Page 44 of Pleading Innocence

“If we find that the landlord was in fact negligent and did not provide our client with all of that information, what happens if our client’s results show that she does not have asbestos poisoning?” she asked.

“We’ll cross that bridge once we get there. But for now, the opposition just has to be led to believe that it is possible that she might. They might be convinced to drop the claim they have against our client or to find a way to settle. They might find that outstanding rent isn’t their worst nightmare since in some cases the tenant may well be in their right to withhold rent due to landlord negligence,” I said with a pep of confidence in my tone.

“I like your angle,” Ms. Saunders said, leaning forward and tapping her nails on her desk. “But I wouldn’t go as far as to make an asbestos claim right now. We can see if the opposition is willing to meet to settle or drop the suit. But just in case this goes back to court before we’re able to obtain our client’s test results, I would suggest using our client’s medical records and bringing in a medical expert to speak ‘hypothetically’ on the situation. They could confirm that our client’s symptomsmaybeconsistentwith the symptoms of asbestos poisoning, presenting that argument to the judge without necessarily claiming asbestos poisoning as a fact. And I think you should be the one to do it,” she said.

Wait, did I hear right?

My mouth dropped open and I squished my brows together. “I should be the one to do what?” I asked, almost breathless as blood pounded in my ears.

“You should be the one to present this case to the judge,” she said with another smile.

Two smiles in one day?! I couldn’t believe it. My eyes lit up and I almost jumped out of my seat. “Me?” I asked, still unsure if I was understanding her correctly since I was too dazed from excitement to be sure of anything at the moment.

She straightened up in her seat. “I don’t usually do this with new hires, especially first-year associates, but I don’t know. I like the way your mind works, and well, since this is a civil suit, so far, I figured it would be the perfect opportunity to give you the stage and see how you handle yourself in court. That’s if you think you’re ready, and if you think you can handle it?” She cocked her head at me, emphasizing her question.

Handle it? I was born for this. This was not expected since I hadn’t been working here long, but to get the chance to argue a case this soon? I thought I’d have to work at least a year proving myself first before I was given the opportunity to stand in front of a judge in defense of a client! Ready? I couldn’t be more ready!

Or could I? The memory of Jared’s accusations and the way his eyes judged me floated through my mind like a ghost trying to rob me of my joy again. But it also fueled me, damn it. He could either trample on my opportunities and stunt my growth because I had to walk on eggshells with him, afraid to piss him off, or he could respect me as a lawyer once and for all.

In fact, screw that. It didn’t matter if he respected me or not. I wasn’t at Crawford & Beam anymore. My job didn’t rely on what he thought about me. I was at Bronkers & Associates with a boss who thought I was capable and was offering me my dream because my work spoke for itself. That opportunity was not going to miss me. If Jared couldn’t respect that, well, damn it, I could. I could respect myself and that was more important to me than what Jared Grumpy Crawford thought about me.

For a man who sang day and night about how entitled I was, he sure thought the world revolved around him, and maybe he needed a reminder that it did not. And if that intimidated him, threatened his ego or whatever the hell it did to him that caused him to treat me the way he treated me, well, he would have to be the one to carry that burden, not me.

“Oh, I can handle it,” I said to my boss. “I’d love to! I can’t believe it, thank you so much. I won’t let you down.” I was smiling and far too giddy. So giddy, I wanted to jump across the table to grab my boss into a hug. Maybe she could sense it because she was looking at me all terrified by my show of emotion. After composing myself, I cleared my throat while my feet danced beneath her desk.

“Okay, great. I want you to prepare for a mock trial tomorrow. Until then, brush up on your research, rework your angle, and strengthen your arguments,” she said, looking away from me, essentially dismissing me.

“Will do, Ms. Saunders. Thank you so much,” I said, trying to keep my voice as unemotional as possible as I walked out of her office feeling like my insides were just jamming out in excitement to their own rhythm.

Chapter 28

Jared

“Yourhonor,thisisa clear-cut case. The defendant clearly has no legs to stand on. In respect of the court’s time and your time, your honor, I think it is in everyone’s best interest if the matter is brought to a close today. The defendant clearly has no valid reason for them to be withholding rent from my client. Your honor, with all due respect, I think the verdict is clear, despite what the defendant might lead you to believe,” I said, glaring at Tiffany, who didn’t even have the balls to look at me.

“With all due respect, Mr. Crawford, I think I’m quite capable of determining when the case should be resolved,” the judge said as I walked back to my seat. “Does the defendant have anything to add?”

Sitting down, I straightened my tie, not in the least bit bothered by the judge’s response because I knew that they knew that I was right.

“Yes, your honor.” Her voice.

My head spun around so fast I thought I might have gotten whiplash. Tiffany Levine was leaving her seat and approaching the podium. Was this a fever dream or a circus? What the hell? There was no way she was going to be representing a client with only two months’ experience as an associate lawyer. Oh, man. I almost felt bad for her. But at the same time, this should be quite entertaining. What in the world would they find to argue about now? They didn’t even have a case. It was quite embarrassing that Bronkers & Associates wouldn’t just forfeit, to be honest. Such a pity that Tiffany had to leave Crawford & Beam for a firm that clearly didn’t know what they were doing.

My stomach rumbled. While on one hand, I wanted to enjoy this, on the other hand, I was terrified for her. But at the same time, maybe I could see where her boss was coming from. It was like throwing in the weakest player toward the end of the game when there was no chance they could make the score worse than it was; so they could get the experience.

Not that I thought she was weak. Sure, I had my biases toward her, but she wasn’t weak. However, in comparison to the other players on her team, I was assuming the others had more experience. Unless they were all just winging, it in which case the person I felt the most sorry for was the client.

“Your honor, I would like to submit new evidence into the case. It is my client’s medical records,” Tiffany said.

My jaw slackened. Medical records? They weren’t going to play the ‘too sick to work to earn money to pay rent’ defense, were they?

“Your honor, we have reason to believe that due to the landlord’s negligence, my client’s health has been compromised,” she said.

What was she talking about? I spun around and looked at my client, lowering my voice as I spoke. “What is she talking about?”

My client’s eyebrows raised in a panic as she shrugged. We should’ve really taken the chance to meet with the opposition when they’d presented it to us, but I’d really thought it was a waste of time, there was no point—and it wasn’t like I was looking forward to spending an afternoon feeling uncomfortable because Tiffany was in the room. So I’d turned down the opportunity to meet after asking my client if there was any other information that she thought that I should know. She reassured me that there wasn’t, and I reassured her that if there wasn’t then there was nothing the defendant’s team could say to us that couldn’t wait until court.

I was wrong. Damn it.

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