When a teenager whom neither parent wanted and Amy placed in a locked facility escapes and comes into D.C.F. with bruises she says were caused by abuse at the facility, Maxine's decision to have her returned to the facility leads to tragedy; Amy attends the tenth reunion of her Harvard Law School class and is disheartened by how petty, mean-spirited, and sleazy her former law school best friends have become, until Barry shows up unexpectedly as her white knight and saves the day; Michael makes it obvious that he is still attracted to Amy, and expresses regret over their divorce and his marriage to Leisha; Maxine scoffs when Sean has all the files computerized, but changes her tune when he swiftly downloads information which helps them identify and locate a suicidal teenager.

Amy, Maxine and Lauren have trouble adjusting to their new living arrangements; Vincent returns for a visit to smooth over the waters between his mother and sister and persuade them to live together again; after Lauren tearfully calls Michael about the move, he suggests to Amy that Lauren come to live with him; Amy presides over a custody dispute involving a father who refuses to take a paternity test; Donna dates one of Amy's law school classmates; Amy ends her relationship with Barry.

Amy and Michael agree to work out Lauren's custody with a mediator; Maxine and Kimberly clash over a child lost in the system; Jared returns from China to get an answer from Maxine; Lauren fears that their apartment is haunted and Amy begins to agree with her; appearing before Amy in court as the caseworker for a teenaged mother, Maxine gives an impassioned plea which provides Amy with food for thought about not only the girl, but Amy's relationships with Maxine and Lauren; Bruce runs into Amy and spurns her offer of friendship, but later relents most emphatically.

Amy must decide if a little girl in the middle of a bitter custody dispute is being molested by her father; doing research for a paper, Donna shadows Maxine during a day in which she deals with the neglected children of a severely depressed mother who refuses treatment; Kyle receives an unwelcome visit from his mother and sister; after employing a private investigator to follow Amy for over a year, Michael sues for full custody of Lauren; the decorator that Amy hires to redo the kitchen disparages Maxine's taste.

Amy and Michael face off in court, and the resolution of their custody battle reveals yet another unsavory aspect of Michael's character; Kyle counsels a mother who struggles over a DNR order for her critically ill son; after Amy and Sean each confront her about Eric, Maxine visits him in jail to hear his story of the night Jason died.

Amy must decide if it's in a teenager's best interest to get married; Bruce investigates when he suspects that a teenager's probation violation isn't as innocent as his parole officer claims; Amy struggles with telling Lauren that she's dating Stu; after worrying about Gillian's insistence that the baby's fine, and a girl, Peter decides to let her hold on to her beliefs when he discovers that they're having a boy; Lily considers accepting a job offer in New York; Michael confesses to Amy that he was to blame for their divorce.