Tish noted a pained expression on Spence’s face as he entered the courtroom at a few minutes before nine, trailed by Peter Brent. She moved forward to meet him and lowered her voice. “What’s wrong?”
He shook his head, jaw clenched. “You are not going to believe this.”
“What?”
“Brent wants—”
“All rise! Court is now in session. The honorable Rebecca Winston presiding.”
Spence lowered his voice. “You’ll find out in a minute.”
Her blood pressure spiked. A flood of anxiety washed over Tish in an instant.
The judge made her way to the bench. “Be seated.” She turned toward Spence and furrowed her brow. “Good morning. I don’t see Ms. Nix. Where is counsel for the defendant, Mr. Capshaw?”
Spence stood up. “Your honor, my partner was in a serious traffic accident this weekend and is currently hospitalized.”
“Is she all right?”
“She suffered some bad injuries but she will recover. However, it will be several months before she will be back to work.”
The judge shook her head. “I see. Please convey my wishes that she get well.”
“I will, your honor.”
“In the meantime, I assume you are here to ask for a continuance.”
“Just a few days, your honor.”
“I thought you said Ms. Nix would be out of commission for months.”
Brent stood up. “Your honor, I would like Mr. Capshaw to represent me.”
Tish’s jaw dropped. Oh dear God, no…
The judge glared at the defendant. “Sit down, Mr. Brent. You may be the CEO of a major company, but you will speak when spoken to in my kingdom, and I’m the queen of this castle. Clear?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“And don’t call me ma’am. I’m not that old.”
“Yes…m…your honor.”
She turned to Spence. “Are you prepared to represent the defendant, Mr. Capshaw?”
“No, your honor. My partner has been assisted by two attorneys from Mr. Brent’s corporate law department, and she suggested that he would be well represented by either of them. Mr. Brent agreed that was the best course of action last night when he spoke with Ms. Nix.”
“Did you know Mr. Brent actually wanted you to represent him?”
“No. He told me about five minutes ago, your honor. And other than giving Ms. Nix my files and notes from two similar cases, I haven’t done any work on the case.”
She turned to the defendant. “Mr. Brent, what’s the deal? If you’ve got two attorneys from your company’s legal department and they have been working on the case, it makes no sense that you would want Mr. Capshaw’s representation.”
“Your honor, it just hit me this morning that the lawyers from my legal department are not as experienced as Mr. Capshaw is as a litigator, and Ms. Nix has told me he is an excellent attorney.”
“That may be true from what I’ve seen in my courtroom, but the fact remains he has not done any work on your case.”
“I don’t care. It’s a simple case, he’s handled two lawsuits involving work product before and his partner told me he had provided information to her. I will not agree to anyone else.”
Spence glared at Brent.
The judge rolled her eyes. “Okay, I want both attorneys in my chambers, now.”
Tish looked at Spence as they followed the judge and mouthed, “What should we do?”
He shrugged as they entered her chambers and shut the door.
Judge Winston took a seat behind her desk. “Okay, Mr. Capshaw, what the hell is going on?”
“As I said, your honor, I thought we had this all resolved yesterday. My partner and I called Brent from the hospital and suggested he use the attorneys from his legal department. I met with him earlier this morning and he was on board. I just came to ask you for a continuance of a few days so they could prepare. Then as we’re walking into the courtroom he tells me he’s changed his mind and wants me to take the lead. He said his staff attorneys don’t have enough experience as litigators and he won’t agree to them.”
She slowly nodded. “And you really haven’t done anything to help your partner with this case besides telling her about the cases you worked?”
Spence shook his head. “No, your honor. I had never even talked to Mister Brent until yesterday.”
“Dammit. Jury selection took forever last week and I have no desire to go through that again. Trying to find people who hadn’t heard about this case was nearly impossible.” She turned to Tish. “Your thoughts, Ms. McKenna?”
“Your honor, I think this is obviously another stall tactic by Mr. Brent. My client has already waited a few years to bring this to trial. And she has personal issues.”
“Can you be more specific?”
“She’s dying, your honor, and she was hoping for either a settlement or to win this case before…so she can afford the medical care she needs to save her life. Either way, she wants it resolved. Making her wait several months until Ms. Nix is well would be a real hardship for her and the stress isn’t doing her any good as she fights for her life. I’m not saying she’s counting on winning—”
“I read the papers, Ms. McKenna. This case does look like a slam dunk for you.”
“There won’t be a case if Brent delays it long enough because she won’t be alive to sue him.”
The judge’s eyes turned sad. “Okay, give me an hour to figure something out. Because I want this damn media circus off my docket as much as you guys, and this doesn’t need to drag out past Christmas for the poor woman. In the meantime, you two use this time and see if you can work out a settlement to get us all off the hook.”
*
Judge Winston returned and took a seat. “Will both attorneys please approach the bench.”
Tish and Spence moved toward her as she put her hand over the microphone. “Were you able to work out a settlement?”
Spence shook his head. “Brent won’t budge. And the amount Ms. McKenna asked for was very reasonable. He’s dug in on not using his own attorneys as well.”
She shook her head and exhaled. “I think Ms. McKenna is right. He’s stalling. Unfortunate. Very well. Step back.”
They headed back to their seats as the judge turned to Peter Brent. “Mr. Brent, do you refuse to use your own staff attorneys to represent you?”
Brent stood up and nodded. “Yes, your honor.”
“Do you fully understand that Mr. Capshaw has not done any work on your case other than giving notes and files to his partner?”
“Yes, your honor. But the attorneys from my legal department who have been working on it have very limited litigation experience and while they are brilliant researchers I do not believe they can provide the proper representation I need.”
She nodded. “I checked, and you are correct about their trial experience. However, if this is some tactic to have me grant a long continuance until Ms. Nix is well, it is not going to work. This trial will proceed with only a slight delay. You may be seated.”
Good. She’s going to force him to use his attorneys.
The judge turned to Spence. “Mr. Capshaw, while you have not done any real work on this case, I checked and saw that you have been the attorney of record in two other work product trials, once representing the corporation and once representing the employee. And you won both cases.”
Tish’s eyes widened. Oh, no, what is she doing? She can’t possibly—
Spence stood up. “Your honor, I don’t see what that has to do with this case.”
“Mr. Capshaw, this case centers on the exact same argument of your previous two cases. You know the playbook for both sides and are familiar with the laws regarding work product. This case is not at all complicated and has a very short witness list. Therefore, I will give you three days to go over the depositions and prepare yourself.” She turned to the defendant. “Mr. Brent, nice try.”
Tish’s jaw dropped as Spence shook his head. “Your honor, if you say this is not a complicated case then Mr. Brent’s staff attorneys can handle—”
“Mr. Capshaw, that point is moot since the defendant will not agree to use his own attorneys and I’m not going to delay this case any longer than I have to. Sorry, but…tag, you’re it. Court accepts Mr. Capshaw as attorney for the defendant. Trial to begin Friday morning at nine o’clock sharp.” She swung her gavel. “Court is in recess.”
Spence moved forward a few steps. “Your honor…”
The judge ignored him and quickly left the courtroom.
He turned to Tish. “We need to talk.”