Counsel for Crime

Plot

Following his graduation from law school, Senator Robert Maddox's (Hall) adopted son Paul (Montgomery) is offered a job at Bill Mellon's (Kruger) law firm. Mellon, an unscrupulous criminal lawyer, is actually Paul's real father, but he keeps the fact a secret from him. When Paul discovers Mellon's corruption, he quits and lands a job as assistant district attorney.

Soon after taking the position, Paul spearheads a state investigation into legal malpractice. This worries Mellon and prompts him to assign a criminal to implicate those investigating him in a scandal. When the criminal learns about Paul's birth, he is accidentally shot by Mellon in an effort to conceal the information. Paul successfully prosecutes his own father, who is convicted of second-degree murder because he refuses to discuss the content of the papers over which he and Mitchell were struggling, thus protecting Paul and his mother.