Arthur Kirkland, Al Pacino, a Baltimore defense attorney, is in jail on a contempt-of-court charge after punching Judge Henry T. Fleming, Jack Warden, while arguing the case of Jeff McCullaugh. McCullaugh was stopped for a minor traffic offense, then mistaken for a killer of the same name, and has already spent a year and a half in jail without being convicted of a crime. Fleming refuses to consider his appeal due to its late submission, so he remains in prison. Kirkland begins a new case defending Ralph Agee, a young black cross-dresser arrested for a robbery who has a fetish for being misgendered and is terrified of being sent to a male prison.
Kirkland regularly visits his grandfather Sam Kirkland, Sam Levene in a nursing home. Sam is progressively becoming senile. It is revealed that Kirkland was abandoned by his parents at a young age, and it was Sam who raised him and put him through law school. Kirkland also begins a romance with Gail Packer, Christine Lahti.
Kirkland has a friendly relationship with Judge Francis Rayford, John Forsythe, who takes him on a hair-raising ride in his personal helicopter. Rayford laughs in amusement as he tests how far he can fly before running out of fuel. Kirkland is terrified and begs him to land. Rayford eventually crashes his helicopter in knee-deep water. Rayford, a Korean War veteran, is borderline suicidal; at all times, he keeps a rifle in his chambers at the courthouse and an M1911 pistol in his shoulder holster. He even eats his lunch on a ledge outside his office window, four stories up.
One day, Kirkland is unexpectedly requested to defend Judge Fleming, who has been accused of brutally assaulting and raping a young woman. Although the two loathe each other, Fleming feels that having the person who publicly hates him argue his innocence will be to his advantage. Fleming blackmails Kirkland with an old violation of attorney-client confidentiality, for which Kirkland will likely be disbarred if it were to come to light.
Kirkland's friend and partner Jay Porter, Jeffrey Tambor, is also unstable. He feels guilt for gaining acquittals for defendants who were truly guilty of violent crimes. Porter arrives drunk at Kirkland's apartment, after one of his guilty clients kills two kids following his acquittal. Porter soon shaves his head, claiming that it will make his hair grow back thicker, but he keeps shaving it. After a violent breakdown inside the courthouse—wherein he ends up throwing dinner plates at everybody in the hallway—Porter is taken to a hospital.
Before leaving in the ambulance, Kirkland asks another partner, Warren Fresnell, to handle Agee's court hearing in his absence. Kirkland gives Fresnell a corrected version of Agee's probation report and stresses that it must be shown to the judge, so that Agee will receive probation rather than serve jail time. Fresnell arrives at the courthouse late and forgets to give the judge the corrected version, causing Agee to be sentenced to jail time. Kirkland is livid and attacks Fresnell's car, revealing that thirty minutes after he was sentenced, Agee died by suicide. Meanwhile, McCullaugh, who has been sexually and physically assaulted by other inmates, finally snaps and takes two hostages. Kirkland pleads with him to surrender, promising to get him out, but a police sniper shoots and kills McCullaugh when he moves in front of a window.
A clearly disturbed Kirkland takes on Judge Fleming's case. Prosecuting attorney Frank Bowers hopes to make his reputation by convicting a judge. Kirkland's client Carl Travers hopes to receive free legal services by offering photos of Judge Fleming engaged in bisexual BDSM with a prostitute. Gail reminds Kirkland of his professional obligations to defend the judge. Kirkland shows the pictures to Fleming, who admits that he is a rapist.
At the trial, Fleming jokes that he would like to see his victim again sometime. In his opening statement, Kirkland sarcastically muses about the legal system and Bowers's ambition. He surprises everyone by tearfully saying that Bowers will not convict Fleming because he will, and he proceeds to accuse his client of being guilty, referring to him as a "son of a bitch" and stating that he should "go right to fucking jail".
> "son of a bitch" and "go right to fucking jail."
Kirkland is dragged out of the courtroom, venting his rage the whole way, saying that the Judge hurts people. The spectators cheer for Kirkland, Fleming sits down in defeat, and a fed-up Rayford storms out.
As an exhausted Kirkland, knowing his actions will result in his disbarment, sits on the courthouse steps, Jay Porter passes on his way back to work, tipping his wig to Kirkland.
