| |
Zack finished an early morning contentious motion and argument with a defense lawyer and Judge ‘Lockjaw,’ who Zack determined was in bed with the entire defense bar. He hurried to meet Dan Wolfe for a late breakfast at the Dime Store, a wonderful breakfast-brunch restaurant in the Chrysler House on Griswold, a short walk from the courthouse.
The grand old office-retail building was built in 1912. For most of its existence, it was known as the Dime Building. The restaurant pays homage to its heritage in the early days. As part of the recent post-bankruptcy resurgence of downtown Detroit, a local billionaire purchased the building, renovated it, tapped Chrysler as an anchor tenant, and changed the building’s name. Money talks and bullshit walks, Zack mused.
Zack trotted through the building’s beautiful lobby and barged into the tiny but crowded restaurant, scanning patrons for Wolfe. He spotted Wolfe waving from the counter, which had the feel of those old soda fountain counters he used to frequent with his grandfather.
As the two men exchanged greetings, Wolfe handed Zack a menu.
“Haven’t been here in a while. Great place, great choice,” Zack noted.
“The French toast is to die for,” Wolfe salivated.
“Probably fifteen hundred calories.”
“You only live once.”
Zack laughed. “I’m looking at the omelets.”
“Those are great, too.”
A server brought two glasses of ice water and offered coffee, which both men accepted. Zack ordered the vegetarian omelet with house fries and multi-grain toast. Wolfe ordered the French toast. While they waited, Zack caught Dan up on the search for a facilitator/mediator.
“I talked to Stu. He’s interested but a bit on the fence.”
“Oh? Why?” Dan was surprised.
“He thinks the case is going to require a tremendous time commitment, and he’s been super busy.”
“What did you tell him?”
“I told him we could schedule blocks of time around his schedule and that he would also have an immigration specialist/co-mediator to assist.”
“How did he react to that?”
“He was fine with it. I even think he preferred it.”
“Great, do we have anyone in mind for the immigration side?”
“I offered the job to Harry Rosen.”
“Wow, other than perhaps Marshall Mann and his up-and-coming associate, Amy Fletcher, Harry might be the best in the city. What did he say?”
“He doesn’t do mediations. There isn’t much call for them in the immigration field, but this case is so important, he promised to consider it.”
“He’ll do it. Who could pass up on an opportunity to mediate the biggest case of the year? Besides, he gets to work with the one and only Zachary Blake.”
“And the legendary Daniel Wolfe.” Zack smiled and winked.
“Ha! Probably a deal-breaker!”
The food arrived—everything was as wonderful as Zack remembered. He offered Dan a sample of his omelet, hoping Dan would offer a piece of French toast in return. In Blake's family lore, Zack was infamous for ordering healthy meals and then ogling the food of others until they broke down and gave him a taste. Dan declined the omelet but offered Zack a healthy portion of his large French toast order—Blake was a happy man.
They discussed Zack’s morning in front of ‘Lockjaw.’ Zack caused onlookers to stare and gasp by doing a loud but perfect impression of the eccentric judge. Dan burst out laughing. The restaurant was packed with lawyers who heard the impression, recognized the subject, and politely applauded Zack’s performance. Zack jumped off the counter stool and bowed deeply, creating a riotous scene of laughter and more vigorous applause.
When the commotion died down and lawyers returned to their breakfast conversations, Blake and Wolfe began to chat about the case. The case was a surefire win in any attorney’s hands. In Blake’s, the sky was the limit and both men knew it. The discussion centered on making the Gonzalez family whole without increasing the already serious political divide or causing serious damage to the country.
“With all due respect, Dan, that’s not my job. I represent the Gonzalez family,” Zack admonished.
“But you’re an American citizen, Zack. I’m not telling you to back off. I’m urging you to pursue the case without the usual Blake histrionics.”
“I offered mediation, didn’t I?”
“You did, and I appreciate the good start.”
“Good start? What does that mean?”
“I’d like you to pursue this case on the down-low, without publicly defecating all over the United States government in the process.”
“Boy, you don’t pull any punches. You think I’m a publicity hound. Is that it?”
Wolfe laughed out loud. “Your record speaks for itself, my friend. How about that low-key press conference you held when you filed the case?”
“It got your client to the table.”
“Indeed. All I am asking is that you save the nonsense until after we mediate. If we can’t settle the case, all bets are off.”
“You mean that?” Zack was surprised. This sounds like a government mandate to settle the case.
“Full disclosure—don’t abuse my confidence. I have been provided with an almost blank check and a mandate to resolve this quickly and quietly. I’m willing if you’re willing.” Wolfe repeated almost verbatim what Zack was thinking.
“What happens if others take me up on my class-action offer?”
“If the numbers are fair and reasonable, we’ll resolve those too.”
“Wow.”
“Rumor has it that Golding does not want kids in cages and separated families to be his legacy even if he wasn’t the president who implemented those policies.”
“I understand his concern. He’s the last man standing, the one in the hot seat with this litigation. Memories of who first separated families and locked kids in cages will fade. The last guy, the one who got his ass handed to him in court, will go down in history as responsible for the whole stinking mess and the costly cleanup.”
“That’s his concern. He’s going to go down in history, much the same as Gerald Ford, as an ineffectual short-term president—a nice guy who followed a terrible, crooked president, and who found the clean-up process a bit too much to handle. The big difference is that Golding refused the pardon.”
“God bless him for that.”
“Amen. So, you’ll try it my way, pretty please?”
“I’ll give it a go.”
