As the 8th season begins, nothing in the firm is as we remember. Bobby, Linsay, Rebecca and Lucy are all gone, leaving Ellenor, Eugene and Jimmy at the helm. Ellenor also hires an old friend, attorney Alan Shore, recently fired from his firm for embezzlement. Jimmy and and Eugene defend a woman who killed a drug dealer in her neighborhood in cold blood, desperate to stop him from selling drugs to children. Ellenor and Jaimie defend a man accused of killing his wife and unborn child, but begin to suspect he is actually protecting the real killer.
After a policeman is shot to death, Jamie and Tara arrive at the hospital where the suspect is being treated, and are shocked to find the police torturing him for information. But the real shock is when they discover no one seems to have the authority or the willingness to put a stop to it.
Jimmy and Jamie defend an elderly man, retired dock worker Walter Josephson, who is accused of killing a member of the local Irish mob, and Alan Shore agrees to help his friend Dwight Haber - by any means necessary - who discovers his lawyer wife Eve is cheating on him.
Alan returns to his childhood home of Dedham, Mass. to defend a childhood friend; Paul Stewart who is wanted for the brutal murder of the town party girl. Alan tries to come to terms with secrets of his Dedham past, and learns that when it comes to going home, nothing ever changes; nothing stays the same.