Ryana's The Practice Page

101. "The Pilot"
---------------
In the premiere episode, the series pilot, the fate of 17-year-old Rachel Reynolds is placed in Bobby's hands when she is tried for drug possession and faces a 15-year sentence. Bobby takes a risky approach to defending her after she refuses to cop a plea. The real drug dealer is Rachel's brother, who fled, and the girl was caught while she was trying to get rid of the drugs by flushing them when the police came in and saw her do so. At the same time, Lindsay goes up against her former professor when her client, an old man, seeks to sue a tobacco company for causing his wife's death; and Eugene and Ellenor must represent a man who repeatedly exposes himself in public. Famous Bobby phrase: If you think it's tough defending the guilty, Lindsay, try the innocent. It's terrifying."

102. "Part II"
---------------
Eugene defends a woman who is fighting to get a restraining order against her violently estranged husband. She has an eight-year-old son. Unfortunately, the judge refuses to consider Eugene's objections as reasonable, and the husband returns to harass his wife. The result: his son kills him with an arrow trying to defend his mom. With the firm in dire financial trouble, Bobby accepts a shady loan from an old friend, Jimmy. Jimmy works in a bank and he gives Bobby the idea of inventing a "remodelling" of his office in order to expand them, so that Bobby can obtain a major loan. Ellenor looks for love in the personal ads while exposing herself to her pals - Rebecca & Lindsay, who laugh when they find out. Lindsay continues with her tobacco case against her professor.

103. "Trial and Error"
---------------
Bobby gets prepared for the civil trial against Ronald Martin, a man who brutally killed his former girlfriend by choking her for more than seven minutes. The girl was the daughter of Gerald Braun, a friend of a Rabbi and a friend of Bobby. Also, Bobby intervenes when he senses obstacles as Lindsay continues to battle her former professor, Anderson Pearson, and the tobacco industry. It is clear Pearson is trying either to intimidate or to buy Lindsay because he tells her he has the judge in his "pocket". Bobby clears this up with the judge, letting him know that Bobby knows the judge is getting paid. Lindsay makes the presentation of the claim and the judge accepts the case to go to trial and recuses himself from it. Pearson cannot believe it. Bobby decides to give first chair of the tobacco case to Lindsay. This will be her first trial case. Eugene goes with her on their next meeting and puts things clear. And the firm gets another lawyer, Jimmy, after he is fired for helping Bobby with the loan at the bank.

104. "Part IV"
---------------
The murder case of Ronald Martin comes to an end with startling results. He gets free by pleading insanity. The victim's father, Braun, rages in court and threatens his daughter's murderer. A couple hours later, Braun, in cold blood, kills Ronald Martin with two gunshots. Bobby's Rabbi friend, Danny, asks him to take the defence of Gerald Braun. Bobby accepts. He feels he can win using a moral argument. As Bobby must go with Lindsay to confront Pearson in the tobacco case, Jimmy accompanies Danny to a national television interview against Martin's lawyer and his Catholic priest just to hear a startling revelation from Danny. He knew Gerald Braun was going to kill Ronald Martin that night. Braun went to see him before and asked him for his opinion. Danny gave him his moral blessing. At the exit of the national broadcasting company, Danny is arrested under the charge of being an accessory to the murder of Ronald Martin. Jimmy must go with him and plea in court for the first time. A disaster. In the meantime, Bobby and the firm reject a first offer for $400,000. Bobby is sure Pearson will offer more. And he does. They win. Pearson finally offers them $1,300,000.00 to settle the claim after Lindsay brilliantly opened the trial against the T.L. Michaels Tobacco Company. She actually beats her former professor at his own game and Pearson knows it. By the way, it is Jimmy the one who does the research so that Lindsay can use the same strategies and words of Pearson. Bobby accepts the offer and Lindsay asks for a conference table. Rebecca advises Bobby to call his dad and share with him his success.

105. "Part V"
---------------
The Rabbi Danny is to be tried as accessory to the murder of Martin. Only Jimmy is willing to defend him on T.V. Bobby continues to fight the murder case of Dr. Gerald Braun and goes up against a formidable moral arbitrator in Rabbi/D.A. Asher Silverman. Bobby wants to plea temporary insanity but Braun denies. He knew what he was doing. It is Jimmy who's the first to pull the "ethical" argument for the Braun case. The risk is to draw a jury nullification. The judge speaks against it. Bobby must get another option. He starts thinking about what Jimmy argued, regarding it is better for Martin to be dead than free. For him, that is what the jury will feel like. Bobby must find the legal angle to allow the jury to ignore the law. He finds one: moral justification. This gives them the option of winning against murder I or II, for a moral justification will just allow for a manslaughter, and they know the D.A. will not give them that option for fear they will lose the murder case. They are right. Jimmy is the one that does the research for this. Bobby is impressed, yet not enough to allow him to carry the case. He denies him the case and keeps him as second chair. Jimmy resents it. The judge accepts the option. Bobby interrogates Danny for he feels his friend morally empowered Braun to kill Martin. Bobby asks Ellenor to work with him in Braun's case, but she rejects. As a Jew she feels offended by their argument as well as by Braun's action. Bobby tries to change the jurisdiction of Braun's case. The judge will not buy it. Eugene goes to trial in the case against a mugger with a track record of three priors, and a perfect witness case, placing side $100 bets with the A.D.A. Williams (who has a thing for him) and Lindsay, confident that he can win the case. Lindsay bets with him against everybody else's will. She is the one who did the first research, and anyway, she will be willing to lose it if she learns something. Rebecca is also against it. We find out she seems to know a lot about law even though she is not a lawyer. She is concerned about Eugene getting into a malpractice situation which Eugene makes clear will not be the case. The bet will be doubled if the jury decides before an hour. Eugene is considered the best cross-examiner of the firm. He does win it and collects. The case is solved before an hour as well. The argument: all the eyewitness can say about the mugger is he was Negro and with a big head. The only problem, his client was actually really innocent and Eugene did not even care to ask him first. The client feels insulted and hurt because of it. Rebecca helps Eugene to get over his ethical doubts.
Ellenor finally has a date with the podiatrist, George Vogelman, with whom she's been having a phone relationship for months, after they "met" each other through the personal ads. Rebecca is in charge of helping her with her make up. Ellenor ends rejecting George because of his looks. Rebecca questions Ellenor because of this. Ellenor insists she is doing the best. She knows. She has been rejected as well for her looks. And to Lindsay, the acquisition of an expensive new conference room table represents more than just a new piece of furniture.

NOTE: The policeman in Eugene's case is the same actor that plays Bill Scully in "The X-Files", Dana's brother.

106. "Part VI"
---------------
Bobby concludes the highly publicized trial of Gerald Braun against D.A. Asher Silverman - who's a Rabbi as well as a D.A. known for being perfect and for never having lost a case. Bobby argues Braun's crime was morally justifiable considering that Martin did murder his only daughter. He asks for Gerald Braun to take the stand as his only witness. He rejects using Danny on this case. Danny talks with Bobby - they have been friends since high school. Bobby questions Danny's behaviour as a Rabbi. After the trial ends, Danny thinks about getting another lawyer for himself. Bobby agrees that will be probably best. When the jury asks whether manslaughter may be an option, Silverman agree to offer this plea but Braun rejects it. He would not be able to live with it. Nevertheless, they finally win. Ellenor has a lot of trouble against this case. Lindsay questions her as a lawyer. Rebecca must stop the argument. Eugene represents a 19-year-old accused of raping his 14-year-old girlfriend. The truth is these two love each other and want to raise their child, but the girl's mother will not let them do so. Rebecca helps by talking the mom into it, mostly when they prove that the kid has better means than her to support the child. The child's birth finally solves everything for the best and the kids get permission to marry and raise their son. Again, Eugene questions himself for his acts. Rebecca tells him she was pregnant when she was fifteen and aborted. For her, it was right. Yet, she still thinks about it, and that is why she believes the girl should keep her baby.

NOTE: AFTER THIS EPISODE, "THE PRACTICE" LEFT THE ABC SCHEDULE FOR THREE MONTHS, RETURNING AS RE-RUNS ON SATURDAY NIGHTS AT 10PM IN AUGUST, AND PREMIERING A SECOND SEASON IN THAT TIMESLOT IN SEPTEMBER 1997.

107. "Dog Bite"
---------------
When Ellenor and Lindsay defend Kenny the pimp, Lindsay is approached in the elevator by a jury member who wants to date her. The guy tells her there is no way their client will get convicted. This approach may jeopardize the outcome of their case. They should report it but Ellenor will not let Lindsay do so for it will mean a mistrial and losing what they have already gained. Against her will, Lindsay ends up agreeing not to say anything as well as not telling Bobby about it. The D.A. offers them six months, and Ellenor wants to reject it, confident on what the member of the jury told Lindsay. But Lindsay is against it. They discuss the situation with Kenny for him to decide if they will tell the truth to the judge or not. Kenny chooses not to say anything and not to take the six months. Ellenor accepts. The problem is they lose. So, they end up telling the truth to the judge for they may have damaged Kenny. They get into a lot of trouble for the judge will not revoke the conviction. She gives Kenny six months and suspends them at least for six months or more while she decides what to do with them. Lindsay accuses Ellenor for maybe causing them to be disbarred. Bobby hears them argue and wants to know about it. Bobby is furious. He accuses them of putting the firm's reputation on the hook. But Ellenor tells him she just followed his example, so she refuses the firm's reputation argument. Rebecca brings Bobby back to balance. Bobby decides to represent them both in their disbarment trial. They discuss their "image". Lindsay questions all their "moves" as well as Ellenor. Lindsay questions especially Bobby. She puts him against the wall. Once again, Eugene strikes another $100 bet with A.D.A. Williams boasting that, despite an eyewitness, he'll exonerate his one-legged thief of a client. Again, Lindsay jumps on the bet as well, against Ellenor's advice. The problem is this time his client is guilty. Eugene cannot say he is or portray him as innocent, as the guy has been lying all the time. Now, he can make him not be questioned. So, the client gets to go on the stand to tell his story, on his behalf. He does it good, and Eugene ends winning again. Williams questions what he does, and at the same time she invites him for dinner. He says he is married. She remembers him telling her he is separated. Still, he'd rather not. And Berluti pushes the envelope to get a huge settlement for a nine-year-old girl bitten by a rottweiler, against the girl's mother will. She wants to settle, but Jimmy insists he can do it better. Besides, this is his first case for the firm. At first he really feels insulted. The lawyer he has to go against is the same jerk Eugene went against on Episode 2, about the restraining order case that ended with the kid killing his dad. Bobby supervises the case. The main problem is Jimmy talks too much about nothing; he needs to just tell them precisely the aggressive characteristics of the dog. Jimmy is damn scared about his closing but there is no need. Jimmy settles it not only for money but also for an operation to fix the girl's face. The girl's mother apologizes to Jimmy for what she used to think about him. Bobby at first questions his settlement, but ends up congratulating him for it. This is what the firm should be about. This also settles the argument with Ellenor and Lindsay.

NOTE: This was the first of the first season (filming-wise) episodes to be interplayed with the newer second season episodes of "The Practice" during its second season.

108. "First Degree"
---------------
Bobby serves as co-counsel with his former lover, Andrea - from law school- in a murder case. She represents the woman and Bobby, the guy who is the client's lover. Both are accused of murdering her husband. Bobby starts by trying to establish the guy committed suicide. Bobby fears they will lose so they propose their clients to try to get a deal. They refuse, so it comes down to putting them on the stand. The woman goes first, and after hearing her testimony, Bobby achieves to get his client off by recusing the case against the woman, something his former babe will never forgive him for. Andrea tries to stop him but Hillar lets him do it. Then even his client turns against him and Hillar questions him. Bobby is counting on what they might win if they turn against each other. Later on, it will be Bobby who will never forgive himself for he discovers it was his client who murdered the husband and not the wife. The judge of this case is Zoey Hillar (Linda Hunt). Eugene defends a cop who believes the job has turned him into a racist and wants to petition against his own Police Department. A lot of politics come into the case. Jimmy is to help Eugene, and Rebecca questions whether they should or should not take the case. She is against it. Bobby tries to talk with the judge in order to save Ellenor and Lindsay against their suspension for the famous "tampering" of the juror in [107] "Dog Bite". The judge is not willing to go with him. Bobby will try to take the case to Hillar. For him, she is the fairest judge. Ellenor apologizes to Bobby for what she said and did. Judge Hillar is resistant to help Bobby. But they have a story behind them. Bobby remembers her what once happened to them for staying to the book. Hillar questions Bobby's moves and integrity, and decides that Bobby has a lot of fault for he is no example to follow, so she achieves to obtain probation for Ellenor and Lindsay. Jimmy has an erotic dream about one of his co-workers (Lindsay). So he tries to avoid her until Lindsay confronts him. So he tells her. He feels she is very rigorous. He asks her out; Lindsay rejects him, politely.

109. "Sex, Lies and Monkeys"
---------------
Lindsay is slipped the date-rape drug by her occasional boyfriend, Chris Kelton. She feels sick and scared that she might be pregnant, so she goes to the doctor and finds it out. When confronted, he insists that he had done that to her before, in college, and that she knew. He accuses her of being rigid. This is a shock for Lindsay. She accuses him of raping her. He defies her to denounce him. Rebecca makes Lindsay understand she has no grounds. As she cannot denounce him without taking prejudice herself, she takes a more sinister vendetta. Lindsay reveals an obscure side of her character, for she threatens to shoot him instead, in what turns out to be a very black humour joke from Lindsay to Chris. Ellenor gets sued for causing emotional distress to George Vogelman, the podiatrist she romantically rejected. George himself is to be his own attorney. Eugene will defend her. The reality is George just wants to know why she dumped him. Berluti goes to trial to defend a man who lost his job from a newspaper because he looks like a monkey. He is very anxious about it, and even apologizes to the jury. He wins. Bobby tries to right some wrongs in the sentencing of the innocent woman of last episode. Bobby got the murderer out by charging his former lover's client as guilty. After giving his client a polygraph test, he goes to judge Hillar to tell her what happened. They try to cut a deal with the D.A. The main problem is he is not willing to let them both free, and Bobby's client can not confess for he will get into trouble. Andrea wants to know what she has been left out of these meetings. There is another presentation of the case. Bobby questions Hillar's role. He screws it. At the end there is nothing else to be done for the innocent women and she gets convicted for a life sentence. Bobby confronts Hillar for sentencing her. They both question each other for what they are and how they do their jobs.

110. "Race with the Devil"
---------------
Bobby's priest is charged with murder after a parishioner dies during an exorcism he was practicing on her. Bobby has to pull all the strings he can and even push the Church authorities a little to get him off the hook. It was this priest that helped Bobby when his mother died. Now it is time for him to pay him back. Ellenor pressures the psychologist of the victim, while Lindsay tries to pull some information from Kenny the pimp, so that Bobby can use it in exchange with the policeman in charge. He succeeds but his priest questions his ways and his integrity. Berluti tapes a commercial to drum up business. He becomes known as the "Grunt". The whole firm is against it. Eugene represents Martin Parks in a bizarre malpractice suit while his doctor was performing a rectal survey. He has to do so after losing against Ellenor and Lindsay. This is the second time they have to defend him ([101] "Premiere")

111. "The Civil Right"
---------------
While Ellenor and Eugene team up to defend a repeat-rapist, Berluti struggles to put aside his own prejudices when his mother reveals she is gay and wants to marry another woman. He is the one to take her case into court. And even though he loses, he is able to reconcile with his mother.

112. "Hide and Seek"
---------------
A former mentor requests that Bobby second-chair a high profile case, to help with the mentor's occasional memory lapses. Bobby takes Lindsay as second chair, and it is she who makes him realize his mentor is no longer suited to be in court. Eugene questions his career choice when he defends a repeat sodomizer who's murdered two young boys; a celebrity fantasy from Jimmy's teenage days asks him to be her legal counsel. His prize, a dance with her.

113. "The Pursuit of Dignity"
---------------
After she's arrested on prostitution charges, a former girlfriend seeks out for Bobby's help. Bobby stands by her, but she finally decides to go the easy way with her accuser, accepting to sleep with him. Ellenor and Rebecca fight for a young girl, who is to be expelled from school because of her Tourette's syndrome outbursts. Ellenor wins. Also, Lindsay defends a woman who sues her doctor after he sews live maggots into her leg to prevent infection.