JAG follows the trials and tribulations of a group of military lawyers assigned to the Judge Advocate General's Corps as they defend naval, and when appropriate, other Armed Forces personnel stationed around the globe.

JAG's lead lawyer is Lt. Harmon "Harm" Rabb, an ex-Navy fighter pilot who turns to the law after he loses his career as an aviator due to a night-blindness condition (later cured).

His legal partner is Marine Major Sarah "Mac" MacKenzie, a beautiful, by-the-book officer with an previous alcohol abuse problem (whom Harm finally marries after a ten year relationship).

Both Harm and Mac report to Rear Admiral A.J. Chegwidden (later replaced by Marine Major General Gordon Cresswell).

Other JAG personnel include Cmdr. Sturgis Turner, a rival JAG lawyer whom Harm's knows from the Naval Academy;  junior lawyer Lt. Cmdr. Bud Roberts (who loses his leg to a Mideast landmine), Bud's wife, Lt. Harriet Simms, PO1 Jason Tiner; and P.O. Jennifer Coates, the Admiral's outspoken assistant.

Opening Narration

"Following in his father's footsteps as a naval aviator, Lieutenant Commander Harmon Rabb, Jr. suffered a crash while landing his Tomcat on a storm tossed carrier at sea. Diagnosed with night-blindness, Harm transferred to the Navy's Judge Advocate General Corps which investigates, defends and prosecutes the law of the sea. There, with fellow JAG lawyer Major Sarah McKenzie, he now fights in and out of the courtroom with the same daring and tenacity that made him a Top Gun in the air."