Harry's Law Episode 2.13 After The Lovin'

Harry walks the halls of her old law firm with her client as she prepares to meet with rival attorney Sam Berman. "Your attorney used to be a valued member of our firm. It was a shame to see her go," Berman says before Harry corrects him. "They fired me." Harry represents Earl Connolly, the grieving husband of a woman who died from smoking, and Berman represents the cigarette company being sued. Berman offers a settlement of one $123,000. "For a dead wife?" Harry asks as she quickly rejects the offer. Berman warns Harry that she doesn't want to go to trial; the client's wife freely smoked cigarettes for 35 years, and the company will keep the lawsuit tied up in litigation for years before the case even sees trial. Harry's not afraid of the battle ahead and leaves with her client ready for the litigation war that awaits them.

"I think you should settle," Adam tells Harry as they sit in the firm's conference room. He believes the client's wife assumed the risk of smoking cigarettes and feels the jury will not rule in their favor. Harry is shocked Adam feels that way; a woman has died, and the company that is responsible should pay. Adam believes the case is more about Harry seeking revenge on her former firm then seeking justice for a dead wife. "You've pined for the day when you could get even and you look at this case as your chance," Adam tells her.

Tommy walks through the shoe store when he runs into his girlfriend Amanda. She is there to exchange the shoes he gave her for Valentine's Day and mentions she ran into another woman that coincidently has the same exact pair from the same exact man. Tommy looks over and finds his other girlfriend starring daggers at him. He was just caught giving the same gift to the two women he's dating at the same time. "There's a perfectly good explanation for this," Tommy stutters, "and if you give me a second... I'll come up with it." Later, Tommy quietly asks Oliver to represent him because his ex-girlfriend Amanda is suing for "sex under false pretenses." Oliver laughs at Tommy for being caught cheating, but agrees to help.

Cassie watches a video of her client Chloe's ex-husband who hauntingly sings a song to their daughter Shelby. "Do you see that? It's meant to scare me," Chloe says of the menacing look on her ex-husband's face. Chloe is seeking a court ordered protection against James, her ex-husband, but the court denies her request because there's no evidence of any physical abuse. "We don't punish people for singing to their kids," the judge tells Cassie as he finalizes the ruling. The next morning, Cassie rushes to Chloe's house after a threatening message is discovered on her bathroom mirror. Chloe believes James broke into the house in the middle of the night while she was sleeping in order to scare her, and it's definitely working.

Harry and Adam meet with Earl to update him on the case. Harry says that Berman is intent on dragging the case out, but there will be a trial set within the year. Adam suddenly interrupts Harry with a differing opinion. He believes it will be longer than a year before the case even thinks about heading to court. Earl asks for Adam's opinion on the settlement offer, to which Adam says he should accept the offer. Earl will be able to move on with his life if he accepts the offer rather than being tied up in litigation for the foreseeable future. "Don't underestimate the redemptive powers of getting even," Harry interrupts Adam as she fights for the continuation of the lawsuit. Earl decides to side with Harry; they'll continue with the lawsuit. As Earl leaves, Harry warns Adam, "If you ever undermine me in front of a client like that again, you'll be fired."

Harry and Adam impatiently wait in their office for Berman, who is uncharacteristically running late. Suddenly he arrives, blaming an unexpected emergency. "You have a nail in your head!" Harry gasps as she discovers the reason for his tardiness. Berman acknowledges the nail in his head, but wants to continue with the deposition because he doesn't want to give Harry an excuse to file a grievance. "As much as I dislike you," Harry tells Berman, "I would've cut you some slack on this one. You have a nail in your head!" She pleads with him to go to the hospital until he finally relents and leaves. The next day, Berman returns with a bandage on his head and a noticeable change in his demeanor; he seems friendlier than usual. "Nothing like a near brush with death to make one smell the roses," Berman says as he surprisingly offers a new settlement of $3.1 million. "I'm sorry I was such a bother," Berman tells a shocked Harry. As Berman walks away, Harry quickly tells Adam to get the settlement documents drafted before he comes to his senses.

Cassie shows the judge photos of the threatening message, hoping to gain the restraining order Chloe wants, but the ex-husband denies writing the threat. "Are you sure this wasn't staged?" James' attorney asks. Maybe Chloe wrote the message herself to throw suspicion onto James and to give cause for full custody of Shelby. The judge decides to have child services meet with both parents since he's unclear on which one to believe. In the court halls, Chloe confronts James and threatens to shoot him if he ever breaks into her house again. "Gee, that remark sounded like a real winner," James snidely says as he walks away with his attorney. On advice from Harry, Cassie interviews Shelby to see if she has an opinion about her father's recent behavior. Shelby believes her father has been acting strange because he misses her. She then admits to sometimes being afraid of her father, but that's because of the way her mother reacts when he's around.

"I believe strongly in monogamy," Amanda says in the deposition, and she feels Tommy lied to her about staying faithful in their relationship. Amanda reveals that Tommy told her that he was impotent and was looking for emotional intimacy instead of a sexual one. Oliver looks over to Tommy who gives him a passing shrug. Amanda coincidently met up with an old friend and surprisingly found out they were both dating Tommy and were told the exact same lies. They were even given the same nickname and gifts so he could buy in bulk and save money. "What was the nickname he gave you?" Oliver asks. "Spinach," Amanda replies, "because the effect I had on his Popeye."

Dr. Hardin tells Jerome that typically slaves would take the last name of their owners, and the county his relatives lived in had a known slave owner named Joseph Bougard. "It's sobering to think I may have found the man that owned my ancestors and that my family name actually came from him," Jerome says. Dr. Hardin and Jerome find the will of Joseph Bougard from 1841 that left his property and his slaves, Jerry and Eliza, to his wife at the time of his death. Now Jerome has proof that his ancestors were slaves and were treated like property instead of people. As they look in further records, Jerome finds a document that proves Abe was indeed born into slavery and was later sold at public auction in 1860 when he was 10 years old for $1,363. Jerome finds that Abe's parents also were sold but to different owners, meaning Abe was separated from his parents at such a young age.

Amanda questions Tommy about how many women he was intimate with while he was with her. "Three... four," he sheepishly answers. Tommy defends himself by telling Amanda that all guys want to get laid and do so by telling lies. It's just the way of the world. "You think this is an excuse for fundamental decency?" Amanda asks as she tears up from her heartbreak. "I'm alone; that's what I always am," Tommy tells her as he opens up about his three failed marriages and numerous broken relationships. Women leave him once they get to know him, so he's become accustomed to having one relationship beginning while the other one is ending. "I'm a novelty act," Tommy says as a way to explain his actions.

Adam confronts Harry about accepting the settlement offer from Berman. He feels they cannot accept the offer because he was obviously mentally infirm, but Harry disagrees. She is more then happy to accept the money. It doesn't matter to her why he had a change of heart; the only thing that matters is getting the best settlement for her client. Before Adam can argue further, Harry throws him off the case, telling him he's dangerously close to being fired for constantly going against her opinion. "Now get your ass out of my office so I can go back to work for my client," Harry sternly tells Adam. Later, Berman happily signs the settlement agreement and hands her the check. "I apologize for all the mishigas," Berman says as he kisses Harry on the cheek and walks out. "I'll get this deposited ASAP," Harry tells Earl. "Legal arguments are nice, but a nail gun is better." Earl graciously thanks Harry for all her effort as he walks out past Adam, who gives Harry a disappointing look.

Oliver tells Tommy that Amanda dropped the lawsuit against him, but Tommy seems less then pleased. Oliver then confides in Tommy, telling him that true love is real; he just needs to take the risk and put himself out there because rotating girls and hedging his bets is a recipe for loneliness. Tommy is standoffish to Oliver's advice as he turns his back to him and walks away. Later, a melancholy Amanda meets up with a sorrowful Tommy. "I so miss the impotent you," she tells Tommy as they both look at each other and the love that could've been.

"What the hell is this?" Harry asks as she enters the conference room to find everyone waiting for her. Adam called a firm-wide meeting to discuss the firm's mission statement. "Our mission is to make money," Harry quickly answers. "To make money ethically or anything goes?" Adam fires back. He tells everyone that they just preyed upon a man with a brain injury, and because of Harry's actions, everyone's career is in jeopardy. He tells Harry that when she cheats, she not only hurts herself, but she hurts others who respect her and what the firm is trying to represent. Later, Harry confronts Adam and admits he's right; a firm and the senior partner needs a moral core, and she will be back to her moral ways as soon as she cashes the $3 million check from her old firm.

Police surround Chloe's house as Cassie quickly runs inside. Chloe is in tears as Cassie finds James' body, shot to death by a rigged shotgun attached to the door. Chloe rigged the gun to go off if anyone opened the door at night and put a sign outside warning any intruder not to come in. James obviously walked past the warning and was killed because of it. Then Chloe tells Cassie that she didn't load the gun, she only set it up to scare James if he broke in. "If you didn't load it, then who did?" Cassie asks as they suddenly realize Shelby did. They walk upstairs and find Shelby eerily watching the video of her dad singing to her. They ask her if she's okay. "Yup, all good," Shelby coldly responds as the sound of her father's singing on the television echoes throughout the house.