Alicia is bored at home with nothing to do when she stumbles upon an old client, Brett Tatro in need of her help. Alicia got him off on attempted murder charges six years ago but the man he was accused of beating has since died and now he’s being charged with his murder. Alicia is reluctant to take on the case, citing a crisis of confidence and tries to pawn it off on Finn. He convinces her to stop thinking about herself and take the case. 

Alicia listens to all of the old tapes from the case. It was the first case she and Cary partnered on when they were both competing for the one open spot at Stern, Lockhart, Gardner and they were competitive. Back then, Cary was more willing to bend the rules than Alicia. Now, Alicia realizes her actions are more like Cary’s. 

Alicia is confident in her case since she won the first time, until the prosecution lets her know there is a hole in the old case. They offer her a deal but she turns it down. Then the prosecution produces someone who can dispute Brett’s alibi with Lexi, a stripper who has since died. Alicia disputes the new witness thanks to evidence from Cary that she never even looked at back then. 

The prosecution brings up another witness, who identified Brett in the parking lot. He says a Detective Hardy showed him a photo array but it his testimony was never entered into evidence in the case. Finn tells Alicia that there was an Internal Affairs investigation into Hardy for tampering with photo lineups but they didn’t have enough evidence to prove wrongdoing. When Alicia brings that up in court, the judge insists she tells him who told her that. In order to protect Finn, she blames it on Kalinda. The judge dismisses the charges against Brett.

Alicia decides to start her own firm out of her home and only take cases she really believes in.