Burden of Truth

When it’s suspected that her big-pharma client’s vaccine has caused a mysterious illness affecting a handful of teenaged girls, high-powered attorney, Joanna Hanley, returns to her hometown of Millwood to quickly and quietly settle the case.

A fish out of water in a town that’s as foreign as it is familiar, Joanna must reckon with questions over her family’s hasty departure when she was a teenager, while attempting to convince the locals that she has in fact switched sides.

Relying on her esteemed reputation as a partner at CTS, Joanna convinces a hydrologist to come to Millwood to test the soil.

Convinced that the local steel mill and its owner, Ben Matheson, are responsible for the barrels Joanna and Billy go after him but don’t have enough to make the allegation stick.

Anger over the claim against the mill pits the sick girls and their families against employees of the mill who worry that their jobs are on the line.

As threats against Joanna and Billy escalate, Joanna digs her heels in on the case. Relying on the expert testimony of a respected neuropsychologist, Joanna expects he’ll prove once and for all that the girls have been poisoned.

Stuck in Millwood without a case and no longer having a firm to return home to, Joanna is at loose ends on what to do next. While she toys with the idea of taking an offer at another firm, Billy works to get their case reinstated without much success.

Following some new leads, Joanna and Billy make the horrific discovery of a massive dumpsite on farmland near the school. They finally have enough evidence to certify as a class but it won’t be an easy fight.

With Joanna disqualified and the clock running out on Billy who’ll have to face Joanna’s father alone, Joanna must think outside the box if they want to win this.

Using the law to her advantage, Joanna herself reinstated on a technicality and plays her trump card. When it isn’t enough to elicit a settlement offer, Joanna makes things personal.