Exiting "West Wing" star Rob Lowe is closing in on a new deal to star in and produce "Lyon's Den," an NBC legal drama under consideration for next fall, reports Variety.

"Lyon's Den" sounds like "The Practice" meets "Father Knows Best." The trade paper describes it as "an ensemble legal drama set in a mid-sized, century-old law firm." Lowe will play an idealistic attorney "trying to make his mark on the world while struggling to escape the shadow of his powerful father, a state senator."

No word on additional casting.

Lowe, 38, is expected to earn a weekly salary in the low six figures if the project go to series. (As part of his contract, says Variety, Lowe has insured a hefty penalty fee should NBC back out of "Den.")

This new show arrives in the wake of last year's news that Lowe, who plays Sam Seaborn on "The West Wing," was unhappy with the turn of events regarding his contract renewal for that show.

As PEOPLE.com reported last July, Lowe had been paid about $75,000 an episode since "The West Wing" began in 1999. The series' star, Martin Sheen, reportedly was being paid $300,000 per episode, after originally being paid $100,000 per episode.

At the time of Sheen's increase, the program's supporting players -- Allison Janney, Richard Schiff, John Spencer and Bradley Whitford -- also banded together and negotiated a raise to about $70,000 per show (double their previous salaries).

Simultaneously, word circulated that Lowe was not getting a raise, and the actor announced that he was departing after this season.