Ryana's The Practice Page

301. "Passing Go"
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A letter reveals how Rebecca has been spending her after-work hours, which includes a career change. She has become a lawyer and gets her first case, a stolen bike. In the meantime, Ellenor puts her whole career on hold after she defends a man who hit Bobby with his car. Bobby sees an illusory Ally McBeal and tries to go catch up to her, crossing a road and getting hit by a car in the process. Ellenor realizes how much she has lost her way when she realises what she’s done after advising the man who hit Bobby to drink alcohol in front of the police. Her interpretation of what is to be a lawyer distresses them all; especially Rebecca who does not believe Ellenor really believes what she says. Bobby must deal with his real feelings regarding becoming a big shot lawyer and why he’s so against it, as Lindsay discovers his father is a janitor at a major law firm. Now Lindsay understands more of what makes Bobby tick. She even helps him out when Bobby takes his father to see the new conference room. Eugene gets a hard time as he loses a case in which his client was innocent, because he could not prove it. A juror told him that they sent him to jail because Eugene never mentioned in his closing he was innocent. The same case becomes a turmoil for Helen, for she, like Eugene, knows the kid is innocent but can not help but put the loop on him as she couldn’t get a conviction on the real criminal.

302. "Reasons to Believe"
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After battling him in court last year, Lindsay gets a call from her former law and most admired professor Anderson Pearson. She must come to his aid. He's shot someone and killed him so Lindsay grabs Bobby and they both take the case. Rebecca defends her first client in court; and Lucy Hatcher reports to work as the new receptionist and immediately puts her nose in everyone's business. Rebecca’s apparent stubbornness to take her bicycle theft trial to a jury, hoping to prove her client's innocence, finally pays off, even against Bobby who decides to have Jimmy attached to her. Helen is battling another moral dilemma in court as she must decide between letting a murderer free or putting a four-year-old witness up on the stand to be picked apart. Bobby and Lindsay start working on Pearson’s case. The things seem tough because he killed the stalker immediately after threatening to do so. There are no facts on his side, except that the murdered man killed his cat. He cannot make bail, and our favourite judge, Zoe Hiller, forbids Bobby to try it as a self-defence case. Lindsay and Bobby decide to play a hard shot: allegating Pearson unintentionally pulled the trigger out of anger. Pearson agrees, but they all know there will be awful complications. Also, Lindsay gets an offer from a friend for a gorgeous apartment. She talks Helen into sharing the place with her. Helen jokes about what are they to do if suddenly one of them decides to bring Bobby to spend the night.

303. "Body Count"
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Lindsay and Bobby continue to defend her former law professor as evidence mounts against him. They got the murdered man’s psychologist. He confirms the guy suffered from schizophrenia, but he’s not willing to take the stand although Bobby tries very hard to get him to do so. Rebecca and Jimmy are asked to defend a man with a very unusual hobby: planning his wife’s death. He has done so several times without actually meaning to go through with it. This time, his wife sound out and sued him. Rebecca asks Jimmy to do the closing. They win the case. Ellenor has a client we already know, her former blind date, the podiatrist who once sued her after she refused to continue dating him. George has been framed for murder and Ellenor and Eugene decide to ask for Helen’s help, when George comes into the office with a severed head in a bag. Helen is to decide the best future course of action. During Pearson’s trial, Lindsay realizes how much Anderson means to her, and how much she is looking out not to disappoint him, but she is not quite sure they will be able to do it. Bobby comforts her.

304. "The Defenders"
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As Ellenor discovers more evidence against the doctor in his trial, she begins to realize that she may be too close to the case when she yells at the judge during the initial arraignment hearing. She decides to let Eugene first chair the case while she comes to terms with her feelings that George is innocent. Meanwhile, after ups and downs in the defence of Anderson Pearson, Bobby closes the case as both he and Lindsay await the jury's surprisingly quick verdict. They lose.

305. "The Battlefield"
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Lindsay desperately tries to appeal the decision in the Pearson trial, and she does an excellent job, but it is not enough. They should have appealed to Judge Hiller at the beginning of the process and not at the end. Liberating Pearson becomes a personal quest. Lindsay even argues with Bobby and accuses both of them of malpractice. Again, Bobby comforts her. While Helen goes on a date with the famous model sculptor guy from Ally McBeal, Lindsay stays working at the office. She is looking for a second appeal. She apologizes to Bobby, who tells her he is there for here. This reinforces Lindsay’s feelings for him, but she is to shy to say, but Bobby grasps the moment and kisses her. Ellenor works tirelessly to defend George. First, they find out the murdered girl had a motive to go to a bar and sleep with Joe, for she had caught her fiancée with another girl that day. Second, they accuse the ADA for not giving them that information. Later, Eugene finds out the girl use to chat a lot on the internet. Ellenor accuses the ADA of not investigating enough (Helen blew the whistle on that) but the judge in not willing to allow the ADA to carry on further investigation. They might face a very ugly case. Jimmy defends a bigot, his cousin, against a beautiful Irani woman who is suing him for firing her. In the process, Jimmy has to confront himself and his prejudices. He loses and asks the girl out without success.

306. "One of Those Days"
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Eugene and Ellenor take the trial of accused murderer and decapitator George Vogelman to its shocking conclusion, after trying to divert attention by accusing the victim’s brother, and then, by putting Helen Gamble again on the stand to declare that the DA’s office had had no further interest in investigating other possibilities for a murderer, like “The Poet”, or a friend the victim had on the Internet. The victim’s father hits Eugene. He has to get some stitches. Nevertheless, and even through all the bitterness the case causes between Ellenor and Lindsay, they finally get George free. The problem is that now Lindsay must restore Helen’s confidence in them after the tricky game Ellenor pulled on her at the trial. George Vogelman is set free.

307. "Trench Work"
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The lawyers are stunned when good-natured acquaintance Tommy Silva serves them each with a summons. Even their property is attached to the suit. Eugene starts to feel a little bit guilty of the way they handle cases. Silva's client, Steve Robin, is suing the firm for defamation (Eugene, in a soft plan B strategy to save George Vogelman accused Steve Robin of being his sister’s murderer) --- and $30 million. Meanwhile, tempers flare at Anderson Pearson's sentencing, where Lindsay pleads with implacable Judge Hiller to reduce her former law professor's murder conviction to manslaughter. Lindsay snaps when she realizes the judge did not even take the time to read her brief and so she hurdles her brief at her head. Lindsay is sent to jail for contempt. Bobby tries to get her out from jail only to end up locked with her as well. He questions the Judge’s reasons not to read or even consider any pledge coming from his firm. Anyway, Bobby questions Lindsay's professional judgement when she insists on asking for manslaughter. Pearson agrees with Bobby about the pleadings. Nevertheless, Lindsay can’t help herself and insists on the matter before Judge Hiller who finally agrees on giving her ten minutes to present her case. If she considers that Lindsay has wasted her time, she will send her back to jail. Lindsay presents her argument and stunningly, she wins! Pearson is granted manslaughter with two years prison that can turn into community service. She can hardly believe it. Bobby is so proud and astonished. Now they have to face the suing problem and Eugene’s depression, for not only did he accuse Steve Robin of something which he knew the kid was innocent, and because Helen continues her efforts to prevent a 4-year-old boy from testifying in a murder trial. She finally finds a way by putting on the stand the kid’s mother, and then by cutting an illegal deal with Eugene to obtain an implicit confession from the accused. Finally, Helen achieves to get a conviction of eight years without possible parole for the accused.

308. "Swearing In"
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Ellenor fights as Tommy Silva builds his case against Donnell, Young, Dole & Frutt. Bobby defends a woman accused of a vicious crime, Evelyn Mayfield, who's charged with the murder of a baby that was in her care. And Rebecca suspects her client and his pal are the serial killers known as the Harbour Stranglers. Bobby defends Evelyn Mayfield. She is accused of shaking to death an eleven month baby. She insists she is innocent. They suspect it was the baby’s father’s fault, but the doctor insists the baby died immediately, and only Evelyn was with him at that time. Evelyn says the baby came to her crying, and that it took her ten to fifteen minutes to console him. Afterwards, she put him in his crib, and fifteen minutes later, when she came back, he was dead. Another thing against her is that a psychiatric evaluation suggests she might be in denial of what happened. Evelyn is a very religious woman and her congregation is paying her fees. There is no way they will believe she did, and yet there is also no way they will accuse the father as well. Another hitch in her defence is that the ADA is Helen. Her boss picked her because she is the only one that can beat Bobby’s firm. She tries to resist because Lindsay is her friend and, well, Bobby was her lover, but her boss insists. She takes it, and offers Bobby’s client manslaughter. Evelyn rejects it. There is no way she will plead guilty for something she did not do. Bobby must go to trial, but he knows they can lose. In the conversation between Bobby and Helen, as Bobby insists Evelyn is innocent and Helen insists she’s guilty, Helen remarks maybe that was why their relationship did not work out. They never agree. Lindsay represents Eugene and the firm during the depositions as Tommy Silva builds his case against Donnell, Young, Dole & Frutt. Silva makes the judge instruct them to answer his questions for Lindsay had answered to all of them as “work product”. Lindsay insists they should settle. Eugene and Ellenor are completely against doing so. Jimmy is on their side. Bobby tends to be more with Lindsay, especially because the three other lawyers he consulted agree on doing so. Yet, he ends up deciding to fight the case and makes Jimmy first chair against everyone else’s will. Bobby will second chair. Rebecca questions the legal system when she believes her client may be a serial killer. The guy’s pal has a dice tattoo that looks like the one witnesses claim the Harbour Stranglers have. Bobby and Eugene tell her there is know way she can withdraw from defending him nor can she accuse him of being one of the stranglers. Rebecca takes the case to Judge Kittleson, but the Judge won’t listen about the possibility of her withdrawing the case. Instead, she tells Rebecca it is her duty to defend her client as innocent and to keep him out of jail. Otherwise, she will report Rebecca to the bar. Rebecca is to swear as a new member of the bar next day. Lucy is in charge of preparing her party. Rebecca fulfils her duty and gets the guy off. The rest of the staff prepares to go to her swearing ceremony. While getting into the elevator, Lindsay smells and recognizes Helen’s perfume just to discover it is Bobby the one that carries the smell. He reacts as if he had been caught doing something wrong, and tells her he only said hi to Helen. Rebecca takes her oath. Now she is officially a lawyer.

309. "State of Mind"
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The trial of Evelyn Mayfield, charged with the murder of a baby that was in her care, begins. Bobby and Lindsay’s defence is based on the idea that the father did it. The guy has a history of battery and assault with his wife. The problem is that Bobby is kind of reluctant to ‘plan B’ the father because of the trial Silva has on them. As a matter of fact, Silva comes to the trial and watches Bobby plan B-ing the father. Bobby tries to talk to him, but Lindsay prevents him from arguing. Evelyn Mayfield is convinced God will provide for her and refuses to accept Helen’s offer for manslaughter. Helen destroys Evelyn when she cross-examines her by mentioning a previous case she had with another baby who almost died under her care. Evelyn Mayfield is sentenced for Murder II. Bobby wants to plea for manslaughter, but Evelyn refuses. She wants to appeal. Meanwhile, Rebecca defends a boy - the same one she defended for robbing a bike in her first case - who is suspended from school for passing a sexually explicit note to a girl in class. She makes a brilliant exposition, yet the judge considers the school is entitled to enforce their rules. At the beginning of the episode, Bobby comes into the office and finds Lucy putting up Christmas decorations. Lucy has some mistletoe over her head, and catches Bobby off guard when she kisses him. The kiss has a major impact on Bobby, but not regarding Lucy. He feels as if he were betraying Lindsay. So, he shows up at Lindsay’s, just to find her having a food fight with Helen in the kitchen. Bobby asks Lindsay about the kiss they once shared about a month ago (“The Battlefield” where Bobby kisses her after she had lost a brilliant appeal for Pearson). Lindsay does not want to discuss it because she fears it will interfere with their current trial. Bobby doesn’t agree but says nothing until Lucy attempted to discuss “their” kiss. She apologizes but criticizes Bobby’s lousy love life. It seems to her that his problem is insecurity. We find out Lucy’s father is a cab driver, and that her mother is dead. Once Lucy leaves, Bobby asks Lindsay whether they are a couple in “waiting”. Lindsay jokes around the idea only to confess him that either she could fall in love with him all over again if she’d let herself, but she won’t. She is looking for something that will pull her out of what she does, and Bobby is not that. Bobby is taken off guard by this last remark. In the meantime, most of the staff disagree over whether Jimmy should represent the firm in the defamation lawsuit Silva has against them. Lindsay believes that Bobby and herself should be the defenders. For Eugene and Ellenor, they should get outside counsel. The only one that supports Bobby’s decision on favouring Jimmy is Rebecca. Anyway, Bobby gets his way and Jimmy is confirmed as first chair against Silva.

310. "Love and Honour"
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The $30 million defamation case against the firm goes to trial. Jimmy knows no one believes in him but Bobby. Nevertheless, he asks for their support and cooperation. Bobby goes as second chair. As the trial goes on, Ellenor and Eugene exchange heated remarks with Jimmy over his unorthodox courtroom tactics, which include apologizing to the plaintiff. Bobby keeps supporting Jimmy. As if that weren't enough, the disgruntled pair are grilled on the stand by Tommy Silva, whose remarks spotlight some of the firm's more questionable cases. Ellenor especially suffers from his remarks. Tommy reminds her about the case where Bobby was hit by a car, where she convinced Lindsay not to report to the Bar that a juror contacted her and the way she summoned Helen to testify in George Vogelman’s case. As for Eugene, he has to hear Jimmy tell the jury how he has felt remorse for getting some guilty people off just because it was his job. What Jimmy does is to show how even when they might disagree with what they do, they have do whatever it takes to get their client off. That is his closing and he succeeds. They win, and Eugene forgives Jimmy. In the meanwhile, a simmering romance heats up, but slowly. Helen criticizes Lindsay for rejecting Bobby even though she still loves him. Lindsay insists she is over him, and that even if she were not, she wouldn’t consider him for she wants something he cannot give her. Her argument is he is a workaholic - as if she were not. Helen calls her an idiot, and insists that if she is in love with him, she should take the chance. Lindsay comments no more. She is a little worried about the trial. She even talks about leaving the firm. Meanwhile, Bobby's conflicted feelings about Lindsay have him feeling guilty over the innocent kiss he had with Lucy. He cannot think about anything more and tangles every conversation with the subject. He even off shakes Lindsay when he asks her if they are finished, or later when he gets startled at the idea she might bring a date to the Christmas party Lucy is determined to celebrate at the office. Lindsay tells him she was just asking, but she would also like to know whether he is coming alone to the party. Both agree on coming alone. Later, Bobby confesses Rebecca how guilty he feels for kissing Lucy. All he could think about during it was Lindsay. Rebecca gets upset and accuses him of kissing everybody. Lucy panics when she hears them discuss the matter. Bobby ends the discussion. The night of the party, Bobby and Lindsay discuss once again the matter of being a couple. He wants to know whether she really wants to leave the firm. Lindsay says she will not leave the firm. She also admits she still has feelings for Bobby, but she, for once, wants to go with her head and not with her heart. Bobby agrees with and they decide there will be nothing between them. Lindsay kisses him Merry Christmas, taking both of their breaths away, for both realize they want more and surrender to what they feel, while Helen takes away nosy Lucy from Bobby’s office window.

311. "Split Decisions"
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Hostility brews in the firm when Ellenor has the opportunity to bring in a big-money corporate asbestos client; and Helen must face her own conscience when she is asked to prosecute a case more to serve politics than justice. Eugene represents a respected stockbroker friend of his, Mr. Jerry Green, who, while dressed in drag, was arrested for prostitution, along with a candidate running for DA. Helen is the A.D.A. in charge. Her boss wants her to expose the candidate for political reasons. He is his adversary. Helen offers a deal to Eugene in order to get Green to testify against the future candidate. Mr. Green does it, and Helen, pressured by her boss, makes him sing the national anthem in court to create a scandal until Eugene stops her. The truth is Green never had physical contact with the candidate, so the court acquits the candidate. Later, Helen feels bad for what she did: destroying Jerry Green just to expose Carr because that is what her boss had asked her to do. She stands up against her boss when he tells her to prosecute Green for prostitution in order to expose Carr again. She will not do it, even if he fires her. Eugene thanks her for that. Then, Helen shows up at Jerry’s house to apologise, yet she still tells him, "what you did in that room was illegal." The apology is accepted. She feels bad. Lucy asks Rebecca if she is a lesbian. She is not. Later, Lucy plays a practical joke on Ellenor. She makes her open a bag like the one George Vogelman had with the cut head inside. In the bag there is a fake head. Ellenor almost punches her when Bobby comes in. Bobby takes Lucy into his office and asks her to try to get along with everyone. Meanwhile, Ellenor is approached by a larger firm (the asbestos one) to oversee a potentially lucrative liability case that causes a heated debate among the rest of the staffers, especially with Lindsay for she agrees with Bobby in turning the case down. Bobby turned down Ellenor and the asbestos case using a moral argument, and also saying it would take of all the firm’s energy not leaving them room for any other case. Lindsay and Ellenor discuss their differences in the conference room, turning it into a giant shouting contest. Ellenor accuses her of being a hypocrite about the asbestos company. As Ellenor sees it, that kind of company is exactly what Lindsay has been looking for to make the firm something better. Lindsay denies it, and the whole discussion ends up revolving around Lindsay’s relationship with Bobby - with her being influence by Bobby’s bed sheets -, which Ellenor confesses is a big problem for her to accept. Why? Because Ellenor thinks that Lindsay’s voting with Bobby in an attempt to control the firm’s votes (Ellenor, Eugene and Rebecca against Lindsay and Bobby’s two - Bobby gets to decide tie-breakers = control). Bobby walks in and stops the argument, yelling at Ellenor. They talk about it and Ellenor argues she feels overlooked within the firm. She loves Lindsay, but she thinks Lindsay is better lawyer than her, a golden girl. People come into the firm asking for Bobby or Lindsay to defend them, not Ellenor. Bobby disagrees and insists it is him who does not want the case not Lindsay. Ellenor says her motives to want the asbestos company is to have more money to buy stuff and to be like the rest of her classmates. Bobby and Lindsay keep on going with their relationship. Lindsay does not want him to defend her against Ellenor. Bobby insists he is entitled to do so as senior partner. As they are in her bathroom, Lindsay reminds him he is not senior anything there. He jokes about putting their clothes on and going to the office to finish their argument. Bobby asks her if she can handle the pressure. Lindsay fears Bobby might want to stop and go back because of all the tension and problems their relationship is causing. She also thinks the rest of the firm treat her differently now that they know they are together, but Bobby disagrees. Bobby tells her he does not want to stop but to move on. At the end, he tells her,
Bobby: "I'm not going anywhere. I'd fire you first."
Lindsay: "You can't just fire me. I'm a partner."
Bobby: "Yeah, you are. Mine."
They kiss and fall into bed...

312. "A Day in the Life"
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Bobby and Eugene face a crisis of conscience when they uncover the truth about a murdered infant. They even found themselves dangerously close to being accessories to murder for she was smothered to death, and the guilty party, Bobby’s friend and family, refused to call the police. Did Bobby do right when he told the family to leave the infant on the church steps? Or did he break the law? Helen plans a day of rest and relaxation for herself and Lindsay, once they finish their hearing against each other in a lifejacket case. In fact it is Jimmy against Helen, Lindsay just comes along to wait for Helen. A man kills another man for his life vest to prevent himself from drowning during a sea accident. Things get complicated when Lindsay decides to team with Jimmy after hearing the exposition. She proves all is only hearsay. The Judge asks Helen for another witness. Helen does not appreciate it. It gets worst after Jimmy crushes the new witness, and Lindsay asks for dismissal of the case. The Judge has to think about it only to acquit the case in favour of Lindsay/Jimmy’s client. The guy has the right to pick his life against the other man or die. As for the baby’s death, there is a whole lot of controversy around it. Bobby receives a call from his friend, Teddy. Bobby & Eugene arrive at Teddy’s house (Bobby has an Audi) just to find out there is a baby dead in the kitchen. Teddy’s daughter was pregnant, and gave birth to the baby last night. Amazingly, nobody knew she was pregnant, no even her parents. She argues she tried to cover the baby to prevent her from crying, so that her father would not hear her. She covered her with clothes for a little while, and the baby died. Bobby seems willing to put his career on the line to help Teddy and his family, even though Teddy refuses to report the crime to the police and wants to hide all the evidence. Eugene's advice to Bobby is to just leave the scene without worrying about what would happen after they left. Eugene insists that giving advice on disposal of the body, or any subsequent action that leads to covering up the crime is not privileged (an affirmative action as opposed to a failure to report). It could lead them to be charged as an accessory after the fact. But Bobby stays. Things get worse. It was not the daughter who killed the child but her mother, Judy. Judy did it because she thought Teddy, her husband, was the father!! Bobby starts asking questions, but gets no answers. Teddy insists there was no incest involved. He is not the father neither has he touched his daughter. Yet he refuses to explain why his wife might think so. Eugene insists that they should get separate counsel and that the incident should be reported immediately to the police. But Bobby’s friend refuses. He will not expose either his daughter or his wife. Bobby insists as well that they should go to the police or get separate counsel, but Teddy declines. Bobby realizes that the newborn had a name, Tia. Teddy asks them to leave. They are to do so, but Bobby comes back. He insists to his friend to either bring the baby to the church or to the police, otherwise, he will tell everything to the police. He even suggests the church himself, for he has raised funds for it. Anyway, both lawyers left the house and do not report the crime. They wait outside the church to see whether Teddy brings the newborn or not. He does. Bobby goes into the church then, and confesses everything to a priest. In the meantime, Lucy has troubles with Ellenor because of her “sexy” dress. Ellenor ends up respecting Lucy more, especially after Lucy tells her some of her mother’s pearls of wisdom. Rebecca must take on Lindsay’s case. She must defend a drug dealer, just to find he lied to her. Nevertheless, Rebecca got him free.

313. "Judge and Jury"
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Helen Gamble addresses the issue of a physician who assisted suicide, and the media's role in this controversial issue, when she takes the case against a newsmagazine producer for suggesting that a physician, who is a right-to-die advocate, videotape himself administering a lethal injection to a terminally ill woman with Lou Gehrig's disease. This mercy killing gets to Helen because of her background story with her grandmother’s death ([203] “The Blessings”). And Bobby seems to be the man of Judge Kittleson's dreams. The judge's interest in Bobby goes beyond professional. Judge Kittleson makes a startling confession to Bobby that could affect the case the two are working on. She had an erotic dream about him and wants to recuse herself from the case for she fears it might interfere her judgement. She has even discussed the situation with Judge Hiller, a very good friend of hers. Bobby is quite embarrassed. Nevertheless, he says he is okay as long as she can keep things professional. So they agree to keep the case. Yet, her actions in court make Bobby regret not accepting her recusal for now he has to recommend his client to take a plea instead of going on looking for a verdict. Things get worst when he can be sure whether he might have to be forced to report the judge for sexual harassment. The judge asks him to keep her dreams a secret but Bobby can’t help telling the whole thing to Lindsay. Lindsay is about to get ballistic about it, but she sees Helen is about to break emotionally. So Lindsay leaves Bobby alone to attend Helen. In the last scene, Judge Kittleson is talking on the phone to someone, and at the same time looking at a photo of Bobby and Lindsay. This photo looks like it has been taken that same day without their knowledge as they are walking out of the courthouse. The judge begins to scribble all over Lindsay's face with a blue ink pen. In Helen’s case, it is Lindsay who keeps reminding Helen her case has nothing to do with her grandmother’s suicide but with the newsmagazine. Yet, Helen almost loses it when she starts the case, and even more when she interrogates the physician. Yet, after talking with Lindsay, she achieves to make an excellent, objective closing and ends up winning. Nevertheless, she just flees out without wanting to talk with anyone else. Aside this, Eugene needs to teach ballroom dancing to his son Kendall, and Lucy offers to help him out, until she realizes Kendall is getting to excited about it because of her.

314. "Of Human Bondage"
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An attorney friend asks for Bobby’s help in defending a teen prostitute accused of murder. Ellenor passionately defends an addict in need of a break, Leonard. And, working on a divorce case, Jimmy teaches Rebecca an important lesson about leaving clients in a better place, when an enraged wife, suing for divorce didn't just want to inflict financial hardship on her husband. She wanted to inflict pain. Unfortunately, her mean-spirited mate felt the same. So Berluti and his legal opponent pretended to get down and dirty to appease their unreasonable clients (Berluti and his colleague conspired against their own clients). In Bobby’s case, the teenager can be charged of murder unless she agrees to say she was with a client. The problem is that doing that will mean she’ll have to reveal his identity. She will not do so because it is Bobby’s friend who is the client, and the one who is paying for her to have a lawyer. Bobby pulled it off revealing his identity when he called him to the stand, after Lindsay suggests to him to do so. Her suggestion makes Bobby figure out that it was his friend who was with the hooker, rather than a client. His friend/lawyer did have sex with a 17 year old prostitute and he was married. The end comment was "even the DA can do the right thing once in a while", when Helen agrees to drop all charges on the teenager. Eugene's kid, Kendall, has a crush on Lucy after she had taught him to dance (last episode). Eugene must talk to him after Lucy turns him down, very subtly. As Ellenor heads off to defend a drug dealer, a woman seeking a divorce attorney enters and approaches Lucy. "I'd like to hire a divorce attorney, the nastiest one you've got." "That would be Ellenor Frutt, who just left," Lucy replies. "This would be regarding?" "Divorce. But I really don't want a woman. I'd like a, well, 'prick' is an offensive word, but it's the only one I can think of which truly captures ..." "I know what you're saying, and Ellenor Frutt is definitely what you're looking for," Lucy says just before Bobby Donnell enters and finds out what it is all about. Bobby gives the case to Jimmy and Jimmy convinces Rebecca to stick with him in it. Lindsay asks Ellenor why she keeps defending the druggie, Leonard. He was her first case. She even convinces the really guilty guy to say so and defend Leonard, even though the guy feels asleep in court, has his beeper on, etc. He is a real mess. Ellenor gets him off after a strong, compelling, moving closing saying how much she does care for him.

315. "Lawyers, Reporters and Cockroaches"
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Ellenor's continuing dissatisfaction with her colleagues continues to grow and culminates in the blow-up of the year. She complains about not getting paid well and how she wishes she could afford a house and new clothes and the same happens with Eugene. They see a statement that showed Bobby made $250,000, Lindsay $242,000, Ellenor $120,000, Eugene $112,000, Rebecca $60,000 and Jimmy, $52,000. Anyway Ellenor was upset, because it's based on the work they bring in and she couldn't bring in that major asbestos case and she complained that Bobby and Lindsay are sleeping together. To sway things her way, she tries to get Eugene and Jimmy on her side. She wants Jimmy to become a partner as well. Jimmy sees through her and refuses. Eugene argues Lindsay is the one who brings in more business, and, on the other hand, it was her who made them partners. Ellenor will not stop. In the meanwhile, Bobby and Lindsay represent a family who lost their restaurant business after a TV piece on them exposes them for unsanitary issues, the issues being in the form of cockroaches. The issue is whether the journalist obtained access to the restaurant by lying to them. Bobby and Lindsay discuss whether they should or not try cases together as they seem to get easily distracted. They also discuss their closing styles. Lindsay resents Bobby’s comments, yet he makes her see it is stupid to argue because of that. Helen decides to give a teenage cat-killer case its full nine lives. The cruelty of the teenager poses the question of whether a murder can be overlooked just because it was not of a human but a cat. She wins. During the partners meeting, Ellenor gets on Lindsay’s nerves by insulting Bobby’s love life. Lindsay loses it and lunges across the table to jump on and choke Ellenor. They won’t stop except for the jury coming back on Bobby & Lindsay’s case. Lindsay’s closure makes it again. They win, and the amount they earn is huge, $7,000,000.00. It was Lindsay’s clients. Lindsay and Ellenor exchange a look without words, and yet, Ellenor congratulates her for her success.

316. "End Games"
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A shocking series of events and new evidence implicates Ellenor when accused decapitator George Vogelman's case is reopened sending the entire firm to "war" on her behalf. Bobby learns he's not the only object of Kittleson's affections as she asks Bobby to defend her from a sexual harassment lawsuit. Leonard, the drug addict Ellenor keeps defending (it turns out he was her first case), comes into their office followed by the police. In order to safe himself from being indicted, he throws a package of what appears to be drugs on Ellenor’s desk (it turns out later that it was only sugar). As Ellenor refuses to tell the cops where the drugs came from, she is arrested. Lindsay and Eugene are the ones in charge of getting her off the hook, even though Lindsay would prefer to stay and attend Judge Kittleson’s case. In the meantime, the police searches Ellenor’s desk and finds the murder weapon from the Robin’s case, a knife. Eugene frees Ellenor from the drugs case (the case is dismissed), but as the blood on the knife matches Susan Robin, Ellenor is arrested again for being an accessory to murder and obstruction of justice. Helen makes the arrest. Lindsay finds out from Richard that the police and the DA’s office are doing this just to force them to give them George as the murderer. That’s all they want. Lindsay finds the legal resource to defend her, but ends up exposing Richard’s reasons in open court. The judge will rule the next day. Lindsay only wins part of the motion. The accessory to murder charge is dropped, the obstruction of justice still stands. George is arrested as well. As for Leonard, Rebecca is in charge of defending him. Eugene has to defend Vogelman until they realize they might need to go against George’s interests in order to defend Ellenor. George is left without counsel. Rebecca finds a lot of loose ends on Leonard’s case with leads her to suspect maybe this “murder” evidence was planted by the police in Ellenor’s desk. Her hunch turns out to be correct. Leonard finally confesses: the police forced him to do it, so that they could “search” Ellenor’s desk and incriminate her. They expose the case and Ellenor is off the hook. In the meantime, Bobby agrees to defend Judge Kittleson. Jimmy assists him. Lindsay takes it the wrong way. They discuss it. Also, Kittleson seems too much interested in trying to get to know her. During the depositions, we find out the Judge seems to be a pretty good lover and the suit is apparently just a pretext for her ex-lover to see her. They seal the case, but still Lindsay is upset with Bobby. Another outcome is that Jimmy invites the judge out. As the day wraps, Ellenor comes looking for Lindsay. They finally make up. Ellenor admits Lindsay has always been by her side and a true friend.

317. "Target Practice"
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When Eugene's eleven-year son, Kendall, is caught in possession of drugs. Eugene's parenting skills are put to the test, his ex-wife blames his influence of Eugene's career on their boy; and Jimmy points the finger at a gun manufacturer for the murder of a teenage girl. When his eleven-year-old son is arrested for dealing drugs, Eugene can't believe the kid is capable of the crime. He doesn’t believe it until he’s got to see him in a videotape trying to get one of his friend into dealing drugs with him. The friend’s mother has a nanny camera that taped the scene and gives the school the tip on Kendall. Bobby and Ellenor take over the case to defend Kendall while Eugene goes to find the guy who got Kendall involved in the first place. It turns out to be a client of his. Eugene threatens him in front of Rebecca. Bobby talks with Helen for help and they offer them one year probation without jail. This way it will not go on Kendall’s record. Eugene goes to his ex-wife’s house (Sharon) to tell Kenneth he must go to DYD&F to thank one and all who helped "get him off". But Sharon disagrees. She doesn’t want her son to ever go to Eugene’s office again. Eugene is completely stunned when Sharon takes legal action against him to deny him joint custody of his son. She considers Eugene's a bad influence on Kendall. Sharon’s point is that Eugene has little/no contact with his son. And when the son gets in trouble, he, ‘dad’ bails him out; and grounds him. It is like saying "oh, I'm not going to be in your life that much, but if you ever are in trouble with the law, I'll 'get you off.'" And "you owe me, dad." Besides the fact that it was Eugene’s client who hired Kendall creates its own problems. About the gun manufacturer case, Jimmy spends all morning throwing up just thinking about trying this case. Yet, for everyone else his weak stomach is a sign that he;s ready to do well. He asks Lindsay to second chair for him. Along the way, we find out that Lindsay keeps a gun for herself locked in her drawer! Lindsay is completely against this case at the beginning. Also she recommends is to settle as soon as possible. The case is to charge some responsibility to the gun’s manufacturer for a young girl’s death because of the way they advertised the gun that killed her. She is all “we can't win! There’s no causation” and so forth; until they get a $600,000 offer which Jimmy is ready to take when Lindsay announces they should continue. The client wants to know Lindsay’s opinion and she is, "let's go for it". Jimmy asks her if she has a reason but she says, no, it is all in her gut. Their strategy, orchestrated by Lindsay and brilliantly carried out by Jimmy, is to not to let the manufacturer’s guy talk too much. Everything should be reduced to yes or no questions. The guy on the stand defending his automatic weapons is pretty good but Jimmy’s cross-examination was excellent. The main point of argument is that they advertised their guns as “fingerprint resistant' because people were concerned about hand oils corroding the gun! For a minute it felt as if they were going to lose it but they did not. Jimmy rocked at the end when he told Lindsay: "I didn't hear the judge throw the verdict out, did you hear him throw it out?" They just hugged, with Lindsay saying, "Don't throw up on me!" And at the end we have Ellenor saying now Jimmy makes more money than she!

318. "Crossfire"
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Emotions run high as Bobby represents Eugene as he fights to keep custody of his son. Helen prosecutes an accused car jacker man she thinks might be innocent. And Rebecca represents a psychologist who was discriminated against on account of his crossed eyes. Helen’s case: She represents Lynette Hayes, a teenage girl who took a young man to court for carjacking. Helen seemed confident enough until the accused took the stand. Then she started having second thoughts about the case--and her client. It seems Helen did not check out all the possibilities before bringing charges against this man. No one bothered to check the kid's alibi. And there is the doubt that if he indeed had a job interview, where was the prospective employer? Nevertheless, it was brilliant, though, to show that it was the defence's solid strategy that provoked Helen's rethinking and her crisis of conscience. Helen goes to talk with Judge Kittleson to ask if she could recuse herself for she believes in the innocence of the kid but the judge won’t let her do so, but makes her to complete her closing the best she can and that is exactly what she does. She wins. The complainant's final, half-hearted smile, and Helen's less than jubilant reaction, points to the innocence of the accused. In Eugene's case: since it's costing everyone so much time and money to fight this battle in court and short of some serious charge of abuse, courts are reluctant to remove a child totally from a parent's custody and Eugene already had minimal custody it really was overkill to make a simple, but important point. Eugene became painfully aware of the dangers of his attitude and behaviour to his son. He must be EXTREMELY concerned about his son dealing drugs--not because his son was “turning bad” -- but because he used some of his father's own lawyer arguments to try to get away with it and to justify it. Why did Eugene not talk to his son about the incident with Ellenor and the drugs? Kendall really thinks that his dad can get anyone off, no matter what. The prosecution’s argument is that he should lose custody because of the way he plays being a defence attorney and how his job reflects on Kendall. They present a psychologist to support this. Bobby asks for Eugene’s permission to get ugly on Sharon. Eugene doesn’t want him to but... Bobby reveals Sharon pushed Eugene into pushing for partner and now shows she is reaping the rewards. What did she want Eugene to do? Quit his well paying job? Also we learn Sharon was unfaithful to Eugene for about two months and that is what caused their divorce. Sharon argues the problems between them (they still have feelings for each other) have always been about Eugene’s job, especially the kind of people he gets acquitted and the way he does it. The prosecution even brings up parts of the Robins trial. Bobby also uses parts of this trial to mark up Eugene’s morals and pride in his job as well as on his honour. The one good point Bobby made was when he asked why you would want to take away the parents of someone in trouble? The judge denied Sharon's petition for sole custody. Basically the judge said that he didn't think they tried hard enough to work out their differences. He insisted that both Eugene and Sharon needed to try harder to properly parent Kendall. Eugene is a good father and should not be penalized because of his chosen profession. As for Sharon she said it all when she told Eugene that she felt that she was losing Kendall. As a mother she felt threatened that she was losing her child to his father. Eugene admitted that they still love each other. Why don't they just become a family again and give it a shot? The best scene was the first scene with Rebecca, Lucy, and the cross-eyed shrink. Lucy's reaction really brought out the humour in the scene. Rebecca must represent a cross-eyed psychologist fired by his firm because his condition is bad for business. The judge quickly rules in favour of the employer after making him explain to him some psychological lingo. The judge finds hard not to be distracted by his eyes. Rebecca advises the client not to appeal the decision because there are no grounds for him to win.

319. "Closet Justice"
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The firm must question everything they believe, everything that challenges the foundation of their belief in the justice system when they have the opportunity to expose a policeman's error that could set a brutal murderer free. Of course this murderer is their client! The criminal goes free because he wasn't read his rights, his property was searched without a warrant, or other technicalities, all violating various amendments. Zoe Hiller is the judge, Helen is the D.A. and the killer has a public defendant until Hiller spots Lindsay in the back of the courtroom and forces her to take the case. Lindsay and Bobby try to get out of it but there is no way to do so as Hiller won’t let them. The main reason they don’t want the case is because they feel the guy is guilty and they worry about the public opinion as he killed a nun. Lindsay is especially uncomfortable, but Bobby will be with her all the time as well as Ellenor. Lindsay goes (alone) to interrogate “the client”. The girl he spent the night with thought he locked her up in his apartment, and so she calls the police claiming to be kidnapped. The guy had told the girl he kept guns in his closet. The police arrives, unlock the girl, and as she tells them about the guns in the closet, they force it and open it find the remains of a nun, stabbed 30 times and chopped into pieces. The guy is arrested outside the building as he returns with coffee and doughnuts. As the case is exposed, we find out that the murderer used to convince his victims (like the nun and the other girl) to go up to his apartment, alone. He called the nun three nights ago. The girl, he met her in a bar and they spent the night together. The problems begin when Lindsay and Ellenor step in and question the girl about the closet search. They think the search was illegal. As there was no kidnap and she wasn’t in danger or the owner of the closet, the girl had no power to authorize the police to open the closet. Once Helen and Ellenor have examined the policeman, Ellenor asks Judge Hiller to drop exclude all the evidence found in the closet because of the illegal search. The whole episode shows that defence attorneys also have feelings, as well as the idea that the firm is just too good at what they do, they can get people off when they don't even want to. Kinda like Helen with the carjacking case. Yet, Eugene brought up an important point. Why were they so worked up about this case when they have defended murderers in the past who are just as sick as this one (like Joey Heric)? The conflict for DYD&F has to do with what they’re constitutionally obligated to do. The murderer was their client and they are obligated to do everything in their power to defend him, whether they agree with it or not. Lindsay and Bobby discuss this as well. Bobby criticizes Lindsay’s closing as being not up to her usual standard and she doesn’t appreciate it. When Lindsay gave her arguments to the judge in the nun-killer case, Bobby said "I've seen you better", and she retorted angrily "You're accusing me of something and I DON'T LIKE IT". It is Lindsay who gives the arguments to Hiller. Lindsay had a few good one-liners, "Be there for the first zit" and "go to hell again!". The main heat is the conflict between Lindsay and Helen. They have a terrible fight about, "[Helen] would never be in your position!!!!" Helen got up on a soapbox about what Lindsay does for a living when just a while ago she sent a boy she thought may be innocent away. The moral/ethical conflict this case created has to do with what lawyering is really about, being hypocritical. Yet, at the end they both end up hugging and shedding tears for both their “losses”. At the end, you could just see that EVERYONE in that courtroom was wanting the judge not to say what she did. Judge Hiller made a decision that 9 out of 10 judges would have made in the same situation: she let the guy walk, the nun-killer. A feeling that the psycho nun killer might return to come after either Lindsay or Helen, is left. On the other hand, Jimmy and Rebecca defend a guy accused of hiring a prostitute. Jimmy and the guy say it was definitely entrapment for the “prostitute” turn out to be an undercover cop. Jimmy tries to get the case sent to Judge Roberta Kittleson, to see whether she can help him but she wouldn’t do it. We find out there is relationship going on between them. Roberta talks about it with Zoe. They turn out to be very good friends. In fact, Roberta asks Jimmy to give her a raincheck on their dinner for she wants to be there when Zoe rules on the nun killer case. They had discussed the matter and they both agree that even though it might be despicable to free this man, it would be against the constitution not to do so. And yet, Zoe asks Helen to please look for something that can bail her out and keep this guy on trial. (Helen’s discovery is not enough, the fact that the fourth amendment says nothing on warrants until 1961 when the Supreme Court ruled on it). Jimmy’s guy is found not guilty -- Jimmy's closing was great. Rebecca can hardly believe it! And the look on her face when she sees Roberta showing up at the restaurant to talk to Jimmy is incredible. Jimmy is just looking for a little love.

320. "Home Invasions"
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Bobby comes to Lucy's aid when she's literally exposed on the Internet. Helen searches for the truth behind a father and a son's involvement in a woman's murder (Gordon Armbrust’s wife). And Bobby gives Jimmy grief about his affair with Judge Kittleson. Berluti and Judge Kittleson kiss. Lucy finds it hard to lean on people at the firm for help. Especially when all of them find her very nosy and always getting into everyone’s business. But this time she is afraid. She couldn't even make herself leave the office at night. So, she ends up asking Bobby for help. And he helps her. Jimmy finds out a site where a nude video of Lucy is broadcast. He tells Bobby about it so that they can ask Lucy about it. The poor girl knows nothing. She can not believe it. Bobby goes with her to her apartment just to find out there is a VCR installed in her bathroom. Bobby gets Lucy accept them to talk with Eugene (for his great PI ability) and with Lindsay (because of her computer expertise) for help. Lindsay tracks all the sites Lucy’s video has been put on, and during her search she also finds a site dedicated to Boston lawyers and finds an article of Judge Kittleson and her affairs with a bonus picture album of her and Jimmy in an elevator, kissing. Bobby treats Lucy like a daughter or a little sister. It seems Lucy’s superintendent sets up a hidden camera in her apartment and yet, this isn't considered a crime, because it doesn't have audio! Not only did he do that, but he also exposed Lucy’s video on the Internet. Bobby sure gives him a good smack after accusing the guy of electricity theft. Judge Kittleson is in charge of the case, just the case for her right now. She finds a “way” to get from the guy some kind of “retribution”. She has him in a “pants-dropping situation” in front of all the gallery. Jimmy finding out about the judge’s past relationship makes him lock horns with her. His relationship with her also results in some problems. Bobby discusses it with Jimmy. We find out that the Judge’s personal life has been also exposed in the Internet. Maybe her personal feelings override judicial prudence when she made Lucy's peeping Tom landlord expose himself in court. She says in the previous scene about the internet, "This is evil. This is evil." As for Helen, she is determined to make someone pay for Mrs. Armbrust’s death. When the father was first arrested, the son accused him of murdering his mother. When first interrogated by Helen, he confirmed every bit of his first statement. But now that they are about to go to trial, the kid changes his story, saying everything was an accident, and that it was his fault. Helen suspects the father did kill his wife, and that he and his son are planning to keep him out of jail. The boy lost his mother, and yet for some reason he didn't want to lose his murderous father. Helen gets Ellenor to be the son’s lawyer, so that she can make it clear to the boy about the risks he will take if he contradicts his first statement. Yet, the boy insists in changing his testimony. Helen insists Ellenor should make it clear to him he mustn’t fear his father but her. The kid sticks up for his father and Helen honours her words. She has Gary, the son, arrested for felony murder and perjury. "I told you Ellenor, I told you he should be more afraid of me than of his father". This chain of events seems doomed to make her flip out. This is the second clear, sure murder case she loses, and let’s not forget she knows she sent an innocent kid to jail, the car jacker. Ellenor is really stuck trying to make the son realise he wouldn’t walk on a perjury charge. The kid practically admits to Ellenor that his father shot his mother. He kept saying, "I mean, he's my dad. He's my dad!" Helen went to Ellenor for a favour and now she feels she stabbed her in the back. Now, Helen is going to send the teenager to jail for life for the accidental murder of his mother because he wouldn't testify against his father. He will pay for the consequences. In her closing, Helen said "he's already lost his mother, he doesn't want to lose his father... and maybe he's found a way to even forgive his dad". For Helen's thinking "There's been a murder, and dammit, someone's gonna pay!"

321. "Infected"
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Devastated that she was unable to convict Gordon Armbrust for murdering his wife, Helen is determined to make someone pay for the crime: the son. Bobby takes on a client whose wife died mysteriously following routine surgery; and Rebecca takes on a pro bono murder case. Helen doggedly pushes to convict the son on the case of the murder of Mrs. Armbrust. He is convicted 20 years for perjury, against Ellenor. A remark, Helen flips out and mentions the nun-killer in her closing! Rebecca's case: Her client was a total jerk. An innocent guy staged by the police, and a Judge who just won’t let Rebecca do almost anything, even when there are grounds for her to ask for mistrial, even the DA agrees with her. The client flung tiny little Rebecca across the room. And the judge had his mouth taped shut having him shackled. Rebecca's pro bono trial for attempted murder was pleading not guilty. In her closing she even takes on the Judge himself. As soon as the judge allows the client to be released, the guy just stomps out of the courtroom without saying a word to Rebecca. He didn't even thank her after she helped him. She stood there kind of dumbfounded for a second, and then murmured sarcastically, "You're welcome." She took the case for the experience. Bobby/Eugene's case: Someone’s wife goes into a routine surgery and ends up dead. As Bobby investigates the case, it turns out that other four persons died the same way on the same day. Yet he wins by settling the issue before trial.

322. "Do Unto Others"
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In this single-case episode, Eugene (Steve Harris) takes the case of a rabbi accused of raping a woman with whom he has been secretly having an affair. Rabbi Richard "she likes it rough" Jacobs rape trial. Eugene represented a rabbi accused of raping a girl. The church was paying legal fees and wanting to pay the girl for her silence on the matter, too. Parallel to this story, Eugene took Sharon (his wife or ex wife) out for dinner. She seems ashamed of what he had to do to that woman in court. Yet she rescues him from the sea of reporters raging just outside the courtroom after the not-guilty verdict was read. And then she kissed him in the elevator.

323. "Happily Ever After?"
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