One of the original stars of "The Practice" will be part of its swan song as well.

Dylan McDermott, the show's lead until last spring's budget-driven cast shakeup, will make a guest appearance on the penultimate episode of the series, scheduled for Sunday, May 2. The series finale is May 16 (ABC is pre-empting its regular Sunday lineup on May 9 to air "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.")

ABC isn't saying much about McDermott's role in the episode at the request of series creator David E. Kelley, who co-wrote the teleplay with Frank Renzulli. The network's description of the show, however, seems to imply that McDermott's Bobby Donnell may play a role in breaking up what remains of his old firm.

McDermott, who won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Emmy in 1999 for playing Donnell, left the show at the end of last season along with several other regulars. ABC's renewal of "The Practice" came with a substantially lower license fee, based on a ratings decline caused in part by the network's move of the series from Sunday to Monday nights in early 2003.

Kelley said last summer that McDermott would likely appear in a handful of episodes this season. As it turned out, his character didn't come back until the next-to-last episode.

McDermott co-starred in the feature films "Party Monster" and "Wonderland" last year. He next appears in TNT's limited series "The Grid," set for this summer.