故事讲述洛杉矶刑事辩护律师米奇·豪勒（马修·麦康纳 Matthew McConaughey 饰），绰号“林肯律师”，经手的都是些处于社会底层的客户。他善恶分明、正直守信，并非贪财小人。然而这一次，豪勒的辩护对像是年轻富有的房地产开发商路易斯-罗莱特（瑞恩·菲利普 Rya n Phillippe 饰）。罗莱特受到的指控是殴打并企图强奸应招女郎瑞琪（玛格丽塔-莱维瓦 Margarita Levieva 饰），但罗莱特声称自己是无辜的，有人栽赃陷害他。罗莱特的母亲愿意不惜重金证明自己心爱儿子的清白。为了解案情的细节，豪勒及其私人调查员对此案进行了调查。他们最初获得的证据证明罗莱特似乎确实无辜，这个案子能够轻而易举地打赢，豪勒也能够轻松地获得一笔高额的律师费。然而，一个偶然的机会使豪勒发现，此案与他曾经接手的另一桩强奸杀人案有诸多相似之处……

In Seattle, detective Quentin Conners is unfairly suspended and his partner Jason York leaves the police force after a tragic shooting on Pearl Street Bridge, when the hostage and the criminal die. During a bank heist with a hostage situation, Conners is assigned in charge of the operation with the rookie Shane Dekker as his partner. The thieves, lead by Lorenz, apparently do not steal a penny from the bank. While chasing the gangsters, the police team disclose that they planted a virus in the system, stealing one billion dollars from the different accounts, using the principle of the Chaos Theory. Further, they find that Lorenz is killing his accomplices.