For defence attorney Mickey Haller, the clock is always ticking. Operating out of the back of a Lincoln car, and with two ex-wives and dozens of guilty clients, he can't afford to miss a trick. When a Beverly Hills rich boy is arrested for brutally beating a woman, Haller has his first high-paying - and seemingly innocent - client in years. But then the case starts to fall apart, and the suspect isn't quite who he seems - and Haller quickly discovers that when you swim with the sharks, it's easy to wind up as prey.