Still grieving over the loss of Jared, Maxine finds it difficult to listen to Amy and Stu plan their wedding; Bruce is less than thrilled working for Judge Bell; Gillian is sad and irritable that she's having difficulty bonding to Walt, and can't seem to talk to Peter about what's troubling her; Kyle feels betrayed when Lily makes her decision about the new attending physician; Amy teaches Lauren and her friends a harsh lesson about popularity, friendship, and the cruelty of cliques; after Zola seeks Amy's help in reaching out to Bruce, he confesses that her role in the Jason Darby case may have put an end to their relationship; Kyle is put in legal jeopardy when he saves the life of a man injured in a bar fight; Maxine overcomes her initial skepticism about the latest claims coming from a young boy known for filing false complaints against the men in his mother's life, and discovers that this latest accusation may have merit, much to the dismay of the boy's mother, who doesn't wa

The rift between Peter and Gillian widens at Walt's christening; Maxine overcomes her resistance and resumes therapy; when a tree that's been neglected crashes through Amy's kitchen window, she mistakenly calls in a landscape designer who reveals a keen insight into the state of both Maxine's garden and her soul; a young girl appears in Amy's court charged with reckless endangerment for running a pro-anorexia web site; Maxine is disturbed when the frustrated mother of a boy with a chronic neurological disorder turns from conventional medical care to a dubious faith healer in an effort to help her son; Amy is mortified when an upheaval during her sushi dinner date with David ruins both the evening and David's new and very expensive shoes.

Peter is still unhappy about Maxine's dating Ignacio; on the anniversary of his wife's death, David asks Amy to accompany him to a support group meeting; Maxine teaches a young artist under DCF's care the true meaning of family and reaching out for love and support; Amy and David attend the bench bar dinner together and hear news about Stu that upsets Amy; Maxine discovers that her new beau is quite wealthy as she meets Ignacio's mother, ex-wife, and children; despite being in counseling, Peter and Gillian continue to quarrel, especially after Gillian disparages Peter's joining the band; Amy presides over an emotional abuse and neglect petition brought about by a grandmother who is seeking custody of the child conceived when her son raped the boy's mother; Kyle seeks out Peter for some advice on being a father after Heather complains about Kyle's negativity toward her and their baby, and realizes just how upset she is when he can't locate her to apologize; Amy and David come to an agre

Despite David's protests, Amy puts an end to their romantic relationship when he finally returns to Hartford; Maxine realizes that a teenaged client who was abused as a young child has become mentally ill when the girl makes a series of false rape accusations; Kyle has a career epiphany after he meets a fellow traveler at the airport who happens to be an undercover police officer; at her 89th birthday celebration, Isabel Messina is as rude as ever to Maxine, but completely charmed by Sean as he sings her an unusual birthday song; Amy hears the case of a teenaged boy who keeps running away to join the circus; Amy and Kyle lend David support when a critically injured Victor is rushed into surgery after being struck by a car.

With all three of her children living once again under the same roof with her, Maxine finally decides to let them be the grownups that they are (horseplay notwithstanding) and fix their own breakfasts; the ceiling in Amy's courtroom collapses, and she is sentenced to a stint in Accountability court, which she deems a punishment for her ruling in the Casey Ives matter; shortly after his return from New Mexico, David is devastated to discover that the man who holds the secret to his wife's murder has died; Ignacio asks Amy to plead his case with Maxine; Sean asks Maxine to track down the missing placement records on a little boy, and they discover that there's no trace of him anywhere; Heather visits Kyle to ask his forgiveness, announce that she's entering into a treatment program, and tell him about their son, but he doesn't believe any of it; Maxine relents her stance on Ignacio a little by allowing him to fix the broken sprinklers in the garden; Amy tries to figure out what's behind

High-school student Graciela Reyes is brought to Amy's courtroom for violating her parole, but it is soon uncovered that the reason for this is that her mother has moved to Gautamala along with her two brothers, leaving Graciela behind; Meanwhile, the Gray family rallies around Maxine after she is forced to have open-heart surgery after she suffers a second heart attack during a visit to the cardiologist; Sean locates Anthony Bird, who is living with a family who had recently adopted him.

Amy finds it rather difficult to follow her mom's advice and embrace her 40th birthday as a milestone. Donna is in Amy's court representing a 13-year-old girl who accidentally kills her friend while they are out on a joyride but shows no remorse for her death. Maxine tries to determine whether two brothers are better off without the presence of their father, an ex-con, in their lives. Amy miscarries on her 40th birthday. Amy drowns her sorrows at a bar located on the beach, where she meets a stranger who gives her the perspective she needs during her difficult time.