“Sparring Partners” is set at the law firm of Malloy & Malloy in St. Louis, Missouri. The firm is run by brothers Rusty and Kirk Malloy, and was established by their father, Bolton Malloy. Rusty and Kirk—who do not get along and differ in practically every way—have run the firm for the past five years, while their father serves a 10-year prison sentence for killing their mother. Because Rusty and Kirk prefer not to speak to each other, the firm is literally divided in two: Rusty and his partners handle litigation and settlements on the left side of the building, while Kirk and his partners handle estate and tax law on the right side. The brothers are unable to separate and start their own firms because they signed 15-year contracts with their father before his imprisonment. The firm’s unofficial third partner is Diantha Bradshaw, who acts as an intermediary between the brothers.

At 8 o’clock on a Tuesday morning, Rusty is on his side of the office preparing his staff for court. The opposing firm called him the previous night to offer their client a settlement deal of $1 million. However, Rusty rejected the deal for financial reasons: They need their client to be awarded much more than $1 million in order to recoup costs.