Jim Curtayne, formerly a successful defense attorney who is now a recovering alcoholic, attempts a comeback when he defends a neighbor's son facing a homicide charge.

Jim Curtayne, formerly a successful criminal defense attorney and currently a recovering alcoholic, has turned to civil law because of his problems with the bottle, daughter Ginny delays marrying in order to keep her dad on the straight and narrow, but when the son of neighborhood friends is accused of murder, he is lured into returning to criminal law. Complications arise as the initially overconfident Curtayne experiences lapses in memory and judgment as well as an uncooperative client. He finds himself well over his head as he tries to reclaim his self-confidence and professional standing.—[email protected]

New York City lawyer James Curtayne has switched his specialty from criminal to civil law to save himself. He was finding at his advancing age that he could no longer withstand the constant pressure associated with his God complex of needing to save his criminally accused clients, he in the process having turned to excessive alcohol consumption. His daughter, Ginny Curtayne, feels that with her father back on his feet both professionally and thus personally in this change, she can now leave the nest to marry her longtime boyfriend, Jeff Chapman. Things change when the working class O'Haras, who Jim has known for a long time from the old neighborhood, ask him to represent their young adult son, Johnny O'Hara, who has just been picked up for the suspected murder of his boss, fish market owner William Sheffield, Johnny who looks to be imminently charged, the O'Haras, due to other recent necessary financial outlays, not having the funds to retain another lawyer. Johnny is well known to the police largely from petty childhood crimes, he being charged due to a mountain of circumstantial evidence including the statement of a known criminal, Frankie Korvac. In taking the case, Jim will face the unknown quantity that is the DA, Louis Barra, who was not in the office when Jim was previously practicing criminal law. In knowing Johnny, Jim is certain he did not commit the murder, even more so the further he gets into his own investigation despite knowing that Johnny is not being totally forthright with him for whatever reason. The question then becomes whether Jim can hold it all together to get to the truth in court, and if he starts to crack under the pressure how far he is willing to go for Johnny and for himself.—Huggo