Damages

As the show opens, Ellen Parsons is exiting from an elevator covered in blood. She is picked up on the street by police and taken in for questioning. We then flash back to 6 months earlier as Ellen is being offered a junior associate position at a law firm ran by Hollis Nye. When she does not accept right away they ask if she has met with any other law firms. She says no, but Hewes & Associates had called yesterday. This turns the mood rather somber and they are upset that Ellen had not mentioned this to the, It seems that Patty Hewes is THE person to work for.

We next see a negotiation between Patty Hewes and another attorney, Martin Cutler. They are headed to court to hear the verdict of the case they are working on. Cutler is offering 25 million to settle while Hewes is holding fast with her 150-million demand. As they arrive nearly simultaneously at the courthouse, they are informed that the jury is in. Cutler caves and agrees to the 150-million demand only to discover that the jury had not finished their deliberations. He tells Patty that if she were a man he would kick the living dog shit out of her. Patty responds that if he were a man she would be worried.

Ellen is now in a taxi with her boyfriend, David Connor telling him that she had turned down the $150,000 a year job offer from Mr. Nye. When Ellen and David arrive at a local nightclub to celebrate, Mr. Nye appears to warn her about working for Patty. He tells her that one she starts working for Patty there will be no room for her boyfriend or herself because Patty only has room for Patty.

Patty is appearing on the show On the Record with Greta Van Susteren to talk about the Arthur Frobisher case. Patty says that 5,000 of his employees lost their life savings as a result of his actions. Greta points out that Frobisher was found not guilty in his criminal trial. The whole case seems to rest on some unknown person in Palm beach, Florida who somehow helped Frobisher sell his company stock after he convinced his employees to invest all of their money in the company.

Patty meets with her clients the next day to talk about their options for the upcoming trial. She tells them that they need to bet patient, stay strong and all stick together if they want to win.

Meanwhile, Ellen is jogging with her best friend, Katie Connor when she gets a message that her interview at Hewes & Associates has been bumped up so she has to rush to get ready. When she arrives, Ellen bumps into Patty in the reception area, unaware of who she is. Ellen first interviews with Tom Shayes. Tom shows her around and introduces her to some of the employees including Uncle Pete, who has been working for Patty longer than anyone. Tom tries to prepare Ellen for her interview with Patty. When she finds out that she can not interview with Patty until Saturday, Ellen says she thought it was today and that she can not make it Saturday because her sister Carrie is getting married. Tom tells her that she will have to work it out.

Patty runs into Ray Fiske, attorney for Arthur Frobisher, at a dog park. Fiske asks for a settlement offer. Patty informs him that she is in this for her clients and to destroy Arthur Frobisher.

Ellen is at the wedding and is surprised by a visit from Patty in the bathroom. Patty tells her that she had to meet her because she was the first person stupid enough to turn her down. After a short talk Ellen asks if there is any way she could still interview for the job. Patty says it would be a waste of time because she is hired.

Ray calls Arthur Frobisher to tell him that Patty would not budge on making a settlement. Arthur is so upset that tells Ray to make something happen because he is tired of the persecution and wants some leverage.

Ellen starts work and is given the background on the Frobisher case. She is given a small office and told not to bring in anything she can not carry out in one trip once Patty fires her.

Ellen celebrates her new job by buying a large amount of expensive clothes. While she is going through her packages she finds one that she does not recognize. David has placed an engagement ring within her bags to surprise her.

Fiske appears at the restaurant Katie is starting up and we discover that Arthur Frobisher is her silent partner. Fiske asks Katie to sign a new confidentiality agreement. When she tells him that she will have her lawyer look at the papers, Fiske makes a veiled threat about holding up the opening of the restaurant.

Frobisher is showing Larry Popler the guns that his great-great grandfather designed and explaining that his family had first become rich due to the munitions demand during the Civil War. His family then lost all of their money during the Great Depression. Larry is one of his former workers hired by Patty. Frobisher is trying to get Larry to talk the others into a settlement.

Fiske takes Patty an offer of $100 million. Patty must defend her position at a meeting of the former Frobisher workers. Larry is very vocal about supporting the settlement.

Patty receives the National Public Service Award from the American Bar Association. After the ceremony, Patty gets a call from her husband, Phil Grey, who is in London. Waiting in the limo, Tom and Ellen discuss why Patty has not accepted the Frobisher offer. Patty enters the limo and offers to take Ellen out to eat and fires Tom in the same breath for not being properly prepared for the clients wanting to settle.

Katie confides in David that Frobisher is her silent partner and she is now being stalked by one of his goons since she has not signed the new confidentiality agreement. Ellen arrives and surprised to learn that Katie is involved with Frobisher and that she was in Palm Beach when Frobisher sold his company stock.

Patty and Ellen have a talk about life, work and children with Patty explaining about the trouble she is having with her son and his school. Patty tells her that she likes how Ellen is always thinking and how she is not gullible.

Ellen now thinks that Patty hired her knowing that Katie was involved with Frobisher. She finds Tom to see if she can confirm her thoughts. Tom tells her that he thinks she is wrong and Patty just hired her because of her potential.

Fiske calls Frobisher to inform him the patty has a new associate and that she is connected to Katie. Frobisher tells Fiske to do whatever it takes to fix the problem. Katie slips in her kitchen and discovers that her dog has been killed and there is a note left behind that simply says Quite. This actually has the opposite effect and Katie now wants to make sure that Frobisher pays for his misdeeds.

Ellen tells Patty about Katie and they come up with a plan to depose her to see if she can help their case. We then see Tom and Uncle Pete exchanging items in a dark ally. Uncle Pete leaves with a large amount of cash and Tom has a souvenir for Patty. Tom meets with Patty to give her the souvenir and we learn that Patty did indeed know that Katie was involved in the case and that was the reason she hired her. The souvenir turns out to be the collar from the murdered dog.

Back in present time, the police have now searched the apartment belonging to Ellen and David and found David dead in the bathtub. The police suspect that Ellen is involved with the death and try to question her. She demands to speak to a lawyer.