Guardian, The

Growing up as the son of prominent Pittsburgh corporate lawyer Burton Fallin (Dabney Coleman) hasn't shielded Nick Fallin (Simon Baker) from having to pay the price for his own brushes with the law. Sentenced to community service as the result of a drug conviction, Nick joins forces with social worker Laurie Solt (Kathleen Chalfant, Kinsey) to represent abused, neglected, and at-risk kids in court. Reluctantly, he's now The Guardian, a part-time child advocate at Legal Aid Services, where one case after another is an eye-opening instance of kids caught up in difficult circumstances. Being forced to careen between representing fragile young charges and powerful corporate clients eventually reawakens Nick's long-dormant conscience to the realities of life.