Annalise Keating is a tough as nails Criminal Law Professor and when Wes Gibbins starts his first day at Middleton University, he has no clue what he's walking into. In her class, "How to Get Away with Murder," Annalise challenges her students to solve some of the most difficult criminal cases that her law firm takes on, and in the end, she selects a group of the smartest, most promising students to come work for her. The competition is on and the students will stop at nothing to make sure they get to the head of her class. While Annalise seems to have it all together, we soon learn that her clients' secrets aren't the only ones she's keeping. Meanwhile, in flash-forwards, we learn that the price of impressing Annalise might just be too much for some, when a group of four students, Wes, Connor Walsh, Michaela Pratt and Laurel Castillo get involved in their own murder mystery cover up.

Annalise helps Paula Murphy, a suburban soccer mom, get released from jail after she was arrested for a misdemeanor, but just as she's about to walk free, she's arrested again by the FBI in connection for felony murder. Annalise and her students are tasked with proving her innocence which will depend on the testimony from another suspect in the case. Meanwhile, the Middleton University president asks Annalise to represent Griffin O' Reilly, the star quarterback who has also been linked to Lila's disappearance but she's unable to make a decision until she knows that Sam wasn't involved in the case. In flash forwards, more clues are revealed and we discover someone else was also there besides the students during the night of the murder.