Los Angeles attorney Vernetta Henderson is on a high. She's just pulled off the biggest victory of her career. And before she can come down, it's about to get even better. Vernetta is assigned to represent a temperamental socialite accused of brutally stabbing her rich husband to death at the swank Ritz-Carlton hotel. The high-profile case is sure to put Vernetta on the A-list of celebrity attorneys, sealing her chances of becoming O'Reilly & Finney's first African-American partner. Then Vernetta learns that Managing Partner Jim O'Reilly, a gregarious Clintonesque type, wants her to try the case with Neddy McClain, the firm's only other African-American attorney. That's when Vernetta's exhilaration plunges into dread.
Vernetta and Neddy butt heads from day one. Neddy, an older, more experienced lawyer, is embroiled in a bitter divorce, which is only one reason her lips are always ziplocked into a frown. Their client, Tina Montgomery, an elegant woman of privilege, is incensed that she's on trial for a vicious murder. She demands that her lawyers right the wrong. Neddy is not sympathetic when Vernetta confides that she thinks Tina Montgomery may indeed be guilty as charged. Neddy has always considered guilt or innocence an irrelevant aspect of defense work.
In the meantime, Jefferson, Vernetta's new husband, is eager to start a family – a venture Vernetta would prefer to postpone. She also has to keep her eye on David, another associate at O'Reilly & Finney, who feels that he should be trying the case, not Vernetta. These pressures force Vernetta to turn to her best friend, Special, for both advice and comic relief.
Once the trial gets underway, Vernetta and Neddy must take on Julie Killabrew, a hot-shot prosecutor who considers every loss a personal affront. Julie takes great pleasure in making life as difficult as possible for both Vernetta and Neddy. Forced to fight a common enemy, the two women finally close ranks and, in the process, develop a bond that sees them through the roadblocks of trial, the pain of betrayal, and pressures neither could have imagined.
