season 8 episode "Haystack", when a man suing for custody of his child sues them for alleged conspiracy and assault.

In the season 9 episode "Cold", Donnelly calls Novak to her office and informs her that she will be censured and suspended for possibly a year or more for violating Brady rules.

In the season 10 episode "Persona", Donnelly takes a leave of absence from her role as a judge to act as prosecutor on a cold case she was involved with in the 1970s, when a battered woman (Brenda Blethyn) murdered her husband.

Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) that she was responsible for the woman escaping from custody and therefore took on the case due to "unfinished business".

When the woman gets on the stand and tells her story, Donnelly confronts her with her escape and she reveals why she ran: she was pregnant from her rape and wanted an abortion, but couldn't get it in prison.

In the season 10 finale episode "Zebras", Donnelly is poisoned by a syringe (containing potassium chloride, the chemical used for lethal injections) that CSU Tech Intern Dale Stuckey (Noel Fisher) had placed on a chair in her home, resulting in her hospitalization.