Matt Damon stars as a precocious trainee lawyer in this Francis Ford Coppola adaptation of John Grisham's novel. Entering into a shady law practice, Rudy Baylor (Damon) is given the benefit of his boss' (Mickey Rourke) experience only on the condition that he brings his own business to the firm. One such case involves Baylor suing an insurance company that refuses to pay the medical bills of a young boy who is critically ill. Facing a highly experienced legal team (led by Jon Voight), Baylor's task is made even harder by his boss' arrest, which leaves him with just one ally: a fellow employee in his firm, the feisty 'paralawyer' Deck Shifflet (Danny DeVito).