Lawyer and ladies' man Barret Steele at first refuses to defend Alice Ward, who killed Dace Whitlock when he tried to rape her. Then, Barret's long-estranged wife, Mary Ward, tells him that Alice is his own daughter, thereby changing the lawyer's mind about serving as her counsel. Afterward, Robert Darrow, whose wife Rose has been having an affair with Barret, comes to kill the attorney, but Barret, aware that he deserves punishment, convinces Robert to postpone the murder until after the trial. In court, to define Dace's character, Barret bares his own unsavory past, after which the jury acquits Alice. Barret then gives himself up to Robert, but instead of killing him, Robert tells him to go back to Mary and Alice, advice which Barret quickly follows.

Barret Steele, a great lawyer, has earned a reputation for doubtful morals. Women find him fascinating, while men fear and admire the keen brain that has never lost a case. He begins a flirtation with Mrs. Rose Darrow, a flighty society matron, whose husband, Bob Darrow, a square-jawed broker, has little time for her foolish amusements. Dace Whitlock, a clubman, and Steele are bosom friends. Steele visits Whitlock's office one morning, and remarks a sweet-faced girl at the secretary's desk. She is Miss Alice Ward, living with her mother, and has attracted Whitlock's attention. The girl appeals to Steele. He begs Whitlock to let her remain as she is, pure and sweet and undefiled. Whitlock derides him. That night the girl and Whitlock struggle in his office, she to protect her honor. He is killed, and the girl rushes to the street shrieking in horror, and is taken into custody. Steele is asked to defend Alice Ward, but refuses, as he has promised the district attorney to prosecute the murderess. Mrs. Ward starts for his office, and arriving there, finds Rose Darrow, who leaves when Steele discovers in Mrs. Ward his wife. She tells him that Alice Ward is his daughter. That night Steele, alone in his bachelor apartments, is visited by Rose Darrow, whose indiscretions have been discovered by her husband. Bob Darrow follows her and confronts Steele with a leveled revolver, saying, "Is there any reason why I should not kill you where you stand?" Calmly, Steele gazes straight into his eyes, and answers, "Yes. There is a girl in the Tombs accused of murder, and I am going to defend her. That girl is my daughter. Grant me the time for her defense and I will make any reparation that you demand of me." The day on which the Whitlock murder case is to go to the jury, the prosecution has spent two hours in violent denunciation of the shrinking girl. Then Steele makes his defense, and tells the jury of his wife, who left him eighteen years ago, and of his daughter, the defendant, and that men of Dace Whitlock's stamp deserve death, and that he knows, as to his everlasting shame and contrition, he has been one of them. An hour later Barret Steele concludes the most eloquent, the most convincing plea for a prisoner's life that the walls of the court room have ever heard. The jury returns with a verdict of not guilty. Steele's happiness is complete, but he suddenly realizes the debt he has to pay. He goes to Bob Darrow. Darrow, with stern eyes on Steele's face, says, "You owe your life to three people, myself, your wife and your child; they win." On the outside of the door Steele pauses. A wonderful light illumines his face and eyes, and raising his head, he breathes, "Home."—Moving Picture World synopsis