He deals mostly in small civil cases, but Jay is far from the stereotypical wealthy, flashy lawyer. He also struggles with his past. His father was killed before Jay was born, a victim of racial violence. Jay was active in the civil rights movement in the late 1960s, and in 1970 he was arrested and served time in jail before being acquitted. One night, Jay and his wife Bernie are out on a boat — a special treat for Bernie’s birthday — and they rescue a woman from the water. A few days later, Jay learns the woman was likely involved in a crime. As a black man with an arrest record, Jay is rightly afraid of becoming involved, and decides not to contact the police to share what he knows.