"The principle, Your Honor, is informed waiver, a concept deeply embedded in the black-letter law of this state." "This is a simple case of a contract willingly and completely executed." "Appeals to the contrary, based on emotion, have no place in a court of law." " Objection!" " Order, order!" "This is not a court of law." "You did not enter through a doorway." "That, ladies and gentlemen, is the rabbit hole and we, like so many Alices, have plunged through it directly into Wonderland." "Behold the Queen of Hearts, Carraghan Chemical." "A company that has spewed its bile into the Leffingwell River for 17 years." "Plants wither." "Children die." "And there isn't a court in the land that can stop them." "Finally, one man has had enough." "Frustrated, desperate, he slams his truck into the plant manager's office and for one bright, shining day, that hellhole of a factory shuts down." "Do we honor him?" "Do we throw him a parade?" "Do we even say thank you?" "No." "He is put on trial." " Welcome to the Mad Hatter's tea party." " Objection!" "Objection?" "Why not "Off with their heads"?" "...paid him fully, according to the contract." "But now he wants more and he intends to get it by harassing my client." "Yes, the plaintiff is a man of moderate means." "Yes, Xydex is a very successful corporation." "But the law, not charity, must dictate our course today." "Yes, yes." "He rammed through that wall." "And, yes, he did shut that hellish factory down for one day." "And, yes, he is responsible for damages in the amount of $427,000." "How high a price is that to pay if he saved just one single life?" "Madam, I will give you $427,000 for your child." "Deal?" "And you, madam." "Same price for your husband." "And you, counselor." "How about half a million bucks for your precious hide?" " Objection!" " Order!" " The counsel is out of line." " Sustained." "Mr Ward, sit down." "Order, order!" "Defense is prepared to mount its case." "We have witnesses, depositions and evidence to prove my client acted fairly." "But to what end?" "The plaintiff has put no viable case before this court." "Defense moves for nonsuit." "Submitted, Your Honor." "Would you go next door and remind them thatjustice is blind, and not deaf?" "As to your motion, counsel... 12 minutes." "12 minutes!" "Eight and a half days it took those idiots to mount their case!" " Too bad you mispronounced "harassing. "" " It's too bad you didn't get a chance to." "Counselor, where will you be spending your vacation?" " I have no vacation." " Maggie!" "You must have three or four weeks." "No." "I hear something big's happening on Argo Motors." " Do you know anything about it?" " No." "Have you?" "I haven't heard." "You guys wanna be big-time lawyers, learn to lie better." "Maggie!" "Lawyers never lie." "We just tell the truth judiciously to guarantee utter confusion." "Damn, you could lose your hand in one of this things." "Mr Ward, excuse me." "Howard Crayhill." "I've read all your books." "I've read Civil Rights on Trial twice." "Congratulations." "You found a copy they hadn't burned." "Grateful client?" "No, it's a present for your mother." "Anniversary." "Hard to believe we've been together 34 years." "35." "You're biting your fingernails again, Margaret." "Don't." "Minor flesh wound." "He didn't even draw blood." "Brian, my father always draws blood." "I was getting ready to make a left." "I had the blinker on." "I saw the other car coming towards me, in the rearview mirror." "And I couldn't move." "I couldn't get out of the way." "I just watched him, in slow motion." "At first, I couldn't believe it was happening." "It was like watching TV or something." "And then the guy hit me." "The carjust..." "Itjust exploded." "There was fire everywhere." "My wife started screaming, and my baby boy..." " Son of a bitch." " I'm sorry." "You have nothing to apologize for." "What happened to you..." "I'm so goddamned tired of this." "Those bastards think they can do anything they want." "Lie, kill, destroy whatever they touch and get away with it." "Let me tell you something, Steven." "They don't always get away with it." "Once in a while, people like us, this law firm, we stop them." "This is going to be one of those times." "Mr Ward, I'm very grateful." "I just wish that I had been with your firm from the beginning." "We're here now." "Good afternoon." "Quinn Califan and Lunt." "I'm sorry, he's away from his desk right now." "May I take a message?" "Hold on one second." "Maggie!" " Maggie, Mr Grazier wants to see you." " Now?" "OK, tell me what you know about Argo Motors." "They're our biggest client." "21% of last year's billing." "26." "They're headed up by Eugene Forrest." "He came aboard two years ago..." "In a hostile takeover." "Thinks the future of automobiles is in computerization." "Rumor is now that he's looking to merge with a Silicon Valley type." "Wrong." "He found it." "LorCoTron Electronics." "Jeez." "Big time." "But there's a catch." "And this is where we come in." "Three years ago, a class action suit was filed against Argo, claiming that their 1985 station wagon, the Meridian, blew up on impact." " So?" "Lawsuits are a dime a dozen." " Did they have a case?" "No." "I've handled Argo since that car was still on the drawing boards." "It's totally clean." "We persuaded the other side's attorneys that they couldn't win." "But now another firm has re-filed." "A much more aggressive firm." "The new American way." "Find the guy who built it, then rob him blind." " So what do we do, guys?" " Settle, for chump change." " Confidentiality clause, don't tell the papers." " No, we have to win in public." "LorCoTron is a very conscientious company, very consumer-oriented." "This LorCoTron thing is time-critical." "You can't..." "OK, OK!" "If I decide we fight it, one of you will be on point." "It's good input." "Thanks for your time." "My hobby is rebuilding American cars..." "Get outta here!" "Michael." "You have to give me this case." "I know Argo backwards and forwards." "I'm a better litigator than any other associate and you're too busy to go to court on all the prep work." "Bernstein has a lot going for him." "He's a team player." "Second team." "Maggie!" "Please!" "This is the partnership express." "I deserve this." " Why are you throwing lightweights at me?" " Look." "OK." "OK!" "I want you on this one." "There's no question." " There's a problem." " What?" "Plaintiff's attorney's your father." "Yeah?" "What's wrong?" " We got no case." " Sure we have a case." "Look at the facts." "I've looked." "Looked at the probability charts backwards and forwards, Jed." "The facts are that Argo built a half a million Meridians and a few of them blew up." "132 cars?" "On a half a million built, that's only a few cars." "That's not that many more than would have blown up no matter what." "Maybe Argo designed it wrong, maybe they didn't." "But that doesn't make a case." "Hey, I got a car that blows up, people like Steven who almost died in 'em." "I got a car company that doesn't give a shit." "To me that makes a case." "Rosenberg Blittman had everything that we have." "They had it for three years." "They dropped the case." "Couldn't find anything." "Billy Blittman couldn't find his butt with both hands." "That's true, but it's a contingency case, Jed." "Even if we win, we see no money for years." "Can we afford that?" "Hey, I know it's not a slam dunk, Nick." "Once in a while, you just gotta go with your gut, the passion." "I got a real feeling about this one." "Network news-time." " Jed, I like seeing you on TV." "Really..." " Whoa, whoa, whoa!" "It's not about my ego." "It's about us." "What we stand for." "This firm was built on David and Goliath cases." "They're not around any more." "All these fascist Reagan judges hear you're after a big corporation, they throw your ass right out of court." "It's too discouraging." "Something like this comes along." "Good plaintiffs, decent evidence." "Ajudge who'll listen." "I gotta tell you, I've gone to war with a lot less." "It would be fun to nail those Argo bastards to the wall." " Wanna kick their asses?" " I believe so." "Just once, I'd like to see you sleep through the night." " Miss these great movies?" " They are on cassette." "No, it's not the same." "You're freezing." "Michael." " Do you like me?" " What?" " Do I like you?" " Yeah." " What kind of a question's that?" "Of course." " Surprise." "How can you not know that?" "How can I know that?" "How can anybody?" "Tomorrow, if I did something you really hated, would you still be here?" "Listen." "Come here." "Listen to me." "That's not the way these things work." "I'm not your father." " This has nothing to do with him." " Yes, it does." "Maggie." "I want this to work." "I really do." "I trust you." "And you want to know if you can trust me." "All right." "Give this place up." "Live with me." "Mm?" "No, Michael." "We said we'd talk about that after I make partner." " Maybe we need to talk about it now." " No." "It might help but I'm just not ready to go public yet." "You don't think they suspect?" "Suspecting is different from being on the mailing list." " Who cares what they think?" " I do." " Why?" " Because it's different for a woman." "I don't want them saying I made partner for anything other than my work." "Maybe I should be the one asking how much you like me." "No." "Oh, no!" "No, come on." "One anxiety attack at a time." "Your turn, is it?" "Oh, OK." " Who's Cyd Charisse?" " Deborah, your dad's new intern." " She's really great." " Aren't they all?" "Ah, come on!" "Good luck with the school board." "Luck I got." "Votes I need." "Thanks a lot." "Mom!" "Hiya." "Mom, come on." "You're the bride." "You're supposed to be having a good time." "Relax." " It's my petition." "Are you having fun?" " Yeah, I haven't talked to Dad all evening." " Maggie!" " Maggie, be nice." " Maggie, I got one for you." " Stop that." "Weems versus United States, 1910." "What was the issue?" "Damn, a pop quiz and me without a blue book." "These are the easy ones." "Come on!" "Cruel and unusual punishment." " They put a guy in chains for 15 years." " That's absolutely right." " OK, so you do know everything." " That's right also." "Terrific, everybody's right." "Jed, why don't you and Maggie dance?" "You promised!" "Excuse me, but rumor has it this used to be a party." " Come on, Nick, dance with me." " All right." " Jed, dance with Maggie." " All right, but you're a party pooper." " One more, one more." " What?" "1941." "Kemper v Walden." "Issue?" " Come on, issue!" " All right, all right." " Issue!" " All right, all right, wait!" " I haven't the vaguest idea." " The court ruled that children have the right to sue their parents for nonperformance." "The guy in the peach trunks, Nature Boy Rick Flair, I represented him once." " He used to wrestle under the name of..." " Son of Satan." "Son of Satan." "Right." "He had the horns, he had the pitch fork, the whole shot." "He had a great thing going with a guy named the Angel of God." "One morning, Satan wakes up and he sees the light." "Becomes a Born Again Christian." "Blows the whole rivalry." " What happened?" " Son of God goes berserk." " He sues my client for breach of contract." " Did they have a contract?" " He was imposing on my client's..." " Religious freedoms." " Can I talk to you?" " Just a minute." " Did you win?" " The judge threw us out of court." "He thought it was a publicity stunt and that we should go to hell." " Dad." " What?" " I need to talk to you." " OK." " See you guys." " Sorry." "Thanks." "This Walden versus Kemper." "Did you make that up?" "Look it up, counselor." "I wanted to ask you about something about work." " You want to ask me about something?" " Yeah." "I know." " You want my advice?" " It shocked the hell out of me." "I've been offered a case." "A good case." "Partnership time." " Why would you want to be a partner there?" " Dad, please!" "Don't make me sorry I asked." " Go ahead, ask." "What's the problem?" " I get this look in your eye." "For God's sake." "OK." "Anyway, it's a great case." "I know I could try the hell out of it." "But I wonder if I should pass it up because there's a pretty extreme conflict involved." " How extreme?" " They want me on Meridian." " So what's the problem?" " It's obvious, isn't it?" "It's obvious there's no problem." "You're not taking it." "Oh, really?" "Just like that?" "Margaret, don't you see?" "They're using you as a parlor trick." "They think I'll see my precious daughter" " and go all soft inside." " It's a bit more than that." "Will you think, Margaret?" "You're an associate at Quinn Califan." "They pop out baby lawyers like you, like a shark grows teeth, row after row, forever." "When it comes to the crunch, they'll send in the big boys." "They already did." "You mean you?" "Did it ever occur to you that I might be a very good attorney?" " You damn well better be." "I raised you." " No!" "Mother raised me!" "You had a date." "Sorry." "I'm looking forward to it." "It's kinda funny." "I don't see the humor." "Fred Quinn thinks he can rattle me with my daughter." "What if she wins?" "Some day, maybe, but please don't force me to be immodest." "No one ever had to before." " Whose side are you on, anyway?" " Oh, Jed." "Don't be an ass." " Absolute nonsense!" " What do you mean?" "You don't know what you're talking about!" "What do you want me to do, buy her flowers?" " She hates me!" " She doesn't hate you." "She hates me, goddamnit." " I see it every time I look in her eyes." " Oh, yeah?" "Yeah." "I don't hate her and I have every right to." "Does it matter to her that these cars are blowing up?" "No." "Does it matter her that people..." "babies are being killed?" "No." "Does she care that she's in bed with the vilest kind of corporate vermin?" " I'm talking to you!" " No, you're not." "You're talking to the jury." "Listen, Jed." "I love you dearly but you are a superior, self-righteous bastard who's never satisfied with anybody or anything." "If I were Maggie, I wouldn't want you to be my father either." " So I'm the bad guy here?" " Oh, I don't know." "I should have locked the two of you in a room years ago and not let you get out until you'd kissed and made up." "But I thought, in time, you'd come to your senses." "Boy, was I wrong." "So now I spend my life between two bickering children, both of whom are old enough to know better." "Especially you." "Margaret, I can take." "A swine like Frederick Quinn, no problem at all." "But you... you rattle me." "Stelli, I love you." "You know me for the old codger that I am, and you still hang around." "I can't for the life of me understand why." "Jed... this case will eventually go away." "Please, please don't make her go away with it." "Hi!" "Hi, how are you?" "Are you ready?" "Maggie, are you taking one for a test drive?" "I don't even have a learner's permit!" "You don't need one!" "On-the-job training." "Very funny." "Very funny." " So what's wrong?" " I didn't say a word." "I know." "And very loudly." "OK." "I'm worried, Maggie." "I'd like you to drop the case." " Tell him to drop it." "I dare you." " He won't." " I dare you!" " You know he won't." "This is the first time I have him somewhere he doesn't make the rules, before ajudge in a courtroom." "Someplace I can beat him." ""Beat him"?" "He's your father, Maggie." "So what?" "I am sick and tired of being afraid of him." "All my life he's made me feel like I wasn't good enough." "Never mind if he was." "He made some mistakes." "Thatjust makes him human." "Too human." "You of all people should know that." "All of those women." "Were those mistakes?" "What happened between your father and me is our concern." "I think if I can put it behind me, you should too." "Well, I've tried." "And I can't." "Mom, I was there." "I saw how much he hurt you." "Why didn't you just leave him?" "Come on, talk to me." "About what you choose?" "What about what I want?" "I won't drop this case." "I won't!" "Somebody has to fight him." "You didn't." "Oh, Maggie, you never understood." "Maybe that's my fault." "Look, I had to make a choice with your father." "It was a very hard choice." "Sure I could have left." "God knows I thought about it." "But I still love him." "So I decided to stay and try to make it work." "It took a long time, but we got through it." "And I honestly feel that I got a lot more than I gave up by staying." "And I still do, whether you believe it or not." "It's fine, Mom." "You forgive him." "You have a right to your choice." "And I have a right to mine." "We'll just be following you around for a couple of days, videotaping you." "The boat, the docks, trying to show what your life has been like since the accident." "My life, it is not so very interesting." "When we show the jury the tape, we think they'll find it very interesting." "We want them to see what you've lost, what you can't do any more." "I cannot fish is what I cannot do." " It's good." " It's good I cannot fish?" "No, no, Mr Minh." "It's a terrible thing." "We need to hear the stories from all the Meridian owners who got hurt." " Mr Minh, I'd like to thank you..." " Who is this man with Mr Ward?" "That's Jack Tagallini." "Mr Ward helped him, just like he's gonna help you." "Mr Ward, he must be very great man." "A very great man." "Now, listen." "You take care." "We'll be in touch." " Bye bye." " Bye." " Pretty severe burns." " But his English!" "The jury won't understand." "So we shoot the video." "If it doesn't play, we lose him." "Who's next?" "We'll go right to the summary proceedings." " How do I look?" " Nervous." " Why?" " You have Pepto-Bismol on your mouth." " Maggie!" " Hi." "Hi." "Are we still friends?" "What do you think?" "Don't worry about me, Margaret." "I'm just your old decrepit father." "Be strong." "Come on." "Your Honor, it's about evidence." "Plaintiff doesn't have any." "The only reasonable course of action is to grant my client summary judgment." " Denied." " Thank you, Your Honor." "Next case." "Case no. 861947," "Kellen et al. versus Argo Motors." "For the plaintiffs, Jedediah Tucker Ward." "For the defense, Margaret Eleanor Ward." "I'm glad I'm not going to be at your house for the holidays." "I presume the proper waivers have been signed here." " They have, Your Honor." " OK, what have you got for me?" "The court has before it a discovery motion compelling the defendant to supply the names and current addresses of all Argo employees involved in designing the Meridian model, between 1980 and 1985." "Response, Miss Ward." "It doesn't deserve one." "This is a bald-faced fishing expedition." "People who worked on the car design might have something interesting to say about it." "Your Honor, if my esteemed colleague had the vaguest idea what he was looking for, he could narrow his discovery to something smaller than the phone book." "Miss Ward, I think he deserves something." "What he's asking for is out of the question." "Some of the people haven't worked for Argo for years." "They've scattered to the four winds." "Generating a current address list could take thousands of hours." " We will give him the names." " Mr Ward?" "That's a start, Your Honor." "The job descriptions and the names are not of much value without the current addresses." "Mr Ward, in all fairness, I think Miss Ward has proved that supplying the addresses would put an undue burden on the defense." "I was concerned about that, too, Your Honor, so I called the pension department at Argo." "Told them I had a former friend I was looking for named John Smith." "Did they have anybody by that name who worked for the company?" "They did." "Called him up on the computer and gave me his current address." " Really?" " An illegal invasion of privacy!" "They keep an updated record of all former employees" " to send them their pension statements." " Your Honor..." "They asked me if I worked with him at Argo and where did I live, and then they sent me this current newsletter." "It wasn't hard at all, Your Honor." "I want those addresses." " A cheap sideshow trick." " It worked." " Because Symes is a sucker for your antics." " Lighten up." "I'll buy you an ice cream." " Oh, Jed, cut it out." " Estelle, shush." "No!" "Now, listen." "No more." "No." "There's a lot more." "This is just the beginning." " She used to like ice cream." " She used to like you." "I know." "I know, Michael." "You don't have to try to make me feel better." "It's just this thing is gonna slow us up so much." "Maggie." "Maggie!" "Maggie!" "One, two, three, four, five." "One, two, three, four, five." "Mom." "Is there a doctor?" "Call the doctor!" "Mom!" "1954, I was watching the McCarthy hearings on television." "I had trouble keeping my mind on the testimony." "There was this beautiful young woman sitting in the first row of the gallery." "Every time the camera would catch her in the background, she was doing this." "I was fascinated." "I watched for hours, trying to catch sight of her." "Finally, I couldn't stand it any longer." "I called the hearing room." "Had the guard... ask her if she would call me during recess." "Amazingly enough, she did." "I introduced myself and asked her what she was doing." "She said she was mouthing the words "McCarthy is a weasel. "" "Subliminal advertising, she called it." "She said it would stick in people's minds forever and no matter what, she claimed, it would sway the deaf vote." "I got on the next plane and we were married a month later." "I'm sure wherever Stelli is now, there are 12 guys better than me chasing her around." "But if you have a moment, I just have this to say." "Remember please forever that I love you." "Don't be late for work." "You OK?" "I've been better." " How's it going in there?" " It's going OK." " People have started to leave." " Good." "You need something?" " A priest." " Yeah." "Somebody I could confess to." "Somebody who'd tell me it wasn't my fault." "It wasn't your fault." "Maggie, she shot an embolism." "These things take years." "They build up..." "No, but then I took this case." "You know, Nick, all my life, whatever I wanted, she was always there." "She's always been there for us and the one time she asked me to do something..." "No, no, no." "Come on." "You can't blame yourself for that." "That's not what she would have wanted." "OK?" "Yeah." " I gotta go home." " No." "I think what you gotta do is stay here and be here with your father." "He'll be fine, Nick." "He's got you." "He's got me, yeah, but he needs you." "He needs you, Maggie." "Nick!" "Laura's looking for you." "Take your dish." "Thanks for coming." "See you." "I never knew she kept this." "My jelly-jar glass." "Do you remember when she boycotted grape jelly in sympathy with the farm workers?" "Yeah." "And all I'd eat was peanut butter and grape jelly sandwiches." " I didn't know that." " Yeah." "I solved the problem, though." "Or at least I thought I did." "I found a grape jelly without any grapes in it." "All chemicals." " She'd never let you eat that." " No." "But it put her in a moral dilemma." "Should she satisfy a demanding child with an affront to human rights or cop out to toxic sludge?" " What did she do?" " She introduced me to marmalade." "Hey, Jed." "Give a call." "OK." "Thanks." "What a mess." "Your mom was always in charge of organization." "She had a dental appointment today?" " How fast was that, Dr Getchell?" " 30mph." "That's amazing." "Just amazing." "Isn't that amazing, Maggie?" "All that damage forjust going 30." "Yeah." "Well, there's gonna be damage till we can figure out a way to make cars bounce." " Do you test every model this way?" " Every model, every year." "Feds say we got to." "Course, this is only one test." "We do 77 others." "Don't want no surprises." "That's what gets my goat about this damn lawsuit." "What you got here is just about the safest damn car on the road." " You'll say that on the stand?" " Hell, yes." "But don't stop with me." " What's this?" " Meridian performance charts." "The '85 model exceeded every federal standard that year." " Plus..." " Plus?" " Plus Rowena." " Who's Rowena?" "Not who." "What." "An independent research facility." "The car passed every test." " I can't find my keys." " You're late." "I need you to chop ze onions." " Aren't we going out for dinner?" " No, I'm making your mom's menudo." "You're cooking?" " How many tablespoons in a teaspoon?" " Do I look like a calculator?" " Maybe I should make something." " Oh ho ho!" "No, thank you." "I prefer to die in ze bed." "Is this supposed to look like this?" " Jesus!" " What?" "No, nothing." "So I just left everything the way it was." " Have you finished?" " Yeah." " Not bad for a couple of lawyers." " Yeah, it wasn't your mother's but..." " It was great." " I just wanted some of her smell around." "I got some of your mom's things packed up." "I figured you might like 'em." " Yes." "Yes." " Wanna see 'em?" "Oh, no." "Oh my God!" "Look at all your hair!" "You had a beautiful mother, Magpie." "Look at that." "My God." "Magpie?" "You haven't called me that since..." "I must have been 12." "Yeah." " The prettiest, smartest..." " Yeah." "...mouthiest kid." " Ah, the People's Park Festival." " Oh, yeah." " 1967, '68." " Yeah." "They don't make marches like they used to." "Do you remember this?" "No, only what I read in the paper." "You left Mom and me at home." "Of course." "I'd just turned 13." "My first boyfriend had dumped me." "And I could have used you." "Young love was always your mother's line, Margaret." "I was busy trying to keep the planet in one piece." "Burning a few bras in the process." "I was more interested in burning draft cards." "Really?" "I thought you were more interested in the women's movement." "Relationships were more casual in those days." "It was just more open." "Oh, please!" "I'm so tired of the '60s crap." "I was on the road for six, nine months at a time." "None of this ever meant anything to me." "Not even Alice Worth?" "So that's it?" "Case dismissed?" " You're out of order, counselor." " And you are guilty as charged." "Alice Worth was my law partner." "Oh, please, Dad!" "You think I didn't know?" " This is none of your business, goddamnit!" " Alice Worth was very much my business!" "She wasn'tjust some nameless one-nighter." "Alice was a friend." "She was Mom's friend." "Mine." "She was everything I wanted to be." "She was smart and beautiful and a lawyer." "I used to follow her around in here, to watch how she'd cross her legs or hold her drink, and then Mom finds her letters to you." "She never cried in front of me." "She wouldn't do that." "But when she thought I was asleep, I could hear her." "Alone in her room, sometimes three, four in the morning." " I'm really tired of this ancient history." " She was never the same after that!" "Something in her eyes went dead." "Margaret, you have to know that I was committed to your mother." "No." "In one fell swoop, you took away the woman I admired, the mother I knew and the father I believed in." "The conscience of America." "Defender of the huddled masses!" "The only thing you cared about the huddled masses was how tall you could stand on their shoulders!" " Wait a minute." "There's more to this..." " I'm going." " Wait." "I spent my life trying to help people." " Oh, yeah?" "Got any thank-you notes from Jack Tagallini recently?" "Margaret!" "I had nothing to do with that." "Oh, yeah?" "I think you're being a little modest." "Before you met Jack Tagallini, he was just a nice guy, pissed off at the cost overruns at Zembella Air." " It never occurred to him to go public." " He didn't know how." "I had to show him how." "You forced him!" "Or conned him!" "Or whatever it is you do to get on the cover of Newsweek." "Oh, Jesus Christ!" "I was on the cover of Newsweek because I was right." "Goddamnit!" "Thatjury was out for two hours and 27 minutes." "They gave us every single point." "But what about Jack Tagallini?" "You turned him into a whistle-blower without telling him what it would cost." "He lost his job, all of his friends, his professional life." "That case changed the law!" "It affects every single person who gets on an airplane." " You stopped taking his calls." " I helped him." " No, you dumped him!" " The world keeps turning." "I had other people to help." "You dumped him!" "I couldn't hold his fucking hand, OK?" "No, you didn't hold a hand unless it was young, female and attractive!" "You're a user, Dad." "You used Tagallini and all those women and you used Mom!" "Goddamned hypocrite." "How dare you question my behavior?" "You, whose claim to fame is being one of Quinn Califan's young Nazis." "My clients don't blow their brains out." " If your mother could hear you now..." " She can't, can she?" "She got outta here." "Wherever she is, she's gotta be happier than when she was with you." "So, finally... words fail the great Jedediah Tucker Ward." "You get..." "Maggie!" "Maggie." "I heard you were having dinner with your father." "I figured you could use a friend." "Oh, Michael." "Mr Quinn is ready for you." "Thank you, Sally." "Maggie." "Come in." "Thank you." " How are you?" " Fine, thank you, sir." " You look tired." " No, well, I'm fine." "When my mother died..." "Well, I know how long it can take to get over." " With the workload you're carrying..." " I'll manage." "I want to believe that." "But in looking over this transcript," "I'm worried about the Steven Kellen deposition." "No." "It's all completely under control." "He's wearing down." "If he gets into court in that wheelchair with this story, he'll be far too sympathetic." " I understand that, Mr Quinn." " I can't put this in strong enough terms." "I want him eliminated as an effective witness." "Yes, sir." " Are you prepared to do that?" " Absolutely." "Then you won't mind if I sit in?" "No." "No." "Great." "Now, Mr Kellen, when the paramedics were pulling you out of the vehicle, how did it feel to be on fire?" "For Godsakes, you just asked me that question." "No, sir, I believe I asked you if you remembered being on fire." "And I asked you, when did you know you were on fire?" "And now I'm asking, how did it feel to be on fire?" "It was..." "Maggie, I'm warning you, we are already halfway out the door here." "Mr Kellen, were you ever a patient of a Dr Maxwell Chastain?" "Maybe." "So?" "Yes or no, please." "Yes." "Is Dr Chastain a psychologist specializing in car phobias?" " Is he, Mr Kellen?" " Yes." "As I understand it, a car phobia means you're afraid of driving." "True?" "It's not as simple as that." "What's not simple?" "Whether it's true or it's false?" "I guess it's true." "Which makes you cautious, maybe too cautious?" " Objection." "Argumentative." " Noted." "The car blew up." "How can you be too cautious?" "Technically, it burst into flames." "Prior to the accident, how many times have you been cited for driving too slow?" " Twice." " Are you sure it wasn't three times?" "Here we have December of '81, August of '83, then again in October." "Objection." "This is beyond the scope..." "Have you had any other accidents in the last five years?" " Don't answer that." " If he doesn't, he answers in front of ajury." "Look, they weren't my fault." "Other people hit me." " I wonder why." " Do you really?" " Do you even care what happened?" " I know what happened, Mr Kellen." "Oh, my God." "Oh, no, no." "My God." "And so do you." "I don't believe this, I don't believe this." "We're out of here." "Come on." "Who the hell do you think you are?" "This wasn't my fault." " This deposition is finished." " Are you fucking human?" "Do you care, Miss Ward, about anybody?" "Nick, please." "Nice pictures." "Real nice." "What's a good set of 8"x 10"s cost these days?" "10, 15 bucks?" "This is important, Fred." "What's the going rate for a man's dignity, huh?" "You stole his wife, his kid, his body." "Now I guess you spend another 10 or 15 dollars and get the whole package?" "That's what this is about, money." "He's after your money and you're out to protect it." "Well, you hold onto it real tight because without a heart and soul, that's all you'll ever have." "Jed, we have angles like this on all your people." "Bottom line, you don't want to try this case." "Kellen had me out there, buck naked in a hailstorm." "I need better information from you." "We got four weeks before the trial." " 242 people worked on the design of that car." " I know this." "So there are 242 chances for you people to do something right." " Most of them don't wanna talk with us." " That's just excuses." "Hold on a second." "You always go on about the great David and Goliath cases." "It seems you've forgotten how hard the David work is." "We have worked very hard." "If you cannot see that, maybe we aren't the problem here." "What do you think?" "It needs something." "Olive." "Overstated." " I'm Ray." " I'm Maggie." "Maggie." "What do you do?" "Me?" "I'm a professional killer." " Do you like your work?" " Yes and no." "See, it's long hours." "And there's a lot of stress." "But when you finally put your head on the pillow at night, there's this warm feeling you get from knowing you tore at least one person's heart out that day." "I'm a lawyer." "I think you've had enough." "Ray, there's never enough." "Yeah, but my question is, do they count their time in bed together as billable hours?" "Sure." "At Grazier's rate." "Maggie's the associate so I assume she does all the work." " Especially the oral argument." " What about oral arguments?" "It's just a case we heard about." "Drilling rights." "Maggie, you didn't go home last night, did you?" "It's a month before trial." "The list of people that worked on the Meridian, wasn't there a Pavel?" "Yeah, he was one of the research guys." "Why?" "It's just a weird thing in Getchell's file." "A commendation letter to Getchell, from Flannery who was the CEO back then." "Blah blah blah, usual hype." "Then it says "Please accept my gratitude and thanks for keeping Pavel and the Meridian issue in the family. "" "It's signed at the beginning of the 1985 model year." "So?" "So, what "issue"?" "Could be something." "I wanna talk to him." "Thank you." "Do you want a rabbit?" "They are the best ones." "I even got them toilet trained." " Dr Pavel?" " Yes?" "I'm Margaret Ward." "My law firm was in contact with you and said I'd be stopping by." "And?" "I'd like to talk to you about some research you did while you were working at Argo on the Meridian." "What Meridian?" "A car." "You did extensive research on its electrical system." "It was project 0243." "I'm no longer good with numbers." "It was a 1985 model, station wagon, and you said there were problems with it." " The depth charge!" " Excuse me?" "That's what I called it, the depth charge." "Herbert, stop flirting with the lady." " Depth charge, sir, is..." " You want to know about the circuits." "Yeah, yeah." "OK." " I saved their ass on that one." " Really?" "How?" " There was this guy." "A hillbilly." " Hillbilly?" " What's his name?" " You mean Getchell?" "George Getchell?" "That's the one." "Getchell, that's the name." "He was your supervisor for 16 years." "16 years." "Just testing, testing, testing." "Did you know that whatshisname designed the circuit and I was supposed to test it?" "But he said "Alexander Pavel, leave it alone. "" ""We've already tooled up for it on the assembly line." "The circuit is OK."" "That's what he said." "But I am a scientist." "I test it anyway on my own." "I like to mix things." "I like to see how things combine." "The circuit was OK... until I started hitting the car when the left-turn signal was flashing." "Then..." "Depth charge." " It blew up?" " It blew up." "The Meridian blew up?" "Yeah." "You see, where there's an impact of metal on metal." "In this area, the devices are maybe 50-75cm apart." "If there's an arc in the flow of the circuit..." "Yeah." "Just as it's penetrating the electrical fuel pump, then the gas tank will blow up." "It's just a simple chain reaction." "So you're saying that, if the car is hit from the rear, when the left-turn signal is functioning, itjust might blow up." "Correct." "If you are really interested in this, why don't you read my report?" "And let's have a coffee." "The report..." "When you filed this report, did you give a copy to Getchell?" " To the company." " May I see another copy?" "No, the company has it, of course." " The company has everything?" " Yep." "Except my notes." " You do have notes?" " Of course." " May I see those, please?" " No." "No?" "If you want my notes, you need to go to Iron Mountain." "Sugar?" "Thank you." "Miller's left the office." "You want me to try him at home?" "No, no." "I think I should have died the day Nixon resigned." "Look at this." "See?" "Look." "See this?" "This guy here." "How about I make you some dinner at my place?" "No." "Thank you, but..." "I'm really not very hungry." "So..." "Anyway, listen." "I think I found something pretty interesting." "What's that?" "A commendation letter from Flannery to Getchell." "Do you remember an Argo research guy, Alexander Pavel?" " Yeah." " Look at this." "Thank God." "I don't know." "Maggie, we're talking about Argo Motors." " They have guys who research everything." " Not everything." "A glitch that takes three or four things to happen simultaneously could slip by." "I get Getchell to come clean." "We settle quietly out of court." "Argo Motors kisses my feet for avoiding a public scandal." "Maybe, maybe." "Then again, maybe Pavel is a nut bar." "Maybe." "I grant you, these days, the guy is a couple of sandwiches short of a picnic." "But somebody was at home when that report was made." "Mr Getchell is returning your call." "Oh, it's our good buddy from Argo!" " Dr Getchell." " Miss Ward, how are you?" "I'm fine, sir." "How would you like to discuss Alexander Pavel?" "Alexander Pavel is a senile old fool." "So you didn't take his advice on the blinker circuit?" "I decided his test results were inconclusive and informed Mr Flannery, the chief executive officer at the time." "People were blown up, sir." "We changed that light in the next model year." "I suggest you get an attorney." "I've already talked to one." "It was right at the time the report came out." "He said we had nothing to worry about." "What idiot told you that?" "If I'm not mistaken, he's your boss." "Michael Grazier." "Miss Ward?" "Are you there?" "What?" "What did he say?" "Maggie?" "It was a rough time." "I was buried, working on 50 things at once." "It got lost in the shuffle." "You gave advice on something you hadn't reviewed." "I mistook it for another report." "Why didn't you tell somebody?" "Well, Quinn had just made me liaison with Argo's in-house counselor." "That was a huge plum." "If I did it well, they were gonna give me all of Argo's litigation." "Not a good time to appear sloppy." "Now what?" "We have to lose it." "I am not going to be a party to destroying evidence." "Maggie, Argo paid this firm a little over 8 million dollars in fees last year." "Do you want to jeopardize that?" "We'd hurt ourselves and the client." "It would compound the mistake." " Michael, people were killed!" " Yes, I know that." "It was a bad mistake, but it's done." "Over." "We have to move on." "I don't know." "What?" "What don't you know?" "People make mistakes." "Mea culpa." "But they don't want to trash their lives." "Guilty as charged." "Sometimes you have to learn the hard way." "You know, you're not the only one that doesn't sleep at night." "OK." "Tell me you don't make mistakes yourself." "Maggie." "Maggie, come on, please." "If you have any feelings for me, please." "Think about this for a while, huh?" "Hey, come on." "Oh, Michael, no." "What?" "You didn't give me this case to help my career." "You wanted to cover your ass." "If this ever came up, who better to keep your secret than someone you're sleeping with?" "You asked me for this case." "You threw the bait down and waited for me to snap it up." "Maybe this isn't completely clear to you, Maggie." "If I go down, so do you." " I haven't done anything wrong." " You're about to." "You're gonna break rule no. 1, which is don't fuck your friends." "You turn on me, every lie here is gonna turn on you." "You'll be on the bricks faster than you can dream of." "When you try to tie into another firm, you'll be lucky to get hired as a messenger." "I guess that's a risk I have to take." "Look around you, Maggie." "I'm all you've got, anywhere." "Now, you do this, you are all alone." "Frederick, the way I see things..." "The way you see things is what's gotten us in this position." "My father does want all of the information on Pavel." "We hand this over, we lose Argo and the case." "If we don't give full disclosure and we get caught, we lose the confidence of all our other clients." "You're jeopardizing the biggest corporate play this firm has ever been involved with." "We're down to the wire here." "We cannot let this become even more of a disaster." "What do you want to do?" "How long did Pavel work for Argo?" "32 years." "You have to figure, an awful lot of paper would build up over that time." "Right." "So we bury it." "We send them everything." "Every letter, every phone message, every scrap of paper." "Anything we can find, we'll send them the Library of Congress." "They just have to pull the files from the year the research was done." " Things get misfiled." " You can't do that." "We can inventory the documents any way we like." "Come up with some arcane structure, bury it." "Bottom line, it is within the letter of the law." " It'll work." " It had better, Michael." "It had better." "Now, both of you, this matter is quarantined." "No one outside this room is to hear about it." "There is still the matter of Miss Ward." "What does that mean?" "Well, it's obvious there are serious questions regarding her loyalty to this case." "I consider her an important and extremely loyal member of this team, Michael." "Are you going to have a problem with that?" "No." "Good." "Can I see that, please?" "There it is, page 23, third from the bottom." "I transposed the numbers, put it in project 2340." "Plausible deniability." " Congratulations, they'll never find it." " That is the idea." " Ah, the glamour of law!" " Justice by avalanche." "Maggie, you're just defending your client." " What about the victims?" " They should have had a better lawyer." " This entire box is from 1963." " This is ajoke." "All of my labels are falling off." "Let's just keep digging." "Maybe we'll find what we're looking for." "Hey, what's going on?" "We lose our lease?" "No, this is a Father's Day gift, courtesy of Quinn Califan and Lunt." " What's so funny?" " Don't you get it?" "We ask for one man's files." "She sends us a paper blizzard." " She's hiding something." " Yeah." "Maybe." " I ever tell you you're a terrific lawyer?" " Yes." "I lied." "Find this guy Pavel." "You know, the bunny man?" "I wanna talk to him." "The testing methodology was state of the art at the time and that's what we went by." "OK, George." "We're through for the day." "You're still talking a little above the jury." "Not that that would be difficult." "Just keep it simple." " I wish I'd never seen that damn report." " Makes two of us." " May I ask a question, please?" " Sure." "Why didn't you just change the blinker circuit?" "It's just a question." "I told Flannery about the problem a month or so before he died." " He called in his head bean counter." " What's that?" " Risk management expert, right?" " Yeah." "Flannery shows him the data and asks him how much it would cost to retrofit..." " You mean recall?" " Yeah, you got it." "To retrofit 175,000 units." "Multiply that times 300 bucks a car, give or take." "You're looking at around $50 million." "So the risk guy, he crunches the numbers some more." "He figures you'd have a fireball collision about every 3,000 cars." "That's 158 explosions." "Which is almost as many plaintiffs as there are." "These guys know their numbers." "So you multiply that times $200,000 per lawsuit." "That's assuming everybody sues and wins." "30 million max." "See?" "It's cheaper to deal with the lawsuits than it is to fix the blinker." "It's what the bean counters call a simple actuarial analysis." "Dad?" " Dad!" " Miss Ward?" "What an honor." "You've come to admire your handiwork, I see." " Is he here?" " He's gone." "This wasn't my idea." "I'm sorry." "I'm glad to hear that." "So." "You guys got anything stronger than herb tea to drink around here?" "That bad?" "I'm sorry." "Deborah usually does this kind of thing." " You mean she has anotherjob?" " Maggie!" "She's married." "That never stopped him before, Nick." "She's married to a woman named Cindy." "Really?" "Really." "He doesn't play around any more, or maybe you hadn't noticed." " Nope." "Maybe I didn't care." " Of course you care." "The man owns you." "Everything you are, everything you do is based on driving him crazy." " Well, thank you, Dr Freud." " Like it takes a genius to spot it?" "Jesus, Maggie!" "If he stands up, you sit down." "If he turns right, you turn left, even if you don't want to." "Your biggest aspiration is to be his mirror image." "Exactly the opposite of what he is, and the problem is you don't know what he is." "That makes being you impossible." "You give him too much credit, Nick." "I guess you always have." "And what the hell have you done?" "You're probably gonna beat him, Maggie." "We both know that." "You got the staff and the money to grind us into the ground." "But even if he loses, he'll know he went down on the right side." "You'll have your big success." "Your partnership." "And what else?" "I got work to do." "What?" "Oh, no." "Oh, no!" " Of course, he denied everything." " There's not one single copy left?" " No." " Then, who's to say the notes ever existed?" "Here!" "Good dog." "Go catch the ball." "It won't work, Mr Quinn." "I can still testify." "I can tell them the notes existed." "What then?" "Your testimony will be vitiated by Michael who has an impeccable record and loyal friends in the legal community." "And you will have destroyed a very promising career." "I'd hate to see that happen." "What about Pavel?" "My father will find him, call him up as a witness and he'll blow the cover." "I don't think so." "We have a way of neutralizing him." " How?" " You." "I watched your deposition of Mr Kellen." "You discredited him while making it seem like he was doing it to himself." "That takes talent." "The good doctor's a far more impeachable witness." "He shouldn't be a problem." "At least, I hope it's you." "The jury accepts this kind of thing much better if a woman does it." "But even if it's not, you can be certain the good doctor will be dispatched by someone." "It's going to happen." "This is really the way you want it?" "It's the way it is." "Bottom line, Michael Grazier's put us in an extraordinarily difficult position." "When it's over, he's going to pay for it." "But that needn't concern you." "You're gonna be far too busy... as the youngest partner in the history of this firm." " Margaret!" " Yeah?" " Margaret, are you here?" " Yeah, yeah, yeah." "Nick said you came by the office the other night." "Did you..." " Yeah." " I guess we just missed each other." "How did you get in?" "I used your mother's key." "I tried calling you but your phone's been disconnected." "Come in." "I didn't want to use it but I..." "I got worried." "I thought something had happened to you." "Your mom was mad at me when she died and I..." "Don't worry." "I'm not going out any windows." "I just wanted to say that I was sorry and I'm wrong." "I was dead wrong." "I got real defensive." "I started..." "I was acting like a clown." "I was bullying people." "You..." "Dad, you don't have to do this." "Wait, I'm not finished yet." "I..." "I guess I'm finished." "Would you sit down?" "Yeah." "You can just toss that." "Dad." "I wish Mom were here." "I wish I could call her and talk to her." "And yet I know exactly what she'd tell me." "And I was going to call you." "I was." "I wanted to." "But I didn't know how." "I'm so used to being angry with you that anything else just doesn't feel right." "It felt kind of awkward." "I'm sorry I spent my whole life being angry with you." "It's been a constructive anger." "I've gotten a lot done, somehow." "You were also my scapegoat." "If anything went wrong, I blamed it on you." "Anything." "I could fail a test and somehow it was your fault." "Now I look at things as they are and I realize I need a new approach." "I don't have the slightest idea where to begin." "I don't know." "I get up and pray to God I can get through the day without somebody catching on." "In-between, it's just all smoke and mirrors." "I always thought I was doing the right thing but maybe I was wrong." "I don't know." "I think that's the first time I ever heard you say that." "I guess I should work on that, shouldn't I?" "Come in." "Hi." " These are for you." " Fine." "Nothing terribly important." "Interrogatories, depo summaries, witness lists." "Just leave it." "Michael, you were right." "I would make a lousy messenger." "I'm listening." "I saw my father last night." "We talked about a lot of things." "Even got some of them straightened out." "Afterwards I did some thinking and I realized..." "I realized it had been a long time since I'd done any thinking." "It felt good." "Somebody once told me an emotional lawyer is a bad lawyer." " I've been a pretty bad lawyer lately." " No argument." "I've come very close to blowing everything around here for everyone, including myself." "So, what do you say?" "You forgive me, I'll forgive you." "Or I'll forgive you, you forgive me." "Please." "Tell me what you know about Pavel." "He doesn't have a chance." "Right." "Dr Pavel." "Let's talk about the Meridian blinker circuit." "In your capacity as research scientist at Argo, did you have occasion to test it?" "Yes, sir, I did." " Did you have any problems with it?" " Did we have problems?" "That circuit is garbage." "It blew up the gas tank." "I said so in the report to Mr Getchell." "It was his big invention." "Big deal, Mr Getchell." "So I gave him the report, and after that, I don't know." "You were certain, and still are, that this circuit should not have gone into that car?" "Objection!" "Calls for conclusion." "Your Honor, his job at Argo was reaching conclusions just like this." "Overruled." "Should this circuit have gone into the Meridian?" "Yes, if you want to kill people." " No further questions." " Your witness, Miss Ward." "Your Honor, does plaintiff's counsel intend to introduce this alleged report?" " Mr Ward?" " No." "So the only evidence of its existence is testimony, such as that of Dr Pavel?" "Yes, just testimony." "Dr Pavel, in all of your years at Argo, you must have worked on hundreds of projects." "Oh, yes." "Hundreds." "Could you tell me about some of your favorites?" "Objection." "Dr Pavel's former research has no relevance here." "Overruled." "Please answer, Doctor." "There were lots." "The Atlas, that was a terrific car." "Motorcycle Python." "The Python." "Doctor, did it have circuit problems?" "No, but I worked on different motorcycles." "Maybe some of the others..." "Perhaps like the A100." "Do you remember a defective gasket on that one?" "A100?" "No." "What about CA3200?" "According to reports, an axle had to be replaced." "Yes, yes." "That was a wonderful motorcycle." "That was the first time we put that linkage in a two-wheeled vehicle." "The CA3200 was a pickup truck, Doctor." "Objection." "Your Honor, she's testifying for the witness." "Sustained." "Doctor, what is 2762396?" "Objection!" "This is not a math test." "It goes to the quality of his memory." "Overruled." "I think, without the report, the doctor's memory is relevant." "I'm going to allow this line of questioning." "I'm not so good with numbers any more." "Could you please repeat it?" "Absolutely. 2762396." " Isn't that your phone number, sir?" " Objection!" " Overruled." " How about 94536?" " Objection." " Overruled." "Sit down, Mr Ward." "Your zip code, sir. 123019?" "Isn't that your birthday, sir?" " And 0243?" " Objection, Your Honor." " All right, Miss Ward." " Isn't that the Meridian?" "Miss Ward!" " Your Honor..." " No further questions." "I'd like that last remark struck from the record." "Strike the last answer." " Miss Ward, I don't want to warn you again." " Beautiful." "You may step down, Doctor." "Not good with numbers any more." "That's not a crime, is it?" "I still remember the most important things." "Next witness, Mr Ward." "Your Honor, plaintiff calls Michael Grazier." "What?" "Objection!" "This is unsupportable!" "Your Honor, I need him on the witness stand." " It's outrageous!" " Hold on." "I want you all in my chambers now." "Recess." "I don't care." "I need him on the stand." "Come on, Jed." "You listen to me!" "Go and turn some other courtroom into a circus with your half-ass stunts." "Come on, Fred." "If it's a stunt, if I'm ajoke, let me prove it." "The jury came out on that one a long time ago." " Wait a minute..." " Hold it!" "Just sit down." "Look, people." "Listening to you spit on each other is entertaining as hell." "But I gotta move this thing along." " Jed, what the hell are you doing?" " I have to have him on the stand." "It's critical to show Argo's state of mind when they built that car." " He can't do this without prior notice." " He can." "It's within your discretion, Judge." "He's trying to save face in front of his clients, so they think he has something." "There's no offer of proof here." "You're asking for a leap of faith here, Jed." "Can you give me one reason why I should?" "The worst thing that can happen is that I am wrong." "If I am, you're gonna make it very ugly for me." "I would think the thought of that would be irresistible to you." "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you God?" " I do." " Be seated and state your name." "Michael McKinley Grazier." "Mr Grazier, I understand you are in charge of legal affairs for Argo in the firm of Quinn Califan and Lunt." "I'm the chief legal liaison between Argo and my firm." "If somebody asks for a safety report on Argo, someone like me, for instance, you would get it and you would turn it over to them." "Right?" "Right." "All of them." "Every single one." "Mr Ward, you have all the safety research in existence." "You mean there might be a report that is no longer in existence?" "There might be eight-legged mice on Venus." "That's another question I can't answer." "Very easy for you to make jokes." "You have both your arms and legs." " Objection!" "Argumentative." " Sustained." "Opposing counsel's not suggested anything thatjustifies keeping Mr Grazier on the stand." " Isn't it time to move on?" " I'm leaning in that direction." "Please get to the point." "Mr Grazier, do you know of the existence, now or in the past, of a report calling into question the safety of the Meridian model?" "I can't testify on some hypothetical report." "It wasn't hypothetical to Dr Pavel." "He wrote it." " So he says." " So he says under oath." "Do you understand, sir, that you are testifying under oath?" " Yes, I do." " And that perjury is grounds for disbarment?" "Mr Ward, I find that objectionable." "I do know the law." "So do I. You're using semantics when all you have to do is answer a question." " Did you see that report?" "Yes or no?" " Objection!" "The question has been answered." " It's been asked and has not been answered." " Overruled." "Yes or no?" "I think you're being evasive!" "I'm not." "I'm answering the questions you're asking." "The hell you are!" "You know that, I know that, the jury knows that." " Mr Ward..." " Everybody in this courtroom knows it." " Mr Ward, sit down." " That son of bitch is getting to the jury." "No." "He's only bluffing." "He did the same thing in Wrangell v Kincaid." " I can handle this." " Then do it." "Miss Ward?" "Mr Grazier, Mr Ward has been thundering on for quite some time now." "It occurs to me that, with all his fire and brimstone, he might have confused the issue." "I'd like to ask you a simple question, straight out." "Have you any knowledge of a report calling any version of the Meridian unsafe?" "No." "Have you ever seen one, read one or heard of one?" "No." "No further questions." "Members of the jury, what you've seen here is a little unusual." "Mr Grazier's presence on the stand should not influence you to find for or against his client." "You may step down." "Your Honor, plaintiff calls Anthony Patricola." " Who the hell is Anthony Patricola?" " I've never heard of him." "His name was there." "You must have missed it." "I'm sure I gave it to you, along with a bunch of other papers." "Looked like the goddamn Library of Congress." "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God?" " I do." " Be seated and state your name." "Anthony Patricola." "What do you do for a living, Mr Patricola?" "I am the chief accountant in the risk management division of Argo Motors." "Are you what is affectionately called a "bean counter"?" "Yes, sir." " Are you the head bean counter?" " Yes, sir." " So you see a lot of reports in yourjob?" " Yes." " You take these reports and make..." " Bitch." "You gave him Patricola." "I'm sorry, Michael." "I guess it's in the genes." "...a defective part." "You make a decision whether to replace that part in a recall or suffer the consequences of a lawsuit, whichever's cheaper." "Is that correct?" "I don't make the decisions, I just analyze the reports." "Reports, yes." "Let's talk about them." "Do you recall one questioning the safety of the 1985 Meridian model?" "Yes." " Your Honor..." " Mr Quinn?" "May we approach?" "Defense requests a conference in chambers." " And, Your Honor..." " Yes?" "Lead counsel only." "All right, Fred." "What's on your mind?" "Your Honor, there's been an appalling conspiracy." "One that has compromised our case." "I demand a mistrial." " Unbelievable." " Let's hear it." "Miss Ward's turned over privileged information to her father." "And he's accepted it, in flagrant violation of every principle of legal ethics I know." " Which one would that be, Fred?" " Enough, Jed." "This isn't ajoke." "The joke is you're being asked to consider legal ethics argument from the boss of Michael Grazier." "Michael Grazier no longer works for Quinn Califan." "He's a closed issue." " Ballast off a sinking ship." " Listen to me, you son of a bitch!" " I'll have the state bar discipline you." " Do it!" "Please, do it." "Your daughter will be thrown out of the profession." "Miss Ward discovered that Michael Grazier had destroyed Dr Pavel's report." "I'm entitled to that evidence." "That proved my case." "She couldn't give it to me so she told me about a corroborating witness." "That's not only ethical, legal, but imperative." "By the way, you so much as look in my daughter's direction, they won't be able to identity you with dental records." "Fred, if what he says is true, your firm has violated at least three sections of the state bar act." " Listen, in the best interests of your client..." " But, Your Honor and what remains of your reputation," "I think you ought to end this thing as quickly and as quietly as possible." "OK." "I'm going to have to clear this with Argo but... what's it going to take?" "Your Honor, I was looking forward to trying this." " 30 million." " I think I've got a good chance of winning." "Come on, Jed." "Some of your clients weren't even hurt that bad." "50 million dollars." "Dammit, Jed!" "What's it going to take?" "Bottom line, Fred?" "You can't count that high." " Alexander Pavel." " Here's to Mr Minh's fishing fleet." "Here's to 100 million dollars." "PT Barnum." "Father of us all." "Cheers!" " Jed." " Maggie." " Hi." " So how'd it go?" " It worked." " Good." "Good, good." " Hi, darling." " Thank you, Maggie." "Counselor." "I can still call you that, right?" "Yeah." "You did good, Maggie." " What?" " It's just you two, together." "I was beginning to think parenthood wasn't such a good idea, but you give me hope." "Dad, thank you." " Hey, you did it." " No." "Thank you." "You know, I never told you but... when your mom told me that she was pregnant and we were having you," "I went out and got roaringly drunk." "I prayed fervently there had been a mistake at the lab." "Even in those days, you didn't listen to me." "Then you were in my arms and I looked down at those little crossed eyes, and I knew you were gonna break my heart." "And you did." "But you gave me back your mom in your hands and your face..." " Dad..." " Yeah?" "I love you too." "I promised Mom once... that we would dance."