Prosecutor Adam Bonner (Spencer Tracy) is assigned the case against a woman (Judy Holliday) who tried to scare her adulterous husband (Tom Ewell) and his lover (Jean Hagen) by shooting at them repeatedly, hitting him in the shoulder. Bonner's wife, Amanda (Katharine Hepburn), also a lawyer, decides to defend the woman in court. As the two use every technique they know to win the case, the courtroom tension carries over into the couple's household.