Experienced judge Lena Kalbach works at the district court in Frankfurt, the capital of Hesse. She is a woman with moral principles - and when she sees them violated, she doesn't take her legal duties too seriously. For example, when the shrewd lawyer Teddy Klein succeeds in getting a client acquitted using shady methods. Outraged, Lena refuses to accept the verdict. As punishment, the rebellious judge is transferred from the district court to a local court. She is immediately transferred to her old hometown of Fulda in eastern Hesse, of all places. For Lena, this is a professional and social relegation, as she left her hometown 30 years ago "because of the cramped conditions". Her grown-up daughter Nike, who works as a public prosecutor at the local court, lives here with her husband Johannes and their two children Clara and Emanuel.
