"Good morning, Los Angeles." "Looks like it will be a beautiful day out there today." "Weather's supposed to be..." "The mayor's schedule is extremely tight." "Loosen it." "What's so important?" "I'm handing out Medal of Valor citations." "Told the press we're bringing charges for the victims in the Hong Fabrics fire?" " No, but that's great news." " Yeah." "For you, maybe." "And the reports say I'm handling the case?" "There has never been a successful felony prosecution in L. A for an incident like this, and I don't do lost causes." "Working conditions in the Garment District are deplorable." " Four women died in that fire." " That's a tragedy, not a crime." " These were innocent victims." " Innocent Latina victims." "Every crime has its constituency." "This happens to vote for you." "Manny, it's not our job to get you reelected." "You need to get yourself reelected." "So I'd stop worrying about how the story got out and start focusing on your job." "Nail someone." "Fast." "He's using us for political cover." "We win, he wins." "We lose, he blames us." "He's good." "Relax, I'll find some schnook." "Plead him to a building code violation." "Manny announces he's struck a blow for workers rights." "Boom." "Life goes back to normal." "Floating false stories in the press crosses the line." "You really think it was Manny?" "As a matter of fact, I do." "Do you recognize her?" " No." "And I'm sure I'd remember." " Laura Montez, KCEI." "She's also practically on the mayor's staff." "Heh." "Laura Montez?" "Don't play dumb, you're overqualified." "I heard you talking about her last week." "We went to school together." "I may have..." "Please, okay?" "You've been yapping about this fire for weeks." "Those women deserve justice." "It's a sad situation, but it was ruled an accident." "We don't shop for business and we don't use the press to advance our agenda." " You do it all the time." " Michael Jordan rule." " What?" " On the court Jordan did whatever he wanted because he was Jordan." "Everyone else did what they were told." "All right, leaking the story was wrong but this is a huge issue." " It's all yours now." "Best of luck." " I thought Delgado wanted you on it." "He wanted the HPCU." "Last I checked, you're still part of it, barely." "Don't walk away." "All right, Martin." "You give me one good reason I should lift a finger to help you." "I'll give you four." "Estrella Martinez." "Maria Pineda." "Luce Castillo." "Alejandra Villa." "Honey, neighbors just called to complain." "Could you kind of ease up on the gum?" " Sorry." "I chew gum when I'm stressed." " And why are you stressed?" " You're seriously asking me that?" " Yeah." " I might get expelled." " You won't." "Dad, everyone knows I've cheated." "They all look at me different like I'm an outcast." " You didn't cheat." "Do you not remember the other night where I told you I cheated?" "I compared your paper to the one you downloaded." "It doesn't rise to the standard of plagiarism under school policy." " I still..." " Once you're cleared by review board everyone will forget this ever happened." "Thanks to your esteemed colleague, the high-profile crime unit has been assigned a case that is neither high profile nor, according to the L.A.P.D., a crime." "Mr. Allende, the floor is yours." " Do you want me to run this?" " You got us in, you get us out." "This case comes down to two central questions." "How did that fire start?" "Why couldn't those women get out once it did?" "Arson report says it was faulty electrical wiring." " No criminal intent." " But why was it faulty?" " We're looking for criminal negligence." " Happy hunting." " Who's the target?" " Benny Hong." "He owns three shops in Los Angeles." "Each has been repeatedly cited for health and safety violations." "I've contacted an OSHA inspector, Ellis." "He'll meet you and Casey at the scene." "We need to talk to survivors." "I tracked Claudia and Victoria Reyes, who escaped the fire." " Got it." " You'll go to court." "Handle the warrant affidavits in front of Judge Garrison." " Judge Garrison?" " That reporter you leaked the story to Laura what's-her-name, you sleeping with her?" " Excuse me?" " You dragged us into a no-win case." "It's a fair question." "It was a one-time thing." " Yes!" "I told you he was straight." " Damn!" "I'm surprised that you and your mom went back to work so soon." "We don't work, we don't eat." "Of course." "I appreciate your time." " None of the other survivors would talk." " They're afraid." "Tell me about the fire." "CLAUDIA:" "We were working on a really big order." "There was a lot of material in the shop." "Do you remember if the doors were blocked that night?" " We have to go back to work now." " No." "Mama, just a couple more minutes." "Okay?" "There was too much smoke." "We couldn't see." "So how did you get out of there?" "I took my mother by the hand and we went towards the window." "People were on fire." "Their hair was burning." "Their clothes..." "Then we got to the window, but it was painted shut." "So we broke the glass with our bare hands." "Glad you could make it, inspector, a month after the fire." "Well, police signed off." "No sign of arson, electrical fire." "There was no reason for further investigation." "How about four dead women?" "Save the morality lesson." "That suit you're wearing was made in a shop just like this one." "How many people worked here?" "Depending on the workload, between 80 and 100 a shift." "This place should hold 50, max." "L.A.'s the sweatshop capital of the world." "Five thousand in a 20-mile area." "And eight inspectors like me to monitor all of them." " Why don't you just shut them down?" " We do." "Then they relocate." "That suit would cost you twice as much if it was made in a union shop." "Combine high demand with an endless supply of cheap labor this is what you get." "See?" "Burn pattern suggests that this was the hottest point." " The floor." " Any idea why?" "My guess is there was fabric here." "Could've been stacked against the door when the fire started." "Which means there was no way out." "That's criminal negligence." "Manslaughter's a joke." "Reckless endangerment." "Five years." "Even without manslaughter 117 code violations each carrying 90 days, that's 30 years." "Try getting a judge to sign off on that." "Can you give us a second?" "Did you see my head nod up and down when he offered five years?" "That means take it." "Because of him, four women are dead." "Maybe, but you'll never convince a jury." "The mayor wants a scalp." "There's your scalp." "Whip out your tomahawk and make a deal." "Twenty years." "Why are you doing this?" "I'm an honest businessman." "No, you exploit innocent people." " Twenty years or I'll see you in court." " Why don't you go after the others?" " What others?" " We're done." "Why do you think the electrical system broke down?" "HONG:" "It was a rush order." "Big." "They said if I didn't come, they won't use me." "They're my number one customer." "If you want any shot of getting out from under this better tell me everything you know." "You want his help, we're talking full immunity." "No way." "Five years for reckless endangerment is a gift." "This goes higher than Hong." "Suddenly he's Oliver Stone." "It always goes higher." "Question is, who can you get?" "Case closed." "Martin's right, people are suffering." "Unless you nail the money, it'll happen." " Taking Hong off is a good start." " Till someone takes his place next week." "By the grace of God and a lazy ambulance chaser you could actually win this case." "In the process, screw smiles on the faces of the mayor, DA and your humble lord and master." "Five years, no immunity." " It's a smart move." " It feels like a sellout." "You wanna tilt at windmills, rent a donkey." "Right." "That wasn't so bad, was it?" "See?" " Not at all." "I gave Hong immunity." " You what?" "He gave up the company he was working for when the fire broke out." "Pruitt Fashions." "Pruitt?" "That's the hottest designer in the country." "Every teenage girl wears their stuff." "They made Hong double the number of machines." "That caused the electrical fire." "Hong will testify they threatened to pull their business if he didn't meet deadline." " That's illegal how?" " Pruitt makes billions off workers they treat like animals." " Oh." "Somebody's gotta take a stand." "The immunity agreement." "You wanna change the world?" "You knock yourself out." "Because when you lose, you're gone." "You got cajones, man." "I'll give you that." "Going behind Stark's back twice." "Torpedoing the mayor." "That's not cajones." "It's suicide." "We need evidence that Pruitt knew the conditions in Hong's shop." "Or reasonably should've." "Constructive knowledge will get us there as well as actual." "We got the extra machines he brought in." "He couldn't afford them on his own." "A big retailer could." "Anything linking the machines to Pruitt Fashions?" "Everything was done in cash." "No receipts, no written orders, no paper trail." "This is going really well so far." "You really wanna lose your job over this, Martin?" "If it weren't for people like the women that died in that fire, I wouldn't have this job." " You said to nail someone." " You did." "The sweatshop owner." "He's the middle man." "Pruitt's the real bad guy." "What about all this talk about justice for four poor women?" "It wasn't all talk." "But why go after a giant corporation you can't nail?" "I tell you, the kid's a believer." "He sure doesn't get it from me." "You really screwed me here." "The CEO of Pruitt Fashion is Z Pruitt." " His first name is Z?" " The guy on the billboards." " White fur coats, leather pants?" " Mom must be proud." "He underwrites my school uniform programs in East L.A." " You'll put school kids in fur and leather?" " Sebastian?" "Thought that was you." " Mr. Mayor." " Elliott." " How's life in the slow lane?" " Speeding up." "I've been retained by Pruitt Fashions with last month's fire." "This is a preliminary investigation." "No one's been charged yet." "That's what I told Mr. Pruitt, but he's aware of your reputation." "He wants someone tough enough to take you on." " Who's he getting for the tough stuff?" " I put my firm's best people on this." "I'm sure they'll be touching base with your team very soon." "Z asked me to tell you he's looking forward to expanding your school uniform program, Mr. Mayor." "Hmm." "Nothing's too good for the kids." "I want you guys at Elliott Dasher's firm in one hour." " Why?" " Because he represents Pruitt Fashions." " Time to rattle his cage." " A pretty big cage." " Three hundred lawyers." " Three hundred and fifty." " We'll still kick their asses." " What is it with you and Dasher?" "Besides the fact that I trained him for four long years only to have him throw a major case to get a partnership at a rival firm?" " Say no more." " I thought you'll sit this one out." "Don't you worry about when I'm out." "Worry about when you're out." "Get me Hong's files." "Bring them back here." "Which they'll give us why?" "They're forced to under the grand jury subpoena." " What grand jury subpoena?" " Leave that to me." "Get moving." " Man, something really pissed him off." " More like someone." "Stark mentioned he had lunch with the mayor." "Pruitt used Dasher's firm in the past." "I know the mayor's secretary from the campaign." "I asked her to send them to Peninsula where Elliott Dasher has a standing reservation." "I figured Dasher couldn't resist a little trash talk." " It's impressive." " It's always the quiet ones." "Pruitt Fashions?" "What happened to "get someone and get out"?" " That was before." " Before?" "Before Elliott Dasher ruined my veal scaloppine." "Hah." "So this is about a professional rivalry." "If Pruitt's got nothing to hide why do they need to hire a gun like Dasher?" " Do we have links of Pruitt to that fire?" " Not much." "Can't subpoena Pruitt's records without violating Fifth Amendment." "Not unless, of course, you convene a grand jury." "If you don't ID Pruitt as a target, they can't refuse a subpoena, can they?" "This is an incredible long shot." " So why should I risk it?" " Because, Jess, it's the right thing to do." "Oh, and as an added bonus for you our beloved mayor is publicly linked to Pruitt Fashions." "This could embarrass him big time." "Hmm." "Note to self:" "Don't subpoena Elliott Dasher." "Anyone remember what we're looking for?" "Anything that ties Pruitt Fashions to dangerous conditions at Hong's Fabrics." "How do we know it's in these boxes?" "They can't risk violating the subpoena." "So they swamp us hoping that we'll give up or miss it." "They have accounts receivable mixed in with employment records." "The years will be mixed up too." "They'll file every motion they can think of, grind us down." " That's how they win." " How do we fight back?" " Dirty." "I just talked to Stark." " Did he have any brilliant suggestions?" "Actually a question." "He wants to know how the sex was with that reporter." " What?" " Were there violins, fireworks?" "Choirs of angels?" "His words." "Hot?" "Not so hot?" "Uh..." "Yeah." "Hot." "So you won't mind giving her a call?" "Give her a little update." "A source inside the D.A.'s office informs us that Mr. Hong has identified an employee at Pruitt Fashions a client of Mr. Hong's, as a person of interest in this case." "Earlier today, Z Pruitt, founder and CEO of Pruitt Fashions called a press conference to respond to the allegations." "Pruitt Fashions would never do business with contractors that operate unsafe workplaces." "If any of our employees were..." "Look at that little ridiculous fur patch on his chin." " Expose this, you pompous ass." " You really think Z Pruitt's guilty?" "I thought you said that sweatshop guy wasn't talking." "I kind of had to shade the truth on that one." "Just shake up the rat hole." "Wait for a head to pop out." " Then chop it off." " You're kind of scary." "Yeah, now let's talk about your disciplinary hearing." "You need to prepare for tomorrow." "They'll compare your essay to the one you're accused of using." "I submitted an affidavit from a plagiarism expert who will say it's inconclusive." " So we're good there." " You hired a plagiarism expert?" "The best." "The guy will say anything." "I've looked at your honor code." "The definition of plagiarism is extremely vague." ""One may not give information from another in an intentional attempt to mislead a teacher or to make that teacher believe the work one is presenting is one's own."" "Well, that sounds pretty clear to me." "Very hard to prove intent." "And how do you define one's own work when your job is to research and utilize the work of others?" "I never thought about it like that." "Just because you go to a known private school doesn't mean you're not entitled to due process." "You say what I tell you, we'll win." "Are you asking me to lie?" "It's like I tell the kids at work." "Truth, it's relative." "Sometimes you have to..." "Shade the truth?" "Good morning." "Ooh." "Why so glum?" "Because it is 16 hours later and we still have no idea who authorized those extra machines." "Well, a cappuccino should help." "There are 1200 Pruitt employees in L.A. Alone." "Well, let me see if I can help you narrow it down." "Uh..." "Brian Clark, in procurement, South Gate Office." " Off the books, independent contractor." " How do you know?" "Two Pruitt employees were transferred out of L.A. After the news last night." " Thank you, Martin." " How do you know that?" "First thing these corporate tools do when they move someone:" " Change the locks on their offices." " Locksmiths." "Aha." "I knew them all from my previous life." "They're handy when you need to know what's behind closed doors." "Regal Security changed two Pruitt locks last night." "Catherine Elliott, 62, sent to Santa Fe for her asthma." "And Brian Clark transferred to Malaysia." "Hmm." " No extradition." " And plenty of sweatshops." "Okay, here it is." "I knew I'd seen that name." "Clark's e-mails." ""Hong Fabrics warns that referenced order cannot be met." "Bringing in extra machines will overtax building capacity."" "But is there a response?" ""Order must be met in order to deliver line on schedule." "No excuses."" " There's your constructive knowledge." " Thank you." "It's from Z Pruitt himself." " Sebastian?" " Hey there." "You don't remember me?" "Give me a hint." "Did I date you or defend you?" "Ha-ha." "Both." "Ahem." "Not at the same time." " Ah." "This is a private party." " These guys are definitely on the list." "Move it." " Evelyn, thank you." "You look gorgeous." " Oh, nice jammies." " Have we met?" " Oh, we don't run in the same circles." "But we can get acquainted downtown." "You're under arrest." " You gotta be kidding." " What the hell's going on?" "Z and I are having a little pajama party, Elliott, and you're invited." "Is it necessary to do this here?" "There's press." "Necessary, no." "I don't think so." "But I gotta tell you, it is kind of fun." "Maybe I failed to make myself clear." " I don't want you going after Z Pruitt." " He killed those women, Manny." "He might as well torched the place." " You know what you're doing." " Don't I?" " No comment." " This is a PR battle." "Pruitt's on talk shows since this story broke doing his Mother Teresa imitation." "You know who watches talk shows?" "Juries." "But that perp walk, rich guy, fancy party, those ridiculous pajamas." "That plays for us." "It's as good as gold." "Besides you told me, "Hey, nail somebody." There's your guy." "You know how many jobs Pruitt brings to the city?" "If Pruitt folds, so do dozens of other ancillary businesses." " Who does that help?" " Those are sweatshop jobs." "If they go, you think people will stop coming here?" "They won't." "Destroy these jobs crime and homelessness is gonna go through the roof." "Wait, all of a sudden you're pro-sweatshop?" "I've been working for immigrant rights for 20 years." "What have you done?" "There are ways to improve things." "Bringing down businesses like Pruitt isn't one." "Sorry." "You let the genie out of the bottle." "I'm stuck with the voodoo." "I can't turn back now." "The defense has made a motion to have Mr. Clark's e-mails ruled inadmissible." "I'm not surprised." "Dasher has a sweatshop of lawyers churning out motions 24 hours a day." "There's nothing funny about the violation of attorney/client privilege." " Give me a break." " Every e-mail written or received by Pruitt is cc'd to Gordon Samuels, in-house counsel for Pruitt Fashions." "We checked everyone cc'd on those e-mails, Your Honor." "Gordon Samuels wasn't among them." "Well, his name wouldn't be on your copies." "As you'll notice, they were blind cc'd to Mr. Samuels." " It's a half-baked attempt to undermine..." " Actually, it's a fully baked attempt." "The attorney/client privilege applies." "E-mails are out." "Come up with something for the grand jury by tomorrow or I'm dismissing the case." " Thank you, Your Honor." " Mm-hm." "Hey, there you are." "I had to get out of there." "My brain is fried." "Did you find anything?" "I've been playing around with some kind of misdemeanor or manslaughter theory based on code violations." "Lower standard of proof." "Smart." "No." "It's just gonna get thrown out." "We should get back." "So, what's the deal?" "Did your family work in sweatshops?" "Nice try." "My mother owned a grocery store near the Forum." "I practically lived there." "She was always so busy I just hung out with the employees." "They worked their asses off every day, and it didn't matter." "No matter how hard they worked it was never gonna make their lives better." "When I interviewed Claudia Reyes her mother offered to pay for the window she broke to save her life." "Slave mentality." "Yeah." "Slavery?" "Please tell me you're kidding." " You're not kidding." " It's worth a shot." "Judge would laugh a slavery charge out of court." "They were systematically brutalized." "They were paid for their work, free to quit." "And do what?" "Starve?" "It might almost be worth doing just to see Elliott Dasher's face." " Slavery." " Lf anybody can sell this, you can." "No." "Maybe you can." " Me?" "Why?" " You're the best young lawyer here." " Really?" " Of course not." "You're Hispanic, genius." "I look more like Z Pruitt than like someone who understands the plight of these dead workers." "Your colleagues would sell their mothers." "What's the problem?" "It's no problem." "It's just a tricky argument." " Dasher is really good." " You're afraid of going to court." " I wouldn't say afraid." " Okay, terrified." "You should be." "There's only one way to get better." "It makes me nervous." "I can't concentrate." " So naturally you became a trial attorney." " I'm working on it." "But this case is too important." "You're right." "It is." "So stop your whining, step up and do your job." "HOWARD:" "Mr. Allende?" "Your Honor, we'd like to dismiss the manslaughter charges and we seek to add a new count, slavery." "Ugh." "Do we seriously have to listen to this nonsense?" "County pays me to listen to nonsense all day." "Might as well join me." "Thank you." "We intend to prove that the workers employed by the defendant had their free will intentionally and systematically broken." "This is patently absurd." "There were no shackles, Your Honor." "No armed guards." "The penal code section on slavery doesn't require physical restraint." "The section was passed after World War II, Mr. Allende in response to Japanese internment camps." "Yes, with all due respect, Your Honor whatever it was designed for, it's still on the books." "Mr. Stark, would you like to be a part of this discussion?" "He can't make this argument with a straight face." "I used to be a criminal defense attorney." "I can say anything with a straight face." "Mr. Allende speaks for the people." "Slavery." "Tsk." "It's thin." " But it's interesting." " The issue's never been litigated." "The court has an opportunity to define a critical area of the law." " You can't seriously be considering this..." " Actually, I can." "The complaint is amended." "Manslaughter's out, slavery is in." "Trial will begin at 9 a.m. Tomorrow morning." "You should dismiss, Sebastian." "Though I'm happy to embarrass you in open court." "I'm sorry." "Were we at the same hearing?" " This is a vendetta." " Z, I think you'd be a lot less tense if you added a few vowels to your first name." "Hmm?" "Let's go." "We need you to describe a normal day at Hong Fabrics." "The jury has to hear it from you." "I won't go to court." "They're trying to help us, Mama." "We usually work seven days a week." "How many hours a day?" "Depending on when Mr. Hong needed the order, 15 hours." "Eighteen on a rush order." "It was good work." "Mr. Hong was fair to us." "No, he wasn't." "No breaks, not even for the bathroom." "He paid us by the piece, not by the hour." "And that usually came out to $2 an hour, sometimes less." "If we work fast, we made more money." "Don't defend him, Mama." "You remember Mrs. Cruz?" "She had a fever." "Hong made her work anyway." "She almost died." "Ladies, could you excuse us for a moment, please?" "Should we cut the mother loose?" "She's been through a lot." "She wants no part." " Put your feelings aside." " She's human." "And you're a lawyer." "Wanna help these people, think like one." "She's a perfect witness to prove slavery." "STARK:" "The daughter still has free will." "The mother's gone." "We do a before-and-after thing?" "The mom's a cautionary tale for the daughter." "Sad to see someone like that." "Let's hope the jury agrees." "So?" " Hi." " Ahh." "They let me off with a warning." "I never doubted you for a minute." "Was it tough, the questioning?" "They didn't ask me any questions." "They just let me talk." "Use the stuff about being confused by the code?" "Not knowing where your research ended and your own ideas began?" " Uh-huh." " Outstanding." "You did a great job." "How do you feel?" " Okay." "Relieved." " Well, I'm proud of you." "Really?" "I'm not." " Look, honey..." " Dad..." "Hold on a second." "Damn." "These people here." " Dad, it's fine." " Sweetie, wait." "We were..." " Sweetie, we were talking." " They're gone." " Who?" " The witnesses." " Victoria and Claudia Reyes." " Sorry." "What are you talking about?" "Word got out that they'll testify." "They couldn't get work." "Had to be Pruitt." "He got their names off our list." "It wasn't shops controlled by Pruitt." "No one would hire them." "Or their family or their friends." "Boy, Dasher really outdid himself this time." "Good night." "There's gotta be something we can do." "Come up with a way to win a slavery trial without any slaves, let me know." "Because our entire case just headed south of the border." "I had no knowledge of the working conditions at Hong Fabrics." "Once I found out, I severed ties with any manufacturer with a questionable record." "And what other steps have you taken?" "We set up a fund to benefit workers we may have indirectly wronged." "Didn't your lawyers tell you this was a bad idea?" " It might look like an admission of guilt." " I didn't get into this to cause harm." "If I thought we had done so, I'd close our doors tomorrow." "Thank you." "Professor Chambers, you've written several books on the working poor." " That's correct." " And in your book, Trap you likened the working conditions in the clothing factories of Los Angeles to slave labor?" "Workers are forced to work up to 20 hours in unsanitary conditions with poor ventilation." "They can't leave work without encountering management which is often threatening and confrontational." "Did you speak to survivors of the Hong Fabrics fire?" "Yes." "They exhibited symptoms of what I call slave psychosis." " What are those symptoms?" " Limited self-awareness subservience, absence of free will." "Defense will argue it's impossible to be a slave if you're allowed to come and go freely." "In some ways, slavery without actual physical restraint is more insidious." "It negates any sense of autonomy." "Are you familiar with California Penal Code 181, professor?" "Yes." "It's an anti-slavery law." "Ever heard of anyone being prosecuted under this law?" " No." " Well, you're not alone there." " Did you ever visit Hong Fabrics?" " No." "Your knowledge of the working conditions upon which you base your conclusion that workers were enslaved..." "Yes." "But they all described similar patterns of abuse." "By all you mean two workers?" "Out of the hundreds employed by Pruitt Fashions in Southern California, only two came forward." "Objection." "Is there a question coming anytime soon?" "Were workers at Hong Fabrics paid for their labor?" " Yes." "But hardly..." " To your knowledge were workers bought and sold?" "No." "With the exception of earning less than many of us in this room and choosing to work longer hours these workers were treated very much like us." " Their lives are much harder." " You're right." "But that's because they're poor and not because they're slaves." "And poverty, while unfortunate, is not a crime for which my client can be prosecuted." "Mr. Pruitt, this fund you started, how big is it?" " Three million dollars." " That came out of your pocket?" "The corporation." "I'm a significant shareholder." "People making your clothes nationally is in excess of 10,000 workers, right?" " I'd have to look it up." " I already did." "That comes out to $300 per worker including the four women who lost their lives at Hong Fabrics." "As I said, I had no knowledge of the working..." "You're a smart guy, Mr. Pruitt." "Certainly you're aware that the illegal immigrant labor issue is a big one in your industry." "I have people whose job it is to make sure that our manufacturers comply with the law." "They're doing a bang-up job." " Objection." " Withdrawn." "How much did you earn last year, Mr. Pruitt?" " I have no idea." " Must be nice." "If they were alive, they'd know their income was to the penny." " Your Honor." " Thirty million bucks." "Not including stock options." "And Pruitt stock hit an all-time high, did it not?" "Should I apologize for running a successful company?" "No." "But if you had taken 25 million instead of 30 million you could've improved worker conditions." "And doubled the salary of every single man and woman who slave day and night to make you rich." "Maybe you could apologize for that." "No more questions, Your Honor." "You didn't hear from the victims." "Why not?" "The ones who lived were too scared to come forward." "Ugh." "As flat as a pancake." "It is an emotional plea, genius." "The ones who lived didn't dare accuse the people they depend upon for their very survival..." "Man, why don't you just move in upstairs?" "Sorry." "Julie let me in." "Look, I know the closing's gonna be tough." "So I prepared some charts, labor statistics income disparities, you name it." "You can't buy my forgiveness with visual aids." "You scored points on your cross of Pruitt." "Martin, if it were a crime to be rich and hypocritical they'd lock me up years ago." "No one's better in front of a jury than you." "Yeah, true." "But having a case would help." "I wanna get out of here." "I'm beat and I'm going to get a burger." "I tell you what." "I know the best burgers in town." "You're not invited." "Okay, seriously." "That was the best burger I've ever had in my entire life." "Ha-ha." "I told you." "Too bad it's in a war zone." "How'd you find this place?" "I grew up three blocks from here." "Oh." " When I said war zone..." " You meant it in the best way." "Right." "Are you hungry?" "What's going on over there?" "Night shift." "Garment workers?" "Legal pad." "Now." "I used to be a defense attorney, and I loved it." "Especially closing." "Because all I had to do was roll out some semi-plausible argument sow a little reasonable doubt and my guy would walk away a free man." "Now, Mr. Dasher is an excellent defense attorney." "He's sitting there just chomping at the bit to tell you about the holes in my case." "So we said, "Okay, we'll fix him." We put together these visual aids charts, graphs, the whole nine yards." "I was gonna dazzle you with numbers and statistics." "And then it hit me." "Mr. Dasher almost got me to fall into his trap." "Because you see, that's what they wanna make this about." "It's what they make everything about." "But this isn't about numbers." "This is about people." "People that we're not supposed to see." "People who spend their entire lives making things that we take for granted." "Jeans, picture frames, baseball gloves." "Objects that we treat with more respect than the human beings who make them." "Have we proven that the workers at Hong Fabrics were slaves?" "That's for you to decide." "But when you go into that jury room, you sit down at that table remember this." "The women who died in that fire at Hong Fabrics no longer have a voice." "They need someone to make sure that what happened to them doesn't happen to anyone else." "Estrella Martinez." "Maria Pineda." "Luce Castillo." "Alejandra Villa." "All we're asking is that you speak for them." "Hey." "Hey, since when do you drink coffee?" "Aren't you late for school?" "Wait a second." " You okay?" " Sure." "Ever since the hearing..." "You know what?" "I'm fine." "We won, right?" "Yeah." "You don't seem particularly thrilled." "Well, there's really no point in talking about it now, is there?" "Stop." "Come back here." "What?" "What do you want me to say?" "That I'm a liar and a cheat?" "I hate myself right now." "Do you?" " To a large extent, this is my fault." " No..." "I treated this like one of my cases." "And the problem is you're not a client." "No, it's all on me." "This whole stupid mess." "I was afraid to disappoint you." "You're always talking about how proud you are of your genius daughter..." "I am." "And people make mistakes." "Even you." "Look..." "I've been a lousy father." "I ignored you and I've let you down." "But as fast and loose as I may have played it in court I never lied to you." "Never." "And believe me." "Heh." "There were times when it would've been easier." "But if we don't have the truth then we don't have a prayer of making this thing work." "As the jury continues to deliberate in the trial of Z Pruitt for his role in last month's sweatshop fire protests are scheduled to take place throughout the city." "Estimates for the size of these rallies ranges anywhere from a few thousand to a hundred thousand people." "Did we cause this?" "You caused this." "Any word?" " No, and it's been a full day." " Complicated case." "The jury could be out for a week." "Maybe longer." " Can we talk?" " Where's your client?" "This is my client, Greg Alderson." "He is Pruitt Fashions." " Chairman of the board and majority shareholder." "You're about to witness the birth of a sacrificial lamb." "You're less than thrilled about what this trial is doing to your share price." "This is where you step in, sell out Z Pruitt to save the company?" "Pruitt pleads guilty, no jail time, no admission of guilt by the company." "No." "Pruitt and the company plead guilty." "You take out an apology ad in every major newspaper in America." "Families get a million." "Wages go up 50 percent within the year." "Pruitt gets 18 months in prison." " He'll be out in six." " You have no case." "When jury puts down handkerchiefs, they'll figure it out." "Probably right." "But I guarantee you this." "Win or lose, I am gonna set up a Labor Violation Enforcement Unit." "The first hundred cases I file will be against Pruitt." "You'll be on the front page all year long." "See what that does to your stock price." "Take the deal." "I'll draw up the papers." "That was amazing." "Can't believe they tossed Pruitt over like that." " I'm just surprised it took them so long." " You are the best." "You're right." "So does this mean I'm not fired?" "Not today." "Okay, burgers on me." "Let's go." "Not you." "No, you have cleanup detail." "I gotta clean up this mess all by myself?" "Oh, you're kidding." "Like I could ever find that place without you."