Joachim Reißnagel, a diligent but somewhat clumsy office manager, worries about his employer, the lawyer Dr. Fritz Barke. Out of love for young Ulli von Waldhoven, Barke has been secretly supporting her impoverished aristocratic family. As this causes Barke to fall into financial distress himself, Reißnagel feels compelled to help his boss—but in doing so, he only triggers further turbulent complications.