In court for the sentencing phase of a capital murder trial, Amy must decide whether to stop the proceedings when one of the lawyers makes inappropriate remarks in the course of his closing argument. In a private dinner with Lauren, Stu reveals a hitherto hidden fear of children. Kyle feels awkward on meeting his new boss, who he discovers he already knows from an AA meeting.

Back in Hartford after a few days in Maui to collect herself, Amy is faced with returning a room full of wedding presents, dealing with friends and family who can't resist commenting on her train wreck of a life, and trying to reach an ex-fiance who refuses to speak with her; a reluctant Kyle, saddled with the job of firing one of the nurses, ends up being threatened with a lawsuit after bungling the job; realizing that her recent career change is a bad fit, Amy returns to juvenile court and presides over the case of feuding teenagers who have been spurred on by their mothers; Maxine is at a loss in dealing with a teenager who is angry about being removed from an abusive foster home; Donna inadvertently keeps interrupting Bruce's attempts to explain why he missed Amy's wedding.

Maxine confronts the D.C.F. commissioner over his budget cuts when she discovers that young girls in the foster care system are being moved from group homes into a locked psychiatric facility to save money that is evidently being redirected towards decoratating the commissioner's office; when Todd is about to be fired for bucking hospital protocol in an effort to save a young boy's hand, Kyle stands up for him despite their ongoing conflicts; after an Amish teenager becomes pregnant during rumspringa and decides to return to her community with her daughter, the child's father countersues for sole custody, and Amy must make the incredibly difficult choice between having the mother be shunned by her family and the father never seeing his child again; fearing that Maxine is spinning so out of control that his job is in jeopardy, Sean cuts back her hours and strongly urges her to see a therapist; concerned about the effect that peer pressure at her public school is having on Lauren, Amy go

Amy presides over the custody case of a young boy whose mother thinks he is being harmed by the Neanderthal on-air posturings of his shock-jock father; Maxine discovers that becoming a therapist in lieu of becoming a patient doesn't work out for anyone involved; Kyle mends his fences with Heather and helps her bring some solace to her dying father; Gillian begins to doubt her feelings for Peter as she strikes up a friendship with the father of one of Ned's playmates; Amy becomes flustered when David doesn't seem to be interested in a relationship, and makes a fool of herself in confronting him with a complete misinterpretation of his reasons.

Kyle disregards Maxine's advice at his own peril when he bends the rules for a new mother who wants to hold her newborn baby just once before she's returned to prison; when the tension and awkwardness between Amy and David as they keep bumping into each other in the court house becomes more than she can bear, Amy withdraws her consent to the breakup and they decide to reconcile; Matthew asks Gillian out on a date, and she nervously turns him down until she seeks out Donna for some single mother bonding and realizes what she really wants to do; Maxine asks Ignatio to family dinner, and is surprised when he shows up with a disapproving Isabel in tow; Kyle is wary when Todd offers a hand in friendship; Amy devises a creative way to allow a young mother to retain custody of her children as she struggles to earn a living hampered by idiotic provisions of the ""Welfare to Work"" program.

Amy fusses over Lauren's overnight school field trip to Philadelphia with Victor; Bruce is in for a shock when an old friend comes for a visit; Amy confronts David after Lolly Wetzel repeats Greenwich rumors that connect him with his wife's murder, and he finally tells her the horrifying details of Kelly's death; when Ignacio's pictures get mixed up with another family's at the photo lab, Maxine sets off to investigate if the pictures of a woman with a black eye indicate spousal abuse, and ends up learning more than she wants to about the woman's interests; Amy presides over the pre-trial hearing for a troubled teenager accused of killing her babysitter; against Todd's advice, Kyle takes time off to see if Heather is with her father in Boston, and is stunned when Mr. Labonte tells him that Heather has a troubled past with a history of telling lies, including that he had cancer; when Amy goes to David's office to accompany him on a visit to his therapist, she learns that he has left to

Amy is dismayed when the courthouse cleaning lady tries to fix her up with her son amid gossip about David's departure; Lauren pesters Amy to send her to rock star camp; political posturing makes life at D.C.F. more miserable than usual until Maxine comes up with an inspired solution to the problem and is able to reunite a mother with her sons; when Amy presides over a shoplifting case, she discovers that the case is rooted in the neglect of two children -- the plaintiff and the daughter of the plaintiff's famous defense attorney; David sends Amy a postcard from Houston; Kyle quits his job to reassess his future after he discovers that his father died never having pursued his true passion in life; Maxine has a little tiff with Ignacio over his qualms about Courtney's dating Sean because of their cultural differences, and Amy is surprised when Bruce agrees with Ignacio; Maxine grieves the loss of her brother, and is especially saddened when her sister-in-law asks that she not attend th