PHILADELPHIA - Summary plot

The book tells the story of Andrew Beckett, an easygoing homosexual senior associate at the largest corporate law firm in Philadelphia. Although he lives with his partner Miguel Alvarez , Beckett hides his homosexuality and his status as a person living with AIDS from the other members of the law firm.

On the day he is assigned the firm's newest and most important case, a partner in the firm notices a small lesion on Beckett's forehead. Although he attributes the lesion to a racquetball injury, it is actually due to Kaposi's Sarcoma, a form of cancer marked by multiple tumors on the lymph nodes and skin.

Shortly thereafter, Beckett stays home from work for several days to try to find a way to hide his lesions.

While at home, he finishes the paperwork for the case he has been assigned and then brings it to his office, leaving instructions for his assistants to file the paperwork on the following day, which marks the end of the statute of limitations for the case. Later that morning, he receives a frantic call asking for the paperwork, as the paper copy cannot be found and there are no copies on the computer's hard drive. However, the paperwork is finally discovered in an alternate location and is filed with the court at the last possible moment.

The following day, Beckett is dismissed by the firm's partners, who had previously referred to him as their "friend."
Beckett believes that someone hid his paperwork on purpose to give the firm an excuse to fire him, and that in fact he was fired because of his disease. He asks several attorneys to take his case, including personal injury lawyer Joe Miller , whom he had been involved with in a previous case.

Miller is homophobe and knows little about Beckett's disease. After declining to take the case, Miller immediately visits his doctor to find out if he could have contracted the disease through shaking Beckett's hand. The doctor explains the methods of AIDS infection.

Unable to find a lawyer willing to represent him, Beckett has to act as his own attorney. While researching a case at a law library, Miller sees Beckett at a nearby table. After a librarian announces that he has found a book on AIDS discrimination for Beckett, others in the library begin to first stare and then move away, and the librarian suggests Beckett retire to a private room. Disgusted by their behavior, Miller approaches Beckett, reviews the material he has gathered, and tells him that he will take the case.

Upon receiving a summons by Miller, the head of the firm worries about the damage the lawsuit could do to his business and reputation, although one associate unsuccessfully tries to convince them to settle out of court with Beckett.

As the case goes before the court, the partners of the firm take the stand, each committing perjury by claiming that Beckett was incompetent and that he had deliberately tried to hide his condition. The defense repeatedly suggests that Beckett had invited his illness through his homosexual acts and was therefore not a victim. In the course of testimony, it is revealed that the partner who had noticed Beckett's lesion had previously worked with a woman who had contracted AIDS after a blood transfusion and so should have recognized the lesion as relating to AIDS. According to that partner, the woman was an innocent victim, unlike Beckett, and further testified that he did not recognize Beckett's lesions.

To prove that the lesions would have been visible, Miller asks Beckett to unbutton his shirt while on the witness stand, revealing that his lesions were indeed visible and recognizable as such.
During cross-examination, Beckett is confronted with his inactions of concealing his illness, his supposed incompetence, and the origin of his contracting AIDS; the latter of which has gone unexplained to everyone, including Miguel, until this point. He admits that he was originally planning to tell his partners that he was gay, but he soon changed his mind after hearing them make off-colour homophobic jokes in the sauna of a health club.

When asked about the truth of how he got infected, he confirms that he engaged in anonymous sex with another man at a pornographic movie theatre. However, he and Miller gain an advantage when the one member of the firm who suggested settling out of court confesses he knew Beckett had AIDS but never said anything, and how he regrets his inaction.

Beckett eventually collapses in court shortly after finishing cross-examination. During his hospitalization, the jury votes in his favor, awarding him back pay, damages for pain and suffering, and punitive damages.

Miller visits the visibly failing Beckett in the hospital after the verdict and overcomes his fear enough to touch Beckett's face. After Beckett's family leaves the room, he tells Miguel that he is ready to die. Immediately afterwards Miller gets the word that Beckett has passed away. The ends with a reception at Beckett's home following the funeral, where many mourners, including the Millers, view home movies of Beckett as a healthy child.