After graduating from Yale Law School, idealistic Kyle McAvoy intends to devote three years to public service before applying for employment with a prestigious firm. However, his plans are derailed when he is approached and questioned by two men claiming to be FBI agents, who then pass him on to a mysterious man named Bennie Wright. Bennie has a videotape of a party that took place in Kyle's apartment five years earlier, when he was an undergraduate student at Duquesne University. In it, two of Kyle's fraternity brothers, Joey Bernardo and Baxter Tate, are seen having sexual relations with Elaine Keenan, a young woman who later claimed she was raped while unconscious. At the time, police determined there had been no assault and declined to take further action. With the tape now in his possession, Bennie threatens to expose Kyle's secret unless he cooperates.

Bennie's plan is to have Kyle accept a position at New York-based Scully & Pershing, the world's largest law firm, which is representing Trylon Aeronautics in its case against Bartin Dynamics. The two defense contractors had joined forces to design the B-10 HyperSonic Bomber for the Pentagon, and when they won the contract over Lockheed, the competitor sought support from senators and lobbyists. Legal battles ensued, and Trylon and Bartin, each laying claim to ownership of the design, are now ready to battle in court. Kyle will be required to infiltrate Scully & Pershing's files and deliver to Bennie crucial information desired by the people he represents. Kyle's first instinct is to ignore Bennie's blackmail, but the thought of the shame his family would suffer if he were indicted for his role in the date rape, not to mention the negative impact on his future, leads him to agree to Bennie's demands.

Constantly watched while outdoors and living in an apartment he knows is bugged, Kyle slowly learns how to trick those who are trailing him. He seeks help from Joey, who has more to lose than Kyle does if the videotape is made public, and plots to outwit Bennie. Creating an interest in spy novels, he learns about all the different technical components and devices used in surveillance and learns about a store nearby specializing in gadgets and devices for this purpose. What he doesn't anticipate is the re-emergence of Elaine, who still maintains she was raped, and Baxter, who has completed a lengthy stint in rehab and, as part of his twelve-step program, wants to make amends to her. His confession will give Elaine the proof she needs to file charges, and with Kyle drawn into the spotlight, his position at Scully & Pershing will be jeopardized–a risk Bennie must eliminate by any means. Baxter is found shot dead, with Kyle certain that Bennie ordered it.

After working at Scully & Pershing's "boot camp" for some months, Kyle eventually gets drawn into the Trylon case and is granted access to the highly secure computer room where the case files are stored. Bennie and Nigel, a computer expert, force him to use a thumbdrive to download the files. But by this time, realizing that Bennie is nearly always one step ahead of him, Kyle tells the whole story to Roy Benedict, a criminal lawyer and former FBI operative. Roy still has good connections within the Bureau, and they set up an operation to catch Bennie while Roy transfers information that is not sensitive. However, it misfires; Bennie and his associates vanish and remain at large, although Kyle thinks he's working for some other branch of the government.

Kyle admits his actions to the firm's partners and agrees to leave their employ immediately, and not practice law in New York. He also voices his belief that one of the firm's partners has acted as a mole, passing information to Bennie. Refusing the FBI's offer of witness protection, Kyle goes home to his father, also a lawyer, who knows what has happened and has already signed a deal with Elaine and her lawyer. Kyle plans to become a partner in his father's law firm. Roy, himself a highly paid New York lawyer, is a bit surprised at Kyle's decision: "The Editor of the Yale Law Journal – practicing law on Main Street in York, Pennsylvania?" to which Kyle answers exuberantly: "I have never been more serious! Real clients. Real people. Real cases. Deer hunting on Saturdays, Steelers on Sundays. A real life.