The Rainmaker by John Grisham Learn English through story level 5

chapter one

the black case

it’s no secret that there are too many

lawyers here in memphis

next month when we graduate from law

school

many graduates won’t have jobs to go to

some of those who do have jobs will be

doing boring work for very little money

the lucky ones who have been accepted by

big private firms

will work 70 hours a week but will make

real money

i am one of the lucky ones

i have a job in a small respectable firm

called broadnax and spear

and i’ll be making more money than i can

spend

at least that’s what i thought until a

few minutes ago

i just heard that broad necks and spear

has been bought by tinley britt one of

the big old firms

i called but no one would tell me

anything

i’m driving my old toyota as calmly as i

can and wondering whether i still have a

job

i walk into the building

richard spain a really nice guy who took

me to lunch the first time i visited

here is sitting by the elevators looking

at the floor

richard

it’s me rudy baylor

richard doesn’t move

i sit down next to him

what’s the matter richard i ask

they fired me

they fired all of us

tinley britt just wanted our clients

you’re fired too rudy

do you realize you lost your first job

before you even started

i take the elevator to the fourth floor

and who are you

ask the uniformed guard at the desk

rudy baylor

here this is for you

read it and leave

it is one paragraph

i have no job

i have no money

i do however have a case

and it may be a very good one

one of my classes this year is legal

problems of the elderly

to get experience we visit a club for

elderly people and give them free legal

advice

we went today

it seems like weeks have passed since

stop black came up to me with the papers

but it was only this morning

she and her husband are younger than the

others

buddy and me

we don’t have much money she says

quietly embarrassed

and

we need a lawyer

she adds

what’s the problem i ask

we’re being cheated by an insurance

company

we started a medical policy five years

ago when our two sons were 17.

we’ve never missed a payment

my boy donnie ray got leukemia eight

months ago

now he’s dying because great benefit

won’t pay for a bone marrow transplant

a transplant

i say confused

my boys are identical twins

bone marrow from donnie ray’s brother

ron is a perfect match for donnie ray’s

the doctor said so

the transplant costs about 150 000

their insurance company is supposed to

pay it it says so in the policy

so donnie ray is dying because of them

dot pushes a pile of papers across the

desk

i look quickly through the papers the

policy and letters to and from great

benefit

are you sure bone marrow transplants are

covered in the policy i ask

hell yes

our doctor said they should pay because

bone marrow transplants are routine

treatment now

i look at the next letter

at first it looks like all the others

quick and nasty

dear mrs black

on seven previous occasions this company

has denied your claim in writing

we now deny it for the eighth and final

time

you must be stupid stupid stupid

it was signed by the head of the claims

department

i can’t believe it

i’ll have to study these i say

can you send me his medical records

sure

but please hurry rudy

my boy is dying

i go home and read everything doc gave

me

i read the stupid letter again

it is shocking and mean and written by

someone who never thought the blacks

would show it to a lawyer

i study the records

the blacks paid 18 a week for five years

i keep thinking about max luberg who

taught insurance law last fall

i’m not a real lawyer

but this is a real case

and i need help

i find blueberg’s office in the law

school

it’s filled with books and newspapers

and files it’s a mess

come in he shouts

he’s a thin short man 60 with wild hair

and hands that are always moving

he wears jeans and a t-shirt

baker what can i do for you baylor rudy

baylor i say

then i tell him about the blacks fight

with great benefit

he listens to every word

have you ever heard of great benefit

yeah it’s a big company that sells a lot

of cheap insurance

very unpleasant

let me see the policy

what are their reasons for refusing to

pay

first they just refused then they said

leukemia wasn’t covered

then that donny ray had leukemia before

they bought the policy

then that he was an adult and wasn’t

covered by his parents policy

were all the premiums paid

mrs black says they were i answer

the bastards

says max smiling

max loves this kind of fight poor people

against big powerful companies and you

checked the whole file

yeah i read everything the client gave

me i say

i give him the stupid letter he reads it

twice

unbelievable he says

i’ll read it all tonight

no problem i say

can i come back tomorrow

sure anytime

i’ll meet him listen to his advice and

then type up a two-page report for the

blacks

all through law school i’ve worked

nights at yogi’s bar

it’s a student place owned by prince

thomas

prince is a big man with thick arms and

long hair

he likes to sit at a table near the big

screen tv watch the ball games talk to

pretty girls and drink

people say that not all prince’s

business activities are exactly legal

but

i don’t care

he’s been good to me

for 20 hours a week i make five dollars

an hour

every day students come in looking for

work

so i feel lucky to have the job

it’s okay to be a waiter while you’re a

student

but it won’t be okay when i graduate

i have to find a real job

first i try the law school employment

office madeline skinner

she’s very good at what she does

she knows the right people in the right

firms because she helped them get their

jobs when they left college

hello rudy

hi

i say smiley

rough day huh she knows

broadnax and spear wanted to keep you

but the new firm refused she says

so

what’s left

i ask

not much she says quickly

in fact nothing

what should i do

start knocking on doors there are 3 000

lawyers in this city mostly people

working alone or in small firms offer to

do the work they don’t want

how many times have you given this

advice lately

we have 15 graduates looking for work

thanks mrs skinner

i’ll keep looking

check with me next week

i go to the library

booker kane is waiting to study for the

bar with me

booker is black and my best friend

he and his wife charlene have invited me

to dinner twice a month for three years

booker

i’ve lost the job at broad necks and

spear

he looks shocked

so what are you going to do

find another job

study i tell them about the black case

max blueberg is reading the stuff

tonight

chapter 2

job hunting

when i get to max luberg’s office he

smiles

i read the whole file last night

this kind of behavior is typical of

these companies

they sell to the uneducated and when

claims are made the companies refuse to

pay

don’t they get sued

not often

their clients are the kind of people who

are afraid of lawyers

and the legal system

what happens when they do get sued i ask

generally

not much

there have been some large settlements

around the country

but donnie ray is dying because he can’t

get the transplant he’s supposed to get

under the policy right

yes

if his parents have told you everything

it’s a good case

not a great one

this is tennessee where there are rarely

large settlements

especially in memphis

so

what do i do

i ask

sue the bastards

i don’t have a license

not you

send the family to an experienced lawyer

make a few phone calls for them

do what you can

thanks

i say

the black home is a small brick house

like a thousand others in the

neighborhood

except that the front yard is neater

than most

an old chevrolet sits in the garage

it’s mid-afternoon and the temperature

is nearly ninety

the windows and doors are open

i knock gently and dot comes to the

front door

it’s me mrs black a rudy baylor

i’d like to discuss a few things

i follow her into the kitchen

buddy isn’t around

and i guess donnie rae is in his bedroom

where’s buddy

i ask like we are old friends

she points out the window to the

backyard

under a tree is an old ford fair lane

it’s white with two doors

both of which are open

a cat is sleeping on the roof

he’s sitting in his car

she explains

the car looks like it hasn’t moved in a

long time

where is he going

i ask

and she actually smiles

buddy he ain’t going nowhere he sits in

there every day all day

just buddy and the cats

but he ain’t right in the head

how’s donny ray

i ask

he stays in bed most of the time

look

i advise you to sue

immediately

but don’t expect a quick solution

you’re fighting a big company with lots

of lawyers who can delay and delay

how long will it take

it could take months

maybe years

he’ll be dead in a few months

can i ask you something

great benefit first denied this claim

last august

right after donnie ray was diagnosed

why did you wait until now to see a

lawyer

i thought the insurance company would

pay the claim

i kept writing them they kept writing

back

i don’t know

just stupid i guess

we’d paid the premium so regularly over

the years never late

and i ain’t never used a lawyer you know

no divorce or anything like that

she turns sadly and looks through the

window at the fair lane

he drinks a lot you know

and i don’t really care

it makes him happy

look dot

i know i don’t have any experience but

i’d like to handle this case for you

she has an almost hopeless look on her

face

one lawyer’s as good as the next

how strange

lawyers spend a fortune on advertising

but there are still people like dot who

don’t know an experienced lawyer from a

third year law student

i’ll have to work with another lawyer

until i pass the bar exam you know

how much will it cost

she asks looking at me

i give her a smile

nothing

i’ll take a third of whatever we get

if we don’t win

i don’t get anything

how much

we sue for millions i say

and she smiles

i don’t think there is a greedy bone in

this woman’s body

any dream she had disappeared long ago

but she likes the idea of making great

benefits suffer

and you get a third of it

yes

after donnie rae’s medical bills are

paid

she hits the table

then do it

now

okay

i’ll start work i say

don’t you want to meet donnie ray i’ll

come back soon to ask him a few

questions

just hurry okay

at yogi’s i stay busy

prince is drinking with his lawyer

bruiser stone an enormously fat man with

long thick gray hair and a small beard

together they look like two bears

the next day

i have an appointment with barry x

lancaster

a rising star in the lake firm

jonathan lake is famous in memphis

he graduated from law school and

couldn’t find a job

so he started in business by himself

one night he crashed his motorcycle and

woke up with a broken leg in st peter’s

hospital

the guy in the next bed had also had an

accident and was badly burned

his girlfriend had died

after he and lake became friends

lake signed up both cases sued

and won

six months after passing the bar exam

jonathan lake settled the cases for 2.6

million dollars cash

lake got half

with 1.3 million dollars lake built an

office and filled it with people he

studied hard trained himself and quickly

became the best trial lawyer in

tennessee

barry is quite busy

tell me about your case

well

i’m actually here looking for a job i

say boldly

i saw your advertisement for an

assistant

i’m really busy

okay then i say

i rush through my usual routine about

being bright and in the top third of my

class and how i had a job with broadnax

and spear

i tell him how useful i can be to him

he can use me to do all his boring work

and pay me twenty four thousand dollars

instead of the usual forty

twenty one thousand

i’ll take it

i reply quickly

i’ll work a whole year at twenty one

i promise i won’t leave for 12 months

i’ll work 60 70 hours a week

no vacation

i’ll discuss it with mr lake

maybe he’ll agree

i also have a very good case

i handed my report on the black case and

he reads it twice

you want a job and part of the fee

he asks

no

just the job the case is yours

i’d like to work on it and handle the

client

but the fee is yours

i’ll let you know

back at my apartment the phone rings

it’s barry x

i’ll hire you as an assistant for 12

months

we will represent the blacks against

great benefit

you will work on the case but you will

not receive any of the fees

when do i start

right now

i’d like to discuss the case tonight

we need to get a contract signed by the

blacks

he says

i leave barry’s office after 10 o’clock

i’m smiling as i drive home

i’ll call booker first thing in the

morning with the good news

then i’ll take mrs skinner some flowers

at yogi’s prince says that he is sorry

i’m leaving but i will still work

weekends until i take the bar exam

on my fourth day at lakes barry hands me

a thin file

i want you to go see the blacks and get

this contract signed by all three

it needs to be done now

i call dot and explain

when i arrive dot is alone in the

kitchen

buddy won’t come in

why not i ask

doc just looks out the window

i’ll get donnie ray

i hear dots speaking softly to her son

then they’re in the kitchen

i stand to meet donnie ray black

he is definitely close to death

but he smiles and holds out a bony hand

which i shake

carefully nice to meet you

mom said nice things about you

he replies

his voice is weak but his words are

clear

she says you’re suing those bastards at

great benefit

that’s right i say

is daddy coming in

donnie ray asks

he said he won’t

says dot sadly

i pull the contract from the file

this must be signed by all three of you

before we can start suing them

well

he said he ain’t coming in

she said

just get a pen and go out there and make

him sign the thing

donnie ray tells his mother angrily

she walks out slowly across the yard a

cat sees her coming and dives under the

car

the doors are open and doc pushes the

contract inside

i know you think they’re crazy

donny ray says reading my mind

but they’re good people who have had

some bad luck

if i’d had the transplant

hell

even six months ago

then i’d have had a 90 chance of being

cured

whenever you get out of this case

please take care of them with it

i hate great benefit life insurance

company

dot opens the door and slides the

contract across the table

buddy has signed it

donnie ray

and his mother sign

when i leave them

dodd is gently rubbing donny ray’s arm

and telling him that things will get

better

chapter 3

the fire

after dark on tuesday i’m in my

apartment when the phone rings

it’s dot black

and i know something is wrong because

she wouldn’t normally call me

i just got a phone call

she says

from a mr barry lancaster

said he was my lawyer

that’s true dot

he’s an important lawyer with my firm

he works with me

well

that ain’t what he said

he called to see if me and donny ray can

come down to his office tomorrow

he needed to get some things signed

i asked about you and he said you ain’t

working there

i suddenly feel sick

it’s a big firm and i’m new he probably

just forgot about me

no

he said you used to work there

but not now

this is pretty confusing you know

i know i fall into a chair and try to

think clearly

it’s almost nine o’clock

look

dot

let me call mr lancaster and find out

what’s happening

i’ll call you back

i’m friendly

barry

rudy

did you see my report

yeah

it looks great

he sounds tired

rudy

there’s a problem

jonathan lake doesn’t want to employ you

i want to talk to jonathan lake i say as

firmly as possible

absolutely not

he’s too busy

you bastard

calm down rudy

is lake in the office now

i demand

probably but he won’t see you

ten minutes later i bang on the front

door

but nobody appears

a uniformed guard steps from the shadows

and holds my shoulder

my knees are weak with fear

he’s at least six foot six black with a

black cap

you need to leave some

he says gently in a deep voice

i push his hand off my shoulder and walk

away

i sit for hours on the old sofa in my

apartment

i curse and i cry

and then i start to plan my revenge

i finally fall asleep on the sofa

but something wakes me after nine

there are two policemen at the door

and i invite them in

now

what’s going on i ask

you know where jonathan lakes offices

yes

did you go there last night

yes

what time

between nine and ten

what was your purpose in going there

it’s a long story

we have hours

i wanted to talk to jonathan lake

did you

no

the doors were locked i couldn’t get in

did you try to break in

no

are you sure

yes

ask the guard

the policeman looked at each other

can you describe him

big black guy

probably six six uniform cap gun

ask him he’ll tell you i left when he

told me to leave

we can’t ask him

why not i ask

something awful is coming

because

he’s dead

they are both watching me carefully to

see how i react

i am shocked like anyone else would be

how

uh

how did he die

burned up in the fire

what fire

someone thinks they saw your car near

the office at two this morning

not my car

what fire

i ask again

the lake firm was burned last night

completely destroyed

and barry lancaster told you that i’d

make a wonderful suspect

i say

mr lancaster said you were pretty upset

when you went to the office last night

true

but not mad enough to set fire to the

place

you guys are wasting your time i swear

he said you’d just been fired and you

wanted to talk to mr lake

true true true

but that doesn’t mean that i wanted to

burn his offices down

you’d better talk to a lawyer

right now

you’re the main suspect

i find prince in his office at yogi’s

he is not a morning person and i usually

try to avoid him until he’s had his

third drink

that’s at about 6 p.m

so i’m much too early

what’s wrong

he says

his eyes are red he looks terrible

and he’s in a bad mood

i’m in trouble i say

i tell him about losing the job the fire

the police the dead body everything

so lake got burned down

he looks amused

i never particularly liked him

you sure you didn’t do it

of course not prince

you’d better talk to a lawyer

i can’t afford a lawyer i say

let me call bruiser

he picks up the phone and a few minutes

later we’re in the back of princess

cadillac and he’s telling me all about

his old friend’s career

oddly i begin to relax

bruiser went to law school at night and

finished when he was 22.

he and prince were best friends as

children

and in high school

when bruiser went to college prince

bought a beer truck

they could write a book about the things

they’ve done together since then

i’ve served bruiser a thousand drinks

but i’ve never had an actual

conversation with him

i explain my problem

i saw it on the news

when do you take the bar exam

july

then what

i don’t know

i’ll look around

prince jumps into the conversation

can’t you use him around here bruiser

you have a lot of lawyers what

difference does one more make

he’s a top student bright

works hard

i look at prince who smiles at me like

santa claus

we both look at bruiser who’s trying to

think of an excuse

uh

sure

i’m always looking for good legal talent

but it wouldn’t exactly be a salaried

position

i expect people to pay for themselves

how does that work i ask

you get a thousand dollars a month and

you keep one-third of the fees you earn

one-third goes to my office for

secretarial work

one-third comes to me

if your third is less than a thousand

you owe me the difference

bruiser is watching me closely

he’s offering me the only job left in

the city of memphis

and he knows i don’t want to take it

when can i start

right now

but the bar exam

don’t worry about it

he hands me a ring with two keys on it

you’re free to come and go with all ours

be careful at night

this is not the best part of town

there’s something else

i give him a rapid fact-filled report on

the black case and explain how barry

lancaster used me so he could steal the

case

we have to file suit today

because lancaster technically owns the

case i think he’ll file soon

have the client signed up with lake

yes

but i’m going to go see them now

they’ll listen to me

i show bruiser a copy of the lawsuit

against great benefit and a letter that

i’ve typed to bury x lancaster to be

signed by all the blacks

closing their contract with lake

he reads them slowly

this is good work rudy

let me guess

you filed the lawsuit this afternoon

show a copy to the blacks then ask them

to sign the letter

right

i just need your name and signature on

the lawsuit

i’ll do all the work and keep you

informed

i like it

what’s the lawsuit worth

probably whatever the jury says

and you’re going to be the trial lawyer

i’ll need a little help

it’s about a year or two away

i’ll introduce you to dex shifflet

he used to work for a big insurance

company and checks a lot of policies for

me

his office is down the hall from yours

get this document rewritten put my name

on it

and we’ll get it filed today

just make sure that the clients agree

they will thanks i say

five minutes before the court’s offices

close i file my lawsuit against great

benefit life insurance

my clients the blacks are asking for two

hundred thousand dollars actual damages

plus ten million dollars in punitive

damages

i pulled the figure of 10 million from

the air because it sounds good

trial lawyers do this all the time

great benefit has officially been sued

i race across town to my client

buddy is outside

but dot fetches donnie ray from his room

and the three of us sit around the table

while they admire their copy of the

lawsuit and the big numbers

dot keeps repeating the sum of ten

million

i explain what happened with those awful

people at the lake firm

but dodd and donnie ray really don’t

care

the lawsuit has been filed

and they can read it as often as they

want

they want to know what happens next and

what the chances are of a quick

settlement

these questions are difficult

i know the process will take too long

and i feel cruel hiding this

i persuade them to sign a letter firing

barry x lancaster and a new contract

with the firm of j lyman stone

i explain the new paperwork

donnie rae and i watch as dot quarrels

with her husband out in the car

they’re more cheerful now

they’ve finally fought back and sued

this company that they hate

but i’ve got other problems

i have no idea how bruiser expects me to

start making money immediately

if i win the black case it’ll be many

months away

i’ll continue at yogi’s for a while

five dollars an hour dinner and a few

beers

firms in this town usually expect their

lawyers to wear nice suits drive a good

car

live in a respectable house

even to spend time at the right clubs

not my firm

i can wear anything go anywhere

and no one cares

suddenly

i have a wonderful feeling of

independence

i’m going to be

okay

i need to tell booker about my recent

adventures

for three years we’ve been able to

encourage and help each other

now we’ve got to get back to studying

the bar exam

is very close

chapter four

a trip to the hospital

i’m in my office wondering how i’m

supposed to make a thousand dollars this

month when bruiser comes in

he slides a piece of paper across my

desk

it’s a copy of a police report he says

already halfway to the door

about me i ask suddenly frightened

no

it’s an accident report

a car wreck last night

maybe a drunk driver who drove through a

red light

do we represent one of the not yet

it’s your job to get the case

find out everything you can

there might be some good injuries

i’m thoroughly confused and he leaves me

that way

the accident report is filled with

information

names of drivers and passengers

addresses telephone numbers injuries

damage to vehicles witness reports

both drivers were taken to the hospital

the one who drove through the red light

had been drinking

what do i do now

my door opens slowly and a thin little

man puts his head in

rudy

i’m dick shifflet

he says without a smile

bruiser said you had a case you wanted

to talk about

nice to meet you

that could be 40

or 50.

most of his hair is gone and he wears

glasses that are quite thick and dirty

it’s difficult to tell if his head is

extra large or his body is small

but the two don’t fit

poor deck is one of the ugliest men i’ve

ever seen

yes i say

it’s an insurance case

are you one of the lawyers here

not really

i’ve been to law school but i haven’t

passed the bar exam

ah just like me

oh really

i say

when did you finish law school

five years ago

you see i’m having a little trouble with

the exam

i’ve tried five times

sorry to hear it

when do you take it

he asks nervously

july

it’s difficult isn’t it

yeah

i haven’t taken it in a year i don’t

know if i’ll ever try again

yeah well

how long have you worked for bruiser

three years

he treats me like everyone else

i find the cases work on them give him

his money

everybody’s happy

i hand the accident report to him and he

reads it quickly

bruiser gave it to you

right yeah

what does he expect me to do

find the guy who got hit

make him your client

how do i find him

well he’s probably still in the hospital

that’s usually the best place to find

them

you go to the hospitals

sure

all the time

bruiser has some contacts in the police

department they send him these accident

reports almost every morning he gives

them out around the office and he

expects us to go get the cases

which

hospital what did they teach you in law

school

well they didn’t teach us to chase

ambulances

then you’d better learn quickly or

you’ll get pretty hungry

call the home phone number

tell whoever answers that you’re with

the memphis fire department and you need

to speak to the injured driver

he can’t come to the phone because he’s

in the hospital

you ask which one

i feel sick

then what

look you’re new

let’s go and find this boy

i really don’t want to

i’d like to walk out of this place and

never come back

but at the moment i have nothing else to

do

okay

i say

he jumps to his feet

meet me outside

i’ll call and find out which hospital

at st peter’s hospital deck leads me

straight to the information desk

within seconds he has the room number of

dan van landal

our possible client

don’t act like a lawyer he whispers

deck sadly has done this many times

van lendl is in his late twenties

one eye is swollen almost completely

shut

the other has a cut under it

an arm is broken a leg is very badly

injured and raised above the bed his jaw

is wired shut

good afternoon mr van lendl

can you hear me

who are you

he asks through his teeth

deck shiftlet

from the law firm of lyman stone

he says with complete confidence

you haven’t talked to an insurance

company have you just like that deck

shows who the bad guys are

not us

no

says van lendl

good

don’t talk to them

they just want to cheat you

deck says already giving advice

we’ve looked at the accident report

a clear case of driving through a red

light

we’re going out there to photograph the

area talk to witnesses

we have to do it quickly before the

insurance company gets to the witnesses

sometimes they even offer them money to

lie in court

we need to move fast

do you have a lawyer

i hold my breath

no

he says

well

my firm handles more car wrecks than

anybody in memphis

and we get very large settlements

insurance companies are afraid of us

we don’t charge we take the usual

one-third of any money we recover

as he is finishing the last sentence he

is pulling a contract out

it’s a short contract

one page

three paragraphs

just enough

deck waves it in his face so that van

lentil has to take it

he’s just had the worst night of his

life

he’s lucky to be alive

now he has to examine a legal document

and make an intelligent decision

can you

wait for my wife

he asks

almost begging

are we going to get caught

my nerves are terrible

where is your wife

he asks

she’ll be back soon

he says

pain in every word

i’ll talk to her later in my office

i need to get a lot of information from

her

deck hands him a pen

van lendl quickly signs his name

deck takes the contract and hands him a

business card

a couple of things

dex says

don’t talk to anyone except your doctor

insurance people will probably be here

today trying to make you sign forms and

things

they might even offer you a settlement

do not sign anything until i read it

you have my number

rudy baylor’s numbers on the back

and you can call us anytime

we’ll handle the case together

any questions

good

deck says before he can reply

rudy will be back in the morning with

some papers

ask your wife to call us today

it’s important that we talk to her

he smiles at van lentil

it’s time to go before he changes his

mind

we’re going to get you

a lot of money

we leave quickly

dec proudly says

and

that is how it is done rudy

what would you have done if the guy had

already had a lawyer i ask

beginning to breathe normally again

we came here with nothing we had nothing

to lose

you see rudy in law school they don’t

teach you what you need to know

you were nervous about being there

weren’t you

i was yes

it’s morally wrong to chase ambulances

like that

right but who cares

better us than the next guy

another lawyer will try to contact him

within the next 24 hours

it’s simply the way it’s done

competition

there are lots of lawyers out there

will the guy stay with us

probably

we got to him at the right time

you need to call him in a couple of

hours

talk to his wife

offer to come back here tonight and

discuss the case with him

me

but i’m not sure

look rudy he’s our client now

you have the right to visit him and

there’s nothing anybody can do relax

we drink coffee from plastic cups in a

cafe on the third floor

deck prefers this cafe because it’s in a

new part of the hospital

and very few lawyers know about it

part of my new job will be to spend time

here looking for possible clients

there are two more hospitals in the area

and dec knows where their cafes are too

he advises me to start with saint

peter’s because it has the largest

emergency room

night time is good he says because the

patients get bored and if they can wheel

themselves downstairs for a snack

chapter 5

meeting kelly

the next morning bruiser is at the

office early

good work on van lendl he says

listen to deck

this could be a nice settlement

the police want to take your statement

on the fire

they’ll do it here with me present

i seem to have no choice

and if i refuse i ask

then they’ll probably take you to the

station

i suggest you talk to them

then they’ll leave you alone

it’s the same two policemen who came to

my apartment

the four of us sit around a small table

with two tape recorders

they waste time trying to find holes in

my story by checking the same

unimportant details

but i’m telling the truth

and finally bruiser gets annoyed and

tells them to move forward

after they leave

bruiser says he’ll talk to their boss

and get the file on me closed

don’t worry that’s the end of it they

don’t really think you did it

they just had to question you

i thank him and he hands me a tiny phone

keep this with you at all times

he says

i might need you in a hurry

the tiny thing suddenly becomes much

heavier

he’ll be able to reach me anytime

anywhere now

i return to the cafe at st peters to

hide and study

after a while and to my surprise i

decide that i like it there

the coffee isn’t bad it’s quiet

and no one knows me

it’s perfect for studying

the phone rings

it’s bruiser

any luck

no i say

happy fishing he laughs and he’s gone

probably to yogi’s

at 10

i’m alone in the cafe

i’m studying hard when i hear the tiny

cough of a young woman and look up to

see a patient in a wheelchair

she is very young

and extremely pretty

her ankle seems to be broken and there

are bruises on her face

an old man in a pink jacket gives her a

glass of juice

there you are kelly he says gently

30 minutes

yes please

he touches her shoulder and leaves

we are alone

but i try not to stare

when she lifts her glass i notice the

bandages on both wrists

although she’s pretty

i don’t feel like practicing dex

persuasion skills on her

she looks

very sad

and i don’t want to make it worse

she is wearing a wedding ring

she can’t be more than 18.

i tried to concentrate on the law for at

least five uninterrupted minutes

but i notice her wipe her eyes

i realized quickly that her tears are

not from the pain of her physical

injuries

perhaps there was a car wreck and her

husband was killed and she was injured

it could be a great case

i try to concentrate on my book

then i walk across to buy another cup of

coffee

when i stop at her table she slowly

raises her beautiful wet eyes

i swallow and say

is there anything i can do

are you in pain

no

she says in a whisper

but

thanks

sure

i say

i’m over there studying for the bar exam

if you need anything

thanks

she says again

minutes pass

i turn a page and look at her at the

same time

she’s looking at me

and my heart misses a beat

i ignore her for as long as i can then i

look up

she’s lost again

deep in her suffering

the tears stream down her cheeks

the kind old man in the pink jacket

returns and gently wheels her back to

her room

i think about following them

and asking him about her

but i don’t

the next night at the same table

i listen to the conversations

i ignore a few obvious possible clients

and study for hours

my concentration is total

as 10 approaches

i start looking around

i jump whenever a new customer enters

the cafe

about five minutes later

the same elderly man carefully pushes

her in

she picks the same table as last night

and smiles at me as he gets her orange

juice

i think she’s wearing a pale red

lipstick

and a tiny bit of eye makeup

tonight

she is

extraordinarily beautiful

her eyes are clear

shining

free of

sadness he places her orange juice in

front of her and says the identical

words he said last night

there you are kelly

30 minutes

make it 45

she says

i thought a lot about kelly today

and i’ve got a plan

i pretend she’s not there for a few

minutes and then slowly rise to get

another coffee

i stop at her table and say

you’re doing much better tonight

i feel much better she says

please

sit down

i’m tired of talking to nurses

my name’s rudy baylor

and you’re

kelly somebody

kelly riker

nice to meet you

she is very pretty from 20 feet

but from this distance she is perfect

why do you come here i ask

to get out of my room

what about you

i’m studying for the bar exam

and it’s a quiet place

so

you’re going to be a lawyer

sure

i finished law school a few weeks ago

got a job with a firm

i just need to pass the bar exam now

what happened

i asked looking at her leg

it’s my ankle

they put a metal pin in it

how did it happen

this is the obvious next question

and i thought it would be easy for her

it’s not

she hesitates and her eyes fill with

tears

it’s

a long story

she says and looks away

what kind of lawyer do you want to be

i enjoy trial work i say

representing criminals

maybe

they have a right to a good defense

murderers

yeah but most can’t pay for a private

lawyer

men who beat their wives

no

never

i’m serious about this

and i’m not sure about her injuries

the man in the pink coat arrives to take

kelly back to her room

i enjoyed meeting you i say

she smiles and says thanks for the

conversation

tomorrow night i ask

maybe

the next day i give deck the main

details about kelly riker

in less than an hour

he slides into my office with a proud

smile

kelly riker was taken to saint peter’s

three days ago at midnight

the neighbors called the police who

found her badly beaten

her husband cliff riker was drunk and

holding a baseball bat

kelly gave a short statement

he came home drunk from a baseball game

they fought

he won

she said he struck her twice on the

ankle with the bat and twice in the face

with his hand

what happened to him

he spent the night in jail and then his

family got him out

he won’t go to court though

how do you know

because

it’s happened before

eight months ago the police got the same

call

they’d had a similar fight

except she was luckier

he didn’t use the bat

then three months ago he used it and she

spent a week at st peters

but she didn’t want him to go to jail

it happens a lot

it takes a moment for me to understand

how can a man beat his wife with a

baseball bat

how could cliff riker hit such a

beautiful face

anything else

no

just don’t get too close

the next time i see kelly cliff is

pushing her chair

they quarrel she starts crying

and then he marches out

time passes as kelly cries silently

cliff is not coming back so it’s safe to

go to her now

i’m sorry she says

will you take me to my room

we’re alone in the elevator

are you okay

yes

she takes my hand

thanks

thanks so much

what did you think of cliff

you wanted me to see him didn’t you i

guess so

he should be shot

for a little fight

no kelly

any man who beats his wife with a

baseball bat needs to be

shot how do you know

she asks

police reports ambulance reports

hospital records

file for divorce kelly

i already tried it

but he said he was going to kill me if i

didn’t stop it

he says he loves me

the next night the little old man comes

over and says

are you mr

baylor mrs riker asked me to give you

this

dear rudy

my doctor said i could go home

thanks for everything

say a prayer for us

you are wonderful

she signed her name and then added

please don’t call or write or try to see

me

it will only cause trouble

she knew that i’d be here waiting

i’d never thought that she’d leave but

i’m not going to forget her

she needs me

because there’s no one else to help her

i go to a pay phone and find the number

a recorded message tells me her phone’s

been disconnected

end of cd1

cd2

chapter 6

the exam

i’m sitting in my office studying for

the bar exam

but it’s difficult to concentrate

why am i falling in love with a married

woman

the door suddenly opens and bruiser

rushes in

what are you doing

he demands

studying

it’s friday

the exam starts next wednesday

i just got a call from leo f drummond

he’s a partner at tinley britt an

excellent trial lawyer rarely loses

i know all about tinley britt

well soon you’ll know them even better

they represent great benefit

drummond is the lead lawyer

bruiser is talking so fast because he’s

worried

he’s filed a 10 million dollar lawsuit

against a big company that’s represented

by a lawyer he really admires

what did he say he tells me the judge

will be harvey hale an old friend of his

he thinks a fair verdict is one under

ten thousand dollars

sorry i asked

so

we have leo f drummond and his staff and

they have their favorite judge

you’ve got a lot of work to do

me

what about you

oh i’ll be around but this is your case

remember they get paid by the hour the

more paper they produce the more hours

they can charge their client for

he laughs and shuts the door

i suddenly feel very lonely

wednesday arrives and the exam papers

are passed out at exactly 8 am

it’s absolutely impossible to tell how

well i’m prepared

booker and i have lunch together but not

a word is spoken about the exam

dinner is a sandwich and i’m in bed by

nine

the exam ends at 5 pm friday

we eat pizza drink a few beers but are

too tired to get drunk

booker tells me on the way home that the

exam has made him physically ill

he’s certain that he’s failed it

i sleep for 12 hours

on monday there’s a note on my desk to

see bruiser

he pushes a pile of paper across to me

this is why it’s painful to sue big

companies

this is great benefits motion to dismiss

the blacks lawsuit

and it’s supported by a

64-page document

they’ll file every motion they can

they make money the trial is delayed

you’re exhausted

get

busy

after the third reading i calm down and

start taking notes

i think about how much i hate great

benefit and what it’s done to my client

and i work hard

dec has developed a habit of stopping by

my office on his way to lunch

today he tells me he thinks bruiser is

in trouble with a former business

partner who has testified against him

saturday

a month after i took the bar exam

i get a letter telling me that i passed

the bar

the next morning i shower and go to an

expensive coffee bar and read the papers

there’s something about the bar exam and

the list of people who passed

there i am

it’s true

i search for booker kane

but he’s not listed

i can see him now helping charlene dress

the children trying to smile

trying to persuade them both that he’ll

pass it next time

but i know he’s worried about his job

booker is a proud man who’s always

believed he could achieve anything

i would love to drive over there

but it wouldn’t work

he’ll call tomorrow and congratulate me

calls deck and me into his office

he congratulates me on passing the bar

exam before talking about the van lentil

settlement

the van lentils will be calling in for

their share of the hundred thousand

dollars later today

he feels that deck and i should get

something for our work

it’s been a quick settlement and bruiser

has worked on it for less than six hours

deck and i are wondering what he did for

six hours his share is a third

thirty three thousand dollars

i’m going to give you boys a third of

that to be split equally

thanks bruiser that’s really generous i

say

yeah thanks

says deck

we’re both surprised but we’re thinking

that bruiser gets twenty two thousand

dollars for six hours work

but i didn’t expect anything

and suddenly i feel wealthy

are we ready for tomorrow

bruiser asks me

were you going to argue against great

benefits motion to dismiss the case

i think so i reply nervously

i might let you handle some of the

argument so be ready

all three of us will go to court

they’ll have 20 people there

deck and i have lunch at a steak house

very strange

he says

it’s not usual for bruiser to give money

away like this

something’s going to happen

believe me

i know it is

like what

they’re watching him the police

they’d love to put him out of business

out of business

yeah

and we’ll be caught in the middle

i tell you rudy i’m nervous

so what are you saying

we’ve got to get out

now

i start to ask what he means

but it’s obvious

that can’t work alone

and i’ve passed the bar exam

so he needs me

we’ve got money now

says dec

we could rent an office start our own

business

no

it’s too expensive

i reply

deck looks at me and smiles

hey

i’ve already found a great place and

it’s cheap

now wait a minute deck

believe me we’ve got to move

i know things rudy

things i can’t tell you okay

bruiser’s in big trouble

i strongly suspect deck is telling the

truth

let me sleep on it

okay

let’s meet before court tomorrow

in a cafe we can’t talk in our office

take your files home and anything else

you might want from your office

now

this afternoon

i don’t sleep much and it’s still dark

when i meet dak

well he says

let’s try it for a year i say

that can’t hide his excitement

he holds his hand out for me to shake

it’s a big moment for him

did you remove all your files he

whispers

yes and you i’ve been taking stuff out

for a week

at eight we walked down to our offices

but by 8 15

bruiser has still not arrived

he said he’d be there at 8.

dec and i leave the office at quarter to

nine

relax dex says

bruiser will be in court

and if he’s not

you’ll do fine

just shut up and drive deck

bruiser is not outside the courtroom and

as i slowly push open the door and look

inside the first thing i don’t see is

bruiser

he’s not here

the unpleasant man looking angrily at me

must be judge harvey hale

to my left is a group of men who all

look the same

short hair dark suits white shirts

straight ties

hard faces

nasty little smiles

excuse me sir

i’m here for the black case

and who are you

my name’s rudy baylor i work for bruiser

stone

where’s mr stone

the judge asks

i’m not sure he was supposed to meet me

here

do you want to argue this motion later

no sir

i’m prepared to argue the motion

are you a lawyer

well i just passed the bar

but you haven’t received your license

uh no sir next week

one of the lawyers stands

for the record my name is leo f drummond

of tinley britt

we object to this young man arguing the

motion without a license

he points at me and i hate him already

i’ve passed a bar exam your honor

mr baylor who will handle this case

i will your honor

and

mr stone

i can’t say

but this is my case mr stone filed the

suit for me until i passed the bar

very well

let’s continue

drummond begins and soon becomes boring

then it’s my turn

i’m nervous

and when i’m finished the judge says

i’d like to see you both privately

i wait for drummond who is polite

he even tells me i did a good job

the judge is standing behind his desk as

we enter

please have a seat

we said

i’m really tired of these types of

lawsuits i feel like dismissing the case

excuse me while i visit the toilet

says judge hale and steps to a smaller

door across the room locking it loudly

i’m speechless drummond looks at me all

warmth and smiles

look rudy

i’m a very expensive lawyer from a very

expensive firm

with a case like this we calculate the

cost of the trial to great benefit will

be between 50 and 75 000

he waits for me to say something but i

just stare at his tie

great benefit has instructed me to offer

you

and your clients

75 000 to settle the case

a dozen wild thoughts race through my

mind 25 000

my fee

i can see it

but why is he offering me the money if

his friend harvey is ready to dismiss

the case

and then

i realize

it’s a routine

harvey frightens me and then leo steps

in with the gentle touch

how many times have they done this

before here in this office

it’s a one-time offer only good for the

next 48 hours

if you say no then it’s world war three

he’s smooth

his honor returns from his private

little restroom and now it’s leo’s turn

to excuse himself

not a great lawsuit i’m afraid hale says

maybe i can persuade leo to make an

offer of settlement

he’s just offered me the cost of the

defense i say

hale tries to seem surprised how much

seventy five thousand

his mouth falls open

look son

you’re crazy if you don’t take it

you think so i ask playing his game

the door opens and leo comes back

his honor stares at leo and says

seventy five thousand

that’s what my client said

leo explains

i’m sure of two things

first

hale is serious about dismissing the

lawsuit

second

drummond is too anxious to settle

i leave the room with leo’s arm around

my shoulder

on the drive back to the office deck

makes the very good argument that no

amount of money will save donnie ray’s

life now

so we should take what we can and make

things a bit easier for dot and buddy

bruiser’s secretary is crying when we

arrive

nobody has seen bruiser and she knows

something is wrong

i call yogis

prince will know where bruiser is

i find out that prince has gone too

i hope he’s safe

i’ve got a lot on my mind right now

but i still can’t stop thinking about

kelly riker i know she’s going to get

another beating from her husband

it’s only a question of time

and the thought of that baseball bat

connecting with her beautiful body

makes me want to kill him

chapter 7

donnie ray’s statement

dot seats me at the kitchen table and

says donny ray is getting weaker and

weaker

we went to court yesterday for the first

time i tell her

the insurance company has made an offer

to settle the case

how much

they calculate they’ll pay their lawyers

000 to defend the case

so they’re offering it now to settle

everything

dot goes red in the face

those

bastards think they can shut us up now

right

yes

that’s what they think

donnie ray needed a bone marrow

transplant last year

now it’s too late

i agree

her eyes are red and wet

i was wrong

this mother has not given up

just what are we supposed to do with

seventy five thousand dollars

donnie ray will be dead

and it’ll be just me and him

she points at the fair lane

i guess you said we’d take it didn’t you

of course not

i can’t settle the case without your

permission

we have until tomorrow morning to decide

we’d better talk to donnie ray

she says and leads me to his bedroom

donnie ray gives me a big smile and

tries to keep smiling

dot holds his hand while he listens

carefully

will they go higher

he asks

great benefit has made the jump from

zero to seventy five thousand

dec and i suspect they may go as high as

a hundred thousand

but i won’t be so optimistic in front of

my clients

i doubt it i say

but we can try

how much will you get

he asks

i explain how my third comes off the top

he looks at his mother and says

that’s 50 000 for you and dad

you can finish paying for the house buy

a new car

put some in the bank for your old age

i don’t want their money

donnie ray touches my arm

do you want to settle rudy

no i don’t i say

i look at him

then her

they wouldn’t offer this money if they

weren’t worried

i want people to know what great benefit

has done

i leave them in hope that when i come

back tomorrow i won’t have to tell them

that our case has been dismissed

across town deck is waiting smiling

proudly

what do you think

four rooms plus restroom

not bad

he says

i thought this would be the reception

area

maybe we’ll use it for a secretary when

we hire one

we step through an open door and into a

short haul

one room on each side

this one here is the largest so

i thought you’d need it

i step into my new office

and i’m pleasantly surprised

it’s about 15 feet by 15 with the window

on the street side

it’s empty

and clean

i thought we’d use the other room for

conferences

i’ll work out of here but i won’t make a

mess

he’s trying hard to please me

just relax deck i like it

hey

i almost forgot

he turns on the television

it’s the noon news report

the first thing we see is our old office

employees are being allowed to come and

go but aren’t allowed to remove anything

the next shot is from outside a club

one of several known for the few clothes

worn by its dancers when they are

entertaining clients

the police we learn are searching for mr

stone and mr thomas who are suspected of

a number of criminal activities

prince loved cash i know that much

on my first day at yogi’s one of the

waitresses told me that 80 percent of

prince’s income was never reported

whatever he’s done

prince is my friend

and i hope he’s safe

run bruiser run

dex says

i know dex having a hard time

controlling his excitement

the idea of having his own office and

keeping half the fees without a law

license is great for him

the offices will look beautiful in a

week

however when deck calls me for the

second morning before the sun is up

it’s difficult to be nice

have you seen the paper he asks

i was sleeping

sorry

bruiser and prince are on the front page

if you want to wake up at fourth then

fine

but don’t call me until seven

no eight

sorry but there’s more

guess who died last night

how am i supposed to know

i give up

judge hale

fell down dead by his swimming pool

i tried to clear my head

that’s

hard to believe

yeah

there’s a picture of him

what a bastard

how old was he i ask

i don’t know why

62. you need to see the paper

yes

i’ll do that deck

see you later

the paper seems a bit heavier this

morning and i’m sure it’s because at

least half of the stories are about

bruiser stone and prince thomas

they have not been seen

i continue reading and find a very old

photo of judge hale

who will get his job

the local population is half white and

half black

but only seven of the top judges are

black

last year when an old white judge

retired an effort was made to appoint a

black judge

it didn’t happen

many people think that tyrone kipler

a harvard educated partner at booker’s

firm will be appointed

that’s good news since he helped booker

and me with our studies and i have a lot

of respect for him

at exactly nine o’clock i’m at the

courthouse checking the black versus

great benefit file

fortunately his honor hail did not sign

an order to dismiss our case before he

died

i called tinley britt from a pay phone

and asked for leo f drummond

i express my sorrow at the loss of his

friend and i tell him my clients will

not accept his offer

he seems surprised

but has little to say

i think that’s a mistake rudy

he says patiently

maybe

but my clients made the decision not me

oh well

then it’ll be war

he says sadly

he does not offer more money

booker and i have talked twice on the

phone since we received the results of

the bar exam

as expected he’s not complaining about

failing and he’s really happy for me

he’s already sitting down when i arrive

at the cafe

and we order our favorite foods charlene

and the kids are fine

he thinks that he may pass the bar

anyway

since his score was only one point below

the passing mark

he has written to the board of law

examiners who are looking at his exam

again

his boss said he’d better pass next time

or their firm will have to put someone

else in his job

booker thinks tyrone kipler’s

appointment is definite

i tell him everything that’s happened

with a black case and he laughs when i

tell him that it’s now sitting in judge

hale’s court waiting for the new judge

i tell him all about the games drummond

and hale were playing three days ago

when we went to argue the motion

booker listens closely as i talk of

donnie ray and his twin and the

transplant that didn’t happen

no problem he says more than once

if tyrone gets the appointment

he’ll know all about the black case

so

you can talk to him

absolutely

he can’t stand tinley britt and he hates

insurance companies

he sues them all the time

he’ll listen

our food arrives

i tell him about my new office but not

my new partner

andy asks a lot of questions about my

old office the whole city is talking

about bruiser and prince

i tell him everything i know

the day after tyrone kipler is appointed

as judge he calls me into his office

which was hails

kipler is under 40 speaks softly and

looks you straight in the eye

he’s extremely bright

i thank him for helping me pass the bar

exam

he says kind things about harvey hale

but he’s surprised that hale had so few

active cases

he’s chosen a few for quick movement and

is ready for some action

you think this black case should move

quickly

yes sir

the points are simple

there won’t be many witnesses

how many statements will you take

less than ten

you’ll have trouble with the documents

he says

i’ve sued a lot of insurance companies

and they never give you all the

paperwork

it’ll take us some time to get all the

documents you’re supposed to have

i like the way he says us

and there’s nothing wrong with it it is

part of his role as judge to help

everyone get the evidence they’re

supposed to have

file a motion to have the case heard

quickly he says

unless the defense have some very good

arguments

you’ll get it

he tells me to call him if i have any

questions

i’ve got into the habit of calling

donnie ray each afternoon usually around

five

after the first call several weeks ago

dot mentioned how much it meant to him

we talk about a variety of things

but never his illness or the lawsuit

i tell him about something funny that

happened during the day

and i know the calls are an important

part of the last days of his life

he sounds strong this afternoon

he says he’s been out of bed and he’d

love to go somewhere for a few hours and

get away from the house and his parents

i pick him up at seven and we eat dinner

at a little neighborhood

we talk about his childhood

funny stories from the earlier days of

memphis

we laugh a little

probably the first time in months for

him

but conversation makes him tired he

hardly touches his food

just after dark we arrive at a park

where teams are playing baseball

i helped donny ray into a folding chair

from the trunk of my car then go and buy

him a coke

he thanks me again and again for

bringing him here

i pay particular attention to one of the

players as he walks to the fence and

speaks to his girl

kelly smiles

i can see her eyes shine

and cliff laughs

he gives her a little kiss and goes back

into the game

they appear to be happy

he loves her and wants the guys to see

him kiss her

i should be glad that she appears to be

happy and healthy

maybe he stopped drinking

maybe it’s time for me to stop thinking

about her

after an hour

donnie ray is ready for sleep

we drive and talk about his statement

i filed a motion today asking the court

to allow me to take a statement from him

now that can be used at the trial

he will soon be too weak for two hours

of questions from lawyers

we’d better do it pretty soon

he says softly

i was not looking forward to taking

donny ray’s statement in our new offices

they’re small and we don’t have enough

chairs

it would be embarrassing

but on friday the day before donnie ray

is supposed to give a statement

dot tells me that he’s too weak to leave

the house

i call drummond who says he cannot agree

to move the statement from my office to

the home of my client

rules are rules and i’ll have to arrange

a later date

he’s very sorry

he

of course would like to make it after

the funeral

i called judge kipler

minutes later judge kipler calls

drummond and after just a few minutes

the statement is moved to the home of

dot and buddy black

kipler plans to attend

this is extremely unusual

but he has his reasons

donnie ray is seriously ill

the black home seems much smaller and

hotter

donnie rae is sitting in bed more

cheerful now we’ve talked about this for

hours and he says he’s ready

dot is making coffee and washing walls

buddy has been cleaned his shirt is

white

i can’t imagine how dot managed this

i’m proud of my clients

deck has borrowed an old video camera

he looks through the house and tells me

quietly that there simply isn’t enough

room

judge kipler arrives meets everyone and

after a minute says

let’s take a look outside

in the corner of the yard is a big old

tree that provides nice shade

what’s wrong with this

he asks under the tree

let’s get some chairs

drummond arrives at nine exactly not a

minute early

bringing only two other lawyers with him

you’ll sit here

his honor says pointing to three kitchen

chairs

we seat donny ray in a cushion chair

his breathing is heavy

and his face is wet

i politely introduce him to everyone

but he’s too weak to shake their hands

so he tries his best to smile

we move the camera directly onto his

face

there will be other voices off-camera

but his face will be the only one the

jury sees

kipler asks donnie ray if he’s ready

then instructs the court reporter to

start

donnie ray promises to tell the truth

i ask him his name address birth date

some things about his parents and family

basic stuff

easy for him and me

he answers slowly and into the camera

just as i’ve instructed him

he knows every question i’ll ask

although i didn’t tell him to act as

sick and weak as possible

he certainly appears to be doing it

or maybe

he only has a few days left to live

i carefully asked donnie ray questions

about his illness and the treatment he

didn’t receive

he can’t repeat anything his doctor told

him and he can’t give medical opinions

but other witnesses will i hope

i finish in 20 minutes

leo drummond introduces himself for the

camera

then explains who he represents and how

much he regrets being there

he’s not talking to donnie ray but to

the jury

his voice is sweet

he’s a man who cares

he gently asks whether donnie ray has

ever left his house

even for a week or a month to live

anywhere else

they’d love to show that he left home

and so shouldn’t be covered by the

policy his parents paid for

donnie ray answers with a polite and

sickly

no sir

did he ever work for a company where

health insurance was provided

a few more questions like this are all

answered with the soft

no sir

drummond knows he must be careful

the jury will not like any rough

treatment of this young man

he finishes in less than 10 minutes

dodd is quick to wipe her son’s face

with a wet cloth as donny ray looks at

me to see how he did

i smile

judge kipler begins carrying chairs back

to the house and dot and i helped donny

ray to the house

just before we step into the door

i look to my left

deck is at the fence talking to the

neighbors and passing out my cards

i arrive early from my appointment with

dr walter cord and wait for an hour

before a nurse comes and takes me to an

examination room

a young man of about 35 rushes in

mr baylor

he says holding out a hand

walter cord

let’s hurry if we can i have a lot of

patience

i know doctors hate lawyers

i don’t blame them

we need a statement from you

i’m very busy he says

i know it’s not for me it’s for donnie

ray

i charge hundred dollars an hour for

testifying

this doesn’t shock me because i expected

it

in law school i heard stories of doctors

charging even more

i’m here to beg

i can’t afford that dr cord

i opened my office six weeks ago

and this is the only real case i have

it’s amazing what the truth can do

this guy probably earns a million

dollars a year

he hesitates for a second

maybe he thinks of donny ray and not

being able to help

maybe he feels sorry for me

who knows

i’ll send you a bill okay

pay when you can

chapter 8

surprises for drummond

next it is dot’s turn to make a

statement

judge kipler wants to be present for

this one too

i spent two hours with her yesterday

preparing for drummond’s questions

she’ll be around to testify at the trial

but this is drummond’s chance to gather

information

and it will take hours

poor dot’s hands are shaking as she sits

alone at the end of the table

she’s wearing her best cotton blouse and

her best jeans

i explained to her that she did not have

to dress up because the video will not

be shown to the jury

at trial however it will be important

for her to wear a dress

so there are five lawyers and a judge

staring at dot black as she raises her

right hand and promises to tell the

truth

the first hour is spent on family

history and drummond as usual is well

prepared halfway through the third hour

we finally get around to the claim

i have prepared a copy of every document

connected to the file including donnie

ray’s medical records

and these are in a neat pile on the

table

we have no bad documents

but i don’t know whether drummond is so

lucky

according to kipler and deck

it’s not unusual in these cases for the

insurance companies to hide things from

their own lawyers

in fact it’s quite common

especially when the company has nasty

things it would really like to bury

we start with the policy

the next document is the first letter of

denial

then the stupid letter

i’ve told dot to simply hand this to

drummond without saying anything

it’s difficult for her because the

letter makes her so angry

drummond takes it

reads it

dear mrs black on seven previous

occasions this company has denied your

claim in writing

we now deny it for the eighth and final

time you must be stupid stupid stupid

drummond has spent the last 30 years in

courtrooms and he is an excellent actor

but i know immediately that he has never

seen this letter

his client didn’t include it in the file

his mouth falls slightly open

he reads it a second time

he raises his eyes above the letter and

looks at me

i am staring at him a stare that says

caught you big boy

six and a half hours after we started

kipler says that he’s finished

it’s early sunday morning and i’m riding

to the bus station and dex car

the weather is clear and beautiful

the first touch of fall in the air

memphis is lovely in october

judge kipler has set the date of the

trial for february 8

and ordered drummond to make sure that

key employees at great benefit in

cleveland are available to give

statements

a round-trip plane ticket to cleveland

cost just under 700

the law firm of rudy baylor cannot

afford to fly me to cleveland

so i’m going by bus i’ll be in cleveland

by 11 tonight

and the statements from the great

benefit employees start at nine

i’m sure that the tinley brit lawyers

are still sleeping

later they will have breakfast read the

sunday paper with their wives then have

a nice lunch

around five their wives will drive them

to the airport

after an hour in first class they’ll

land in cleveland and be driven to the

finest hotel in the city

after a delicious dinner with drinks and

wine they’ll meet in a comfortable

conference room and plot against me

until late

about the time i check into a cheap

hotel they’ll be getting into bed ready

for war

i of course

won’t be able to sleep

around the table are eight enemies in

dark suits

white shirts expensive ties and black

shoes

eight against one

they look bright-eyed and fresh

now rudy

we thought we’d start with the statement

of jack underhill says t pierce

morehouse one of the four tinley brit

lawyers

no

i don’t think so i say

nervously pardon

you heard me

i want to start with jackie lemanchek

the claims handler

but first the file

we think you should start with mr

underhill

i don’t care what you think

shall we call the judge

kipler’s order clearly states that the

six witnesses i’ve requested

should be available at nine this morning

and that i decide in which order to see

them

well

we have a problem with jackie lemanchek

she doesn’t work here anymore

i stare at him

when did she leave

i asked

late last week

we were in court thursday

did you know it then

no

she left saturday

where is she now she’s not an employee

we can’t produce her

okay

how about tony crick assistant claims

examiner

he’s gone too

how interesting i say

absolutely amazed

has richard pelrod claims examiner gone

too

no he’s here

and russell croke it

mr crockett left us for another company

russell crockett head of the claims

department wrote the stupid letter

and

everett lufkin

no he’s here

where’s the file pierce gives me a thick

pile of papers

give me an hour then we’ll continue

sure

t pierce says

there’s an office

there i return an hour later

we need to call the judge

with t pierce on one phone and me on

another i call kipler

we’ve got some problems your honor i say

what kind of problems

well

of the six witnesses in my notice three

suddenly left the company very late last

week

i read them the names

how about the file

i’ve had a look at least one document is

missing

what is it

the stupid letter

is this true pierce

i’m sorry your honor i don’t know i’ve

gone through the file but i haven’t

checked everything

are you guys in the same room

yes sir we both answer

pierce leave the room

rudy stay on the phone

okay judge it’s just me i say when

pierce is left

what’s their mood

he asks

pretty tense

i’m not surprised

by losing witnesses and hiding documents

they’ve given me the right to order that

all statements will be taken down here

question underhill only

ask him everything you can think of but

find out what happened to the three

missing witnesses

i’ll order a hearing for later this week

and find out what’s going on

he says

i question underhill for three hours

then stop

i thought i would have to stay in

cleveland for days

but i leave this place just before two

with new documents to examine

these boys will have to come to my town

the bus ride back to memphis seems much

faster

on the thursday we’re in kipler’s

courtroom at 5 30 in the afternoon

his honor picked this time so leo f

drummond has to rush over after a long

day in court

i warned you about the documents mr

drummond

i thought i was rather specific

now

what happened

this is probably not drummond’s fault

his client is playing games with him

i almost feel sorry for him

there’s no excuse your honor

he says

and when did you first learn that these

witnesses don’t work for your client

anymore

sunday afternoon

did you try to contact mr baylor

we couldn’t find him we even called the

airlines

they didn’t call the bus companies

sit down mr drummond his honor says

one week from next monday we will meet

here for the statements of richard

pelrod

everett lufkin

kermit aldi

and m wilfred keeley the company

director

they will pay their own travel costs

they will make themselves available to

mr baylor and cannot leave until he

allows them to

all court costs will be paid by great

benefit

copies of all the documents in order

will be delivered to mr baylor by

wednesday of next week

great benefit will also pay mr baylor

the cost of his wasted trip to cleveland

mr baylor how much is a round-trip plane

ticket to cleveland

seven hundred dollars is that first

class

no sir

mr drummond you guys sent four lawyers

to cleveland

did they fly first class

drummond looks at t pierce who looks

like a child caught stealing then says

yes sir

first class

i thought so

how much is a first class ticket

thirteen hundred

how much did you spend on other bills mr

baylor

actually i spent less than forty dollars

around sixty dollars i say

cheating

but not being greedy

then

four hours traveling time at two hundred

dollars an hour that’s eight hundred

dollars

any other expenses

250 to the court reporter

he writes this down adds it all up

checks it

i order the defendant to pay mr baylor

two thousand four hundred and ten

dollars within five days

if mr baylor does not receive this sum

it will automatically double each day

until the check is received

do you understand mr drummond

i’m smiling

drummond rises slowly

he’s angry

i object

there is no proof that mr baylor flew

first class

the trip to cleveland and back is worth

thirteen hundred dollars to your firm mr

drummond

that’s what i’m ordering your client to

pay

mr baylor does not get paid by the hour

he replies

are you saying that his time is not

valuable

you’ll pay him 200 an hour

consider yourself lucky

i quickly pick up my papers and leave

for dinner i eat a bacon sandwich with

thought

buddy is spending more and more time in

his fair lane

it will only be a few days now before

danire dies

and buddy’s way of dealing with it is to

hide out there in the car and drink

he sits with his son for a few minutes

each morning

then tries to avoid everybody for the

rest of the day

we talk about the lawsuit

but dots lost interest

six months ago she honestly thought a

lawyer even me could scare great benefit

into doing right

there was still hope

not now

dot will always blame herself for donny

ray’s death

she didn’t go straight to a lawyer when

great benefit first denied the claim

instead

she chose to write the letters herself

she serves me a cup of coffee and i take

it into donnie rae’s room

where he’s asleep under the sheets

the only light comes from a small lamp

in the corner

the room is still

donnie ray has planned the funeral

he wants me to help carry his body

i pick up the same book i’ve been

reading for two months now

one of the few books in this house

i leave it in the same place and read a

few pages on each visit

i hear a strange voice in the living

room and then a knock on the door

it opens

and i slowly recognize dr cord

just passing by

he says softly

sit down

i say pointing to the only other chair

we sit with our backs to the window

our eyes on the dying boy

i’ve been thinking about this trial

cord says very quietly

any idea when it might happen

february 8th

would it be better if i testified in

court

instead of recording a statement

of course

then i’ll do it

i won’t send a bill

that’s very generous

it’s the least i could do

do you know what my job involves

i diagnose people

then i prepare them for death

i guess someone has to do it

it’s not that bad really

i love my work

he pauses and looks at his patient

this

is a hard one though

there was treatment available at a cost

i was willing to give my time and effort

but it’s still a 200 000 operation

no hospital can afford that kind of

money

it makes you hate the insurance company

yeah it really does

let’s beat them

i’m trying to

i say

we walk quietly past donny ray

and say goodbye to dot who’s sitting out

front

chapter 9

the funeral

the phone call i’ve been afraid of

getting finally comes on sunday morning

it’s dot

she tells me she found him about an hour

ago

he went to sleep last night

and never woke up

her voice is a little weak

but she is managing to control her

emotions

we talk for a bit and i realize that my

throat is dry

and my eyes are wet

i tell her i’m sorry and promised to

visit this afternoon

then i close my eyes and say the last of

many prayers for donnie ray

i called judge kipler with news of the

death

the funeral will be tomorrow afternoon

at 2

which is a problem because the great

benefit statements are due to start at

nine in the morning and continue for

most of the week

i’m sure the suits from cleveland are

already in town

probably in drummond’s office right now

practicing for the camera

kipler tells me to be in court at nine

anyway and he’ll handle things from

there

i tell him i’m ready

when i get to the blacks the whole

neighborhood is there

i tell dot simply that i am sorry

and she thanks me for coming

i go and sit outside alone

i’m soon joined by a young man who looks

oddly familiar

i’m ron black

he says sitting

the twin

he looks strong and healthy

nice to meet you i say

so you’re the lawyer

he’s not in a talkative mood

his sentences are short and forced

but after a time he tells me that he was

ready and willing to give his marrow to

save his brother

and that he’d been told by dr cord that

he was a perfect match

he’s happy to explain this to a jury

and he doesn’t ask how much money he

might get

after two hours i’m really tired

i excuse myself and leave

on monday there’s a whole crowd of men

in dark suits sitting around leo f

drummond on the far side of the

courtroom

i can imagine how angry the top men from

great benefit were when they found out

that they had to appear here today

kipler calls drummond and me to the

front

mr drummond donna ray black died

yesterday

i’m very sorry

drummond says

the funeral is this afternoon

and that’s a problem

mr bailey is taking part in the funeral

in fact he should be with the family

right now

drummond have your people here next

monday same time same place

these very important men from great

benefit will be forced to rearrange

their busy lives

why not start tomorrow

drummond asks

it’s a perfectly good question

i run this court and control the trial

mr drummond

but your honor these gentlemen have gone

to a lot of trouble it might not be

possible next week

this is exactly what kipler wants to

hear

oh

they’ll be here mr drummond

they’ll be here monday morning

well

i think it’s unfair

with respect

unfair

we wanted these statements two weeks ago

your clients started playing games

kipler is punishing drummond and great

benefit

there will be a trial here in a few

months and the judge is telling the

famous lawyer that he his honor will

rule at the trial

behind a small country church a few

miles north of memphis

donire black is laid to rest

i can hear dot crying softly

i can see buddy sitting next to ron

it’s a grey cloudy day

a day

for a burial

we finished with the last statement from

pelrod

jackie lemanchek’s ex-boss on wednesday

7 30 the following week

after three days of questioning and a

thousand pages of statements

the boys from cleveland are ready to go

home

nice job rudy

leo drummond says in a low voice

thanks

he breathes deeply

look

rudy i’d like to discuss settlement

possibilities

we feel good about our defense but this

judge is against us

how much i ask

a hundred and fifty thousand

my client is dead

his mother buried him last week

and now you expect me to tell her

there’s some more money on the table

your timing is terrible

what does the lady want

tell us rudy

nothing

he’s dead

there’s nothing you can do now

so

why are you going to trial

she wants to show the world what great

benefit has done

then she wants to destroy it i say

drummond

is silenced

deck is a nervous wreck when i returned

to the office that evening

his friend butch a private detective is

sitting with him

introduces us refers to butch as a

client then hands me a note

keep talking

not about work

as we talk about the funeral

butch quickly unscrews the cap from the

phone receiver and points inside to a

tiny microphone

let’s go get some coffee

deck says

good idea

i say

feeling sick

outside i stop and look at them

what’s going on

dec asked butch to check our phones

he thought maybe the fbi were listening

to us trying to get information about

prince and bruiser

there are microphones in all three

phones

what do we do

legally

you can remove them

butch explains or you can just be

careful what you say

we go back and search the office for

four hours and find nothing

it’s only the phones

after several months in business our

office is beginning to look

busier the front room is crowded with

rented tables piled high with documents

for the black case

the phone rings even more now

it’s difficult to talk on a phone with a

microphone in it

the mail today is routine except for two

things

first there is not a single document

from tinley britt

the second surprise is an invitation to

a pre-christmas sale of gold jewelry in

a local mall

below the store’s hours and a rather

lovely handwriting

is the name

kelly riker

no message nothing

just the name

the jewelry store is one of over a

hundred shops in the mall

i enter and walk slowly to the long

glass counter where kelly is helping a

customer

she looks up and smiles

can i help you sir

i look at her and melt

we smile at each other

how are you

i ask

fine and you

can we talk

not here

there’s a cinema down the mall buy a

ticket for the eddie murphy movie

i’ll be there soon

she had it all planned

she knew i’d come

she arrives a few minutes late

are we safe i ask her

yeah he’s out with the boys tonight

drinking again

yes

she says

but not much

i worry about you

i think of you all the time

do you ever think about me

all the time

she says

and my heart stops

kelly slides her arm under mine and

moves a little closer

why am i sitting in a dark theater with

a married woman

cliff wants me to have a baby

don’t do it kelly

i just wanted to see you rudy

either forget about me or file for

divorce

i thought you were my friend it’s more

than friendship and both of us know it

i can’t forget about you

then let’s file for divorce i’ll help

you

she leans over

gives me a tiny kiss

and leaves

deck and butch have found out that the

microphones are not the kind the police

or the fbi use

somebody else is listening dex says over

coffee

but who

i make a plan and discuss it with deck

deck leaves

thirty minutes later he calls to talk

about several cases that don’t exist

we talk for a few minutes about this and

that then i say

guess who wants to settle now

who

dot black

dot black

deck act surprised

yeah

she said she’d take a hundred and sixty

thousand

since their top offer is 150 she’d win a

small victory if they pay more than they

want don’t do it rudy this case is worth

a fortune

i know

but legally i’m supposed to go to

drummond and try to settle

it’s what the client wants

at five minutes to nine the next morning

the phone rings

it’s drummond

we wired a tape recorder to my phone

rudy

leo drummond here he says

rudy

you know my clients want to settle

these guys are important you know big

money people with big careers to protect

we’ll offer 175

000 to settle this thing right now

i don’t think so

look rudy

you need to talk to your client i think

she wants to settle

call her right now

i’ll wait here

the bastard probably has the microphone

wired to his phone

he wants me to call her so he can listen

i’ll get back to you mr drummond good

day

i hang up and play the tape

deck and i stare at the recorder

it was drummond

he put the microphones in

i guess we should tell kipler i finally

say

i don’t think so deck says

we know that drummond is responsible

because we’ve just caught him

but we can’t prove it

so what’s kipler going to do

accuse him without proof

let’s save it for the trial

let’s wait for the perfect moment

both of us smile

slowly

i wait two weeks and call drummond with

the sad news that my client does not

want his money

she’s acting a bit strange i say

one day she’s afraid of going to trial

the next day she wants her day in court

right now she wants to fight

he doesn’t expect anything he threatens

me by saying that great benefit will

take the offer back if the blacks don’t

settle now

i’m sure this sounds good to the ears

listening up in cleveland

as for me i’m slightly surprised at my

ability to ignore the money

i’m young

and there will be other cases

and i’m sure that great benefit is

scared and that they are hiding dark

secrets

i’m worried

but

i’m dreaming of the trial

booker and charlene invite me to

thanksgiving dinner

i get to their house and the first words

out of his mouth are

i passed it

his exam was re-graded

his score was raised

and now he’s a real lawyer

i tell him that dec and i have finally

made some money

we got a check the other day for a

client’s insurance claim

twenty five thousand dollars

the client gets sixteen thousand six

hundred and sixty seven dollars and we

get exactly eight thousand three hundred

and thirty three dollars

dec and i each took three thousand

dollars and left the rest in the firm

i bought a car with my three thousand

dollars

not exactly new

but a big improvement on my old toyota

i’m going to spend the christmas

holidays visiting max luberg and other

lawyers who have sued great benefit

end of cd2

cd3

chapter 10

an important discovery

it’s december 23rd when i finally arrive

in madison wisconsin

i find a small hotel and call max who’s

really happy that i’m in madison

i’ve called him about once a month for

advice on the black case and sent him

most of the documents

he knows the trial is six weeks away

he looks the same wild hair jeans

t-shirt

any office to settle

yeah several

they’re up to a hundred and seventy five

thousand but my client says no

that’s unusual

but i’m not surprised

it’s one of the best cases i’ve ever

seen

and i’ve looked at thousands

i tell them about our phones and the

strong evidence that drummond is

listening to our calls

then max and i start work

he wants to beat these people

save the best for last he says

play the tape of donny ray testifying

just before he died

it’s a wonderful picture to lead the

jury with

he slides something across the table to

me

this

is great benefits new policy

sold last month to one of my students

i paid for it

guess what’s not included now

bone marrow transplants

keep it and use it in court

i might even have to come and watch this

trial

when max and i say goodbye at the front

door of the law school

i can’t thank him enough

i’ve talked to four lawyers who’ve sued

great benefit

the first three were no help the fourth

cooper jackson is in spartanburg south

carolina

he’s not supposed to tell me most of

what he tells me

he’s settled with great benefit

and he and his client signed an

agreement never to tell anyone what the

details were

jackson had a client with a great

benefit policy who has refused treatment

the claim amounted to eleven thousand

dollars before they went to court great

benefit suddenly wanted a very quiet

settlement

this is the secret part

he says obviously enjoying himself

they paid us the eleven thousand then

threw in another 200 000 to make us go

away

amazing i say

it’s all here he says

pointing to three large boxes

claims are automatically denied and most

people give up

about 1 in 25 will actually go to a

lawyer

how can you prove this

it’s here in the company manuals i look

through the manuals

one is for claims

the other for underwriting

at first they appear identical to the

ones i have

then

i noticed something different

in the back of the manual for claims is

a section u

my copy does not have this section

and i begin to understand the way the

game is played

the manual for underwriting also has a

section u

when they are read together

the manuals direct each department to

deny the claim

then to send the file to the other

department with instructions not to pay

until they receive further instructions

those instructions

never arrive

neither of my manuals has a section you

the bastards in cleveland

and possibly their lawyers in memphis

hid these sections

it is an important discovery

cooper says that there are other lawyers

suing great benefit

we’ll keep in touch

the pre-trial conference is held in the

middle of january

we agree that two weeks should be

reserved for the trial though kipler

would like a five-day trial

now gentlemen

what about the settlement discussions

asks judge kipler

i’ve told them their latest offer was a

hundred and seventy-five thousand

he also knows dot black is not

interested

what’s your best offer mr drummond

well your honor

my clients are willing to offer two

hundred thousand dollars to settle

mr baylor

sorry my client has told me not to

settle

kipler hands a list to drummond and me

now these are names and addresses of the

possible jurors 92

we’ll pick the jury a week before the

trial

so be ready to go on february 1st

you may find out about their backgrounds

but any direct contact is a serious

offense

by the time we have to choose the 12

jurors

german will have a nice file on each of

these people

the files will be examined by a team of

expensive lawyers and psychologists who

specialize in juries

i on the other hand

have deck

i go to the mall at least three times a

week now she’s walked by only once so

far

but didn’t see me

i sit here tonight

watching for her and studying the jurors

information

my model juror is young and black

with at least a high school education

but women will be sympathetic to dot for

the loss of her child

the one type of juror i want to avoid is

a white male suit like the boys from

cleveland

chapter 11

choosing a jury

maybe i’ll think of a meaner trick

someday

but it’s hard to imagine

if drummond wants to listen to my phone

we’ll give him something really

interesting

it’s late afternoon i’m at the office

when deck calls me from the pay phone

around the corner

rudy deck here

i finally found dean goodlow

goodloe is a white male 39 college

education owns his own business

he’s a juror we do not want

where i ask him

at his office

we were wrong about him he’s not fond of

insurance companies

i gave him the facts in our case and he

got really mad

he’ll make a great juror

what a surprise

i say clearly

i want drummond to hear every word

how did he feel about talking to you a

little worried

i told him what i told the rest of them

i’m not a lawyer

and if they don’t tell anybody about our

conversation then nobody will get in

trouble

good

is good low with us

no doubt

we have to have him

i pick another person we definitely do

not want on the jury

what about dermot king

a good man

we go through the same routine with the

rest of the names and then dex says

what about you

nathan butt was a bit surprised to learn

that i was one of the lawyers on the

case

but he relaxed

he hates insurance companies i say

i wonder if drummond’s heart is still

beating

he knows that he can’t do anything

except stay quiet and try to avoid the

people we talked about

about 15 minutes later the phone rings

a slightly familiar voice says

rudy baylor please

this is rudy baylor this is billy porter

you came by today

what do you want

it’s actually deck’s friend butch

billy porter is a white male wears a tie

to work and manages a store we don’t

want him

yes well

it’s about the trial

is this legal

of course it’s legal

just don’t tell anybody

look

i represent the little old lady whose

son was killed by great benefit life

insurance

killed

yes

the company denied the boy in operation

he died three months ago of leukemia

that’s why we sued

we really need your help mr porter

i’ll bet leo drummond doesn’t sleep

tonight

the jurors arrived between 8 30 and 9.

for many it’s their first visit to a

courtroom

and they’re nervous

dot and i sit alone at the end of our

table facing the jurors

deck is across the room

in sharp contrast the defense table is

surrounded by five men in black suits

checking piles of paper which covered

the desk

i’m amazed that drummond does not

realize how this looks to the jurors

his client must be guilty

or why would they use five lawyers

against only one of me

they clearly have more people and more

money than we do

my poor client is weak

drummond and his boys refused to speak

to me this morning

i could tell that they are shocked and

disgusted by my direct contact with the

jurors

kipler enters the courtroom and

everybody rises

court is open

he asks which jurors want to be excused

and dismisses those

then dismisses some more

and we’re down to 50.

kepler goes through a list of questions

that he showed to both drummond and me

this gives us time to watch and study

each person

then it’s my

turn i stand walk to the bar

smile

and say the words that i practice a

thousand times

good morning

my name is rudy baylor

and i represent the blacks

after all those questions

they’re ready for something different

i look at them warmly

sincerely

now

judge kipler has asked a lot of

important questions

i have only one more question

can any of you think

of any reason

why you shouldn’t serve on this jury and

hear this case

no one says anything

i didn’t expect them to

thank you

i say with a smile

the jury looks fine to me your honor

drummond is on his feet

he tries to look calm and friendly

but he is burning with anger

he introduces himself and his client

asks a few general questions

then it starts

now

i’m going to ask you the most important

question

have any of you

been contacted about this case

it’s more of an accusation than a

question

the courtroom is perfectly still

this

is very important

he says

we need to know

there is no trust in his voice

let me ask it another way

he says very coolly

did any of you

speak with either mr baylor

or mr deck schifflett

i jumped to my feet

objection your honor

i agree

what are you doing mr drummond

kipler shouts

drummond says

mr porter

i’m going to ask you a direct question

i want an honest answer if you ask an

honest question i’ll give you an honest

answer

porter says angrily

yes now

mr porter

did you have a phone conversation last

night with mr rudy baylor

i stand looked directly at drummond but

say nothing

no i didn’t porter says his face is

getting red

are you sure mr porter he demands

i certainly am

i think you did drummond says

before i can object and before kipler

can do anything

billy porter jumps on drummond

don’t call me a liar you bastard

porter screams and puts his hand around

drummond’s throat

drummond falls

women scream

one of drummond’s expensive shoes goes

flying

i stay in my seat

thoroughly enjoying the show

after a short break drummond makes a

formal motion to dismiss the whole group

kipler

refuses but billy porter is excused

the process of picking jurors continues

through the afternoon in kipler’s office

drummond firmly avoids any of the people

deck and i mentioned on the phone last

night

the result is a jury of my dreams

six black females all mothers

two black males one a college graduate

one a disabled former truck driver

three white males all of whom are

sympathetic

one white female the wife of a wealthy

businessman

i couldn’t avoid her

and i’m not worried we only need nine of

the twelve to agree on a verdict

the trial starts in a week

four days before the trial begins deck

takes a call at the office from a lawyer

in cleveland

i call him back from the car phone which

doesn’t have a microphone in it

his name is peter corsa

and he represents a young lady by the

name of jackie

lemanchek she went to his office after

she was suddenly fired from great

benefit for no obvious reason

his client was sexually involved with

several of her bosses

her progress in the company and her pay

were based on her willingness

they are filing suit against great

benefit

i finally ask

will she testify

i talked to jackie lemanchek for an hour

i promise that her appearance will be a

surprise to great benefit

she’s scared to death of them

i think a surprise

would be lovely

chapter 12

the trial

the trial begins

my opening statement is short and goes

smoothly

there was a policy the premiums were

paid every week

it covered donny ray he got sick

he was refused treatment

and then he died

the purpose of this case is not only to

collect money from great benefit it is

also to punish them

drummond begins by holding up a copy of

the policy

this is the policy that mr and mrs black

bought

it doesn’t say that great benefit has to

pay for transplants

the jurors don’t like him

but this has their attention

this policy costs

dollars a week

but they expect my client to pay two

hundred thousand dollars for a bone

marrow transplant

now

they want the two hundred thousand

dollars and 10 million dollars in

punitive damages

i call that greedy

again and again he repeats himself

saying

it’s simply not in the policy

he decides to push me

the second time he mentions the word

greedy i object

kipler quickly agrees with me

dot is our first witness

she describes how awful it was not being

able to provide health care for her

dying son

then she reads the letters of denial

they sound worse than i hoped

denial from claims

denial by underwriting

all the excuses

letter after letter

and then

this stupid letter i watch the jurors

faces as dot reads

they can’t believe it

the courtroom

is silent

please read it again

i say

drummond objects

but kipler silences him

dot reads it again

this time with more feeling

this is exactly where i want to leave

dot

it would be a mistake for drummond to

get rough with her

he starts with some general questions

then

why did you sue great benefit for 10

million dollars

he wants to make her look greedy

she expects the question

10 million

she asks

that’s right mrs black 10 million

dollars

is that all

she asks

i beg your pardon

i thought it was more than that

is that

so yeah

your client has a fortune

and your client killed my son

i wanted to sue for a lot more

drummond keeps smiling and makes one

last mistake with dot black

what are you going to do with the money

if the jury gives you 10 million dollars

imagine trying to answer this in open

court

unprepared

dot however is very ready

give every penny to the american

leukemia society

i don’t want your rotten money

thank you drummond says and sits down

quickly

two of the jurors are openly smiling at

his embarrassment

next

ron testifies that he was a perfect

match and that he was ready to give his

bone marrow to donny ray

then it’s the turn of dr walter cord

he speaks clearly and explains the

disease and treatment so that the jurors

can understand

he tells them about the early test that

showed donnie ray had leukemia

what does this test cost

around a thousand dollars

and how did donnie ray pay for it

when he first came to the office

he filled out the normal forms and said

he was covered by great benefit life

insurance company

my staff checked with great benefit

and found that the policy did exist

did great benefit pay

no

we were eventually told that the claim

was denied

mrs black

has been paying fifty dollars a month

dr cord repeats the fact that ron black

was a perfect match for donny ray

if he had had the transplant

it would have worked

we call everett lufkin from great

benefit to testify

who is jackie lemanchek

i asked him

did you know her well

not really

she was just a claims handler one of

many

tomorrow she’ll testify that their

affair lasted three years

i’ve explained that the claims manual is

the key document that employees refer to

i hand lufkin the copy i was given by

drummond before the trial

i ask

mr lufkin

is this the whole claims manual

yes

are you certain

yes

i requested a copy from your lawyers

and this is what they gave me

yes

did you personally choose this

particular copy of the manual to be sent

to me

i did

i take a deep breath

could you open the manual to section you

please

he actually takes the manual and goes

through it

at this moment i’m sure he’d sell his

children for a section u

i don’t have a section

you i then gave him the copy cooper

jackson gave me

well mr lufkin

let’s talk about the mysterious section

you

let’s explain it to the jury

it went into the manual on january 1st

1991 correct

yes

the year that the blacks first claimed

let’s read paragraph three

paragraph three directs the claims

handler to immediately deny

every claim within three days of

receiving it

no exceptions

every claim

if we could stop right now the jury

would give whatever i ask

and they haven’t seen donnie ray yet

i meet jackie lemanchek’s flight and

take her to a hotel

we go through the questions i’ve

prepared

tuesday morning we have a few more

questions for lufkin

did you suggest to jackie lemanchek that

she should leave the company

i did not

did she receive any type of payment when

she left

no

she chose to leave

thank you

your honor i finished with this witness

drummond wants to get him out of here

your honor

we’re going to keep mr lufkin for later

drummond says

no surprise

the jury will never see him again

very well call your next witness mr

baylor

i say it loudly

we call jackie lemanchek

poor lufkin stops spins around wild-eyed

to the defense table then walks even

faster from the courtroom

how long did you work for great benefit

i asked jackie lemanchek

six years

and when did your employment end

october 3rd

how did it end

i was fired

you didn’t choose to leave

no

i was fired

who fired you

everett lufkin kermit aldi

jack underhall and others

i hand her a copy of a letter

this is a letter i typed and signed she

says

it states that you’re leaving for

personal reasons

the letter is a lie

i was fired so the company could claim

that i didn’t work there anymore

i was supposed to give a statement about

the claim of donnie ray black on october

5th

on the saturday before that

i was asked to come to the office for a

meeting with jack underhall

the man sitting there

in the gray suit

he’s one of the lawyers at great benefit

he told me i was leaving immediately

if i wrote that letter and kept quiet

the company will give me ten thousand

dollars

she bites her lip

struggles for a minute

then is able to continue

i’m bringing up two children alone

and there are lots of bills so

i had no choice

i wrote the letter took the cash and

signed an agreement never to discuss any

of my claims files with anybody

including the black file yes

especially the black file

then

why are you here

i talked to a lawyer

he told me the agreement i signed was

illegal

do you have a copy of the agreement

no

mr underhall wouldn’t let me keep one

but i’m sure he has the original

i slowly turn and stare at jack

underhall

so does every other person in the

courtroom

his shoes have suddenly become the

center of his life

why did you see a lawyer

i needed advice

i was fired for no good reason

but before that i was forced to have sex

with various important people at great

benefit

anybody we know

objection your honor

drummond says

this has nothing to do with the case

let’s see where it goes

please answer the question ms lemanchek

she takes a deep breath and says

i had sex with everett lufkin for three

years

if i was willing to do whatever he

wanted

my pay was increased

and i progressed in the company

when i got tired of it and stopped

i lost my job

and became an ordinary claims handler

again

my pay was cut by twenty percent

then russell croke it decided he’d like

to have an affair

he forced himself on me

told me that if i didn’t accept it

i’d lose my job

both of these men are married

yes

with families

they went after the young girls and

claims

i could give you a lot of names

i look at jackie

her eyes are red now

this is painful for her the jury is with

her

ready to kill for her

let’s talk about the black file i say

it was one of your files

that’s correct

the original claim form from mrs black

was given to me

i followed the company policy and i sent

her a letter of denial

why

why

because all claims were denied at first

in 1991

all claims

yes

it was our policy to deny every claim at

first

then to go back to the smaller ones

later

the big claims were never paid unless a

lawyer got involved

it was a one-year trial and it was

viewed by management as a wonderful idea

deny for a year add up the money saved

subtract the amount spent on quick

settlements

leaving a pot of gold

how much gold

an extra 40 million dollars or so

how do you know all this

if you stay in bed long enough with

these men you hear all sorts of garbage

i’m not proud of this okay

how was the black claim treated

it was denied like all the rest

but it was a big claim

so russell croke it checked everything i

did

they soon realized that the policy did

allow bone marrow transplants

it became a very serious file for two

reasons

first it was suddenly worth a lot of

money

and second

the insured man was going to die

so the claims department knew that

donnie ray black was going to die

of course

it was clear from his medical records

that he would die without the bone

marrow transplant

did you show this to anyone

i showed it to russell crockett

he showed it to his boss everett lufkin

the decision was made to continue the

denial

but you knew the claim should be paid

everybody knew it

but the company was dependent on the

fact that no more than one out of 25

people would talk to a lawyer

they sell these policies to people who

are not very educated

and when you received a letter from a

lawyer

if the claim was under five thousand

dollars and it was correct

we paid it immediately and sent a letter

of apology

big claims went to the management

i think they were almost always settled

quietly

thank you

i turn to drummond with a pleasant smile

and say

your witness

then i go and sit by dot who’s in tears

several of the jurors notice her crying

drummond tries to show that jackie

lemanchek is testifying because she

wants revenge

no

i’m here because i know how they cheated

thousands of people

this story needs to be told

after lunch i call mr wilford keeley the

number one boss at great benefit as a

witness

i show him the medical policy max luber

gave me

please look at page 11 section f

paragraph 4

subparagraph c

point 13.

do you see that

the print is so small he has to pull the

policy almost to his nose

i look at the jurors

the humor is not missed

got it

he says finally

good now read it please

he does

what is the purpose of that section

it explains that we don’t pay for

transplants

is bone marrow listed as a transplant

yes bone marrow is

listed i hand him a copy of the black

policy

what types of transplants are not

covered by this policy

hearts

eyes

all the main ones are listed

what about bone marrow

it’s not listed

so

it’s not stated that you don’t pay for

bone marrow transplants

that’s correct

when was this lawsuit filed mr keely

during the middle of last summer june

yes sir i say

it was june

was the language of the policy change to

remove cover for bone marrow transplants

after the claim was filed

i

don’t know

our final witness is donnie ray black

i sit close to dot as she wipes her

cheek with the backs of her hands

the faces in the jury box are

sympathetic

toward the end

i have a lump in my throat

we have done all the damage we can to

great benefit

and i am winning the case

now

we must try not to lose it

drummond’s first witness is andre weeks

an official in the department of

insurance for the state of tennessee

his job is to place the government

firmly on the side of the defense

drummond hands weeks the black policy

and they spend half an hour explaining

how each policy every policy has to be

examined and passed by the department of

insurance

after an extremely boring hour and a

half the jurors begin to lose interest

we stop for a 15-minute break

then it’s my turn

i hand him the black policy and ask a

few questions about it

he studies the small print in the policy

for a long time as everybody waits

kipler is smiling

drummond is angry

his next witness peyton ryski

president of a national insurance group

does even more damage

after drummond is finished with him i

show him the stupid letter

mr ryski

can you look mrs black in the eye and

tell her that her son’s claim was

handled fairly and properly by great

benefit

it takes him a second or two but he has

no choice

yes

it certainly was

i have planned to end this way but i

don’t expect it to be humorous

one of the jurors actually laughs at his

reply

then the juror behind her starts to

laugh

soon the whole jury box is laughing

it soon ends

but it is an absolutely wonderful moment

i go to bed early and fall asleep in

seconds

less than an hour later the phone rings

it’s an unfamiliar voice

female young and very anxious

i’m a friend of kelly’s

she says

almost in a whisper

she’s in trouble and needs your help

what’s happened

he came home drunk last night beat her

again

where is she

she’s hiding here at my place

after the police left with cliff she

went to see a doctor

luckily nothing’s broken

i picked her up

i get her name and address then dress in

a hurry

i hardly recognize kelly

she’s been badly beaten

one eye is completely shut

i bend over and kiss her on the top of

the head

thanks for coming

she says

through damaged lips

i could kill him

did the police photograph you i asked

kelly

robin answers

yeah they took a lot of pictures

show him kelly

he’s your lawyer

he needs to see

with robin’s help kelly carefully gets

to her feet

turns her back to me and lifts her

t-shirt above her waist

she is covered in bruises

what are you going to do kelly i ask

she has to file for a divorce robin says

if she doesn’t he’ll kill her

is this true

are we going to

file kelly says

yes

as soon as possible

i’ll do it tomorrow

she can’t stay here

cliff got out of jail this morning and

started calling her friends

i told him i knew nothing but he called

back an hour later and threatened me

it won’t be long before he finds her

there’s a secret safe house for women

who are beaten by their husbands

but it costs a hundred dollars a day

and she can only stay for a week

is that where you want to go kelly

she says yes

fine

i’ll take you tomorrow

this is never going to happen again

understand

she whispers

promise

i promise

i’ll file the divorce in the morning

then i’ll come and get you

i’m in the middle of a trial but i’ll

get it done

it’s almost 1am

sleep is impossible

so i drive to the office and prepare the

divorce papers

in this case i believe i am really

helping to save a life

i fall asleep at my desk

deck wakes me at seven

i tell him the story and he reacts badly

you spent the night working on a stupid

divorce

your closing argument is less than two

hours away

why are you smiling

great benefit is going down

no

that’s not it

you’re finally going to get the girl

that’s why

the divorce is on my desk waiting to be

filed

i’ll get it sent to cliff at work

chapter 13

the verdict

the trial has lasted only four days so

the important evidence is still fresh in

the jurors minds

in my closing argument i repeat the main

points of the policy and talk a little

bit about bone marrow transplants

i remind them that if donnie rae had had

the transplant

it probably would have saved his life

i list the hidden documents and the lies

that great benefit told

the message is plain

in jackie’s words the management at

great benefit decided to deny claims for

12 months

it was a trial to see how much extra

cash could be made in one year

it was a cold-blooded

greedy decision

the admitted wealth of great benefit is

450 million

how do you punish a company as wealthy

as this

i ask this question and see the juror’s

eyes shining

they can’t wait

i sit next to dot and wait anxiously to

see if drummond can change defeat to

victory

he begins with a weak apology for the

way he behaved when we were choosing the

jury

then he apologizes for great benefit

one of the oldest and most respected

insurance companies in america

those letters of denial were awful

his client was wrong

but his client has over six thousand

employees

it’s impossible to check every letter

no excuses though

mistakes were made

he’s trying to soften the jurors

he really doesn’t understand why the

jury should give dot black a percentage

of great benefits wealth

it’s shocking

how would that help

he has already admitted his client was

wrong

the people who were responsible for the

unfairness have left the company

he walks to the board and writes

746 dollars

the black’s monthly income

then he writes two hundred thousand

dollars and multiplies it by six percent

to get the figure of twelve thousand

dollars that’s one thousand dollars a

month if the money was in the bank

he then tells the jury what he really

wants

to double the blacks monthly income

great benefit can give them two hundred

thousand dollars and they can put it in

the bank

he’s persuasive

i see the jurors considering it

i hope and pray that they remember dot’s

promise to give the money to the

american leukemia society

please do what is fair he asks

and takes a seat

but i get the last word

i say

if the best you can do

is two hundred thousand dollars

we don’t want it

it’s for an operation that will never

happen

if you don’t believe that great benefit

deserves to be punished

then they can keep the two hundred

thousand

and will go home

i slowly look into the eyes of each

juror as i step along the box

they will not disappoint me

as judge kipler gives them their final

instructions

i relax

there are no more witnesses or emotions

no more worries about this juror that

i could sleep for days

this calm lasts for about five minutes

until the jurors leave to begin their

discussions

it’s almost 10 30.

the waiting now begins

deck and i file the riker divorce

then we go straight to kipler’s office

the judge congratulates me on a fine

performance and i thank him for the

hundredth time

butch will give cliff the papers at work

at noon lunch is sent into the jury room

and kipler sends us away until 1 30.

i can’t eat

i call kelly as i drive to robin’s

apartment

kelly is alone

she’s dressed in a loose suit and a pair

of robin shoes

she has no clothes or anything with her

she walks carefully in great pain

we just filed the divorce papers

i say

when he gets them he’ll go crazy and

come after you

i hope he does

but he won’t

because he’s a coward

men who beat their wives are the lowest

kind of cowards

don’t worry

i have a gun

i take kelly to the unmarked house on a

quiet street

she’ll be safe here

back at the courthouse booker waits with

me in the hall until deck calls my name

outside the courtroom doors

just be cool

booker says then both of us almost race

back to the courtroom

i take a deep breath

step inside and join dot at our table

drummond and the other four are in their

seats

the jury comes back into the box

has the jury reached a verdict

ben charns the young black college

graduate says

we have jana

please stand and read it

charns clears his throat and reads

we the jury

find the defendant great benefit guilty

an order that they pay two hundred

thousand dollars in actual damages

there is a pause

and punitive damages of 50 million

dollars

the bomb lands

and explodes

i’d love to run to the jury box and

start kissing feet

i’d love to go and throw my arms around

judge kipler

but i simply whisper

congratulations

to my

client she says nothing

i make a cross in my notebook and write

the name donnie ray black

i close my eyes and remember my favorite

picture of him

i see him sitting on the folding chair

at the baseball game

drinking coke and smiling

just because he’s there

my eyes water

he didn’t have to die

kipler thanks the jury tells them their

little checks will be sent to them and

asks them not to discuss the case

i’m not exactly rich yet

the verdict is so big that there will be

a big fight

great benefit will not pay easily

i have a lot more work

right now though i want to go and find a

beach

kipler closes the trial

i look at dot and see the tears

she’s a hard woman who doesn’t cry

easily

but she is losing control

someone turns off the lights and we sit

in darkness it’s finished

the last place i want to go is the

office

i say goodbye to deck in front of the

courthouse

promised to meet him later

what do you do with sixteen and a half

million dollars

i cannot begin to understand this amount

of money

i know a dozen things can go wrong

the case could be sent back for a new

trial the verdict could be changed

completely

i know these awful things can happen

but for the moment

the money is mine

i dream as the sun sets

maybe tomorrow i can begin to realize

what i’ve done

but for now

i’m glad to let the poison in my soul go

for almost a year i’ve lived with a

burning hatred of great benefit life

i hope donnie ray is resting in peace

i hope he knows what happened today

they’ve been proved wrong

i don’t hate them anymore

kelly and i are watching a john wayne

movie sitting on her bed

she’s wearing the same gray suit no

shoes or socks

i can see a mark on her ankle she’s

trying to be happy

but she’s in such physical pain that

it’s difficult to have fun

we sit close together

holding hands

the movie ends and the news comes on

after the usual stories the announcer

says

history was made today in a memphis

courtroom

a jury returned a verdict of two hundred

thousand dollars in actual damages

and 50 million in punitive damages

against the great benefit life insurance

company of cleveland ohio the largest

verdict ever in memphis

you won she asks

i won

50 million dollars

yeah

but the money is not in the bank yet

rudy

what can i say

it’s not that difficult

we had a great jury and the facts were

clear

yeah right it happens every day

you’re right

right now

i am the greatest

that’s better

she says

chapter 14

the last beating

on saturday morning the phone rings

this is cliff riker

i start the tape recorder

what do you want

where’s my wife

you’re lucky she’s not dead i’m going to

get you mr big

keep talking the recorder is on

the call ends

i call butch and tell him about my short

conversation with mr riker

butch plans to get cliff alone

mention the phone call and tell him to

stop threatening me

where there will be trouble

this is butch’s idea of a good time

our date on saturday is very similar to

the one on friday

except the movie is different

there are a few laughs a little more

touching

but not nearly

enough she really wants to get out of

that gray suit

they wash it for her once a day

but she’s sick of it

she wants to be pretty again

and she wants her clothes

she is sure that cliff will be playing

baseball tonight

he never misses a game

so we drive past the baseball field at

about seven

then go to the apartment to get her

things

i parked the car

and take a deep breath

are you scared

she asks

yes

i reach under the car seat and get my

gun

we go to her door

the key fits we’re in

hurry kelly i say

i put the gun on the kitchen counter the

place is a mess

i feel like a thief

every movement makes too much noise

my heart is beating loudly as i carry

things from the bedroom to the front

door

that’s enough i finally say

let’s get out of here

there’s a slight noise at the door

someone is trying to get in

she takes a step toward the door

and it flies open

cliff riker crashes into the room

kelly

i’m home he shouts as he sees her fall

over a chair

he swings his baseball bat directly at

my head

you bastard

he shouts

the bat just misses me i run at him

get the gun i shout to kelly

he’s quick and strong

i’ll kill you

he shouts swinging again

missing again

my foot lands perfectly between his legs

he drops the bat

i’ve got it

i swing hard and hit him directly across

his left ear

and the noise is almost sickening

bones break

he falls to his hands and knees then

raises his head and starts to get up

my second swing starts at the ceiling

and falls with all the force i can find

i bring it back down with hatred and

fear and it lands solidly across the top

of his head

then kelly blocks me

stop it rudy

i stop

look at her and then at cliff

he’s flat on his stomach making horrible

sounds

i’m going to kill the bastard kelly

i say breathing heavily still scared

give me the bat

she says

what

give me the bat

and leave

i’m amazed at how calm she is at this

moment

she knows exactly what has to be done

what

i ask looking at her looking at him

she takes a bat from my hands

leave

you were not here tonight

i’ll call you later

okay

okay

i step into the kitchen

pick up the gun

we look at each other

i step outside

close the door quietly behind me

and look around for neighbors

i feel sick

after 10 minutes the first police car

arrives

a second quickly follows

then an ambulance

i sit low in my car in a crowded parking

lot watching it all

kelly’s in there alone and scared and

answering a hundred questions

and here i sit

hoping no one sees me

should i go and save her he can’t be

dead

i think i’ll go back in there

the fear hits hard

i want them to carry cliff out and take

him to the hospital

i suddenly want him to live

get up cliff

walk out of there

but cliff doesn’t walk out

he’s carried out

the sheet is over his face

he’s dead

i open the door and disappear into the

crowd

he’s finally killed her

i hear someone say

police dream in and out

i listen carefully to what’s being said

in case anyone saw a stranger leave

their apartment

minutes later kelly comes out with a

policeman on each side

she looks tiny and scared

they place her in the back of a police

car and leave

i walk quickly to my car and drive to

the police station

i’m taken to a room where kelly sits

alone waiting to be questioned

i enter with a detective named

smotherton

kelly’s surprised to see me

but manages to stay calm

another officer arrives with the tape

recorder

after he turns it on

i say i’m rudy baylor lawyer for kelly

reicher

today is monday february 15

we’re at the central police station

memphis

i’m present because i received a call

from my client at about 7 45 tonight

she had just called 9-1-1

and said she thought her husband was

dead

smotherton starts with basic questions

about kelly and cliff

like birth dates marriage employment

children

she answers patiently

her left eye is still black and blue

the bandage is still on her forehead

she’s really scared

she describes the attacks on her in

detail and smotherton sends the other

detective to get the records of cliff’s

three other beatings

she talks about the baseball bat and the

time he broke her ankle with it

she talks about the last beating and the

decision to leave and hide

than to file for divorce

why did you go home tonight

smotherton asks

to get my clothes

i was certain he wouldn’t be there

where have you been staying for the past

few days

a home for women

here in memphis

how did you get to your apartment

tonight

my heart misses a beat

but she’s already thought about it

i drove my car

she

says where is it now

in the parking lot outside my apartment

can we take a look at it

not until i do i say remembering that

i’m a lawyer

how did you get in the apartment

i used my key

what did you do when you got inside

i went to the bedroom

and started packing clothes

how long were you there before mr riker

came home

10 minutes maybe

what happened then

i interrupt at this point

she’s not going to answer that until

i’ve had a chance to talk to her

this interview is now at an end

i push the stop button on the recorder

smotherton writes something on a sheet

of paper and hands it to me

this will be treated as a killing

but morgan wilson’s office which deals

with family violence will consider the

circumstances

you’re keeping her here

i have no choice

i can’t just let her go

i’m going to jail

kelly says

we have no choice ma’am

smotherton says

suddenly much nicer

your lawyer can probably get you out

tomorrow

but i can’t just free you because i want

to

he leaves the room

and i reach across and take her hand

it’s okay kelly

i’ll get you out as soon as possible

how much time could i spend in jail

you have to be found guilty first

and that’s not going to happen

promise

i promise

are you scared

she carefully wipes her eyes and thinks

for a long time

he has a large family

and they’re all just like him

all heavy drinking

violent men

i can’t think of anything to say to this

i’m scared of them too

they can’t make me go to the funeral can

they

no

good

they come for her a few minutes later

and i watch them lead her down the hall

when they stop at an elevator kelly

turns toward me

i wave slowly

then she’s gone

chapter 15

winners and losers

morgan wilson is a beautiful woman of

about forty

she has a firm handshake and a smile

that says

i’m a busy woman don’t waste my time

her office is full of files but very

neat and organized

i get tired just looking at all this

work to be done

we take our seats

then she realizes

the 50 million dollar guy

she asks with a very different smile now

that’s me

congratulations

she says

she wants to hear about my good fortune

i give her a description of the trial

and what it was like to hear the verdict

then i tell her why i’m here

she’s a thorough listener and takes lots

of notes

i hand her copies of the new divorce

file

the old one and the records of cliff’s

previous visits to the police station

i described the injuries left by a few

of the worst beatings and promised to

have kelly’s medical records by the end

of the day

that poor girl

morgan says

how big is she

about five foot five

110 pounds

how did she beat him to death

she was scared

he was drunk

somehow she got her hands on the bat

good for her

she says

and i can’t believe it

she’s completely on kelly’s side

i’d love to get her out of jail

i need to get the file and read it

but i’ll call the clerk and tell him we

have no objection

where is she living

in one of those women’s homes

but the poor thing is in jail right now

and she’s still black and blue from the

last beating

morgan waves at all her files

that’s my life

we agreed to meet at nine tomorrow

morning

the next day at the office the phone

rings

it’s peter corsa jackie lemanchek’s

lawyer in cleveland

corsa congratulates me on the verdict

then tells me some strange stuff is

happening at great benefit

the fbi arrived at the head offices of

great benefit in cleveland this morning

and started removing records

almost all the employees were sent home

and told not to come back for two days

a newspaper story says pin khan the

parent company has serious financial

problems

there’s not much i can say

i killed a man 18 hours ago

and it’s hard to concentrate on other

things

he promises to keep me informed

it seems to take forever

but i finally see kelly walking toward

me

smiling

and i quickly take her to my car

i tell her about threatening calls about

her that have been made to the prison

we suspect it’s his crazy family

i don’t want to discuss last night

and she’s not ready for it either

peter courser calls the office while i’m

hiding kelly

great benefits millions have disappeared

the money was taken out by pin khan and

sent to europe

deck looks like death

we sit in my office for a long time

without a word

we haven’t discussed it yet

but we both know that we’ve gone from

being paper millionaires

to having no money at all

the phone rings

deck answers it and listens for a minute

this guy

says he’s going to kill you

that’s not the worst phone call of the

day

i wouldn’t mind getting shot right now

he says

the side of kelly makes me feel better

we eat in her room

with the door locked and my gun on a

chair

there is a short story about cliff riker

in wednesday’s newspaper

nothing about great benefit

then a message arrives from peter

course’s office

mr wilfred keeley was arrested yesterday

afternoon as he and his wife were

waiting to board a flight to london

they claimed to be going away for a

quick holiday

they could not however produce the name

of a hotel anywhere in europe where they

had reservations

it appears that great benefit has been

robbed by its parent company over the

past two months

the cash went to safe banks all around

the world

anyway

it’s gone

morgan wilson has examined kelly’s file

and she wants to drop the case

her boss al vance isn’t so sure

it’s very simple mr vance i say

if you take it to trial

you’ll lose

i’ll wave that bat in front of the jury

you guys will look terrible trying to

put her in jail

he’s right al

morgan says

we couldn’t win

al needed to hear that from both of us

and agrees to dismiss it

morgan promises to send me a letter this

afternoon

i thank them

and leave quickly i almost run through

the parking lot to my car

they’re examining a bullet hole in the

office window when i arrive

deck was in the front office and the

bullet missed him by no more than 10

feet

his first call was to butch who came

immediately

deck tells us he’s fine but his voice is

very shaky

butch says he’ll wait just below the

window and catch them if they come back

god help the rikers if they plan another

drive-by shooting

deck and i decide on a private lunch and

we agree on a simple arrangement

deck gets the files he wants

and i get two thousand dollars to be

paid within 90 days

we agree on the details as we eat

and the business part of the separation

is easy

the personal side is not

we both know that deck has no future

i

talked to bruiser last night

dex says

where is he

the bahamas

is prince with him

yeah

this is good news

and i’m glad to hear it i’m sure dec has

known for some time

so

they’re safe i say

yeah

the money’s still here you know

how much

four million

it’s what they made from the clubs

it’s in memphis

they want me to take it to miami

don’t do it deck it’ll take two days and

it will make me rich

be careful deck

we shake hands

you made history rudy you know that

we did it together

yeah

and what do we have to show for it now

old war stories

deck’s eyes are wet

i watch him drive away

i go to my bank and take out my savings

twenty eight hundred dollars

i hide the bills under the seat of my

car

it’s nearly dark when i knock on the

black’s front door

dot opens it and almost smiles when she

sees me

over coffee i gently tell her the news

about great benefit

we probably won’t get a penny ever

i’m not surprised at her reaction

her eyes shine

and her face is happy as she listens

there appear to be several complicated

reasons for great benefits death

but right now it’s important for doc to

believe she caused it

she put them out of business

one little woman

destroyed those bastards

she’ll go to donny ray’s grave tomorrow

and tell him

kelly is waiting anxiously at the home

we sign the paperwork and thank everyone

then we hold hands and walk quickly to

the car

take a deep breath

and drive away

the guns under the seat

but i’ve stopped worrying

which direction i ask when we get to the

highway that circles the city

we laugh at this because it is so

wonderful

it doesn’t matter where we go

i’d like to see the mountains and snow

she says

i think we can find some

she moves closer

it’s amazing how little we’ve planned

for this

we didn’t know until this morning that

she’d be able to leave

we’ll settle in a place where no one can

find us

kelly and i will talk about cliff’s

death one of these days

but not anytime soon

we’ll pick a small college town because

she wants to go to school

she’s only 20.

i’d love to teach history in high school

that shouldn’t be hard to do

after all

i have seven years of college

i will not for any reason ever be

involved with the law

ever

you

第一章

黑色案 钱

被大型私营公司录取的幸运儿

每周工作 70 小时，但会赚到

真金白银

钱比我能

花的钱

至少我是这么想的

老丰田 尽可能冷静

地想知道我是否还有

工作

我走进大楼

理查德西班牙 一个非常好的人，

我第一次来这里时带我去吃午饭

坐在电梯旁

看着地板

理查德是我鲁迪 湾 劳尔

理查德一动不动

我坐在他旁边

怎么了理查德我问

他们解雇了我

他们解雇了我们所有人

廷利布里特只是想要我们的客户

你被解雇太鲁迪

你意识到你在开始之前就失去了你的第一份工作

我乘电梯到四楼

，你是谁

问服务台穿制服的警卫

rudy baylor

在这里，这是给你的

阅读并留下

它是一段

我没有工作

我没有钱

我有但是有一个案子

和它 可能是一个非常好的

我今年的课程

之一是老年人的法律问题

以获得经验我们参观了一个

老年人俱乐部并为他们提供免费的法律

建议

我们今天去

了似乎自从停止黑色出现以来已经过去了几个星期

有文件，

但只是今天早上，

她和她的丈夫比其他人年轻

，我和朋友，

我们没有多少钱她

尴尬地说

，

我们需要律师

她补充说

我问的问题是什么

我们被骗了 保险

c

五年前，当我们的两个儿子 17 岁时，我们开始了一项医疗政策

。

我们从未错过付款

我的男孩唐尼·雷八个月前得了白血病

，

现在他快死了，因为巨大的福利

不会支付骨髓

移植的费用

我移植 说困惑

我的孩子是同卵双胞胎

来自 donnie ray 的兄弟

ron 的骨髓与 donnie ray 的完美匹配

医生说

所以移植费用约为 150 000

他们的保险公司应该

支付它 它在保单中

这么说 所以 donnie ray 快死了 因为他们

dot 把一堆文件推过

桌子

我快速翻阅文件

保单和来往以及受益匪浅

的信件 你确定保单涵盖骨髓移植吗

我问

地狱 是的

我们的医生说他们应该支付因为

骨头 骨髓移植是常规

治疗现在

我首先看下

一封信它看起来像所有其他人一样

快速而讨厌

亲爱的布莱克夫人

这家公司之前

有七次 以书面形式提交了您的索赔，

我们现在第八次也是最后一次否认了

您一定是愚蠢愚蠢愚蠢

它是由索赔部门负责人签署的，

我不敢相信

我将不得不研究这些我说

您能寄给我吗 他的病历

肯定，

但请快点，鲁迪，

我的孩子快

死了

记录黑人每周支付 18 年的工资，连续五年

我一直在想

去年秋天教保险法的马克斯·卢伯格

我不是真正的律师，

但这是一个真实的案例

，我需要帮助

我在法学院找到了 blueberg 的办公室

书籍、报纸

和文件，

一团糟 他大喊

他是个瘦矮的男人，60 岁，头发狂野

，双手总是在动

他穿着牛仔裤和 T 恤

面包师，我能为你做什么，贝勒鲁迪

贝勒我说

然后我告诉 他关于黑人的斗争

有很大的好处

他会听每一个字

你有没有听说过很大的好处

是的这是一家出售很多廉价保险的大公司

非常不愉快

让我看看保单

他们拒绝付款的原因是什么

他们只是拒绝然后他们说

白血病 在他们购买保单之前没有承保

唐尼雷患有白血病

然后他是成年人并且

不在他父母

的保单范围内支付的所有保费布莱克夫人

说他们是我

回答混蛋

说最大微笑

最大喜欢这个 有点像穷人

对抗强大的大公司，你

检查了整个文件

是的，我读了客户给

我的所有内容我说

我给了他那封愚蠢的信他读了

两次

难以置信他

说我今晚会读完

没问题我说

可以 我明天肯定会回来的，

我会在任何时候见到他听他的建议，

然后为整个法学院的黑人打出两页的报告

托马斯

王子拥有的王牌 王子是个大个子，胳膊粗，

头发长

他喜欢坐在靠近大屏幕电视的桌子旁

看球赛 和

漂亮的女孩说话 喝酒

人们说王子的

商业活动不是完全合法的，

但

我不在乎

他每周对我

好 20 个小时 我每天每小时赚 5 美元

学生来找

工作

所以我很幸运能有这份工作

当你还是学生的时候当服务员没关系

但是 毕业后不行

我必须先找到一份真正的工作

我尝试了法学院就业

办公室 Madeline Skinner

她非常擅长她所做的事情

她在合适的公司认识合适的人

因为她帮助他们找到了

工作 他们离开了大学

你好 rudy

嗨

我说笑脸

艰难的一天 嗯 她知道

Broadnax 和 spear 想留住你

但新公司拒绝了 她说

所以还

剩下什么

我问的

不多 她说得

很快 事实上没什么

我应该怎么

做 阿尔 e

这个城市的 3 000 名律师大多是

独自工作或在小公司工作的人愿意

做他们不想要的工作

最近你有多少次给出这个

建议

我们有 15 名毕业生在找工作

谢谢斯金纳女士

我会继续寻找

检查 下周我和我

一起去图书馆

booker kane 正在等着去

酒吧和我一起读书

booker 是黑人，我最好的朋友

他和他的妻子 charlene 邀请我

吃晚饭，每月两次，已经三年了

booker

我丢了工作 在宽脖子和

长矛

他看起来很震惊

所以你要做什么

找到另一份工作

研究我告诉他们关于黑色案件

的事情max blueberg今晚正在阅读

第2章

当我到达max luberg的办公室时找工作他

微笑着

我读了整个 昨晚提交

这种行为是这些公司的典型行为，

他们卖给未受过教育的人，当

提出索赔时，公司拒绝

付款

，他们不经常被起诉，

他们的客户是那种

害怕法律的人 ers

和法律

制度 当他们被起诉时会发生什么 我一般问的

不多

全国各地都有一些大型定居点

，

但唐尼·雷快死了，因为他无法

得到他应该根据政策得到的移植

是的，

如果他的 父母已经告诉了你一切

这是一个很好的案例不是一个很好的案例

这是田纳西州，那里很少有

大型定居点，

尤其是在孟菲斯，

所以

我该怎么办

律师

给他们打了几个电话

做你能做的

谢谢

我

说黑色的房子是一栋小砖房

，

除了前院

比大多数人都整洁之外

温度将近

九十 门窗都开着

我轻轻敲门 点点来到

前门 是我 布莱克夫人 鲁迪·贝勒

我想谈几件事

我跟着她走进去 他的厨房

哥们不在

，我猜唐尼·雷在他的卧室

里我问哥们在哪里，

就像我们是老朋友一样，

她指着窗户指向

后院

，树下是一条古老的福特公平车道，

它是白色的，有两扇门，两扇门

开门

一只猫睡在屋顶上

他坐在他的车里

她解释说

这辆车好像很久没动了

我

问他要去哪里 她实际上笑了

伙计 他哪儿也不去 他坐在

那儿 每天一整天都

只是哥们和猫，

但他脑子不正常

一家有很多律师的大公司

可以拖延和拖延需要

多长时间

可能需要几个月

甚至几年

他会在

几个月内去世 诊断出

你为什么要等到现在才看到

律师

我认为保险公司会

支付索赔

我一直给他们写信 他们一直在

回信

我不知道

只是愚蠢 我想

我们多年来一直定期支付保费

从不

迟到 我从来没有使用过律师 你 不知道

离婚或类似的事情，

她悲伤地转身，透过

窗户看着美丽的小巷

他喝了很多你知道的

，我真的不在乎

这会让他开心，

我知道我没有任何经验，但

我 我愿意为你处理这个案子

她的脸上几乎是绝望的神情

一位律师和另一位律师一样好

奇怪的

律师如何在广告上花费巨资，

但仍有一些人像 dot

一样不认识一位经验丰富的

律师 法学院一年级学生

我将不得不与另一位律师合作，

直到我通过律师考试你知道

她问

我要花多少钱

赢不了，

我一无所获

我说她笑了

付了钱，

她上桌了

，现在就做，

好吧，

我要开始工作

了 他的律师

bruiser Stone 一个非常胖的男人，

长着浓密的灰白头发和一小撮

胡须，第二天他们看起来像两只熊

我和巴里 x

兰开斯特

有个约会 湖中的新星

乔纳森湖在孟菲斯很有名

他毕业于 法学院，

找不到工作，

所以他独自创业

一天晚上，他在圣彼得医院撞毁了摩托车，

醒来后腿断

了 隔壁床上的人也

出事了，

他的女朋友被严重烧伤 d

在他和莱克成为朋友后去世了

莱克签署了两起诉讼

并

在通过律师考试六个月后获胜

乔纳森莱克以 260 万美元解决了案件莱克

以 130 万美元获得了一半莱克建造了一个

办公室并挤满了人 他

学习刻苦训练自己很快

成为田纳西州最好的审判律师

巴里很忙

告诉我你的案子

我实际上是在这里找工作我

大胆地说

我看到你的助理广告

我真的很忙那

好吧 我说

我匆匆完成了我平常的例行公事，要

变得聪明，在班上名列前三名

，以及我是如何在broadnax和spear找到一份工作

的 付给我 24000 美元，

而不是通常的 421000

我会接受 我会

尽快回复

我会在 21 岁工作一整年

我保证我不会离开 12 个月

我会工作 60 70 小时 一周

没有假期

我会和莱克先生讨论一下，

也许他会同意

我也有一个

很好的案子 是你的

我想处理它并处理

客户

但费用是你的

我会

在我的公寓告诉你电话响了

它是巴里 x

我会雇用你作为助理 12

个月

我们将代表 黑人反对

巨额利益

你会处理这个案子 但你

不会收到任何费用

我

现在

什么时候开始 10 点后

我微笑着开车回家，

我早上第一件事就是给

布克打电话，告诉他这个好消息，然后我会带斯金纳夫人

去瑜伽士的王子那里买些花，他说他很抱歉

我要走了，但我 周末仍会工作，

直到我在湖区参加律师考试

的第四天，巴里递给我

一个薄文件，

我是 nt你去见黑人并让

这三个人都签署这份合同

现在需要完成

我打电话给dot并解释

当我到达时dot一个人在

厨房里

哥们不会进来

为什么我不问

医生只是看看 窗户

我会去接唐尼雷

我听到小点在和她儿子轻声说话

然后他们在厨房里

我站起来迎接唐尼雷布莱克

他肯定快死了，

但他微笑着伸出一只瘦骨嶙峋的手

，我

小心翼翼地握手 见到

你 妈妈说你好

他回答

他的声音很弱，但他的话很

清楚

她说你在起诉那些混蛋

是对的 我说

是爸爸进来了

donnie ray 问

他说他不会

伤心地说 dot

我从文件中取出合同

这必须由你们三个人签署

才能开始起诉他们

他说他不会进来

她

说拿支笔去那里让

他签署

唐尼雷告诉的事情 他妈妈生气

地穿过院子慢慢地走出去。

看到她来了就跳到车底下

车门开着 医生把合同推了

进去

我知道你认为他们疯了

唐尼·雷说 读懂我的想法

但他们是好人 如果我有

一些坏运气

甚至六个月前的移植地狱，

那么只要你摆脱这种情况，我就有 90 的机会被

治愈

，

请用它来照顾他们

桌

友已经签了

唐尼·雷

和他妈妈

在我离开

时签了 黑人

，我知道有问题，因为

她通常不会打电话给我

我刚接到一个电话，

她

说是巴里兰卡斯特先生打来的，他

说他是我的律师

，这是真的 dot

他是我公司的重要律师，

他和我合作得

很好

不是他说的

他打电话来看看我和唐尼雷明天能不能

来他的办公室

他需要签一些东西

我问你他说你不在

那儿工作

我突然觉得恶心

这是一家大公司 我是新人，他可能

只是忘了我，

不，

他说你以前在那里工作，

但现在不是，

这很令人困惑，你知道

我知道我跌倒在椅子上，试着

清楚地思考

现在快九点了，看点

让我打电话 兰开斯特先生，

看看发生了什么事，

我会给你回电话

我很友好

巴里鲁迪你看到我的报告了

吗，看起来不错

他听起来很累

鲁迪

有一个问题

乔纳森湖不想雇用你

我想和乔纳森谈谈 湖 我

尽可能坚定地说

绝对不是

他太忙

你这个混蛋

冷静 鲁迪

现在在办公室里

影子和我的肩膀

m 你的膝盖因害怕而发软

他至少六英尺六英寸黑 戴着一

顶黑帽子

你需要留下一些

他用低沉的声音轻轻地说

我将他的手从我的肩膀上推开然后走开

我在公寓的旧沙发上坐了几个小时

我诅咒，我哭泣

，然后我开始计划我的报复

我终于在沙发上睡着了，

但是九点后有什么东西把我

吵醒了，门口有两个警察

，我邀请他们进来

现在

发生了什么事我问

你知道乔纳森莱克斯的办公室在哪里

是的

你昨晚去

了吗 试着闯入

不 你确定

是

问

警卫 警察面面相觑

你能形容他吗

大个子黑人

大概六六连帽枪

问他 他会告诉你 我走了 当他

让我离开时

我们不能 问他

为什么不我问

一些可怕的事情是co 明，

因为

他死了，

他们都在仔细观察我，

看看我的反应

我很震惊，就像其他人

一样 我的车

是什么火

我再问

一遍 湖公司昨晚被烧毁了

巴里兰开斯特告诉你我会

成为一个很好的嫌疑人

我说

兰开斯特先生说

你昨晚去办公室时很不高兴

真的

但没有生气 足以放火烧掉

你们浪费时间的地方，我发誓

他说你刚刚被解雇，你

想和莱克·

真·真·真先生谈谈，

但这并不意味着我想

烧毁他的办公室

。 现在最好和律师谈谈

你是

我在瑜伽士办公室找到王子的主要嫌疑人，

他不是一个早起的人，我通常会

尽量避开他，直到他

喝了第三杯酒

，大约是下午 6 点，

所以我 太早

了 他怎么了

是的，

他的眼睛是红色的，他看起来很糟糕

，他心情不好

确定你没有这样

做 当然不是王子

你最好和律师谈谈

我请不起律师 我说

让我打电话给 bruiser

他拿起电话几分钟

后我们在公主的后面

凯迪拉克，他告诉我所有关于

他老朋友的职业生涯

奇怪的是我开始

放松 bruiser 晚上去法学院

，他 22 岁时毕业。

他和王子是孩提时代最好的朋友

，在高中

时 bruiser 上大学时，王子

买了一辆 啤酒车

他们可以写一本关于

他们从那以后一起

做过的事情的书

七月的律师考试

然后

我不知道

我会环顾四周

王子跳进谈话

你不能在这里使用他吗 bruiser

你有很多律师 有

什么不同让

他成为尖子生 聪明

努力

我看着像圣诞老人一样对我微笑的王子

我们都看着 bruiser 试图

想一个借口

嗯，

我肯定我一直在寻找优秀的法律人才，

但这并不完全是一个有薪水的

职位，

我希望人们为自己买单，那是

如何工作

的 每月一美元，

你保留三分之一的收入

三分之一去我办公室做

秘书工作

如果你的三分之一不到一千美元，

你欠我的差额

bruiser 密切关注我

他提供 我

是孟菲斯市唯一剩下的工作

，他知道我不想接受，

我什么时候可以开始，

但律师考试

不用担心，

他递给我一个戒指，上面有两把钥匙

自由出入与我们所有人

晚上要小心

这不是镇上最好的地方

还有别的

我给他一个关于黑色案件的快速事实报告

并解释巴里兰开

斯特如何利用我所以他可以窃取

我们今天必须提起诉讼

的案件因为兰开斯特在技术上拥有

案件我 认为他很快就会提交

让客户与湖签约，

是的，

但我现在要去见他们，

他们会听我的

bury x lancaster

将由所有

与 Lake 结束合同的黑人签署

他慢慢地阅读它们

这是一项好工作 rudy

让我猜

你今天下午提起了诉讼

给黑人看一份副本 然后让他们

在信上签字

对了

我只需要 你的名字和诉讼上的签名

我会做所有的工作并随时通知你

我喜欢

诉讼的价值

可能不管陪审团

说什么你将成为审判律师

我需要一点帮助

这是关于一个 一两年后

我会解释 让你去 dex shifflet

他曾经在一家大型保险公司工作，

并为我检查了很多保单

他的办公室就在你的楼下

重写这份文件 把我的名字写

在

上面 我们今天会提交

只是确保 客户同意

他们会感谢我

在法院办公室关闭前五分钟说

我对巨额人寿保险提起诉讼

我的客户黑人要求 20

万美元的实际损失

加上 1000 万美元的惩罚性

赔偿

1000 万

，因为听起来不错

审判律师一直这样做

巨大的利益已被正式起诉

我跑过镇子到我的委托人

哥们在外面，

但 dot 把唐尼·雷从他的房间里接过来

，我们三个人围坐在桌子旁

他们欣赏他们的诉讼副本，

而且大数字

点不断重复一千万的总和

我解释了湖公司那些可怕的人发生了什么，

但多德和 donnie ray 真的

不在乎诉讼是否已经提起

，他们可以随时阅读，

他们想知道接下来会发生

什么以及快速解决的可能性有多大

这些问题很难

我知道这个过程将花费太长时间

我对隐藏这一点感到很残忍

我说服他们签了一封解雇

barry x lancaster 的信并

与 j lyman Stone 公司签订了一份新合同

我解释了新的文书工作

donnie rae 我看着 dot

和她丈夫在

车里吵架 现在变得更快乐了，

他们终于反击并起诉了

这家他们讨厌的公司，

但我还有其他问题

我不知道 bruiser 是如何期望我

立即开始赚钱的

我会在 yogi’s 继续

吃一小时 5 美元的晚餐，这个镇上的一些

啤酒

公司通常希望他们的

律师穿着漂亮的西装 开一辆好

车

住在一个体面的房子里，

甚至花时间在合适的俱乐部

而不是我的冷杉

我可以穿任何东西去任何地方

而且没有人会突然在乎

我有一种美妙的独立感

我会

没事的

我需要告诉布克我最近

三年的冒险经历现在我们已经能够

互相鼓励和帮助

必须回去

学习律师考试

第四章

去医院旅行

我在办公室想知道

这个月我应该怎么赚一千美元

当 bruiser 进来时

他滑了一张纸 我

桌子对面是一份警察报告的副本 他说

已经走到门口

了 我突然害怕了

不

这是事故报告

昨晚发生车祸

可能是醉酒司机闯红灯

但你的工作就是把案子

找出来 找出你能找到的

一切 可能有一些伤病

我完全糊涂了，他就这样离开了我

事故报告中充满

了司机和乘客的信息 姓名

地址 电话 没有数字 受伤

车辆损坏 目击者报告

两名司机都被送往医院

闯红灯的

那个人一直在喝酒

我现在该怎么办

我的车门慢慢打开了 一个瘦小的

男人把头埋在

鲁迪 我是迪克 shifflet

他面

无表情地说 bruiser 说你有一个案子你

想谈谈

很高兴认识你

可能是 40

或 50 岁

。他的大部分头发都掉了，他戴着

又厚又脏的眼镜

很难判断他的头是否 是

特大或他的身体很小，

但两个不适合

可怜的甲板是我见过的最丑陋的人

之一

是的我说

这是一个保险

案你是这里的律师之一

不是真的

我去过法律 学校，但我没有

通过律师考试

啊，就像我一样

哦，真的，

我说

你五年前什么时候完成法学院的，

你看我在考试中遇到了一点麻烦

我已经尝试了五次

对不起听到它什么

时候 你接受吗

他

紧张地问七月

这很难不是吗

是的，

我已经一年没有接受了，我不

知道我是否会再试一次，

是的，

你为 bruiser 工作了三年多长时间了，

他像对待其他人一样对待我，

我发现他们的案件给了他

他的钱

每个人都很高兴

我把事故报告交给他，他

很快就读

完了 bruiser 把它给了你

是

的

这通常是找到他们的最佳地点

你去医院

肯定

一直

bruiser 在警察局有一些联系人

他们几乎每天早上都会向他发送这些事故

报告 他

在办公室周围分发这些报告 他

希望我们去拿案件

哪家

医院 他们在法学院教过你什么

他们没教我们追

救护车

那你最好学快点 不然

你会很饿

打电话给家里的电话

告诉谁回答你

是孟菲斯警察局 重新部门，你需要和

受伤的司机谈谈，

他不能接电话，因为他

在医院里

你问

我感觉哪个不舒服，

然后

你看起来是什么新人

让我们去找这个

我真的不想要的男孩

我想走出这个地方，

再也不会回来，

但此刻我无事可做，

好吧，

我说

他跳起来在

外面见我，

我会打电话给

圣彼得医院甲板上的哪家医院 几秒钟内直接带我

到问讯处

他有 dan van landal 的房间号

我们可能的客户

不要表现得像个律师 他低声说

deck 很遗憾地这样做过很多次

vanlenl 三十多岁

一只眼睛几乎完全肿了

关

上 另一个下有伤口

一条胳膊断了 一条腿受

了重伤，被抬到床上 他的下巴

被绑住了

下午好 范伦德尔先生

你能听到我 你

是谁

他通过他的牙齿问

法律 甲板移位 他说的莱曼石公司

完全自信

你没有和保险公司谈过你有没有

像那套牌

表明谁

不是我们的坏人

不

说van lendl

好

不要和他们说话

他们只是想欺骗你

甲板说已经给出建议

我们已经 查看事故报告

闯红灯的明显案例

我们要去那里

拍照 与目击者交谈

我们必须在保险公司找到目击者之前迅速完成

有时他们甚至给他们钱让他们

撒谎 法庭

我们需要快速行动

你有律师吗

我屏住呼吸

没有

他说得

很好

我的公司处理的汽车残骸

比孟菲斯的任何人都

多 我们得到了非常大的和解

保险公司害怕我们

我们不收费 我们照常行事

当他完成最后一句话时，我们收回的任何钱的三分之一他

正在退出合同

这是一份简短的合同，

一页

三段

，足够

甲板在他的脸上挥动它，以便van

lentil必须接受它

他' s刚刚度过了他一生中最糟糕的夜晚

他很幸运现在还活着

他必须检查法律文件

并做出明智的决定

你能

等我的妻子吗

他几乎

是在乞求 我们会不会被抓住

我的神经很糟糕

你在哪里 妻子

他问

她很快就会回来

他说

每一个字都很

难受 递给他一张

名片

dex 说的几件事

除了你的医生保险之外不要和任何

人说话 今天可能会在这里

试图让你签署表格和

他们甚至可能为你提供和解的

东西 在我阅读之前不要签署任何东西 如果

你有我的号码

rudy baylor 的号码在后面

，你可以随时打电话给我们

我们会一起处理这个案子

good

deck 在他回复之前说的任何问题

rudy 早上会带着

一些文件回来

让你的妻子给我们打电话

今天我们和她谈谈很重要

他对van lentil微笑在

他改变主意之前该走

了 如果那家伙

已经有律师了，我问他已经

开始正常呼吸了

我们什么都没有来到这里我们没有什么

可失去的

你看看法学院的鲁迪他们没有

教你你需要知道的东西

你对在那里感到紧张

不是你吗？

我是的，

这样追救护车在道德上是错误的

那家伙会和我们在一起，

可能

我们在合适的时间找到了他，

你需要在几个

小时内

给他打电话，和他的妻子谈谈，

提议今晚回来

和他讨论这个案子，

但我不确定

看 鲁迪他是我们的cli 耳鼻喉科现在

你有权去看他，

没有任何人可以做的放松

我们在三楼甲板上的一家咖啡馆用塑料杯喝咖啡

更喜欢这家咖啡馆，因为它在

医院的一个新区域

，很少有律师知道它的

一部分 我的新工作是花时间

在这里寻找可能的客户

该地区还有两家医院

，dec 也知道他们的咖啡馆在哪里，

他建议我从圣彼得开始，

因为它有最大的

急诊室，

夜间时间很好，他 说因为

病人觉得无聊，如果他们能

自己开车下楼吃点心

第 5 章

第二天早上会见凯莉 bruiser 早早在

办公室 范伦德尔干得不错 他说

听听甲板

这可能是

警察想要采取的一个很好的解决办法 你

在火上的陈述

他们会在这里和我一起做现在

我似乎

别无选择如果我拒绝我问

他们可能会带你去

车站

我建议你和他们谈谈

然后他们会 别管你

，来我公寓的还是那两个警察

我们四个人围坐在一张小桌子旁

，手里拿着两台录音机，

他们浪费时间

通过检查同样不重要的细节来寻找我的故事中的漏洞，

但我说的是

实话 最后 bruiser 很生气，

告诉他们离开后继续前进

bruiser 说他会和他们的老板谈谈

并关闭我的档案

不要担心这就是结束 他们

并不真的认为你做了

他们只是有 向你提问

我感谢他 他递给我一个小手机

一直随身携带

他说

我可能需要你

那个小东西突然变得更

重

他可以随时随地联系到我

现在

我回到 圣彼得斯的咖啡馆 一段时间后可以

躲起来学习

，令我惊讶的是，我

决定我喜欢

那里 咖啡还不错 它很安静

，没有人认识我

它非常适合

学习 电话铃声

它的瘀伤

任何运气

不，我说

钓鱼快乐，他笑了 d 他

大概 10 点去瑜伽

馆了 我一个人在咖啡馆

我正在努力学习 当我听到

一个年轻女人轻微的咳嗽声 抬头

看到一个坐在轮椅上的病人

她很年轻

而且非常漂亮

她的脚踝看起来很漂亮 被打破，

脸上有瘀伤

一个穿粉红色夹克的老人给了她一杯

果汁 你是凯莉 他温柔地说

30 分钟

是的，请

他抚摸她的肩膀，让

我们独自一人，

但我尽量不要盯着

看 她举起酒杯 我注意到

两只手腕上的绷带

虽然她很漂亮

我不想

在她身上练习 dex 说服技巧

她看起来

很

伤心 我不想让事情变得更糟

她戴着结婚戒指

她不能 超过 18 岁。

我试图专注于法律

至少 5 分钟，

但我注意到她擦拭了她的眼睛，

我很快意识到她的眼泪

不是因为她身体受伤的痛苦，

也许是车祸，她的

丈夫是 被杀，她受伤了 d

这可能是一个很好的情况

我试着把注意力集中在我的书上

然后我走过去买另一杯

咖啡

当我停在她的桌子旁 她慢慢

抬起她美丽的湿润的眼睛

我吞咽着

说有什么我能做

的吗 你在吗 痛苦

不，

她小声说，

但

谢谢，

我肯定说

我在那儿为律师考试学习

如果你需要什么，

谢谢

她再次说

几分钟过去了，

我翻过一页，看着她，同时

她看着我

和我的 心跳漏了一拍

我尽可能长时间不理她 然后我

抬起头

她又

在痛苦中迷失

了 眼泪从她的脸颊流下

穿着粉红色夹克的善良老人

回来了 轻轻地把她推回

她的房间

我想 跟着

他们问他关于她的事，

但

第二天晚上我不在同一张桌子上

听我的谈话

我忽略了一些明显可能的客户

并研究了几个小时

我的注意力完全集中

在 10 种方法中

我开始环顾四周

每当遇到 新客户

大约五分钟

后，奥马尔走进咖啡馆，同一个老人小心翼翼地

把她推了进去。

她挑了一张和昨晚一样的桌子

，一边给我取橙汁一边对我微笑

我想她今晚涂了淡红色的

口红

和一点点眼妆

她

非常漂亮

她的眼睛清澈

闪亮，

没有

悲伤 他把她的橙汁放在

她面前，

说着他昨晚说的同样的话

你是凯莉

30

分钟 45

她说

我今天想了很多关于凯莉的事

，我 我有一个计划

我假装她不在那儿

几分钟然后慢慢起身

再喝杯咖啡

我停在她的桌子旁说

你今晚做得好多了

我感觉好多了她说

请坐

我厌倦了 和护士说话

我叫

rudy baylor，

你是 kelly 你

我正在为律师考试

而学习，这是一个安静的地方，

所以

你将成为一名律师，

确定

我几周前完成了法学院毕业在

一家公司找到了一份工作

我只需要通过律师考试现在

发生了什么事

我 看着她的腿问

是我的脚踝

他们在里面放了一个金属别针

这是怎么发生的 这是下一个明显的

问题 我认为这对她来说很容易 她

没有

犹豫 她的眼睛里充满了

泪水

她说的说来话长 并把目光移开

你想成为什么样的律师

我喜欢审判工作我说

代表罪犯

也许

他们有权为凶手辩护，

是的，但大多数人无法支付私人

律师的费用

我对此很认真，我不确定她的伤势

穿粉红色外套的男人来带

凯莉回到她的房间

我很高兴见到你我说

她微笑着说谢谢

明天晚上的谈话我问

也许第二天我 给甲板

关于凯莉里克的主要细节 呃

，不到一个小时，

他带着自豪的微笑溜进我的办公室

凯莉·瑞克三天前午夜被带到圣彼得教堂

邻居们报警

发现她被打得很惨

她的丈夫克里克·瑞克喝醉了，

拿着棒球棒

凯莉给 一个简短的声明

他从他们打的一场棒球比赛中喝醉回家

他赢了

她说他用球棒两次击打她的

脚踝，用手击打她的脸两次

他

发生了什么事

他在监狱里度过了一夜然后他的

家人得到了 他

出去他不会上法庭，但

你怎么知道，

因为

这发生在

八个月前，警察接到了同样的

电话，

他们有过类似的打架，

只是她更幸运

他没有使用球棒，

然后三个月前他 用了它，她

在圣彼得斯呆了一个星期，

但她不想让他进监狱。

这种情况经常发生

，我需要一点时间才能理解

一个男人怎么能用棒球棒打败他的妻子，

悬崖里克怎么能打到这样的 一张

漂亮的

脸 别的什么

不

只是不要

靠得太近 下次我看到凯莉悬崖

推她的椅子

他们吵架 她开始哭

然后他走了

时间流逝 凯莉默默地哭泣

悬崖没有回来 所以现在去她那里是安全的

对不起，她说

你能带我去我的房间

吗？我们一个人在电梯

里好吗？

是的，

她拉着我的手，

非常感谢，

你觉得悬崖怎么样？

你想让我见他，不是吗？我

猜 所以

他应该被枪杀

不 凯利

任何用棒球棒殴打妻子的人都

需要被

枪杀 你怎么知道

她问

警察报告救护车报告

医院记录

档案离婚凯利

我已经试过了，

但他说他是 如果我

不停止，

他会杀了我他说他爱

我第二天晚上那个小老头过来

说你是

贝勒先生吗瑞克夫人让我把

这个

亲爱的鲁迪给你

我的医生说我可以回家

谢谢你 一切都

在为我们祈祷，

你很棒 ul

她签了她的名字然后补充说

请不要打电话或写信或试图见

我

这只会造成麻烦

她知道我会在这里等待

我从没想过她会离开但

我不会去 为了忘记她，

她需要我，

因为没有其他人可以帮助她

律师考试

但很难集中注意力

为什么我会爱上一个已婚

女人 门突然打开了 bruiser

冲进

来 你在做什么

他要求

学习

今天

星期五 下星期三开始考试

我刚接到 leo f drrummond 的电话

他是 tinley britt 的合伙人

优秀的出庭律师很少输

我对 tinley britt 的一切都了如指掌 我

很快就会了解他们

他们代表了巨大的利益

llar

对一家由律师代理的大公司提起诉讼

他真的很钦佩

他所说的话 他告诉我法官

将是 harvey hale 他的一位老朋友

他认为公平的判决是不到

一万美元

抱歉我问了

所以

我们有 leo fdrummond 和他的工作人员，

他们有他们最喜欢的法官，

你有很多工作要做

几个小时

他们可以向他们的客户收取费用，因为

他笑着关上门

我突然感到非常孤独

星期三到了，试卷

正好在早上 8 点发完

，完全无法判断

我的准备情况有多好

booker 我和我一起吃午饭，但不是

有人说考试

晚餐是三明治 我

九点睡觉 考试在星期五下午 5 点结束

我们吃披萨 喝了几杯啤酒 但

太累了不能

喝醉 预订者在回家的路上告诉我

考试 让他成为了物理学家 生病了，

他确定他失败了，

我周一睡了 12 个小时

我的桌子上有一张便条，

看 bruiser

他把一堆纸推到我面前

这就是为什么起诉大公司很痛苦

这是驳回议案的巨大利益

动议 黑人诉讼，

并有一份

64 页的文件支持

他们会提出每一项动议 他们可以

赚钱 审判被推迟

你累

了 三读后很忙 我冷静下来

开始记笔记

我想我有多讨厌 巨大的

好处以及它对我的客户

和我努力工作的影响

dec 养成了今天

去我办公室吃午饭的习惯，

他告诉我他认为 bruiser

与周六

作证不利于他的前商业伙伴

有麻烦 参加律师考试一个月后，

我收到一封信，告诉

我第二天早上我通过

了律师考试

我是真的，

我正在寻找 booker kane，

但他没有在名单上

是一个骄傲的人，他一直

相信他可以实现

我想开车去那里的任何事情，

但它不会起作用

他明天会打电话祝贺我

打电话给甲板和我到他的办公室

他在谈论之前祝贺我通过律师

考试 van lentil

解决方案

van lentil 将在今天晚些时候要求

他们分享十万

美元

他觉得甲板和我应该

为我们的工作得到一些东西

这是一个快速的解决方案并且 bruiser

已经在它上面工作了不到六个小时

甲板 我想知道他在

六个小时内做了什么他的份额是三分之一

三万三千美元

我要给你们三分之一的孩子

们平分

谢谢 bruiser 真的很慷慨我

说

是的谢谢

说甲板

我们都很惊讶，但我们认为

bruiser 6 小时的工作可以获得 22000 美元，

但我没想到什么

，突然我觉得

我们很富有，我们准备好迎接明天了吗

bruiser 问

我你打算

反对驳回案件的巨大利益动议

我认为所以我紧张地回答

我可能会让你处理一些

争论所以准备好

我们三个人都会上法庭

他们将有 20 人在那里

甲板我吃牛排午餐 房子

很奇怪

他说

bruiser 像这样把钱捐出去是不常见的

相信我

我知道这

就像

他们在监视他 警察

他们很乐意让他

破产 是

的 我们会被夹在中间

我告诉你鲁迪我很紧张

所以你在说什么

我们必须出去

现在

我开始问他的意思

但很

明显不能单独工作

而且我已经通过了 律师考试

所以他需要

我 我们有钱

ow 说 12 月

我们可以租一个办公室开始我们自己的

事业

不，

这太贵了，

我回答说，

甲板看着我，微笑着

嘿，

我已经找到了一个好地方，

现在很便宜，

等一下，甲板

相信我，我们得搬家了

知道的

事情 我不能告诉你 好的

bruiser 有大麻烦了

我强烈怀疑 Deck 说的是实话

让我继续睡觉

好吧

我们明天

在咖啡馆开庭见面 我们不能在办公室说话

把你的文件带回家

今天

下午你

在办公室

还想做什么 摇晃

这对他来说是一个重要的时刻

你是否删除了所有文件他

低声说

是的和你我已经在八点把东西拿出

来一周

我们走到我们的办公室

但是到了八点 15

bruiser 仍然没有到达

他说他 我会在 12 月 8 日到那里，我会在

12 月 1 日离开办公室

九号

放松 dex 说

bruiser 会在法庭上

，如果他不在，

你会没事的

bruiser

他不在

这里生气地看着我的不愉快的人

一定是法官哈维黑尔

在我左边是一群

看起来都一样

的男人 黑案

和你是谁

动议你是律师吗

我刚刚通过了律师资格

但你还没有拿到执照

呃 不 先生 下周

一位律师

代表记录 我的名字是

tinley britt 的 leo f drrummond

我们反对这个年轻人争论

无证动议 我对我

很敏感

，

我已经恨他了 很好地通过了酒吧，

让我们继续，

drummond 开始了，很快就变得无聊，

然后轮到

我了，我很紧张

，当我完成时，法官说

我想私下见你们俩

我做得很好

，当我们进入时，法官站在他的桌子后面

请坐，

我们说

我真的厌倦了这些类型的

诉讼

房间对面的一扇小门大声地锁上了

我很无语 德鲁蒙德 看着我所有的

温暖和微笑

看起来很鲁莽

将在 50 到 75 000 之间

他在等我 想说点什么，但我

只是盯着他的领带

巨大的好处指示我向

您

和您的客户提供

75 000 来解决这个案子

十几个疯狂的想法在我

脑海中闪过 25 000

我的费用

我可以看到

但他为什么要给我 钱，如果

他的朋友哈维准备

驳回此案

，然后

我意识到

这是例行公事，

哈维吓坏了我，然后利奥轻轻地走进来，

他们在这间办公室里这样做了多少次

，

这是一次性的报价，只有好的 在

接下来的 48 小时里，

如果你说不，那是第三次世界大战，

他

从他的私人小洗手间里恢复了他的荣誉

，现在轮到里奥

为自己找借口了，这

不是一场伟大的诉讼，恐怕黑尔说，

也许我可以说服里奥做出一个

提出和解

他只是向我提供了

辩护费用我说

黑尔试图表现出惊讶

他嘴巴张开的七万五千

看儿子

你疯了如果你不接受

你认为所以我问玩他的

游戏 做 或者打开，leo 回来

了 他的荣誉盯着 leo 说

75000

这就是我的客户所说的

leo 解释说

我确信有两件事，

第一，

黑尔对驳回诉讼是认真的，

第二，

德拉蒙德太急于解决

我离开房间

在开车回办公室甲板的路上，leo 搂着我的肩膀

提出了一个很好的论点，即现在

再多的钱都无法挽救 donnie ray 的

生命，

所以我们应该尽我们所能，

让 dot 的事情变得更容易一些，而 buddy

bruiser 的秘书正在哭泣 当我们

到达时，

没有人见过 bruiser，她知道

出了什么问题，

我打电话给瑜伽

王子，他会知道 bruiser 在哪里

别再想着

凯莉瑞克了

pter 7

donnie ray 的陈述

点让我坐在厨房的桌子上，

说 donny ray 越来越虚弱，

我们昨天第一次上法庭，

我告诉

她保险公司已经提出

了结案

，

他们计算了多少 我会付给他们的律师

000 美元来为这个案子辩护，

所以他们现在提供它来解决

所有问题

那些

混蛋认为他们现在可以让我们闭嘴了，

是的，他们认为

唐尼·雷去年需要骨髓

移植

太晚了

我同意

她的眼睛又红又湿

我错了

这位母亲没有放弃

我们应该用

七万五千美元做什么

公平巷

我猜你说过我们会接受它不是

你当然不是

我不能未经你的许可解决这个案子

我们必须在明天早上才能决定

我们最好和唐尼雷谈谈

她说并带我去他的

卧室 ie ray 给了我一个大大的微笑，并

试图保持微笑

dot 握着他的手，他仔细听着

他们会不会走得更高

他问

很大的好处 已经从

0 到 75,000

dec 的跳跃，我怀疑他们可能会

高达 100 千，

但我不会在我的客户面前如此乐观

我怀疑我说

但我们可以试试

你能得到多少

他问

我解释我的第三个如何从顶部掉下来

他看着他的母亲并说

那是 50 000 你和爸爸

你可以付完房子的钱

买辆新车

把钱存入银行 以备不时之需

我不要他们的钱

唐尼·雷碰我的胳膊

你想和解

吗 鲁迪 不 我不 我说

我看

如果他们不担心，他们就不会提供这笔钱。

我想让人们知道有什么巨大的好处

在城镇甲板上被解雇正在等待

骄傲地微笑

你认为

四 r ooms plus 洗手间

还不错

他说

我认为这将是接待

区

也许我们会在雇用一个秘书时将其用作秘书

我们穿过一扇敞开的门进入

短途

每边一个房间

这里是最大的 所以

我想你会需要它

我走进我的新办公室

，我很惊喜

它大约 15 英尺乘 15 英尺，

街边的窗户又空

又干净，

我想我们会用另一个房间

开会

i' 我会离开这里工作但我不会弄得一团糟

他努力取悦我

只是放松甲板我喜欢

嘿

我差点忘记

他打开电视

这是中午新闻

报道我们首先看到的是我们的老办公室

员工 被允许来来去

去，但不允许移走任何

东西 下一个镜头是从一个俱乐部外面拍摄的

疑似麻木的托马斯 呃犯罪活动

王子喜欢现金

我在瑜伽士的第一天就知道很多，一位

女服务员告诉我，无论他做了什么，

王子收入的 80% 都没有被报告

过

王子是我的朋友

，我希望他安全

奔跑 bruiser run

dex 说

我 知道 dex 很难

控制自己的兴奋

拥有自己的办公室并

在没有法律执照的情况下保留一半费用的想法

对他来说很好

起床

很难表现得好，

你看到他问我睡着的报纸了吗？

抱歉，

bruiser 和王子在头版，

如果你想在四点起床，那

很好，

但不要在七点八点之前给我打电话，

对不起，但还有更多的

猜测 谁昨晚

死了

我问他

是不是我不知道为什么

62. 你需要看看报纸

是的

我会做那套牌

稍后见

报纸今天早上似乎有点重

，我敢肯定这是因为

至少有一半的故事是 关于

bruiser Stone 和 Prince thomas

他们还没有出现，

我继续阅读并找到一张非常老的

照片，上面是黑尔法官

，他将得到他的

工作 当地人口是一半白人

一半黑人，

但去年只有七名顶级法官是

黑人

老白人法官

退休 努力任命一名

黑人法官

但这并没有发生

很多人认为布克公司

的哈佛教育合伙人蒂龙·

基普勒将被任命

这是个好消息，因为他帮助布克

和我学习，我有一个

正好九点钟对他表示敬意 我在

法院检查黑人与

巨额福利文件

幸运的是他的荣誉冰雹

在他去世前没有签署命令驳回我们的案件

我用公用电话打电话给 tinley britt

并询问 为乐

我对失去他的朋友表示我的悲痛

，我告诉他我的客户

不会接受他的提议，

他似乎很惊讶，

但没什么可说的

好吧，

那将是一场战争，

他遗憾地说

他没有提供更多的钱

预订者，自从我们按预期收到律师考试的结果以来，我已经在电话上谈了两次，

他没有抱怨

失败，他真的为我感到高兴，

他已经坐了 当我

到达咖啡馆时

，我们点了我们最喜欢的食物 charlene

和孩子们都很好

他认为他无论如何都可以通过酒吧

，

因为他的分数只比

他写给法律审查员委员会的及格分数低一

分 再次看着他的考试

，

他的老板说他下次最好通过，

否则他们的公司将不得不

在他的工作

簿中安排其他人认为 tyrone kipler 的

任命是确定的，

我告诉他发生的一切

w 有一个黑色的案子，当我

告诉他它现在坐在黑尔

法官的法庭上等待新法官

时，他

笑了。 我谈到了

唐尼雷和他的双胞胎以及

没有发生的移植

没问题他不止一次说

如果蒂龙得到任命

他会知道所有关于黑色案件的事情

所以

你可以

绝对和

他交谈他受不了廷利 布里特，他讨厌

保险公司

他一直在起诉他们

他会听

我们的食物到货

我告诉他我的新办公室，但不是

我的新合伙人

安迪问了很多关于我的

旧办公室的问题 整个城市都在

谈论 bruiser 和 Prince

在 tyrone kipler 被任命为法官的第二天，我告诉他我所知道的一切，

他把我叫到他的办公室

，那是

hails kipler 不到 40 岁，说话轻声，

直视你的眼睛，

他非常聪明，

我感谢他帮助我 我通过了律师

考试，

他对哈维黑尔说了些好话，

但他很惊讶黑尔的活动案例如此之少，

他选择了一些快速行动

并准备采取一些行动

你认为这个黑色案例应该快速移动

是的，

先生，要点很

简单 不会有很多证人

你会做多少陈述

少于十个

你会对文件有问题

他说

我已经起诉了很多

保险公司 他们从不给你所有的

文件

这需要我们一些时间 拿到

你应该拥有的所有文件

我喜欢他说我们的方式，这

并没有错，这

是他作为法官的职责的一部分，帮助

每个人获得他们应该拥有的证据

提出动议以审理此案

很快就听到了他说

除非辩方有一些非常好的

论据

你会明白的

他告诉我如果我有任何问题给他打电话

我已经养成了每天下午打电话给唐尼雷的习惯

通常在

几周后第一次打电话后五点左右 一个 go

dot 提到了这对他有多么重要，

我们谈论了各种各样的事情，

但从来没有他的疾病或诉讼

我告诉他白天发生的一些有趣的

事情

，我知道这些电话是

他生命最后几天的重要组成部分

他今天下午听起来很强壮

他说他已经下床了，他

很想去某个地方呆上几个小时，

然后离开房子和他的父母

我七点去接他，我们

在我们谈论的一个小街区吃晚饭

他

在孟菲斯早期的童年趣事

我们为他笑了，这

可能是几个月以来的第一次，

但谈话让他感到疲倦 他

几乎在天黑后几乎没有碰过他的食物

我们到达了一个公园

，那里的球队正在打棒球

我帮助 donny ray 进入

从我的汽车后备箱里拿出一把折叠椅，然后去给

他买可乐，

他一次又一次地感谢我

把他带到这里

我特别注意其中一名

球员，他走到栅栏前和

他的女孩说话

kelly 笑了，

我能看到她的眼睛闪闪发光

，cliff 笑了

他给了她一个小吻，然后又回到

了游戏中，

他们看起来很开心

他爱她，希望男人们看到

他吻她

我应该很高兴她看起来很

开心 健康，

也许他停止喝酒了，

也许是我

在一个小时后停止想她的时候了，

唐尼·雷准备睡觉了，

我们开车并谈论他的陈述

我今天提出了一项动议，要求

法院允许我现在接受他的陈述

可以在审判中使用

他很快就会虚弱到

无法接受律师两个小时的提问

我们最好尽快做

我们没有足够的

椅子，

这会很尴尬，

但是在周五的前一天，

唐尼雷应该发表声明

我的客户家的办公室

规则是规则，我将不得不

安排以后的约会

他很抱歉

他当然想

在葬礼之后

我打电话给吉普勒

法官几分钟后吉普勒法官打电话给德拉蒙德

，几分钟后 几分钟后，

该声明被转移到 dot 的家中，

并且好友 black

kipler 计划参加

这是非常不寻常的，

但他有他的原因

donnie ray 病得很重

黑色的家看起来更小

更热

donnie rae 现在坐在床上更

快乐了我们' 谈了好

几个小时 他说他准备好了

dot 正在煮咖啡和洗墙

哥们已经洗干净了 他的衬衫是

白色的

我无法想象 dot 是如何做到这一点的

我为我的客户感到骄傲

甲板借了一台旧摄像机

他 看了看房子，

悄悄告诉我房间不够用，

法官 kipler 到了会见大家，

一分钟后说

让我们看看外面

院子的角落里有一

棵大树，它提供 好阴凉处

他问

树下有什么问题

我们去拿几把椅子 靠垫椅

他的呼吸很沉重

，他的脸是湿的

我礼貌地把他介绍给每个人，

但他太虚弱了，无法握手，

所以他尽力微笑

我们将相机直接移到他的

脸上 镜头外会有其他声音，

但他的 陪审团看到的只有

面子 kipler 问 donnie ray 是否准备好，

然后指示法庭记者

开始

donnie ray 承诺说实话

而我，他就像我告诉

他的那样缓慢地对着镜头回答，

他知道我会问的每一个问题，

尽管我没有告诉他表现得

尽可能病态和虚弱，

他当然看起来 我这样做，

或者

他可能只剩下几天的

生命 我仔细询问了唐尼雷

关于他的疾病和他没有接受的治疗的问题

他不能重复他的医生告诉

他的任何事情，他不能提供医疗意见

但是 其他证人我希望

我能在 20 分钟内完成

leo drummond 对着镜头介绍了自己，

然后解释了他代表谁以及

他有多后悔在场

他不是在和 donnie ray 说话，而是

对陪审团

说话 他的声音很甜

他是一个

温柔地关心他的人 问唐尼雷是否

曾经离开过他的房子

甚至一个星期或一个月，住

在

他们愿意证明他离开家的其他地方

，因此不应该被

他父母为唐尼雷支付的保单所涵盖，他

礼貌地回答 很

糟糕，

先生

，他曾经在一家提供健康保险的公司工作过

像这样的一些问题都

得到了轻柔的回答，

没有先生，

德拉蒙德知道他必须

小心，陪审团不会喜欢任何粗暴

对待 年轻人，

他不到 10 分钟就完成了

多德很快用湿布擦拭她儿子的脸，唐尼雷看着

我，看看他是怎么做的

在我们进门之前到房子

我看向我的左

甲板在栅栏上与

邻居交谈并分发我的卡片

我与沃尔特科德博士约会后提前到达

并等待一个小时，

然后护士来取 我到

检查室

一个大约 35 岁的年轻人冲进

贝勒先生

他说伸出手

walter 绳

如果可以的话让我们快点 我有很大的

耐心

我知道医生讨厌律师

我不怪他们

我们需要一份声明 你

我很忙他说

我知道这不是为了我而是为了唐尼雷

我每小时收取一百美元来

作证

这并不让我感到震惊因为我

在法学院就预料到了我听说过医生

收费更高的故事

我是 在这里乞求

我买不起 科尔博士

我六周前开了我的办公室

，这是我唯一的真实案例

真相能做什么真是太神奇了

这个人可能每年赚一百万

美元

他犹豫了一秒钟

也许他想到了唐尼雷，但

无法做到 帮助，

也许他为我感到难过，

谁知道

我会给你寄一份账单，好吧，

当你可以支付

第 8 章

为 Drummond 带来的惊喜

接下来轮到 dot

发表声明时，

法官 kipler 也想出席

这个

我花了两个小时 她昨天

在为 Drummond 的问题做准备，

她将在审判中出庭作证，

但这是 Drummond 收集信息的机会，

可怜的 dot 的手在颤抖，因为她

独自坐在桌子的尽头，

她穿着她最好的棉衬衫 还有

她最好的牛仔裤，

我向她解释说她

不必打扮，因为视频不会

在审判时向陪审团展示，但是

对她来说穿裙子很重要，

所以有五名律师和一名法官

当她举起右手并承诺说实话时，我盯着点黑色，

第一个小时花在家族

史上，而德拉蒙德像往常一样

在第三个小时的中途做好了充分的准备，

我们终于开始声称

我已经准备了一份副本

与文件相关的每份文件，包括唐尼·

雷的医疗记录

，这些文件整齐地堆在

桌子上

保险公司向

自己的

律师隐瞒事情实际上很常见，

尤其是当公司有讨厌的

事情真的很想埋葬时，

我们从保单开始，

下一个文件是拒绝的第一封信，

然后是

我告诉 dot 的愚蠢信 简单地把这封信交给

德拉蒙德，什么都不说，

这对她来说很困难，因为这

封信让她很生气，

德拉蒙德接受了

它，

亲爱的布莱克夫人，前七次会议

ns 这家公司以书面形式否认了你的

要求，

我们现在第八次也是最后

一次否认你一定是愚蠢的愚蠢的愚蠢的

德拉蒙德在法庭上度过了过去 30 年

，他是一位出色的演员，

但我立即知道他从未

见过这个 信

他的客户没有把它包含在文件中

他的嘴微微张开

他第二次阅读它

他将眼睛从信

上抬起来看着我

我盯着他一个眼神说

抓住了你

六岁半的大男孩 在我们开始几个小时后，

kipler 说他已经完成了，

现在是星期天的一大早，我正乘车

去公共汽车站和 dex

车，天气晴朗而美丽

，空气中的第一缕秋色

10 月的孟菲斯很可爱

法官 kipler 已经确定了日期 在

2 月 8 日的审判中，

并命令 Drummond 确保

在克利夫兰受益匪浅的关键员工

可以提供

陈述

一张到克利夫兰的往返机票

费用略低于

700 鲁迪·贝洛律师事务所 r

不能让我坐飞机去克利夫兰，

所以我要坐公共汽车 我

今晚 11 点到达克利夫兰，

福利员工的声明从 9 点

开始 吃早餐

和他们的妻子一起阅读周日报纸 然后

在五点左右享用一顿丰盛的午餐 他们的妻子将

在头等舱一个小时后开车送他们去机场 他们将

在克利夫兰降落并在享用美味的晚餐后被送往

城市最好的酒店

带着酒和

酒，他们会在舒适的

会议室会面，并密谋对付我，

直到

我入住廉价旅馆的时间很晚，

他们将上床

准备打仗，

我

当然无法在

周围睡觉 桌子上有八个

穿着深色西装的敌人

白衬衫 昂贵的领带和黑色

鞋子

八对一

他们看起来眼睛明亮而新鲜

现在鲁迪

我们认为我们应该从杰克安德希尔的声明开始

说

皮尔斯莫尔豪斯是四个廷利之一 英国

律师

不，

我不这么认为，我

紧张地说，对不起，

你听到了我，

我想从索赔处理人 Jackie lemanchek 开始，

但首先

我们认为你应该从安德希尔先生开始的文件

我不在乎你

认为我们应该叫什么

基普勒法官的命令明确指出，

我要求的六名证人

应该在今天早上 9 点

到场，我决定按什么顺序看他们好 我们对杰基·莱曼切克有意见，

她不再在这里工作

我盯着他

看 她离开

了吗我上周晚些时候问过我们星期四在法庭上你知道吗然后

不

她星期六离开了

她现在在哪里她不是雇员

我们不能生产她

好吧

托尼克里克助理索赔

审查员

他也走了

我多有趣 说

绝对

惊讶 Richard pelrod 索赔审查员也走

了

不，他在

这里 罗素克罗克 克罗克特

先生离开我们去了另一家公司

罗素克罗克特索赔

部门负责人写了这封愚蠢的

信 verett lufkin

不，他在

哪里 皮尔斯给了我一堆厚厚的文件

给我一个小时然后我们会继续

我在

另一个我打电话给

kipler 我们遇到了一些问题 法官大人 我说

我的通知中的六名证人有什么样的问题

上周很晚三人突然离开了公司

我读了他们的名字

我的文件怎么样

看看至少有一份文件

丢失了

这是

什么愚蠢的

信这是真正的穿孔

我很抱歉你的荣誉我不知道我

已经浏览了文件但我没有

检查所有内容

你们是一样的 房间

是的 先生 我们都回答了

皮尔斯 离开房间

鲁迪 留下电话

好吧 法官只有我 我说当

皮尔斯离开时

他们的心情是什么

他问的

很紧张

我对

失去证人并隐藏

他们给我的文件并不感到惊讶 有权要求

所有陈述 w 我会被带到这里

询问 underhill 的问题，只

问他你能想到的一切，但

要找出三个

失踪证人的下落

停下来，

我以为我必须在

克利夫兰呆几天，

但我在两点前离开这个地方，

带着新的文件来检查

这些男孩将不得不来我的

镇上我们在星期四坐公共汽车回孟菲斯似乎要快得多

下午 5 点 30 分在 kipler 的法庭上

他的荣誉选择了这个时间，所以 Leo f Drummond 在法庭上度过

了漫长的一天后不得不赶过去

我警告过你有关文件的情况， Mr

Drummond

我认为我现在已经很具体

了

这可能不是 Drummond 的错

他的委托人正在和他玩游戏

我几乎为他感到

难过 他说你没有任何借口

你什么时候第一次得知这些

证人不再为你的委托人工作

你有没有尝试联系贝勒先生

我们找不到他我们甚至打电话给

他们没有打电话的航空公司巴士公司

坐下来德拉蒙德先生他的荣誉说

从下周一开始的一个星期我们将

在这里见面以听取理查德佩罗德埃弗雷特的陈述

lufkin

kermit

aldi 和 m wilfred keeley 公司

董事

他们将支付自己的差旅费用

他们将向 Baylor 先生提供自己的服务，

并且在他允许之前不能离开

所有法庭费用将由

所有文件的副本以极大的利益支付，以便

将 下周星期三前送到贝勒先生

极大的好处还将支付贝勒先生

他浪费的克利夫兰之旅的费用

贝勒先生 到克利夫兰的往返机票多少钱

七百美元是头等舱

不 先生，

德拉蒙德先生，你 伙计们派了四名律师

到克利夫兰

他们是不是坐头等舱的

Drummond 看着 t pierce，他看起来

像个偷窃的孩子，然后说

是的，头等舱先生，

我

想是 头等舱机票

一千三百

美元你在其他账单上花了多少钱，贝勒先生实际上我花了不到四十美元

大约六十美元我说

作弊

但不贪心

然后

四个小时的旅行时间每小时两百

美元那是八百

美元

任何其他费用

250 给法庭记者，

他写下来，加起来

支票，

我命令被告在五天内向贝勒先生支付 2410

美元，

如果贝勒先生没有收到这笔款项

，它将每天自动翻倍，

直到支票 收到了

你明白吗 德拉蒙德先生

我在微笑

德拉蒙德慢慢站起来

他很生气

我反对

没有证据表明贝勒先生乘坐

头等舱 往返克利夫兰的旅程

对你的公司来说价值 1300 美元 德拉蒙德先生

这就是我要的 你的客户

付钱给

贝勒先生，他回复的时间没有得到报酬

你是说他的时间不

值钱

你会付给他每小时

200 我自己很幸运，

我很快拿起我的文件，

去吃晚饭我吃了一个培根三明治，

以为

哥们在他的公平车道上花的时间越来越多，

现在只有几天，

丹妮尔就死了

，哥们的处理方式是 为了

躲在车里喝酒，

他每天早上和儿子坐几分钟，

然后在剩下的时间里尽量避开所有人，

我们谈论诉讼，

但 dots 六个月前失去

了兴趣 这样做可能会吓到巨大的利益

仍然希望

现在不会

dot 总是为 donny

ray 的死而责备自己

当

巨大的利益第一次拒绝索赔时她没有直接去找律师

而是

她选择自己写

她为我服务的信 一杯咖啡，我把

它带到唐尼雷的房间

里，他在床单下睡着

了唯一的光来自角落里的一盏小灯

房间仍然是

唐尼雷计划了

他要我参加的葬礼 elp 抬着他的身体

我捡起我读了两个月的同一本书

这房子里为数不多的书之一

我把它放在同一个地方

每次访问都读几页

我听到一个奇怪的声音在生活中

房间，然后敲门，

门开了

，我慢慢认出科德博士

刚刚经过

他轻轻地说

坐下

我说，指着唯一的另一张椅子

我们背对着窗户坐下

我们的眼睛注视着我一直在垂死的男孩

考虑到这条审判

线非常安静地说

任何想法什么时候可能会在

2 月 8 日发生

如果我在

法庭上作证

而不是记录一份

陈述当然会更好

然后我会这样做

我不会发送非常慷慨的账单

它是 至少我

能做你知道我的工作涉及什么

我诊断人

然后我为他们准备死亡

我想有人必须这样做这

还不错真的

我喜欢我的工作

他停下来看着他的病人

虽然

那里很难 治疗是不是要花钱

我愿意 愿意付出我的时间和精力，

但它仍然是一个 200 000 的手术，

没有医院能负担得起这样的

钱，

它会让你讨厌

保险公司 和坐在前面的 dot 说再见

第 9 章

葬礼

我一直害怕接到的电话

终于在星期天

早上打来 dot

她告诉我她大约一个小时前找到了

他 他昨晚睡着了

，再也没有叫醒

她 声音有点弱，

但她正在设法控制自己的

情绪

我们聊了一会儿，我意识到我的

喉咙很干

，我的眼睛是湿的

我告诉她我很抱歉并答应

今天下午去拜访

然后我闭上眼睛 说

为唐尼·雷 (donnie ray) 的许多祈祷中的最后一个，

我打电话给吉普勒法官，得知死亡的消息，

葬礼将在明天

下午 2 点举行

，这是一个问题，因为巨大的

福利声明

将于早上 9 点开始，并将持续

大部分时间 这周

我确定克利夫兰的西装

已经在城里了

我去找黑人 整个

社区都在那里

我只是简单地告诉 dot 我很

抱歉 她感谢我的到来

我独自坐在外面

我很快就被一个看起来奇怪熟悉的年轻人加入了

我是 ron black

他说

坐在双胞胎

他看起来很强壮很健康

很高兴见到你我说

所以你是律师

他不爱说话

他的句子很短而且强迫

但过了一段时间他告诉我他已经

准备好并且愿意把他的骨髓

救了他的兄弟，

并且科德博士告诉

他他是一个完美的匹配，

他很乐意向陪审团解释这一点

，他不问

两个小时后他能拿到多少钱我真的很累

我原谅我自己 星期一离开

那里有一大群

穿着深色西装的男人 坐在法庭

另一边的 Leo f Drummond 旁边

我可以想象那些受益匪浅的上层

人士在

得知他们今天必须出现在这里时是多么的愤怒

基普勒打电话给 Drummond 和我到前线 Drummond

donna ray black 先生昨天去世了

很抱歉，

drummond

说葬礼在今天下午举行

，这是

bailey 先生参加葬礼

的一个问题 事实上他现在应该和家人在一起

巨大的

利益将被迫重新安排

他们忙碌的生活

为什么不从明天开始

德拉蒙德问

这是一个非常好的问题

我管理这个法庭并控制审判

德拉蒙德先生

但是法官大人 这些先生们

遇到了很多麻烦

下周可能不可能

这正是 kipler 想

听到的

哦，

他们会在这里，德鲁蒙德先生，

他们会在星期一早上在这里，

我认为

尊重

不公平，

我们想要 se 声明 两周前

你的客户开始玩游戏

kipler 正在惩罚drummond 并且有很大的

好处

几个月后将在这里进行审判

，法官告诉

著名律师他将

在一个小乡村教堂后面的审判中以他的名义作出裁决

孟菲斯以北几英里

doire black 已安息

我能听到 dot 轻声哭泣

我能看到哥们坐在 ron

旁边 每天都是灰蒙蒙的

阴天，

我们在星期三结束了

pelrod

jackie lemanchek 的前老板的最后一份声明

7 月 30 日接下来的一周，

经过三天的提问和

一千页的陈述

，来自克利夫兰的男孩们准备回家

了 干得好 rudy

leo drummond 低声说

谢谢

他深呼吸

看起来

rudy 我想讨论解决的

可能性

我们 对我们的辩护感觉良好，但这位

法官反对我们

，我问

了十五万

我的委托人已经死

了，他的母亲上周把他埋了

，现在你指望我 告诉她

桌上还有更多的钱

你的时机太糟糕

了 这位女士想要

什么 告诉我们什么 鲁迪

他死了

你现在无能为力

所以

你为什么要审判

她想向世界展示她有多大的

好处

想毁掉它 我说

drummond 沉默

了 那天晚上我回到办公室时，

他的朋友butch 和他坐在一起，他的朋友butch 一个私人侦探

向我们介绍了butch 作为

客户然后递给我一张便条，

继续谈论

不谈工作

当我们谈论葬礼时，

布奇迅速拧开

电话听筒的盖子，指着里面的一个

小麦克风，

我们去拿些咖啡

机说

好主意，

我说

在外面感觉不舒服我停下来看看他们

发生了什么事

dec 让布奇检查 他认为我们的手机

可能是联邦调查局在

听我们试图获取有关

王子和 bruiser 的信息

所有三部手机中都有麦克风

我们可以合法地做些什么

你可以删除 他们

布奇解释说，或者你可以

小心你所说的

我们回去搜索办公室

四个小时，一无所获

，只有电话

经过几个月的营业我们的

办公室开始看起来

更忙前厅挤满了

租来的桌子 堆满

了黑色外壳

的文件 现在电话响得更大 现在

很难用带有麦克风的电话通话

今天的邮件是例行公事，除了两

件事

首先没有

来自 tinley britt

的单个文件 第二个惊喜是 邀请在商店营业时间以下的当地购物中心

进行圣诞前黄金首饰销售，

并且有一个相当

可爱的笔迹

是

凯莉·里克（kelly riker）这个名字

没有任何信息

只是这个

名字珠宝店是我进入

的购物中心的一百多家商店之一

慢慢走到长长的

玻璃柜台，凯莉正在帮助一位

顾客，

她抬头微笑

，我能帮你吗先生，

我看着她，融化了

我们互相微笑，

我问你

好吗？ e和你

我们可以谈谈

不要在这里

购物中心有一家电影院 买

一张艾迪墨菲电影的票

我很快就会到

她已经计划好了

她知道我会来

她迟到了几分钟

我问我们安全吗 她

是的，他今晚和男孩们出去

喝酒了

再靠近一点

为什么我和一个已婚女人坐在一个黑暗的剧院

悬崖要我生孩子

不要这样做 凯莉

我只是想见你鲁迪

要么忘记我要么申请

离婚

我以为你是我的朋友 这是

不仅仅是友谊，我们都知道，

我不能忘记你，

然后让我们提出离婚，我会帮助

你

她

俯身给我一个小小的吻，

然后离开

甲板和布奇发现

麦克风不是那种 警察

或联邦调查局使用

其他人正在监听 dex s 是的，

喝咖啡，

但

我制定计划并与甲板讨论的人在

三十分钟后离开，他打电话来

谈论几个不存在的案例

我们讨论了几分钟

然后我说

猜猜谁想现在解决

谁

dot black

dot black

deck 表现 惊讶

是的

她说她会拿 160000

因为他们的最高报价是 150 她会赢得

小胜利

我知道一大笔钱，

但从法律上讲，我应该去

drummond 并试图解决

它是客户想要的

，在第二天早上五分钟到九点

电话响起

它是drummond

我们将录音机连接到我的手机上

rudy

leo drummond 在这里他说

鲁迪

你知道我的客户想和解

这些人很重要你知道有

大钱的人有大事业要保护

我们现在将提供 175

000 来解决这件事

我不认为所以

看起来鲁迪

你需要和你的客户谈谈我 认为

她想解决

c 她现在

我会在这里等

这个混蛋可能已经将麦克风

连接到他的电话

他想让我打电话给她这样他就可以听

我会回复你德拉蒙德先生晚安

我挂断并播放

录音机我 盯着录音机

，是drummond，

他把麦克风放进去

我想我们应该告诉kipler 我最后

说

我不这么认为，deck说

我们知道drummond是负责任的，

因为我们刚刚抓住了他，

但我们无法证明这

一点 kipler 会做什么

没有证据就指控他

让我们把它留到审判

让我们等待完美的时刻

我们俩

慢慢地微笑

我等了两个星期然后打电话给

drummond 说我的客户不

想要他的钱

她的行为有点奇怪 我说

有一天她害怕第二天去

审判 她现在想在法庭上度过她的一天

她想打架

他不期待任何事情 他威胁

我说

如果黑人不这样做，巨大的利益将收回提议

现在解决

我确定这听起来不错 o

在克利夫兰倾听的耳朵

至于我，我对我年轻时忽略金钱的能力感到有点惊讶，

而且还会有其他情况

，我敢肯定，巨大的利益被

吓到了，他们隐藏着黑暗的

秘密 “我很担心，

但

我梦想着审判

书和夏琳邀请我参加

感恩节晚餐。

我到了他们家，他嘴里说的第

一句话就是

我通过了

他的考试重新评分

了他的分数提高了

，现在他是 真正的律师

我告诉他 dec 和我终于

赚了一些钱 前

几天我们拿到了一张

客户保险索赔的支票

25000

美元 客户得到

16667 美元 而我们

正好得到 8300 美元

12 月 33

美元，我每个人拿了 3000

美元，剩下的留在公司里

我用我的 3000 美元买了一辆

汽车 拜访 max luberg 和其他

起诉了极大利益的律师

cd2

cd3

第 10 章结束

12 月 23 日，当我终于到达

威斯康星州麦迪逊市时，

我找到了一家小旅馆并打电话给 max，他

真的很高兴我在麦迪逊，

我' 大约每个月给他打一次电话，

就黑色案子征求意见，并把

大部分文件寄给他，

他知道审判还有六周时间。

17.5

万，但我的客户说不

，这很不寻常，

但我并不感到惊讶，

这是我见过的最好的案例之一

，我看了数千个，

我告诉他们我们的手机和

德拉蒙德在听的有力证据

接我们的电话

然后 Max 我开始工作

他想打败这些人

把最好的留到最后 他说

播放 donny ray

在他死前作证

的录音带 带领陪审团的画面很棒

他在桌子上滑了一些东西 对

我来说

这

是很大的好处

上个月卖给我的一个学生的新保单

我付了钱

猜猜现在不包括什么

骨髓移植

保留它并在法庭上使用它

我什至可能不得不来观看这个

审判

当麦克斯和我说 在法学院的前门再见

我对他感激不尽

我已经和四位律师交谈

过

他告诉我的大部分内容他都

以极大的利益和解了

，他和他的客户签署了一项

协议，永远不会告诉任何人

细节是什么

杰克逊有一个客户有一个很大的

利益政策，他拒绝接受

治疗，在他们离开之前，索赔额达到了 11,000

美元 为了追求巨大的

利益突然想要一个非常安静的

解决方案

这是他说的秘密部分

显然很享受

他们付给我们一万一千然后又

投入了二十万让我们离开

太棒了，我说

这一切都在这里他说

指向三个大箱子

索赔被自动拒绝大多数

人放弃

大约每 25 人中的 1 人实际上会去找

律师

你怎么能证明

它在公司手册中我

翻阅手册

一个是 对于

索赔 另一个用于承保

起初它们看起来与

我所拥有的相同

然后

我注意到

手册背面的一些不同 索赔是

一个部分 u

我的副本没有这个部分

，我开始了解

游戏的方式

播放承保手册也有一个

部分 u

当它们一起阅读时

，手册指示每个部门

否认索赔，

然后将文件发送给另一个

部门，并指示

在他们收到进一步指示之前不要付款

那些指示

永远不会到达

我的任何一个 手册有一个部分，你

是克利夫兰的混蛋

，可能还有他们在孟菲斯的律师

隐藏了这些部分，

这是一个重要的发现

库珀说 有其他律师

起诉 很大的利益

我们会保持

联系 预审会议在

1 月中旬举行

我们同意应该

为审判保留两周 虽然 kipler

希望现在进行五天的审判

先生们

怎么样 和解讨论

询问法官 kipler

我告诉他们他们最近的报价是 17.5

万

他也知道 dot black 不

感兴趣

你最好的报价是什么

贝勒先生，

对不起，我的客户告诉我不要

和解

kipler 将一份清单交给了我和德鲁蒙德，

现在这些是

可能的陪审员的姓名和地址 92

我们将在审判前一周挑选陪审团，

所以准备好在 2 月 1 日继续

可能会了解他们的背景，

但

到我们必须选择 12

名陪审员时，任何直接接触都是严重罪行 由专门从事陪审团的

昂贵律师和心理学家组成的团队教育

另一方面我

有甲板

我每周至少去购物中心三次

现在她到目前为止只走过一次

但没有看到我

我今晚坐在这里

观看 对于她和研究陪审员的

信息，

我的模范陪审员是年轻的黑人

，至少受过高中教育，

但女性会

因为失去孩子

而感到同情。我想避免的一种陪审员是

像 来自

克利夫兰

第 11 章的男孩

选择陪审团

也许有一天我会想出一个更卑鄙的把戏，

但很难想象

如果 Drummond 想听我的电话，

我们会给他一些非常

有趣的东西，现在是下午晚些时候，我在办公室

当甲板 从街角的公用电话打给我 rudy

deck 在这里

我终于找到了 dean goodlow

goodloe 是一名白人男性 39 大学

教育 拥有自己的企业

他是一名陪审员 我们不

希望我

在他的办公室问他

我们错了 他 他不喜欢

保险公司

我把我们案子里的事实告诉了他

他真的很生气

他会成为一个伟大的陪审员

多么令人惊讶

我说得很清楚

我想让德拉蒙德听到每一个

字 他对和你谈谈的感觉如何

担心

我告诉他我告诉其他

人的话

我们绝对

不希望出现在陪审团中的

人 dermot king 怎么样 一个好人

我们对其他名字都进行了同样的程序

然后 dex 说

你怎么样

nathan butt

得知我是其中一名律师时有点惊讶 关于这个

案子，

但他放松了

他讨厌保险公司我说

我想知道德拉蒙德的心脏是否还在

跳动

他知道他

除了保持安静并尽量避开我们谈论的人之外什么都做不了

15 分钟后电话

轻轻响了 熟悉的声音

鲁迪·贝勒说，请

这是鲁迪·贝勒，这是比利·波特，

你今天来

了你想要

什么，实际上是戴克的朋友布奇·

比利·波特是个白人男性，打着领带

上班，管理着一家我们不

想要他

的商店 审判

是合法

的 当然是合法的

只是不要告诉任何人

看

我代表小老妇人，他的

儿子被巨额人寿保险杀害

是

的，公司否认了男孩在手术中

他三个月前死于白血病

这就是为什么我们 起诉，

我们真的需要你的帮助，波特先生，

我敢打赌，Leo Drummond

今晚睡不着，陪审员在 8 点 30 分到 9 点之间到达。

对于许多人来说，这是他们第一次去

法庭

，他们很紧张

，最后我一个人坐 我们

面对陪审员

甲板的桌子在房间对面形成

鲜明对比，辩护席

周围有五个身穿黑色西装的男人

检查覆盖

在桌子上的成堆纸

我很惊讶，德拉蒙德没有

意识到这看起来如何 陪审员

他的委托人一定是有罪的

或者他们为什么要使用五名律师来

对付我中的一个人

他们显然比我们有更多的人和

钱

我可怜的委托人是虚弱的

德拉蒙德，他的孩子们

今天早上拒绝和我说话

我可以看出 他们

对我与陪审员的直接接触感到震惊和厌恶

kipler 进入法庭，

每个人都站起来

法庭是开放的，

他询问哪些陪审员想要被原谅

并解雇那些陪审员，

然后又解雇了一些陪审员

，我们只剩下 50 个了。

开普勒浏览了一份名单

他向德拉蒙德和我提出的问题中，

这让我们有时间观察和研究

每个人，

然后轮到

我了

在所有这些问题之后代表黑人

他们已经准备好接受不同的事情

我真诚地热情地看着他们

现在

法官 kipler 已经提出了很多

重要问题

我只有一个问题

你们中的任何一个人能

想出任何理由

为什么你不应该担任这个陪审团并

听到这个案子

没有人说什么

我没想到他们会

感谢你

我笑着说

陪审团在我看来很好你的荣誉

drummond在上 他的脚

他试图让自己看起来平静和友好，

但他怒火中烧

他介绍了自己，他的客户

问了一些一般性的问题，

然后现在开始

我要问你最重要的

问题

，你们中

有人就这个案子联系过

这更像是一种指控，而不是一个

问题法庭完全静止

这

非常重要

他说

我们需要

知道他的声音不信任

让我用另一种方式问

他非常冷静

地说你们中的任何一个

人与贝勒先生

或 Deck Schifflett 先生

我跳了起来 反对 法官大人

我同意

你在做什么

Drummond kipler 先生喊着 Drummond

说

Porter 先生

我要问你一个直接的问题

我想要一个诚实的答案 如果你问一个

诚实的问题我会给出 是的 你诚实的

回答

波特先生生气地说

是的 现在

波特

先生 你

昨晚和鲁迪贝勒先生通了电话吗

我站着直视着德拉蒙德但

什么也没说

我没有 波特说他的脸

变红了

你确定 波特先生 他 要求

我当然是

我认为你做到了

德拉蒙德在我反对之前和

基普勒做任何事情之前说

昂贵的鞋子

飞了

起来 我呆在座位上

休息片刻后彻底享受演出 德拉蒙德提出

正式动议解散整个团队

kipler

拒绝但比利·波特被原谅

挑选陪审员的过程持续

到下午在 kipler 的办公室

drummond 坚决避免任何

昨晚和我在电话里提到的人民甲板

结果是我梦寐以求的陪审团

六个黑人女性 所有母亲

两个黑人妈妈 les 一个大学毕业生

一个残疾前卡车司机

三个白人男性，他们都很

有同情心

一个白人女性 一个富商的妻子

我无法避免她

，我并不担心我们只需要十二个中

的九个就可以达成一致 判决

审判在

审判开始前四天的一周内开始

甲板接到克利夫兰律师的

电话 我从没有麦克风的车载电话给他回电话

他的名字是彼得·

科萨 他 代表一位名叫 jackie lemanchek 的年轻女士，

在她突然被无缘无故地从巨额福利解雇后去了他的办公室，

他的客户与她的几位老板发生性关系

她在公司的进步和她的

薪酬取决于她的意愿

他们正在针对巨大利益提起诉讼

我最后问

她会作证

吗 我和杰基·莱曼切克谈了一个小时

我认为一个惊喜

会很可爱

第 12 章

审判 审判开始

我的开场白很简短而且进展顺利

有一项

保单 每周支付保费

涵盖 donny ray 他生病了

他被拒绝治疗

然后他死

了 目的 这个案子不仅是为了

从巨额利益中收钱，

也是为了惩罚他们

德拉蒙德首先举起一份保单的副本

这是布莱克夫妇买的保单

并不是说巨额利益必须

支付移植费用

陪审员不喜欢他，

但这引起了他们的注意，

这项政策

每周花费美元，

但他们希望我的客户为骨髓移植支付 20

万美元，

现在

他们想要 20 万

美元和 1000 万美元的

惩罚性赔偿

我

一次又一次地称那个贪婪他重复自己

说

这根本不在政策中

他决定推

我第二次他提到贪婪这个词

我

很快反对kipler ag rees with me

dot 是我们的第一个证人，

她描述了无法为她垂死的儿子提供医疗保健的情况是多么糟糕，

然后她阅读了拒绝信，

他们听起来比我希望的更糟糕，

通过承保

所有的借口来拒绝索赔。

然后

这封愚蠢的信我看着陪审员们

面对 dot 读到

他们不敢相信

法庭沉默了

请

再读一遍 离开

dot

对 Drummond 来说粗暴对待她是错误的

他从一些一般性问题开始 他

为什么要为 1000 万美元起诉巨大的利益

他想让她看起来很贪婪

她希望她问的问题是

1000 万美元

这是对的 夫人 黑色 1000 万

美元

就是

她要求的全部，

请原谅

我想起诉更多

drummond 一直微笑着

犯了最后一个错误 dot black

如果陪审团给你 1000 万美元，你打算用这笔钱做什么

把每一分钱都捐给美国

白血病协会，

我不要你的烂钱，

谢谢你，Drummond 说，很快就坐了下来

，

两个陪审员对他的尴尬公开微笑。

接下来，

罗恩作证说他是一个完美的

匹配，他已经准备好给 他的

骨髓给了 donny ray

然后轮到 walter cord 医生

他说话清晰，解释了

疾病和治疗方法，以便陪审员

能够理解

他告诉他们早期的测试

显示 donnie ray 患有白血病

这个测试花费

大约一千 美元

以及唐尼雷是如何支付的，

当他第一次来办公室时，

他填写了正常的表格，并说

他是由大福利

人寿保险公司

my sta 承保的 ff 检查了很多好处

，发现该保单确实存在

确实支付了很大的好处

我们最终被告知索赔

被拒绝 布莱克夫人每月支付 50 美元 科尔

博士重复了这样一个事实，即

罗恩布莱克是唐尼雷的完美搭档

如果他接受了移植，

它会起作用的，

我们打电话给everett lufkin，

以证明

谁是jackie lemanchek

我问

他你是否了解她，

不是真的

她只是一名理赔员，

明天她会作证他们的

婚外情 持续了三年

我已经解释说索赔手册

是员工参考的关键文件

我递给 lufkin 审判前我由 drmmond 提供的副本

我问

lufkin

先生 这是整个索赔手册

是

的 你确定

是的

我要求 从你的律师

那里得到的副本，这是他们给我的，

是的

，你亲自选择了这份

手册的副本

寄给我

吗？我做了，我深吸了一口气，你能打开手册吗？ 拜托

他实际上拿了手册并

在这一刻仔细阅读我相信他会

为了一个部分卖掉他的孩子

没有你的部分

然后我给了他复制库珀

杰克逊给了我

很好的卢夫金先生

让我们 谈谈

你

让我们向陪审团解释的神秘部分

它于 1991 年 1 月 1 日进入手册

正确

是

黑人首次声称的那一年

让我们阅读第三段

第三段指示索赔

处理人员

在收到后三天内立即否认每一项索赔

如果我们现在可以停下来，

每项

索赔都不例外

还有几个

问题要问

lufkin 你是否建议 jackie

lemanchek 离开公司

谢谢你，法官大人，

我结束了这位证人，

德拉姆蒙德想让他离开这里，法官

阁下，

我们将留住勒夫金先生待会儿

德拉姆蒙德说，

毫不

奇怪，陪审团再也见不到他了

我们大声

叫杰基·莱曼切克可怜的勒夫金停止了转身，眼睛睁大

了，然后

从法庭走得更快，

你为巨大的利益工作了多长时间

我问杰基·莱曼切克

六年你的工作什么时候结束

10 月 3 日

怎么样 结束

我被解雇了

你没有选择离开

不

我被解雇了

谁

解雇了你 出于

个人原因离开

这封信是谎言

我被解雇了，因此公司可以

声称我不再在那里工作

我应该

在 10 月 5 日星期六就 donnie ray black 的索赔发表声明

在此之前，

我被要求去办公室

与杰克·安德霍尔会面

那个穿着灰色西装的人坐在那里

他是一位受益匪浅的律师

他告诉我，

如果我写了那封信并保持

沉默，我将立即离开公司将 给我一万

美元

她咬着嘴唇

挣扎了一分钟

然后能够继续

我一个人抚养两个孩子

，还有很多账单所以

我别无选择

我写了这封信拿走了现金并

签署了一份协议永远不会

与任何人讨论我的任何索赔文件，

包括黑色文件 是的，

尤其是黑色文件

那

你为什么在这里

让我留一只，

但我确定他有原版

我慢慢转身盯着杰克·

安德霍尔，法庭上的其他人也是

ed 建议

我被无缘无故解雇，

但在此之前我被迫

与各种重要人物发生性关系，

受益匪浅

任何我们知道

反对的人 您的荣誉

德拉蒙德说

这与此案无关

让我们看看它的去向

请回答问题 lemanchek 女士，

她深吸一口气，说

如果我愿意做他想做的任何事，

我

和 everett lufkin 发生性关系三年 再次成为一名普通的理赔员

，

我的工资被削减了 20%，

然后罗素克罗克决定他

想和我发生婚外情，