Damages (season 1)

Patty hires Ellen despite Ellen's having missed the interview. Ellen is assigned to the Arthur Frobisher case. Frobisher offers a settlement of $100 million with the help of one of the foremen of the employees, Larry Popler (Victor Arnold). When the employees reveal that they had earlier decided to accept such an offer, Patty pretends to fire her second-in-command, Tom Shayes (Tate Donovan), for not having known about it. David proposes to Ellen. David's sister, Katie, reveals to Ellen that her upcoming restaurant is being financed by Frobisher. Ellen wonders if Patty hired her simply because of her relationship with Katie. Patty intimidates Katie, making her believe Frobisher is after her.

At Ellen's birthday party, Katie gifts her a pair of Statue of Liberty bookends. In the light of Katie's appearance as a potential witness, Patty asks her clients to reject the settlement for the moment. Patty asks Katie to give her a complete and accurate account of her time in Florida. Still intimidated by Frobisher's people, and upon Patty's advice, Katie signs a confidentiality agreement with Frobisher. Katie finally admits to Patty that she lied earlier, and confides she had one night stand with Gregory Malina while in Florida. Patty offers Ellen a new apartment.

When Patty and Ray Fiske are called by the judge about the Frobisher case, Patty is tasked to provide, by Friday, a brief documenting a substantial reason to continue with the litigation. Patty receives a hand grenade mailed to her office. Seeing this as possible death threat, Patty takes 24-hour protection. Patty has Tom investigate Gregory Malina. Patty's husband Phil (Michael Nouri) has an accident when he finds another hand grenade in his car. Ellen has to skip her engagement party when she is stuck delivering the brief to the judge. Patty's son Michael (Zachary Booth) tells his school counselor about Patty's dream (in which she is assassinated) as if it were his. Patty has him transferred to a reform academy when she discovers he planted the grenades.

Katie perjures herself during deposition after Gregory intentionally provides her with incorrect information. Patty, knowing all along that Katie was never a viable witness, lets this happen so that Frobisher will withdraw his settlement offer. Patty also discovers that Gregory owned shares of Frobisher's company in 2002, and sold them on the same day Frobisher sold his. David tries to fend off advances from Lila (Carmen Goodine), his patient's granddaughter. Tom explores alternative job opportunities.

Patty's clients, disappointed by Frobisher's withdrawal of his settlement and the discrediting of Katie as a witness, decide to fire Patty and hire Tom as their attorney. Using the clients as leverage, Tom finally succeeds in negotiating a partnership with Patty. Katie reveals that she has been in contact with Gregory Malina after their first encounter in Florida.

Ellen contacts Gregory and tries to make him cooperate with the Frobisher case. Gregory tells Ellen that Frobisher's Florida meeting was not with his broker. Frobisher plans to have his biography written in order to clean up his image, but ends up getting drunk and physically assaulting the writer. Lila asks for David's help at her home and steals his keys.

Patty's firm subpoena's Gregory Malina in the Frobisher case. Fiske's failed attempt to cancel the subpoena causes him to advise Gregory to leave the city, and Gregory flees, despite Patty's attempt to convince him to appear at the deposition. Tom and Ellen think Patty suspects that Tom tried to hire Ellen while he was planning to start his own law firm. Patty offers her son Michael emancipation papers when he refuses to come home from reform academy.

Patty confronts Larry Popler, one of the client representatives, after she discovers he is leaking information to Frobisher. Larry agrees to help Patty from thereon. Frobisher confirms to Larry that Gregory Malina is still alive. Tom and Ellen meet George Moore (Peter Riegert), an SEC official involved in Frobisher's investigation. Ellen tries to help her father with an accident case he was involved in.

George Moore provides Ellen with information about Frobisher's past criminal case in order to force Frobisher to settle the class action suit. Gregory visits Katie and explains why he provided her false information; he also makes a videotape confessing his relationship with Ray Fiske and Moore's involvement in Frobisher scandal. He is hit and killed by a car outside Katie's house, on Moore's instructions. Lila DiMeo harasses both David and Ellen.

After Frobisher quashes Patty's only lead against him ahead of the deposition, Ellen proposes to contact Moore again for further information, but Patty forbids her to do that. Ellen pursues Moore anyway and discovers that he hindered the SEC investigation. Patty fires Ellen for insubordination. Frobisher's wife files for divorce, and Patty uses this against him in the deposition.