Page 43 of Maddy's Justice

“Well…

“Frank,” the man said.

“Yes, I did remember,” Marc said.

“There’ll be a quiz later,” Cliff Spenser joked.

“Great, now you tell me,” Marc replied.

“Well, Frank,” he continued, “we’re barely starting with discovery.”

“Bury the bitch with a flood of paperwork,” one of the others said to which they all nodded in agreement.

“Which bitch is that?” Marc asked feigning sincerity, looking at the one who said it.

“Why, um, well, ah, I thought opposing counsel was a woman. Am I wrong?”

“Oh,” Marc said. “You mean Lori Quinn. That bitch. Just wanted to make sure we were talking about the same person.”

By now everyone at the table was looking a little uncomfortable. There was a short, but seemingly much longer “pregnant pause” in the discussion.

“Sorry,” the man muttered.

“Dalton, right?” Marc asked making sure he had the name right.

“Yes,” he replied. “Score one point on the name quiz.”

“Look, I didn’t mean to embarrass you,” Marc said, although that’s exactly what he intended. “I’m certainly no fan of political correctness. I can’t keep up with all of it.

“I’ve known a lot of women lawyers, professionals who are fine lawyers and yes, some of them can be absolute bitches. Then again, I’ve met a lot of male lawyers who are enormous assholes, too.”

“That’s a fact,” Cliff Spenser said with a laugh.

“But to reply to your comment, burying her in paper won’t work. Lori has a couple of associates, or so I’m told, who can handle it. And she has clients who can wait us out.”

He turned to Spenser and said, “You’re still employing three of them, I believe. Do not, I repeat, do not fire them for anything short of a homicide.”

“Don’t worry, we won’t,” Spenser said with just a touch of dissatisfaction in his voice.

Marc looked at Dalton again and asked, “Are you H. Dalton Turner and aren’t you in the mass torts department with Troy?”

The waitress arrived and the conversation stopped while she took their orders.

“What’s the most expensive thing you have? Whatever it is, I’ll have that and give me two more of them to go. Put it on Cliff Spenser’s bill,” Marc said.

While his tablemates, including Spenser, laughed the waitress stared at Marc.

“I’m kidding,” Marc said.

“Try the chicken breast,” Spenser said. “It’s quite good.”

When she left, Marc turned back to Dalton Turner and said, “You’re on my list to interview. I missed you before. I think you were out of town.”

Turner looked around a bit nervously then took out a business card and handed it to Marc. “Call my assistant and make an appointment.”

Marc took the card and replied, “You’ll need to come to my office, we’ll have more privacy there.”

Up until now, Marc had been willing to accommodate these people. Dalton Turner oozed arrogance, as did the others, and Marc had decided to treat them like any other client.

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