America 1982

Hale \u0026 Dole White Shoe LLP, Boston, MA.

On the door of the office, there is a metal nameplate specifically marked with the identity of the partner: Attorney Robert Morley's Office.

The intern opened the door and handed the document in his hand to Robert, who was sitting behind his desk with his back to the huge floor-to-ceiling window, concentrating on flipping through an investigation report: "Mr. Morley, this is the information you want."

Robert took it and opened it while ordering: "Wait a minute, call Leonard and introduce him to Mr. Nowick. Mr. Nowick has a case that requires his private detective to help collect evidence."

"Okay, Mr. Jim Manz wants to see you." The intern said after listening to Robert's instructions.

Robert was stunned for a moment: "Jim? Do I have an appointment with him?"

"Yeah, let's go have fun with you? I'm your fucking employer, and I want to see you..." Jim's voice sounded outside the door.

Seeing Jim's big face appearing at the door, Robert immediately said to his intern: "OK, Noah, you go out first. Thank you for the information you sent. I will call you if I have any other questions."

"Need me to prepare coffee for you and Mr. Manzi..." the intern asked.

Robert looked at Jim Manz who walked in expressionlessly, and said: "No need, as a partner I need to save the firm's expenses."

After the intern walked out and helped close the door, Jim walked straight to the floor-to-ceiling window behind his desk and admired the street view: "The view in this office looks much better than your previous room, which is no bigger than my underwear." , Robert.”

"You want me to embarrass myself in front of the interns, Jim, please, this is my first day when I am promoted to partner." Robert said depressedly with his back to Jim.

"Really?" Jim turned around, walked behind Robert, and patted his shoulders with both hands: "So you are a little unhappy? On your first day when you were just promoted to partner?"

"F*ck, Jim, you can't..." Robert raised his head and sounded very unhappy, wanting to remind himself that this friend, whom he had known for many years, should pay attention to the occasion when joking.

But before he could finish speaking, he saw this guy take out a business card and put it to his mouth to block his next words.

Robert reached out and took it. The exquisite British-style business card said Thomson Holdings International, Chairman of the Board of Directors Kenneth Thomson.

"I recommend you as an independent director of Thompson Holdings International. Mr. Thomson agreed. He is willing to have a chat with you next time he comes to Boston from Toronto. How about this gift? This gift can make you feel happy. Is it ready?" Jim slowly walked back to the seat opposite Robert and said with a smile:

"Seven years. In seven years you became a partner in a white-shoe firm. Sometimes I think you are really a genius, Robert."

"Thank you, I think so too." Robert put away the business card and smiled.

How many of his friends would be as considerate as this bastard Jim? Those friends have prepared all kinds of gifts, maybe famous wine, maybe flowers, or even a party, but only this bastard knows what he needs most, and then gives it according to his needs. To meet your needs, send me a truly substantial gift.

A lawyer like Robert Morley, who has just been promoted to partner in a large firm, needs to hold the title of independent director of several companies and take on a few important enough cases in order to demonstrate strong enough ability and enterprising spirit in the industry. , this will be of great help to him, whether he is attracted by other firms, or invited by the government to join the judicial department, or to go further and pursue the position of managing partner.

But the title of an ordinary small company will only reduce the gold content. It is best to be a company with enough influence to be worthy of the status of a partner of a white shoe firm. For example, at this time, Jim helped him recommend Thomson Holdings International, which is located in Canada. is a large publishing organization that publishes many regional newspapers in the United States with a total circulation of more than one million copies. If you become an independent director of this company, first of all, the legislators in the newspaper publishing areas must consider whether they can be friends with you. Pull him into a new circle.

"You can already brag to everyone about this amazing speed, because it is only more than half as slow as the time when I became the assistant editor-in-chief of National Review in three years." Jim raised his fingers at him and said.

Robert opened the drawer and threw him a box of cigars: "So you just come to my office, give me gifts to congratulate me, and then use your perverted experiences to stimulate me?"

"No, dear consultant from Lotus Company, I am more curious about how far that case has progressed?" Jim took the cigar box, took out a cigar from it and sniffed it slowly at the tip of his nose, and asked.

Robert leaned back in his chair, put his hands on his lower abdomen, raised his head slightly and thought for a while: "The other party sent a defense letter to the court, indicating that they will respond to the lawsuit, and that's it. Under normal circumstances, the next step is to wait for the court's permission. , lawyers from both sides have entered the stage of collecting and disclosing evidence, and are just waiting for the evidence collection to be completed before the court battle begins."

"Which law firm helped the other party reply to the letter of defense?" Jim did not use a cigar cutter, but directly bit off the cap with his teeth and spit it on the carpet.

Seeing Jim's behavior, Robert said depressedly: "Can't you be like a gentleman? I can't believe that a bastard like you could become Mr. Buckley's assistant back then. Why can he tolerate you!"

"Because I dared to go to the Soviet Union for investigation and research, and helped the magazine become an indispensable reading for all American politicians. I am just a fucking magazine editor, but I do the work that the CIA should do. This is why Mr. Buckley values ​​me The reason." Jim smiled in an arrogant tone: "I used a 150,000-word investigation report to tell those American politicians who were so stupid that they didn't even know where Moscow was. The Soviets were not like the intelligence sent back by the CIA. We live in dire straits, so don’t make those idiotic comments or you’ll become the butt of a joke.”

"Okay, stop bragging. I've helped you find out. It's a small law firm near Stanford University. It was founded in 1979. It's just an unknown person in California and has no strength at all." Robert told Jim Stop bragging, but in fact he still waited for Jim to finish speaking before saying this without interrupting. From his personal heart, he admired this bastard very much. When the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union was at its most tense, this guy He went to the Soviet Union and secretly lived with the most ordinary Soviet people for nearly a year, helping Buckley complete the investigative report. Others, let alone going to the Soviet Union, did not even have the courage to raise their hands to sign up.

Robert took a cigar and played with it: "Do you think that Actor Company has a lot of money and hires white-shoe elites as corporate legal advisors like Lotus?"

"After the other party responded to the lawsuit, it seems that we can't meet in private, right?" Jim did not answer, but slowly heated the cigar over the fire and continued to ask.

"It is best to meet when both parties are accompanied by lawyers to avoid being caught by the other party and used to make trouble."

"I learned that they seem to have trained a group of low-level women, the kind of cheap prostitutes, and then cooperated with organizations such as the Stanford Association for the Advancement of Women. Are you sure these won't cause trouble if a trial is held? You know that most women are very Trouble, except for prostitutes." Jim put the lit cigar into his mouth and said in a vulgar tone.

Robert shrugged: "Don't talk about cooperating with women's organizations. Even if you cooperate with the president, it can't change the fact that Lotus's rights have been violated. The interface is the same, the functions are the same, and you still have a special edition in your hands, which proves that they have violated the rights of Lotus from the beginning. You know you are plagiarizing. When the court allows lawyers from both sides to collect evidence, I will ask my colleagues in California to help get detailed evidence from Stanford University. Don’t worry, the only thing you need to worry about is that they’d better not get it suddenly. A large investment, otherwise it will turn into a tug-of-war situation like that with Moore Company. Both parties spent hundreds of millions of dollars in legal fees in three to five years. In the end, it is really unacceptable that both parties are losing money, and only the lawyer is making a huge fortune. In reality, the lawyers took away their money and both parties took the initiative to settle.”

"I have done some public relations work. Those computer magazines and newspapers will not report on Actor Company for a while. I will pay double the public relations fees they pay, so they will not appear in any professional magazines or newspapers in the future. Avoid being seen by investors as much as possible and reduce this possibility." Jim thought for a while and asked again:

"How long until the court issues documents allowing lawyers on both sides to collect evidence in this case?"

"Inside information, one week, specifically to help you get up to speed. This is the benefit of hiring a large firm. It is worth every penny. It is known throughout the state of Massachusetts that the current judges of the state courts were partners in the firm before they became judges. If a little-known small law firm in California came to Boston to appear in court and win, this firm wouldn't be able to stay in Boston for a hundred years, and that's why you chose us."

"What will happen if a large company disrupts the situation, I mean large software companies such as Microsoft, MicroPort, and Powerland, and uses Actor as a puppet and hides behind the scenes?"

"The biggest possibility is to drag it out for many years and then settle it. In the state court and circuit court stage, we can't lose."

"In other words, there is still a possibility of losing?"

"Jim, the United States has a three-level court system. 99% of cases can be resolved at the circuit court level. We are always victorious at the two levels of the Massachusetts State Court and the U.S. Second District Circuit Court. These two courts 70% of the judges and clerks have internship or working experience in our law firm Hale \u0026 Dole. Even if this case eventually appears in the U.S. Supreme Court, our influence on Washington is not that of California. Those computer nerds have connections that rival those."

"Worst case scenario is pull and then make up, right?"

"Yeah, definitely not worse."

"Very well, I will convince Mr. Buckley to allow me to publish an article in National Review with the title of assistant editor-in-chief that I have not used for many years." After receiving Robert's affirmative reply, Jim spat out a light blue message. In the haze, there was a sinister smile on the face:

"Don't think that I don't have influence in the software industry. Those nerdy upstarts can just fucking drool over Lotus."

Second update~~