Page 4 of Maddy's Justice

“There you are,” Gavin Blake said when Melanie joined him in the firm conference room. “Have a glass of Dom,” Gavin said handing her a flute of champagne.

Melanie took a swallow, thanked him, and clicked her glass with the two men Gavin was with.

One of the men was Brandon Stafford, the son of Finn Stafford and grandson of the founding partner, Harold. Thanks to grandpa and dad, Brandon was worth well over a hundred million. He had earned none of it. At best, a C minus lawyer, like his forebearers, he had a gift for bringing in and keeping corporate clients; mostly by being a worse golfer than he was a lawyer. He could also go from pleasant, charming, and affable to Atilla the Hun in a heartbeat. Brandon would stroke his ego at least twice a year by firing a quality associate who believed partner was in his future.

The other man standing off in a corner with Blake and Stafford was Clifford Spenser. Spenser was the first black lawyer hired by the firm. Now in his early sixties, he was the head of litigation. He also secretly despised the two men he was with and whom he rightfully regarded as idiots. He was also shackled to them like Marley’s ghost was shackled to his chains; the chains he forged in life.

“I’m glad you’re all here,” Melanie said. “We have a problem.”

“Melanie, can’t you just once let your hair down and enjoy the party?” Gavin asked.

The celebration in the senior partner’s conference room was about a significant lawsuit settlement. Troy McGovern, the head of the Mass Torts Department, had scored a ninety-million-dollar settlement. One-third of which would go to the firm. Even to a firm the size of Stafford, Hughes, thirty million was a nice check.

“No,” Melanie said. She looked at Spenser and said, “Your golden boy is who we need to talk about.”

“Now what?” Spenser glumly asked.

“We’re being sued,” Melanie replied.

A short while later, the four of them, the four senior partners who actually ran the firm, were in Melanie’s office. They were seated comfortably around a table waiting for Brandon to finish reading the Complaint. When he did, he placed it in the middle of the table.

“Do you believe this? Do you believe that Stephanie Chapple recorded Troy telling her he would put her on his litigation team if she gave him oral sex every day for a month?” Gavin asked Melanie.

“Yes, for a couple of reasons. It sounds like something Troy would say. I personally have heard him say worse and told him to knock it off. He laughed and waved it off as a joke,” Melanie said.

“Of course, it’s a joke. Some of these women need to grow up. He was obviously kidding. Why is this stuff suddenly such a big deal?” Brandon asked.

Melanie looked at him for a moment before answering. “The second reason I believe it is because I know the lawyer, Lori Quinn. Lori wouldn’t make that claim if she couldn’t back it up. You may think it’s a joke, but I guarantee that recording won’t sound like a joke when she plays it in court.”

“Then get it suppressed. It’s obviously illegally….” Brandon started to say.

“Not in Minnesota, it isn’t. Only one party needs to consent to the recording. In liberal Hennepin County, it will come in,” Spenser said.

“Move it to federal court,” Brandon said.

Spenser shook his head, looked at Brandon and asked, “Did you go to law school? It will still come in.”

Clifford Spenser was one of the few lawyers at Stafford, Hughes that Brandon Stafford was afraid of. Spenser was multiple times the lawyer Brandon Stafford was. If Spenser left, he could take the entire litigation department with him. The firm would collapse.

“What do we do?” Melanie asked.

“I think we should hire outside counsel to handle this,” Gavin Blake said.

“Will our insurance pay?” Brandon asked.

“No, it’s not errors and omissions. It’s not malpractice or negligence. We could have purchased a rider, but we turned it down,” Gavin replied. “Too expensive.”

“We should fire the sonofabitch,” Brandon said.

“Which looks worse, Brandon?” Melanie asked. “We keep him on and fight it which may look like we approve of his behavior or fire him and by doing so admit it’s all true?”

Brandon sat quietly and sulked over this.

“What do you think about hiring outside counsel?” Melanie asked Clifford Spenser.

“If it brings media attention…”

“It already has,” Melanie interrupted. “I got a call from a reporter for the Star Tribune before I came to tell you guys. That deplorable little snake, Philo Anson.”

---