Original Photo: SarahShahi.com

Discovered by Robert Altman and current mämän (Colloquial Persian: Mom) to William Wolf Howey–whose father is Reba-actor Steve Howey–Sarah Shahi is starring in a new show: Facing Kate.

Facing Kate, which began shooting this past June in Vancouver, revolves around divorced super-attorney Kate Reed (Sarah Shahi), who after the death of her law-firm-head dad, decides to become a mediator to settle conflicts.

Set to begin airing in January 2011 on the USA Network, Facing Kate also stars Lauren Reed (Virginia Williams): Kate’s new boss, and her stepmother, Justin Patrick (Michael Trucco): Kate’s ex-husband, a lawyer for the District Attorney, and Leonardo Prince (Baron Vaughn): Kate’s assistant.

USA president of original programming and UCP co-head Jeff Wachtel says of Shahi’s character: “This is someone who lives in a world of a constant conflict [whereas] with traditional lawyers, it’s always one wins, one loses; in mediation, the goal is to have win-win.”

Previously on Showtime’s critically acclaimed series The L Word, where she played “Carmen” a bilingual production assistant who spends her evenings as a DJ, Shahi recently completed the independent film East Fifth Bliss starring opposite Lucy Liu and Michael C. Hall.

Shahi can also be seen in the Weinstein Company’s Crossing Over.

Click here for a quick peek at Facing Kate.