A Sudanese native wants to sue the U.S. government for the lack of action taken against the mayhem happening in his country and Paul looks to Lori to take the case. Founding partner Shirley Schmidt arrives with a mission to bring order to the firm. While making herself known, she has to deal with Denny who does not wanting her there, help with Lori's extremely high profile case, and learns that she has to keep her eye on Alan. Alan ends up defending a man who killed his mother in a fit of rage but by accident.

After meeting Irma for a date, Alan finds himself defending her when she is charged with a sex crime by protesting topless.

Meanwhile, Denise finds it difficult to remain close to Daniel when he invites her to his own funeral, and Garrett faces his toughest challenge yet when Catherine invades his office.

Denny is attracted to feisty lawyer Bethany Horowitz as they try a case against an HMO, and Alan grows more attracted to Shirley as they defend a homeless man accused of cannibalism. Meanwhile, Coho continues his defense of accused murderer Scott Little.