1. Pilot

At the Pearson Hardman law firm in Manhattan, Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht) convinces his client Gerald (John Bedford Lloyd) to sign a deal by lying and telling Gerald that Pearson Hardman has already been paid. Meanwhile, Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams) is nearly caught taking the LSAT for someone else. Shortly after, his marijuana-dealing friend Trevor (Tom Lipinski) offers him a job: Trevor cannot meet a client and needs someone to deliver some drugs. Mike refuses the job.

In the morning, managing partner Jessica Pearson (Gina Torres) promotes Harvey to senior partner. To his annoyance, company policy requires he hire a Harvard Law School graduate as his associate attorney. His interviews are already set for tomorrow. Mike learns that he cannot afford to keep his grandmother (Rebecca Schull) in a private nursing home. To make the money, he agrees to make the drop for Trevor tomorrow. As Trevor leaves his drug supplier, he overhears that the drop might be a sting operation. The suppliers find Trevor eavesdropping and force him to stay overnight so that he can't warn Mike of the possible set up.

The next day, Harvey finds that none of the interviewees are promising. Mike discovers the set-up and runs into Harvey's interviews to escape the police. He is mistaken for a candidate. When he walks into the interview, the suitcase opens and the marijuana falls out. However, Harvey is impressed with Mike's quick thinking, eidetic memory, and encyclopedic knowledge of law. Mike also displays a drive to become a better lawyer than any Harvard graduate. Despite Mike's lack of a law degree, Harvey hires him. He instructs Mike to stop talking to Trevor and to get rid of the suitcase, which Mike hides in his apartment.

On Mike's first day, Harvey is demoted because Gerald discovered Harvey's lie and fired the firm. Jessica threatens to have him disbarred if he steps out of line again. Harvey immediately fires Mike, but rehires him when Mike threatens to tell the truth. Harvey then demands that Jessica return his senior partnership. If she does not, he will tell the ethics board that Jessica did not fulfill her duty to report misconduct. She returns his promotion on the condition that he personally handles a pro bono case. He reluctantly accepts, but he assigns it to Mike instead. In the suit, Nancy (Dagmara Dominczyk) claims her boss Charles Hunt sexually harassed her and then fired her under false pretenses. Eventually, Mike is able to convince former employee Joanna Webster (Kristen Bush) to testify.

One night, Mike finds that Trevor ransacked his apartment while looking for the suitcase. Mike takes the suitcase to work the next morning and locks it in his desk. Louis Litt (Rick Hoffman), Harvey's rival and the associates' supervisor, has Mike drug tested and reveals that he is suspicious of Mike's Harvard credentials. That afternoon, Joanna's deposition does not go well and she refuses to testify in court. Mike quits his job and tells Harvey that, on his first day, Louis fired Gary Lipski and threatened to fire Mike if he makes a mistake.

However, Harvey says quitting has nothing to do with Louis; Harvey knows Mike had the suitcase in his desk and accuses Mike of having "one foot out the door." Later, Harvey confronts Louis about Lipski. However, Lipski works in the mailroom and was never fired. With this revelation, Harvey realizes that Joanna never worked for Hunt. He convinces her to confess the truth.

Mike gives Trevor the suitcase, but as payback, he exposes Trevor's drug-dealing business to Trevor's girlfriend Jenny (Vanessa Ray). In the morning, Harvey is happy to hear that Mike no longer has the suitcase. At the hearing, Mike and Harvey threaten to charge Hunt with witness tampering unless he agrees to a settlement. As Harvey and Mike leave the courtroom, Harvey presents Mike with his next case.