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
- 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
1993.
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
- 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,
他强迫自己
告诉我,如果我不接受,
我就会失去
工作 男人结婚了,
是的,
有家人,
他们追求年轻女孩,
声称
我可以给你很多名字
他的黑色文件 我说
这是你的一份文件
是正确
的 布莱克夫人的原始索赔表
是给我的
是的,我们的政策是首先拒绝每一项索赔,
然后再返回较小的
索赔,除非有律师参与,否则大额索赔永远不会得到支付。
这是一个为期一年的审判
,管理层认为这是一个绝妙的
主意。 一年加起来节省下来的钱
减去快速解决所花费的金额
留下一罐金
多少钱
额外的4000万美元左右
如果你和这些男人一起睡足够长的时间你怎么知道这
一切你听到各种各样的 垃圾,
我对此并不感到自豪,好吧
,黑色索赔是如何处理的,
它像其他所有索赔一样被拒绝,
但这是一个很大的索赔,
所以罗素克罗克它检查了我
所做的一切,
他们很快意识到该政策确实
允许骨髓移植
它 成为一个非常严重的文件有两个
原因,
首先,它突然值很多
钱
,
其次,被保险人将要死,
所以理赔部门知道
donnie ray black 会死
,当然
,从他的医疗记录中可以清楚地
看出,他 没有骨髓移植会死
你有没有把这个给任何人
我给罗素克罗克特看
他给他的老板埃弗雷特勒夫金看了
决定继续
否认
但你知道应该支付索赔
每个人都知道
但公司是 取决于这样一个
事实,即不超过 25 人中的一个
人会与律师交谈,
他们将这些保单卖给
没有受过良好教育的人,
并且当您收到律师的来信时,
如果索赔额低于 5000
美元并且这是正确的
我们立即付款并
致歉信
向管理层提出了重大索赔
我认为他们几乎总是安静地解决
谢谢
我带着愉快的微笑转向drummond
说
你的证人,
然后我就坐在点旁边哭
了几位陪审员注意到她哭泣的
鼓蒙德试图表明杰基·莱曼切克正在作证,因为她
想报仇
不,
我在这里是因为我知道他们如何欺骗
了
这个故事需要的成千上万的人 午饭后有人告诉
我,我称 wilford keeley 先生
为第一大老板,作为
证人,
我向他展示了 max luber 给我的医疗政策,
请看第 11 页第 f 节
第 4
小段 c
第 13 点。
你
看到印刷品了吗 太小了,他不得不
几乎把政策拉到他的鼻子
我看着
陪审员没有错过幽默
得到它
他说终于
好现在请阅读它
他做
了那部分的目的是什么
它解释了我们不付钱 对于
移植,
骨髓是否被
列为移植物
骨髓
它没有列出
所以
它没有说你不支付
骨髓移植
这是正确
的 这起诉讼是什么时候提起的
提出索赔后的骨髓移植保险
我
不知道
我们的最终证人是 donnie ray black
我坐在 dot 附近,
她用手背擦拭脸颊
陪审员席上的面孔
在最后
我表示同情 我的喉咙
哽咽 我们已经尽了最大的努力来获得
巨大的利益
,我正在打赢这个案子,
现在
我们必须尽量不要输掉它。
工作是使政府
坚定地站在国防一边
保险
在一个半小时非常无聊之后
陪审员开始失去兴趣
我们停下来休息 15 分钟
然后轮到
我 我把黑色保单递给他并问了
几个问题
他研究了保单上的小字
每个人都在等待很长时间
kipler 面带微笑
drummond 很生气
他的下一个证人 peyton ryski
一个国家保险集团的总裁
在drummond 与他结束后造成更大的伤害 我
给他看那封愚蠢的信
ryski 先生你
能不能看一下黑夫人的眼睛并
告诉他 她说她儿子的要求得到了
公平和适当的处理,
这让他受益匪浅,他花了一两秒钟,但他
别无选择 实际上他的回答笑了,
然后她身后的陪审员
很快就开始笑了整个陪审团都在笑
它很快就结束了,
但这绝对是一个美妙的时刻,
我早早睡觉,不到几秒钟就睡着
了 n 小时后,电话响起
,是一个陌生的声音,
女性,年轻,非常焦虑
警察带着悬崖离开后躲在我家 她
去看医生
幸运的是没有坏掉
我把她抱起来
我得到了她的名字和地址然后匆忙穿衣服
我几乎认不出凯莉
她被打得很厉害
一只眼睛完全闭上了
我弯下腰 过来亲吻她的头顶
谢谢你的到来
她
说嘴唇受伤了
我可以杀了
他 警察给你拍照了吗 我问
凯莉·
罗宾 答案
是的 他们拍了很多照片
给他
看 罗宾的帮助 凯莉小心翼翼地站起来
转身背对我 把她的
T 恤举到腰部上方 她身上满
是瘀伤
你要做什么 凯莉 我要求
她必须申请离婚 抢劫 在说
如果她不这样做他会杀了
她这是
真的吗我们要
归档凯莉说
是
尽快
我明天会做
她不能留在这里
悬崖今天早上出狱并
开始打电话给她 朋友
我告诉他我什么都不知道 但他
一个小时后打来电话并威胁我
不久他就会找到她
那里有一个秘密安全屋供
被丈夫殴打的妇女使用
但每天要花一百美元
她 只能呆一个星期
是你想去的地方 凯莉
她说是的
很好
我明天带你去
这永远不会再发生
明白
她低声
答应
我保证
我会在早上提出离婚
然后我会 来接你
我正在审判中,但我会
完成
它几乎是凌晨 1 点
睡觉是不可能的
所以我开车去办公室准备
离婚文件
在这种情况下我相信我真的在
帮助挽救生命
我在办公桌前睡着了
七点叫醒我 我给
他讲故事然后 h 反应很糟糕
你花了一夜的时间处理一个愚蠢的
离婚
你的结案陈词不到两个
小时
你为什么要微笑
等待归档的办公桌,
我会把它送到工作中的悬崖
第 13 章
判决审判只持续了四天,
所以重要的
证据在我的结案陈词中仍然在陪审员的脑海中记忆犹新我重复
政策的要点和
谈一谈骨髓移植
我提醒他们,如果唐尼·雷接受
了移植手术,
它可能会救他
的命 决定在
12个月内拒绝索赔
这是一个试验,看看一年能赚多少额外的
现金
这是一个冷血
贪婪的
决定 承认的巨额财富是
4.5亿
你如何惩罚像这样富有的公司
我问这个问题,看到陪审员的
眼睛闪闪发光,
他们
等不及了
当我们选择陪审团时他的行为方式
然后他为
美国最古老和最受尊敬的保险公司之一的巨大利益道歉
那些拒绝信很糟糕
他的客户错了
但是他的客户有超过六千名
员工
不可能检查每封信
尽管犯了错误,但没有任何借口
他试图软化陪审员
他真的不明白为什么
陪审团应该给 dot black 一定比例
的巨额福利财富
这令人震惊
他已经承认他的客户
错
了 负责的人 因为
不公平已经离开了公司,
他走到董事会,写了
746
美元,黑人的月收入,
然后他写了 20 万
美元,然后乘以 6
% 得到 12000
美元,
如果钱在银行里,就是每月 1000 美元,
然后他告诉陪审团他真正
想把黑人的月收入翻一番
巨大的好处可以给他们 200 美元
一千美元,他们可以把
它存入银行
他很有说服力
我看到陪审员正在考虑它
我希望并祈祷他们记得 dot
承诺将钱
捐给美国白血病协会
请做公平的事 他要求
并坐下,
但我明白了 我说的最后一句话,
如果你能做的最好
是二十万美元,
我们不想要它,
这是一个永远不会发生的手术,
如果你不相信巨大的利益
应该受到惩罚,
那么他们可以保留这 200 美元
一千个
,我会回家
我慢慢看着每个陪审员的眼睛,
当我沿着盒子走时,
他们不会让我失望,
因为基普勒法官给了他们最后的
指示
我放松了
没有更多的见证 sses 或情绪
不再担心这个陪审员,
我可以睡几天
这种平静持续大约五分钟,
直到陪审员离开开始他们的
讨论
,已经快 10 点
30。等待现在开始
甲板,我提出 riker 离婚,
然后我们直接 到 kipler 的
办公室,法官祝贺我的
出色表现,我第 100 次感谢他,
butch 将在中午工作的文件给悬崖
我开车去
罗宾的公寓时给凯莉打了电话
他会发疯然后
追上你,
我希望他会,
但他不会,
因为他是个胆小鬼
,打老婆的男人是
最卑鄙的
胆小鬼别担心,
我有枪
安静的街道
她回到法庭会很安全
布克
在大厅里和我一起等到甲板在法庭门外叫我的名字
在我们的餐桌旁加入 dot,
drummond 和其他四个人坐在他们的
座位
上 陪审团回到
包厢 陪审团已经作出裁决
Ben charns 年轻的黑人大学
毕业生说
我们有 jana
请站起来读它
charns 清了清嗓子,读到
我们 陪审团
认定被告
有罪 判令他们支付 20
万美元的实际损害
赔偿 暂停
和 5000 万美元的惩罚性赔偿
炸弹降落
并爆炸
我很想跑到陪审团席上并
开始亲脚
我很想去
拥抱基普勒法官,
但我只是
向我的
委托人低声祝贺她什么也没说
我记得我最喜欢
他的照片
我看到他坐在棒球比赛的折叠椅上
喝着可乐微笑着
只是因为他在
我的眼睛里
他不必死
kipler 谢谢陪审团告诉他们他们的
小支票将被寄出 给他们,并
要求他们不要讨论这个
案子 一个
海滩
kipler 结束了审判
我看着 dot 看到了眼泪
她是一个坚强的女人,她不会轻易哭泣,
但她正在失去控制
有人关掉了灯,我们
坐在黑暗中 它已经结束
了 我想去的最后一个地方是
办公室
我和法庭前的甲板说再见
答应过一会儿见他
你用 1650 万美元做什么
为一个 新的
审判 判决可能会完全改变
我知道这些可怕的事情可能会发生
但
现在钱是我的
我梦想着太阳落山
也许明天我可以开始
意识到我所做的
但现在
我很高兴让 我灵魂中的毒药
已经过去了将近一年我一直
怀着对巨大利益生活的强烈仇恨生活
我希望唐尼·雷安息
我希望他知道今天发生的事情
他们被证明是错误的
我不再讨厌他们了
凯莉和我坐在她的床上看约翰·韦恩的
电影
她穿着同样的灰色西装 没有
鞋子或袜子
我可以看到她的脚踝上有一个印记 她
试图让自己开心,
但她身体上的痛苦让
我们坐下来很难开心 紧挨
着手
牵手 电影结束,新闻
在播音员所说的平常故事之后出现,
今天在孟菲斯的法庭上创造了历史
陪审团作出了 20
万美元的实际赔偿
金和 5000 万美元的惩罚性赔偿金的判决
俄亥俄州克利夫兰的 st the great benefit life insurance company
孟菲斯有史以来最大的判决
你赢了 她问
我赢了
5000 万美元
事实很
清楚
是的 是的 每天
都在发生 你现在
是最好的 我是最伟大的
那更好
她说
第 14 章
星期六早上的最后一次殴打 电话响了
这是悬崖峭壁
我打开录音机
你想要
什么 我的在哪里 妻子,
你很幸运,她没有死,我
要给你
打电话 告诉他
不要再威胁我
哪里会有麻烦
这是布奇的好时光
我们周六的约会与周五的约会非常相似
除了电影不同
还有一些笑声多一点
感人
但还
不够 她真的很想脱掉
那件灰色西装
他们每天为她洗一次
但她厌倦了
她想再次漂亮
她想要她的衣服
她确信悬崖今晚会打棒球
他 从不错过任何一场比赛,
所以我们在七点左右开车经过棒球场,
然后去公寓取她的
东西
到她的
门 钥匙开合 我们很
匆忙 凯莉 我说
我把枪放在厨房的柜台上 这
地方一团糟
我觉得自己像个小偷
每一个动作都发出很大的噪音
当我从卧室里搬东西时我的心在剧烈地跳动
到
前门就够了 我最后说
让我们离开这里
门口有轻微的噪音
有人试图进入
她向门迈了一步,
门飞开
了
当他看到她的时候大喊
我坐在椅子上
他把棒球棒直接朝
我的头挥动
你这个混蛋
他
大喊棒球棒只是想念我 我向他跑去
拿枪 我对凯利大喊
他又快又强壮
我会杀了你
他大喊又挥舞又
错过了
我的脚 完美地落在他的双腿之间
他丢下球棒
我得到它
我用力挥动并直接击中他的
左耳 噪音几乎令人作呕
骨头折断
他双手和膝盖摔倒然后
抬起头开始站起来
我的 第二次挥杆从天花板开始,我用尽
了我所能找到的所有力量,
我带着仇恨和恐惧将它放了下来
,它牢牢地
落在他的头顶,
然后凯莉挡住了我
停止它鲁迪
我停止
看她,然后看向悬崖
他趴在肚子上发出可怕的
声音
我要杀了那个混蛋凯利
我说呼吸沉重仍然害怕
给我蝙蝠
她说
什么
给我蝙蝠
然后离开
我很惊讶她知道此刻她是多么平静
到底是什么 完成
我的要求 看着她看着他
她从我手里拿了一根球棒
离开
你今晚不在这里
我稍后会打电话给你
好吧
好吧
我走进厨房
拿起枪
我们看着对方
我走出去
关闭 门悄悄地在我身后
四处寻找邻居
我感觉不舒服
10 分钟后第一辆
警车很快就到了
然后一辆救护车
在拥挤的停车场里坐在我的车里
看着这一切
凯利一个人在那里害怕并
回答 一百个问题
,我坐在这里
希望没有人看到
我应该去救她他不能
死
我突然想让他
活着 爬上悬崖
从那里走出来
但悬崖没有走出来
他
把床单盖在脸上
他死了
我打开门消失在
人群中
他终于杀了她
我听到有人说
警察梦 进出
我利斯 十分钟仔细听他们说的话
,以防有人看到陌生人离开
他们的公寓
几分钟后凯莉出来,
两边各有
一个警察
开车
去警察局,
我被带到一个房间,凯利
独自坐着等待接受讯问
我和一个名叫斯马瑟顿的侦探一起进入
凯利很惊讶地看到我,
但设法保持冷静
另一名警官
打开录音机后到达
我 说我是 kelly
reicher 的 rudy Baylor 律师,
今天是 1993 年 2 月 15 日星期一
。
我们在孟菲斯中央警察局
我在场,因为我
在今晚 7 点 45 分左右接到了我的客户的电话,
她刚刚打了 9-1 -1
并说她认为她的丈夫已经
死了
smotherton 从关于凯莉和悬崖的基本问题开始,
比如出生日期婚姻就业
孩子
她耐心地回答
她的左眼仍然是黑色和
蓝色绷带是 s 直到她的额头上,
她真的很害怕,
她详细描述了对她的袭击
,斯马瑟顿派另一名
侦探去获取悬崖的另外三次殴打的记录,
她谈到了棒球棒以及
他用棒球棒摔断脚踝的时间,
她谈到了最后一次 殴打和
决定离开和躲藏而
不是提出离婚
你为什么今晚回家
斯马瑟顿
要求拿我的衣服
我确定他不会在
那里 过去几天你住的地方
这里的女性之家 孟菲斯
今晚你怎么到你的公寓
我的心跳漏了一拍
但她已经想好了
我开着我的车
她
说现在
在我公寓外面的停车场里
我们能不能先看看
直到我说 记得
我是一名律师
你是怎么进入公寓的
我用了我的钥匙
你进去后做了什么
分钟也许
发生了什么然后
我在这一点上打断
她直到
我有机会和她交谈之前她不会回答
这个采访现在已经结束
我按下录音机上的停止按钮
smotherton 在一张纸上写了一些东西
把它交给我
这将被视为杀戮
但
处理家庭暴力的摩根威尔逊办公室会考虑
你将她留在这里的情况
我别无选择
我不能让她离开
我要入狱
凯莉 说
我们别无选择 smotherton 女士
说
突然好多了,
你的律师明天可能会让你出去,
但我不能让你自由,因为我想
他离开房间
,我伸手过去握住她的手
,没关系,凯莉,
我 我会尽快让你出去
我能在监狱里呆多久
你必须首先被判有罪
而且这不会发生
我
保证你害怕
她仔细擦拭她的眼睛 想
了很长时间
他有一个大 家庭
和 他们都像他一样
都是酗酒的
暴力男人
我想不出任何话
我也害怕他们
他们不能让我去参加葬礼他们可以吗
他们
没有
好处
他们来找她几个 几分钟后
,当他们停在电梯前,我看着他们带她穿过大厅
。凯莉
转向我,
我慢慢挥手,
然后她走了
第 15 章
赢家和输家
摩根威尔逊是一个大约 40 岁的美丽女人,
她有坚定的握手和
微笑 说
我是一个忙碌的女人不要浪费我的时间
她的办公室里堆满了文件但是非常
整洁和有条理
我厌倦了只是看着所有这些
要完成的工作
我们就座
然后她意识到
她问的是5000万美元的人 带着非常不同的微笑现在
是我
祝贺
她说
她想听听我的好运
我给她描述了审判
以及听到判决的
感觉然后我告诉她为什么我在这里
她是一个彻底的倾听者 记了
很多笔记,
我递给她一份 新离婚
文件
的旧文件和克利夫
之前去警察局的记录
我描述了
几次最严重的殴打造成的伤害,并承诺在可怜的女孩摩根说的那天
结束之前拿到凯莉的医疗记录
她有多大,
大约 5 英尺 5
110 磅
她是怎么把他打死的
她害怕
他
喝醉了 她把手放在球棒上
对她有好处 她
说我不敢相信
她完全站在凯莉的一边
我 我很想把她从监狱里救出来
她仍然是黑色和蓝色,因为
最后一次敲打
她所有的档案
,这是我的生活,
我们约定明天早上九点见面,
第二天在办公室电话
响起是彼得·科萨,杰基·莱曼切克
在克利夫兰的律师科萨
祝贺我 判决
然后告诉我一些奇怪的事情正在
发生,非常有
利于联邦调查局
今天早上到达克利夫兰的总部
并开始删除记录
几乎所有员工都被送回家
并被告知两天不要回来
报纸报道说 pin khan
母公司有严重的财务
问题
我不能说太多
我在 18 小时前杀了一个人
,很难集中精力在
他承诺让我了解的其他事情上,
这似乎需要很长时间,
但我终于看到 kelly 微笑着走向
我
我很快把她带到我的车上
我告诉她关于她的威胁电话
已经到监狱
我们怀疑这是他的疯狂家庭
我不想在昨晚讨论
她还没有准备好
彼得·科纳打电话给办公室 当我在
隐藏凯莉
巨大的利益时,数百万
的钱已经消失了,钱被pin khan取出并
送到欧洲
甲板看起来像死了
我们在我的办公室里坐了很长时间 我们
一言不发,
我们还没有讨论过,
但我们都知道我们已经
从纸上的百万富翁
变成了一无所有
的电话铃声
甲板回答并听了一分钟
这个家伙
说他会杀了你
那是 不是一天中最糟糕的电话
我现在不介意被枪杀
他说
凯莉的一面让我感觉好多了
我们在她的房间里吃饭,
门锁着,我的枪放在
椅子上,
有一个关于悬崖里克的短篇小说
在周三的报纸上
没有关于巨大利益
的消息,然后从彼得
课程办公室
传来一条消息,威尔弗雷德基利先生昨天下午被捕,
因为他和他的妻子正在
等待登上飞往伦敦的航班,
他们声称要
出去度假,
但他们无法提供
他们在欧洲任何地方预订过的酒店的名称
似乎
在过去两个月中被其母公司抢劫了巨大的利益
现金流向了世界各地的安全银行
无论如何,
它已经消失了,
摩根威尔逊检查了凯莉的档案
,她想撤销这个案子,
她的老板阿尔万斯不太确定
这很简单万斯先生,我说
如果你接受审判,
你会输的,
我会在前面挥动球棒 陪审团的
你们会看起来很糟糕试图
把她关进监狱
他是对的 al
morgan 说
我们赢不了
al 需要从我们俩那里听到
并同意驳回它
morgan 承诺今天下午给我寄一封信
我感谢他们
然后迅速离开我几乎
跑过停车场我的车
他们正在检查
办公室窗户上的弹孔当我到达时
甲板在前台办公室并且
子弹错过了他不超过10
英尺
他的第一个电话是butch
马上来的人
甲板告诉我们他很好 但他的声音
很颤抖
布奇说他会在
窗下等他们 如果他们回来
上帝帮助 rikers 如果他们计划另一个
驾车射击
甲板 我决定私人 午餐,
我们同意一个简单的arr 天使
甲板得到他想要的文件
,我得到两千美元
在 90 天内支付
我们在吃饭时就细节达成一致
,分离的业务部分
很
容易个人方面不是
我们都知道甲板没有未来
我
昨晚与 bruiser 交谈
dex 说
他在哪里 巴哈马王子
和他在一起
是的,
这是个好消息
,我很高兴听到这个消息,我确定 dec 已经
知道了一段时间,
所以
他们很安全 我说
是
的,钱还在 在这里你
知道他们从俱乐部赚了四百万
在孟菲斯
他们要我把它带到迈阿密
不要这样做 甲板这需要两天时间
它会让我变得
富有 小心甲板
我们和
你握手 创造历史 鲁迪 你知道
我们一起
做的 是的 我们现在要展示什么
旧战争故事
甲板的眼睛湿了
我看着他开车离开
我去银行取出我的
积蓄 2800 美元
我藏了起来 我的汽车座椅下的账单
当我几乎天黑时 敲
黑人的前门
点打开它,当她
看到
我喝咖啡时几乎笑了 我轻轻地告诉她
关于巨大利益的消息
我们可能永远不会得到一分钱
我对她的反应并不感到惊讶
她的眼睛
和她的脸庞 很高兴她听到
了似乎有几个复杂的
原因导致死亡的巨大利益,
但现在重要的是,医生
相信是她造成的,
她让他们
破产了一个小女人摧毁了那些混蛋,她明天要去唐尼雷的坟墓,
然后 告诉他
凯莉在家里焦急地等待
我们签署文件并感谢大家
然后我们手牵手快速走到
车上深呼吸
并
把枪开在座位下
但我已经不再担心
当我们问到哪个方向时 到达
环绕城市的高速公路
我们嘲笑它,因为它是如此
美妙
,我们去哪里都无所谓
我想看看山和雪
她说
我想我们可以找到一些
她离得更近了
令人惊讶的是,我们为此计划得如此之少,
直到今天早上我们才知道
她可以离开
我们将定居在一个没有人能
找到我们的地方
凯莉,我将谈论悬崖的
死亡其中之一 几天,
但不会很快
我们会选择一个小的大学城,因为
她想上学,
她只有 20 岁。
我很想在高中教历史,
这应该不难,
毕竟
我有 7 年的大学生活
我永远不会因为任何原因
与你有任何牵连