The Practice focused on the law firm of Robert Donnell and Associates (later becoming Donnell, Young, Dole, & Frutt, and ultimately Young, Frutt, & Berluti). Plots typically featured the firm's involvement in various high-profile criminal and civil cases that often mirrored current events at the time of the episodes' initial broadcast. Conflict between legal ethics and personal morality was a recurring theme.

　　Lindsay gets suspicious when Rebecca seems to be secretly awaiting an important letter - and realizes just how much she was right when the letter finally arrives. Ellenor gets a hysterical call from a client, who ran over a man in the street while drunk, and is shocked to discover exactly who he hit. Hellen prosecutes two boys accused of rape and murder, each accusing the other, and ends up making a deal with the wrong one.

　　Bobby is called to defend his close friend, Scott Wallace, who is accused of killing his wife, and becomes overly involved in the case. Helen is concerned Richard has crossed the line in the case, when a witness coached by him lies on the stand.

　　Ellenor is called to the house of her close friend, Senator Keith Ellison, where she finds the dead body of a man in his bed. The senator claims to shooting the man, thinking he was raping his wife, not realizing they're actually having an affair. In a sensational trial, full of twists and turns, Helen and new ADA Alan Lowe try to prove the senator murdered the man in a fit of rage - but no one is ready for the real truth behind this crime.