The Practice

- Season 5

(2000)

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 and Lindsay represent parents against the EPA, when their children are all diagnosed with cancer from a chemically treated playground. But no matter how tough the case is to prove to the jury, the real threat comes from the judge. Meanwhile, Bobby tries to get the Wallace verdict overturned, and Helen struggles with what she knows about the star witness for the prosecution.

An enraged Ellenor decides to go after Judge Aldrich for his behavior during the Jamison trial, no matter the consequences for her or the firm. Jimmy is faced with an ethical dilemma when the best thing for his drug addicted client might not be the best thing for her unborn child. Meanwhile, Helen's coworkers give her the cold shoulder, thanks to her decision to come clean about Richard's behavior during the Wallace trial.

Desperately trying to overturn Scott Wallace's verdict, Bobby goes for a hearing to prove Kyle Barrett lied on the stand. Helen tries a man who assaulted his wife, when the woman changes her mind and testifies for her husband. Lucy outs Bobby and Lindsay as being pregnant, but it turns out they're not the only ones.

Defending a young man accused of drug use, Jimmy faces an ego-maniacal judge, who determines punishment according to his mood. Eugene goes up against Helen in a trial where attacking a closeted policeman is the only way to win. Meanwhile, Bobby prepares for Scott Wallace's retrial by trying to convince Judge Hiller not to allow the damaging video tape into evidence.

Bobby takes on Richard Bay in the long anticipated Wallace retrial. With the video tape being admitted, Bobby has no choice but to put an increasingly erratic Scott Wallace on the stand. The entire episode is shown through the eyes of a news crew, making a documentary about the trial.

In an extremely controversial trial, Helen prosecutes a Pakistani man who sent his adulterous wife to Pakistan to be murdered by his brother in an honor killing. Eugene once again comes to the aid of incompetent attorney Harland Bassett when his niece is accused of shoplifting. Ellenor announces her pregnancy, and is disappointed by everyone's reaction.

Lindsay and Jimmy take on a case of a confessed serial killer, whose psychiatrist believes is innocent and suffering from delusions. Their attempt to prove his innocence gets more difficult when the client insists on pleading guilty.

Bobby is torn between ethics and morality, when serving his client means letting a kidnapped little girl die. Meanwhile, an emotionally unstable Scott Wallace returns, asking the firm's help after being fired from his job, only to get himself into big trouble yet again. Finally, being acquitted of 9 murder charges, William Hinks returns much to Lindsay's horror, who still believes he is guilty.

Haunted with guilt over Scott Wallace's murder of his boss, Bobby is determined to defend him, lashing out at everybody including Jimmy, who agrees to become a witness for the prosecution. Helen goes up against an old boyfriend in a drug case, when the defendant asks for her help and claims his lawyer actually works for his employers, and doesn't really represent his interests. Meanwhile, William Hinks' stalking of Lindsay gets more and more disturbing, and eventually turns deadly.

Scott Wallace is put on trial for murder yet again, with Bobby determined to prove his mental state is responsible for the crime. Lindsay becomes terrified when William Hinks continues to harass her, with the police being unable to touch him, until Bobby's decision to take matters into his own hands gets out of control.

With the discovery of William Hinks' body, Bobby is arrested shortly after for his murder. Lindsay is terrified of losing him and raising their child alone, while the DA's office assigns an extremely aggressive lawyer, willing to pull out all the stops in order to get rid of Bobby once and for all.

With Eugene at the helm, the entire firm stands ready to defend Bobby in his trial for the murder of William Hinks. But no matter what the outcome of the trial turns out to be, William Hinks reaches out from the grave and manages to get the last laugh, when a deadly tragedy hits the firm.

After the explosion at the firm's offices, Lucy is unharmed, but Rebecca is fighting for her life in the hospital. Things become even more complicated, when Bobby takes Rebecca's mother, a Jehovah's Witness, to court, trying to force her to allow the hospital to give Rebecca a blood transfusion. During all this, Lindsay goes into labor.

Ellenor's sperm-donor has second thoughts about their agreement for him to give up his parental rights, and Jimmy surprises her when he stands by her and volunteers to represent her. Lucy is paged by the rape crisis center to help an 11 year-old rape victim, whose rapist Helen is preparing to prosecute. Meanwhile, a disoriented Rebecca wakes up from her coma, and gets lost in the hospital.

In a crossover episode with "Gideon's Crossing", Ellenor turns to Dr. Ben Gideon, due to some complications with her pregnancy. Helen prosecutes 11 year-old Amanda McGowan's rapist, while doing her best to keep her off the witness stand and protect her from being even further traumatized. Bobby represents a man accused of killing his step daughter, with whom he was having an affair.

As evidence mounts against the defendant in the Littlefield trial, Bobby and Jimmy try to apply the infamous "Plan B", and accuse the victim's mother of the murder. Meanwhile, Ellenor goes into labor, with only a panicked Helen at her side.

Helen arrives at the scene of a carjacking gone terribly wrong, when the owner of the car is killed and her son is caught inside. She uses extremely questionable trickery to get a confession out of the suspect, which Jimmy tries to get thrown out.

Lindsay represents an illegal alien, who the police is threatening to deport, unless he testifies against his brother in a murder trial. Helen is prosecuting a rapist, when his defense attorney goes after Lucy on the stand for her actions as a rape crisis counselor. Meanwhile, Eugene once again gets mixed up with incompetent attorney Harland Bassett.

Jimmy and Eugene help all-time-loser attorney Harland Bassett in the trial of his life, as he represents a sick little girl against a drug company, whose drug caused her liver to fail.

Bobby and Ellenor defend a brutal drug dealer accused of murder in a case they have no chance of winning, when their client turns his attention to Richard, who is prosecuting the case. Fearing for his life, Richard is determined not to be scared away, and to win the trial at all costs.

Grief-stricken by Richard's murder, an enraged Helen seeks vengeance on his killers. As Bobby tries to deal with the guilt over his part in Richard's death, Rebecca and Jimmy grasp at representing a seemingly innocent man accused of killing his wife - until shocking new evidence come to light.