Being described as "ruthless", "master manipulator" and "brilliant", Patty is a high-stakes litigator managing her own law firm called Hewes & Associates.
Conceived as a "woman who commands power and influence in a male-dominated world" the character and its portrayal by Close has garnered significant praise.
Patty's behavior towards her opponents (most notably Arthur Frobisher), clients and her estranged relations with her son Michael are recurring storylines that are frequently explored.
One example is Tim Goodman of the San Francisco Chronicle who wrote that "it's Close who makes Damages a series to contend with" and called her "compelling".
She also remarried, to a successful stock broker, Phil Grey (Michael Nouri), who helped her raise her son as his own and constantly supported her in her work.
Patty grabs the opportunity and hires Ellen, and a complex game of cat and mouse begins as she starts incriminating Frobisher.
Uncle Pete (who arranged the hit on Ellen) is arrested and attempts suicide while in custody, in order to avoid being forced to implicate Patty.
Some time later, Ellen starts making a name for herself and decides to take down High Star, a defense contractor, and its owner, Howard Erickson (John Goodman).
Judging from Patty's still having an office in New York, she did not become an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court as she once considered, but continued her practice.
The creators of Damages pitched the project to The FX channel, lured by the network's pedigree of having complex, "antisocial" and "twisted" protagonists in their shows.
[7] They envisioned a relationship between a mentor and a protégée as the core of the series' concept, with an emphasis on the "female power" in today's modern and dynamic world.
Like the morally ambiguous character of Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis) on The Shield, the producers conceived Patty as non-evil but a strong and powerful person.
She was aware that many people felt television was very beneath a five-time Academy Award nominee, but responded: "[If] It's good writing, what difference does it make where it is?".
After a three-hour meeting with the creators, Close accepted the role, impressed particularly by the powerful persona of the character "as the head of her own law firm ... in a male-dominated world.
"[8] In preparation for the role, Close met with several female attorneys in New York, including Mary Jo White, Lorna Scofield and Patricia Hynes.
David Hinckley of the New York Daily News has called the character "the new J.R. Ewing – someone who's rich, powerful, unscrupulous, conniving and charismatic.
One such critic was Tim Goodman of the San Francisco Chronicle who wrote that "it's Close who makes Damages a series to contend with".
Heather Havrileskey of Salon.com has named Patty part of FX's myriad of "psychopaths", "histrionics", "schizophrenics" and "tyrants", but referred to her in particular as "a perennial wacko".