The Practice (1997)
A provocative legal drama focused on young associates at a bare-bones Boston firm and their scrappy boss, Bobby Donnell. The show's forte is its storylines about “people who walk a moral tightrope.”
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Episode 1 - Summary Judgments
Release Date: 2000-10-08Bobby doesn't want a client to testify to avoid introducing an incriminating videotape. Helen and Richard Bay may have coached a witness in the same trial. Ellenor and Lindsay represent a parent whose three children have all contracted learning disabilities.
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Episode 2 - Germ Warfare
Release Date: 2000-10-15Bobby struggles to overturn the guilty verdict in the Scott Wallace case. Bobby's refusal to allow Wallace to testify may be grounds for a new trial. Ellenor and Lindsay continue their attack against the EPA, but a hostile judge may thwart their efforts. Helen faces a crisis when doing the right thing over Richard's coercion of a witness may cost her a job.
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Episode 3 - Officers of the Court
Release Date: 2000-10-22Ellenor continues the Jamison case, challenging Judge Aldrich's decision to cut her client's award. Jimmy is upset when he learns that former client Jennifer Cole is pregnant and has been arrested for possession of cocaine. He conspires with the D.A. to install Jennifer in a rehab program. Bobby continues to work Scott Wallace's appeal. Helen faces alienation from her colleagues in the wake of her unpopular actions in the Wallace trial.
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Episode 4 - Appeal and Denial
Release Date: 2000-10-29Bobby takes the Scott Wallace case to appeals, hopefully proving that prosecution witness Kyle Barrett perjured himself. Helen faces Rebecca in the courtroom in an emotional case when an abused spouse claims that she was mistaken in identifying her husband as her attacker. Bobby and Lindsay announce that they're expecting a child but Lindsay suspects she may not be the only pregnant woman in the office.
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Episode 5 - We Hold These Truths...
Release Date: 2000-11-05Eugene defends a man accused of murder in a trial where the outcome hinges on the honesty of a police officer who's been living a lie. Jimmy confronts a judge whose propensity for giving moral lectures to defendants has made him a laughingstock. Bobby continues preparations for the Scott Wallace retrial. This time the case is in Judge Hiller's courtroom.
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Episode 6 - Show and Tell
Release Date: 2000-11-12The long-awaited Scott Wallace retrial.
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Episode 7 - Brothers' Keepers
Release Date: 2000-11-19Bobby defends a man on trial for allowing his wife to be murdered in an 'honor killing'; an ancient cultural ritual used to punish adulterous behavior. Eugene reluctantly aids incompetent attorney Harland Bassett yet again. Ellenor announces that she's pregnant, encountering some adversity.
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Episode 8 - Mr. Hinks Goes to Town
Release Date: 2000-11-26Lindsay defends a psychiatric patient who claims to be a serial killer. His psychiatrist claims he's only a disturbed individual looking for a little notoriety.
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Episode 9 - The Deal
Release Date: 2000-12-10Scott Wallace, William Hinks, and a high profile kidnapping case converge to make this one of the most explosive episode of The Practice thus far. First, Bobby is forced to choose between his responsibilities to his client and the life of a 7-year-old girl when his client knows the kidnapped girl's wherabouts but refuses to divulge her location unless he receives a cushy plea bargain. William Hinks, the acquitted serial killer, begins stalking Lindsay. Meanwhile, an increasingly agitated Scott Wallace is fired from his job and tries to convince his employer that he deserves to be rehired.
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Episode 10 - Friends and Ex-Lovers
Release Date: 2000-12-17Despite a restraining order, William Hinks continues to harass Lindsay, as more questions arise as to whether or not he's the real serial killer. Meanwhile, Bobby blames himself for Scott Wallace's latest offense.
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Episode 11 - An Early Frost
Release Date: 2001-01-07After Scott Wallace kills his friend, Jimmy becomes a witness for the prosecution. Bobby, meanwhile, is still defending Wallace. Lindsay is convinced that serial killer William Hinks has claimed another victim, and fears for her own life. To protect her, Bobby takes matters into his own hands
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Episode 12 - Payback
Release Date: 2001-01-14Bobby is arrested for conspiring to murder serial killer William Hinks. The entire firm, with Eugene at the helm, must now rally to defend him. Meanwhile, Rebecca discovers foul play in the wrongful death suit of a friend's husband.
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Episode 13 - The Thin Line
Release Date: 2001-02-04Tensions at the firm are at an all-time high when Bobby is tried for the murder of William Hinks. Bobby is acquitted, though there is little to celebrate when a mysterious cassette recorder is sent to the office. Lucy and Rebecca hear Hinks' voice on the recorder, just before it triggers an explosion.
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Episode 14 - The Day After (I)
Release Date: 2001-02-11Unconscious and in critical need of blood, Rebecca's fate is left to a higher power when her mother refuses to allow a transfusion because of the family's religious beliefs. Bobby is awestruck when Lindsay gives birth to their son a month early. The crossover continues on Boston Public S01E13 Chapter Thirteen (II).
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Episode 15 - Awakenings
Release Date: 2001-02-18Ellenor's chosen "sperm donor," Michael Hale (Ted McGinley), has second thoughts about the agreement over the rearing of her soon-to-be-born child. Meanwhile, Rebecca emerges from the I.C.U. and gets lost in the hospital. Additionally, Helen prepares to prosecute the rape of an eleven-year-old girl.
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Episode 16 - Gideon's Crossover
Release Date: 2001-03-11Helen prosecutes an accused rapist, while doing her best to keep the 11-year-old victim off the witness stand. Meanwhile, Ellenor has complications with her pregnancy and is treated by Dr. Ben Gideon (Gideon's Crossing).
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Episode 17 - What Child is This?
Release Date: 2001-03-18Bobby and Jimmy employ the firm's notorious "Plan B" strategy in a last-ditch effort to save a client accused of raping and murdering his teen-aged stepdaughter. Bobby makes a case that the client's wife is actually the murderer, and the accused client is declared not guilty. Meanwhile, Ellenor goes into labor with only a panicky Helen Gamble there to assist her.
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Episode 18 - The Confession
Release Date: 2001-04-01Helen Gamble uses trickery to coerce a confession from an alleged carjacker represented by Jimmy Berluti. While Gamble feels that her means were legal and necessary to get a dangerous man off the streets, Berluti and Eugene disagree and ask a federal judge to rule the confession inadmissible, a decision that would set the carjacker free.
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Episode 19 - Home of the Brave
Release Date: 2001-04-22Lindsay presses Richard Bay to explain a questionable arrest of her client, who is an illegal alien. She ultimately discovers that the police planted drugs on her client, in order to force him to testify in a murder trial. The client refuses to testify, as the murderer is his own brother, and allows himself to be deported to Colombia. Meanwhile, Lucy's actions as a rape counselor are called into question during a date rape trial.
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Episode 20 - The Case of Harland Bassett
Release Date: 2001-04-29Eugene and Jimmy agree to help the mistake-prone Harland Bassett (Ernie Sabella) in the case of a young girl who developed liver damage from an antibiotic. With the odds stacked against them, the trio take on a politically-tied, deep-pocketed drug manufacturer.
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Episode 21 - Poor Richard's Almanac
Release Date: 2001-05-06Richard Bay prosecutes a murderer being defended by Bobby. The killer warns Richard that if that jury returns with a guilty verdict, Richard should fear for his life.
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Episode 22 - Public Servants
Release Date: 2001-05-13Helen is enraged by Richard Bay's execution and determined to punish Jackie Cahill and all other responsible parties. She makes a deal with Cahill, offering him immunity on Bay's murder plus the added bonus that she won't announce that he's a snitch and release him into the general prison population if he gives up the shooter. He agrees. After the shooter has been killed by police, Helen reneges on the deal, claiming Jackie hasn't fulfilled the terms of the agreement. Jackie's lawyer protests and drags Helen into court. Meanwhile, Rebecca and Jimmy defend a man on charges that he strangled his wife. Rebecca is adamant about the man's innocence, arguing that the only reason he's being prosecuted is because he was stunned by his wife's death and gave the investigating officer erroneous information. Rebecca and Jimmy are shocked to later learn that their client has a history of strangling both women and chickens.