Disbarred (1939)

The Bar Association disbars attorney Tyler Cradon when it appears that he was implicated in the murder of a prominent vice crusader. Cradon, not wishing to be without an income and impressed by the way Joan Carroll handled a small-town murder, poses as a real-estate agent and offers to get her into his friend's law firm. Placed in Roberts' office, running a front for Cradon, Joan is taught every trick of the trade. With her cases all prepared for her, she goes from one courtroom victory to another, soon becoming the darling of the underworld and the despair of all law-enforcing authorities. Her performances impress young assistant district attorney Bradley Kent, and romance buds despite Kent criticizing her connections. But when Roberts asks her to defend a notorious racketeer who has murdered a policeman, she realizes that Kent was right and immediately joins the district attorney's office as a deputy. Learning that the authorities are on Roberts' trail, she goes to see Cradon, whom she still believes to be a hard-working, honest real-estate agent, to warn him about the kind of company he is keeping.