Brackman is the unwitting victim in a gay-bashing incident; Kelsey defends a logging-company executive in a case involving a tree-spiking activist; C.J.'s father comes to town on a bender.

C.J. takes a personal interest in a case involving a friend, a divorcée whose lesbian affair foments a custody battle for her kids; Brackman can't seem to muster staff enthusiasm for the annual holiday party.

The partners disagree about Van Owen's defending a celebrity baseball player on rape charges; DePalma becomes embroiled in a sting operation on a corrupt judge; Markowitz offers Sarah a job at the firm despite Kelsey's reservations, then tries too hard to win her affections; Roxanne moves out after Rayburn deceives her about Becker's fidelity.

A multimillionaire tries to buy his way out of a murder charge; parental concerns compound for the Brackmans and Benny when Alexander and Sam end up in juvenile court; and an INS review interrupts Bloom's marital bliss.

Frank is fired for his role in destroying Becker's case; C.J. represents a movie executive who's being sued by an actress for insisting that she get breast implants that later proved faulty; Zoey faces off against a jailhouse lawyer in the trial of a convict accused of murdering another inmate, and unwittingly helps to shape her adversary's future; Sarah comes running to her father when she has an argument with Karen over her new, older boyfriend, leading to fireworks among the women in Markowitz's life; Bloom hides her true feelings about the future of her marriage from her new groom.