Episode list

Hot-shot, high-stakes, New York City attorney Patty Hewes hires a new associate, the bright, ambitious, but somewhat naive Ellen Parsons, to help her as she tries to ruin billionaire Arthur Frobisher. Hewes represents a group of employees who are suing Frobisher in a class-action suit after he sold his company, leaving the employees financially devastated. Ellen is unaware that her best friend, Katie Connor, and the younger sister of her fiancé David, is working for Frobisher who is financing her new restaurant opening. Flashing forward eight weeks in the future: David Connor is found murdered, and Ellen, wandering the streets covered in blood, becomes the prime suspect.

Ellen convinces Katie to testify against Arthur Frobisher after learning that she was in Florida years earlier when he was tipped off about the status of his company, which has him considering drastic measures in which Frobisher's lawyer, Ray Fisk, considers which risks are worth taking. Patty begins to question if Katie is giving honest and accurate testimony or if she's seeking attention. Flashforward in the future: the shaken Ellen refuses to give a statement to the police concerning the discovery of David's body in her apartment.

Patty receives a mysterious threat at her office in the form of a live grenade that could destroy her case against Arthur Frobisher, who continues to be informed of Patty's movements. Meanwhile, Ellen continues to struggle with the demands of her new job at Hewes and Associates which take up hers and David's time which leads him to having a meeting of minds with the daughter of a patient at the hospital where he works. Flashing forward to six weeks: Ellen tries to tell the pompous and skeptical police that someone tried to murder her in Patty Hewes' apartment the same time someone murdered David.

Katie is getting ready for her upcoming deposition in the Frobisher case unaware that her former boyfriend, Gregory Malina, is working with Ray Fiske and is deliberately withholding information that could be even more important than Katie's. Flashing forward into the future: Ellen is charged with murdering David.

Frobisher plays into Patty Hewes hands and withdraws his settlement offer but Frobisher arranges for the employee group to drop her as their lawyer. Tom Shayes gets a partnership offer from Martin Cutler but weighs his other options. Katie confronts Gregory Malina over his lies and he in turn gets a not too subtle reminder to keep his mouth shut. David and Ellen have a falling out over the way Katie was treated and David decides to visit his sister for a few days. In the flash forward, Ellen tells her lawyer Hollis Nye that someone tried to kill her.

Ellen makes contact with Gregory Malina and gives him 24 hours to come forward or he will be subpoenaed. Malina has good reason to be afraid when a hit man tries to take him out. Outraged at being spat upon at a basketball game, Frobisher decides that a public relations offensive would help, so he hires someone to write his biography. Ray Fiske is suffering from a severe bout of insomnia but when he does manage to nod off, has terrible nightmares. Lila DiMeo asks David for his help after her grandfather dies. In the flash forward, Ellen is told there is no evidence she was attacked. She tells her lawyer that the attack is connected to the Frobisher case. The police learn that David had been having an affair with Lila while still engaged to Ellen.

Relations between Ellen and Tom get frosty when Patty asks her if Tom offered her a job. Ellen says he didn't but then becomes paranoid at the thought that either Patty already knew or that Tom might tell her that he had. She and Tom agree to keep it a secret, but Ellen has her doubts. Ray Fiske is trying to keep Greg Malina from being deposed and launches an effort to quash Patty Hewes' subpoena. Patty continues to protect Greg but he decides to disappear. Patty is still dealing with her son's situation. She is surprised that he wants to remain at his special "school" and at the major changes in his personality. In the flash forward, Ellen reveals why she was staying at Patty Hewes' apartment when she was attacked, but the police doubt her story when they are unable to find the man she claims she killed in self-defense. Patty has disappeared and Ellen begs Tom to find her as she is convinced that all of these events are connected to the Frobisher case. The police formally charge Ellen with murder.

Patty Hewes learns that Larry Popler has been passing information on to Frobisher and decides to turn the tables on both of them. Greg Malina is still missing and Patty suggests to Larry that he may have been killed. Ellen and Tom interview a former SEC Commissioner who had spent a good deal of time going after Frobisher during the criminal trial. Ellen learns that her father had a serious car accident but he hasn't hired a lawyer and is resistant to her advice about his upcoming deposition. In the flash-forward, we learn that Ellen and David broke up just prior to him being killed. Ellen is arraigned and pleads not guilty. Her bail is set at $1.5 million.

Lila DiMeo visits Ellen at the office and tells her that she and David have been sleeping together and that he no longer loves her. Ellen and David get to spend the weekend at Patty's beach house. Gregory Malina re-appears to explain himself to Katie Connor and makes a videotape confession in case anything should happen to him. Ray Fiske hires a pro to prepare Frobisher for his deposition. George Moore is feeding Ellen information, some of it true, in a bid to force Frobisher to settle. In the flash-forward, Tom tells a still incarcerated Ellen that he still can't find Patty; she tells him to go to Patty's beach house. Patty is having a mental breakdown of some sort.

Patty Hewes and Frobisher prepare for his deposition but he beats her to the punch by holding a press conference and telling all about the car accident he had 25 years ago. Patty tells Tom that Ellen is only useful to them as long as Gregory Malina is alive. When she learns he is dead she tells Ellen she is off the Frobisher case. When Ellen ignores Patty's direct orders not to contact George Moore, she finds herself out of a job. In the flash forward, Tom is still unable to locate Patty and Ellen tells him the identity of the person who tried to have her killed.

Patty Hewes likes Ellen's theory that George Moore is working for Frobisher but also trying to get him to settle the lawsuit. Ellen turns down Patty's offer to return to work but agrees to continue working on the case for the clients' sake. Ellen also gives Patty the evidence that Ray Fiske was involved in insider trading. Patty tried to blackmail him into throwing the case, but with unexpected results. David continues to be stalked by Lila DiMeo. In the flash forward, Patty is still running away and out of contact.

In the aftermath of her encounter with Ray Fiske, Patty Hewes finally takes Tom's call and is told Ellen has accused her of attempted murder. She returns to the city and posts Ellen's bail. Frobisher learns of Greg Malina's video confession and instructs his men to do whatever it takes to retrieve it. Ellen offers the video to Patty only if she agrees to take on her case.

The season comes to its shocking conclusion.