Rosie O'Neill used to be a rich Beverly Hills lawyer, but following a messy divorce, has decided to dedicate her life to becoming a public defender. The decision is met with by scorn from her mother who thinks she's to good for this work & contempt from her officemate Hank, who thinks she doesn't care. Meanwhile Rosie struggles with helping her client, who is on trial for murdering her baby.

Rosie struggles with her toughest case yet. She is defending a known rapist, who delights in confessing to his various crimes, including this one, now she must come to terms with if helping him is morally right or not. This becomes even tougher on her when she finds that the police's key piece of evidence was planted at the scene, which means he's going to walk away a free man.

Rosie has a streak of bad luck after a client's mother places a curse on her. Meanwhile she fights a difficult case when a young father to be is charged with vehicular manslaughter after he hit a man who he claims was laying in the street. To make matters worse, Rosie finds herself unable to finalize her divorce to her Ex Husband & keeps coming up with reasons not to sign.

Rosie struggles with defending a client that the Prosecutor is trying to railroad, based on the color of his skin. Meanwhile she also has a difficult time with her feelings towards her new relationship, as her first wedding anniversary since the divorce is upon her. The more her mother & sister try to help, the more hopeless she feels.

Rosie struggles to defend young man accused of defacing a jewish cemetery & attacking an elderly night watchman. She learns of Ben's struggles with Antisemitism & opines on the plight of the Jewish people. Meanwhile Doreen is at her breaking point with her new baby & Hank rebels against a new policy that bans all personal or political items from the office.

Rosie begins to exam her own prejudices as she defends a client who mercy killed his AIDS infected lover. Her client likewise suffers from AIDS & blames himself for giving it to his lover, so he does little to help his case believing he deserves this. Meanwhile Rosie confronts her ex's lover (Helen Hunt) which causes her to contemplate what caused her marriage to fail.

Rosie struggles with her up coming Birthday & a case that seems like a massive miscarriage of justice. Her newest client is facing damning charges of molesting a child, with the kid even confirming him as her attacker. Rosie believes he is innocent, so now she must decide if helping free an innocent man, justifies breaking a few rules to help the case.

Rosie finds herself defending a charming & legendary Blues legend Fish Fry Baby (Bill Cobbs)! Fish Fry is on trial for kidnapping a musician who stole his song & made millions with it. Meanwhile Rosie finds the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday extra difficult as her mother & sister both seem disinterested in a typical family Thanksgiving.

Rosie may be in over her head, when she defends a former gang member accused of starting a brawl. She finds racism plays a large part in the case against him & that the system that is out to get him, regardless of his innocence. Meanwhile tensions rise with her mother, who wants Rosie to join her exclusive club.

Rosie becomes emotionally involved in her latest case, where a battered prostitute killed her pimp in self defense. The Prosecutors see it as premeditated, but Rosie see's a terrified woman pushed to her breaking point who was fearful for her life. The only person who may be able to help is Velma (Jada Pinkett Smith), another Prostitute who may know more than she's telling.

It's Christmas time & Rosie has an unusual, but Holiday appropriate client! Sven Ingerson (Paul Williams) is on trial for having stolen possessions, toys specifically. He claims they're not stolen at all & as an Elf he needs to be out of Jail by Christmas Eve or else! Meanwhile Rosie struggles with a stubborn judge who views Christmas as just another date & wants the trial on Christmas Eve!

Rosie struggles defend her client, who is on trial for accidentally killing her drug-addicted daughter. Since she was a former drug addict herself, she appears less than trustworthy. Meanwhile Kim's increasing need to talk with Rosie combined with Patrick's upcoming marriage, strains their relationship.

Rosie gets an up close view of the sorry state of the Nation's Mental Health facilities with her newest client. She is a mentally disturbed woman who is on trial for assaulting her case worker, which even the case worker claims was an accident. Rosie tries everything in her power to get her client the treatment she needs, but the system & client herself make it difficult.

At a dinner honoring her late father, Rosie finds out that he was not the perfect man she had always thought he was. Now Rosie & Doreen must reassess their perfect childhoods to see if there was something they missed. Meanwhile Kim tags along with Rosie to the public defender's office & gets a crash course in the Law, while Rosie's latest case might be solved by the victims diabetes.

Rosie's high school reunion is upon her & she reluctantly attends it at the encouragement of her therapist. There she encounters some old friends including Tobey (Carol King) & Vicki Lindman (Tyne Daly), though Viki & Rosie's relationship has cooled considerably since High school. Meanwhile Rosie is defending a man who burned down a crack house, after being terrorized by the local drug dealers.

Rosie's latest client is Hank's brother & now she must battle professional & personal issues with this case. Hank struggles with his brother's failures & the two butt heads over perceived differences in their childhoods that led to two very different lives. Meanwhile Rosie must come to terms with the prejudices that she has turned a blind eye to in her own life.

An ecoterrorist holds Rosie's conscience hostage, going against her advice and pressuring her to argue the issue. Rosie feels that it could be toxic to her mistaken-identity defense, and urges her client to take the District Attorney’s offer, which he refuses to accept. Meanwhile, some of her coworkers have started undertaking conscious environmental efforts in honor of Rosie’s client.

Rosie & Hank team up on a difficult case, that has their client potentially going to the gas chamber if they lose. The pressures of the case mount on the pair's personal lives in very different ways. Hank has health problems mount as reflects on racial experiences he's experienced in his life. Meanwhile Rosie struggles with her first trial that can result in a client's death.