Defence lawyer Mickey Haller works out of his Lincoln Town Car, travelling between the far-flung courthouses of Los Angeles to defend clients of every kind: bikers, con artists, drunk drivers, drug dealers. For him, the law is rarely about guilt or innocence, it's about negotiation and manipulation.

When a Beverly Hills playboy is arrested for brutally beating a woman, Mickey has his first high-paying client in years-a defence lawyer's dream-and it's looking like the easiest case of his career.

But when murder is committed and manipulation threatens to bury the truth, justice depends on whether Haller is willing to risk everything.