Istanbul, 1970s. MAHIR - eldest son of the Kara family - on the happiest day of his life. The family are celebrating the couple and there is much goodwill and love for the young people. The Kara family is highly respected in the working class area where they live and Mahir's father NAZIF is looked upon as 'Karadayi' - the benign godfather of the area, who people turn to for advice and help in time of need. So they are surprised to be visited by the police in the middle of the celebrations. The police want Mahir to go with them and speak with the Attorney General on an urgent matter. Nazif does not want his son to have to leave his celebration, so he agrees to go instead to see what the problem is. But when he gets to the office, Nazif finds the Attorney General stabbed to death on the floor. Shocked, he tries to take the knife and see if the man can be saved, but he is dead. And Nazif is found holding the murder weapon. With only this circumstantial evidence against him, he finds himself facing the death penalty. The family is appalled. Even more so when they realize who the judge will be - FERIDE - an ambitious lawyer, dedicated to the rules, logical and apparently heartless. For Feride, there is a small question about motive, but the evidence overwhelmingly points to the guilt of Nazif Kara. She is supported in reaching this conclusion by her colleague, the prosecutor TURGUT, who a deeply corrupt man with his own reasons for wanting to quickly secure a conviction and lay the case to rest. Mahir sees that he cannot expect true justice from the courts and after much thinking decides on a risky course of action. With the help of acourthouse employee who is a friend of the family and does not believe Nazif to be capable of the crime, Mahir creates a new identity for himself and enters the world of the courts as 'Salih Ipek', a lawyer-in-training who has been assigned to intern with Judge Feride. But something else has happened as well. Feride and Mahir fell in love.