Impact (38 page)

“It's not that he loved her, it's that he didn't love me.”

“That's not necessarily true. And even if it was, you might have patched things up.”

Her look was bright and damning. “That's a rather strange argument coming from
you
, isn't it?”

“Of course it is. That's why representing you in this case is insane.”

Her smile refused to release him from any of the many contracts he had entered into with her. Face red, sweating from the beer and the debate, he tried once more to circumvent her principles. “I understand that you don't want to lie in court, Laura. And I promise not to ask you to say anything but what you see as the truth. But you don't have any obligation to make the airline's case for them. Unless you say something, it's possible neither our affair nor Jack's will even come up. Hawley Chambers thought I was such a pushover he didn't bother to schedule your deposition, and I doubt if he will take a chance on going into your love life at trial, since he runs the risk of alienating the jury if there's nothing to show for it. Of course that means we can't put Jack on the stand. He might spill the beans about us.”

“You don't need to worry about that.”

“Why not?”

She turned away, looking around the room. “You need some pictures on the walls.”

The remark was so unexpected he started to laugh. “Pictures of who? You? Brenda? My dad? Jack? Who the hell am I supposed to
put
up there?”

He had done what he intended, which was to add his own plight to her burden. “I'm sorry, Keith. I want to win the case, I really do, but you have to understand one thing. The insurance company may not know about Carol and Jack and the jury may not know about Carol and Jack, but
I
know about them. And I know about us. I won't ask the court for money I'm not entitled to.”

“But—”

“I mean it, Keith. I won't ask for consortium, or whatever you call it. Not if it means claiming my marriage was a splendid jewel that was worth a million dollars.”

He knew her well enough to believe her. “Based on what I learned today from my expert, I have to tell you that loss of consortium is the strongest claim we have. If you give it up, you may get nothing.”

“I won't ransom my dignity, Keith. If you don't know that, you don't know me at all.”

He lost his grip on all but longing. “How can you
care
for him night and day like that? How the hell can you devote your
life
to the guy, knowing what he was doing behind your back?”

Her lips tightened and her eyes became small stones. “He's my husband. He can't move and he can barely speak. I can't leave him while he's like that. And besides, he wouldn't understand.”

“What do
you
care what he understands?”

She looked at him with gray despair. “He thinks we're still happy, don't you see?
He doesn't remember we were ever anything else.”

Reeling, Tollison resisted one last time. “How about after the trial? What are you going to do then?”

She met his look. “I don't know.”

He could do nothing but mimic Brenda. “I imagine I'm going to spend the rest of my life waiting for you to find out.”

The phone rang before either of them could respond to what seemed to be a pledge. He answered it in the bedroom.

“Keith? Alec Hawthorne.”

“How's it going?”

“You sound depressed.”

“That's putting it mildly.”

“What's the problem?”

“I just heard from Art Ely. The report on Donahue's future earnings is less than sterling. He said it was the most vulnerable analysis they'd ever done. He also said if it weren't for you, they would have bailed out.”

“That's too bad, but it's not fatal. You've got the perfect plaintiff in Mrs. Donahue, remember. The jury will want to give her something no matter
what
the law says about her right to it. Loss of consortium alone should yield a million.”

“Mrs. Donahue has decided not to pursue that particular claim.”

“You're kidding. Because of her husband's affair?”

Tollison paused “I take it you talked to Brenda.”

“She just called. She wants to cross-claim against Laura on the basis that the real loss in the case was suffered by her sister, not Mrs. Donahue.”

Tollison completed the point: “Because Jack was about to divorce his wife and marry Carol, any future earnings would have gone to her, not Laura.”

“That's the argument.”

“She can't do it, can she?”

“She won't, let's put it that way.” Hawthorne laughed easily. “So Laura has decided it would be unethical to sue for the destruction of a relationship that was already in ruins before the crash. My, my. A client with standards. I thought they were an endangered species.”

“It's not funny, Alec. The ship is sinking fast. And why do I have the feeling you're about to add to the load?”

Hawthorne chuckled. “I have good news and bad news.”

“What's the good?”

“The clerk called this morning. Judge Powell's going to grant my motion. The order will go out as soon as he can get it typed. Trial date is March twenty-third.”

“Exactly a year after the crash.”

“Right. Pretrial conference on March first. All discovery to be completed by then.”

“Is that a problem for you?”

“I guess that brings me to the other news.”

“Why do I feel the sky's about to fall?”

“Depends on how you look at it.”

“I've always looked at it from the bottom,” Tollison said sourly. “What's happened?”

“The clerk called Hawley Chambers right after he called me, to tell him about the order. Then Hawley called and asked if he could come by the office. I just finished a four-hour session with him.”

“And?” Tollison could barely manage the conjunction.

“To make a long story short, he made me an offer I couldn't refuse. My cases are settled. All twelve of them.”

“Jesus Christ, Alec. How in the hell could you—”

“I didn't
want
to, Keith. Hell, I wanted SurfAir to be my last hurrah. But I have an obligation to my clients. I tried like hell to stretch it as thin as it would go, but I guess Chambers didn't think he was ready to go up against me this soon. His people are willing to pay a nice premium to get me out of their hair.”

“How do you mean, a premium?”

“Back in July, I made what I thought was an outrageous demand for settlement in a letter I sent the day the complaint was filed. Well, this afternoon Chambers accepted it. He gave me every penny I asked for, Keith. I couldn't say no, on any front whatever.”

Tollison's laughed uneasily. “Well, hell. You can take over from me in Laura's case and—”

“They don't want me in there, Keith; I thought I made that clear. As part of the settlement, I had to agree not to appear on behalf of anyone else in the matter. I didn't want to do it, but I had to. Your friend Brenda, for instance, got a quarter million in the deal. That's more than I could have gotten her at trial if the jury were made up of my immediate family. Or hers.”

“Jesus Christ, Alec.”

“Sorry to bail out on you, pal.”

“Wait a minute. What's Chambers going to offer the Donahues? Hell, maybe the whole
thing
will settle.”

Hawthorne paused. “He's not going to offer the Donahues anything.”

“But Laura's been—”

“Sure she has. So has her husband. But since you've never tried a crash case before, Chambers thinks he can beat you on the liability side. At least he's willing to take the chance.”

“So we go to trial in a month.”

“Not we, old buddy.”

“But I can't
do
it, Alec. I have to find Laura another lawyer. Hell,
Scallini
would be better for her than I would in this thing.”

“Don't panic. This aviation stuff isn't that different from what you do every day.”

“Like hell it isn't.”

Hawthorne laughed. “Okay. So I'll help you. It has to be on the sly, is all. You can do it. Hell, man. You'll be a
hero
. See, I've got this theory.”

“What theory?”

Hawthorne paused. “What are you doing this weekend?”

“Drinking myself senseless sounds attractive at the moment.”

“You don't have time. Can you be at my place at Tahoe Friday night?”

He glanced at the woman on the couch. “I suppose.”

“Can you stay up there till the trial?”

“I don't know.”

“Check your calendar. Get rid of everything you can. I'll have Martha send you a map, and she'll meet you at my place Friday. She'll bring everything you need to know to establish the liability of the airline. I'll join you on Monday, and stay till we've done what has to be done.”

“This is ridiculous, Alec. You make it sound like a Mickey Rooney movie.”

“We've got a month. If you're willing to pay the price, by the time we go to trial, I can make you the second best aviation attorney on the West Coast. No sweat.”

“No sweat for
you
, you bastard.”

“I really am sorry, Keith; I tried a gamble and it didn't work. Or did work, depending on how you look at it. But it's not the end of the world. And anyway, I'm the only chance you've got.”

“That's for sure.”

“See you next week?”

Keith Tollison said the only thing he could possibly say. “One last question,” he added.

“What?”

“I've got no economic loss and no loss of consortium. Even if I prove them liable, what the hell will they be liable for?”

Alec Hawthorne giggled “Punitive damages, of course. And maybe a little pain and suffering.”

PART III

Keith A. Tollison, Esq.

450 Main Street

Altoona, CA 95555

Attorney for Plaintiff

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF

CALIFORNIA.

PLAINTIFF'S VOIR DIRE INTERROGATORIES:

Plaintiff requests the following Interrogatories be addressed to prospective Jurors in the above-entitled action. By this request, plaintiff does not waive the right to propound additional inquiries in written or oral form.

Interrogatories

1. Are you afraid of flying?

2. Have you ever flown on a commercial aircraft?

3. Have you ever worked in the aviation, travel, or Insurance industries?

4. Have you ever studied law, medicine, accounting, or engineering of any type?

5. Have you ever been in a crash, including a crash in an auto mobile?

6. Do you understand that this is a civil case, not a criminal case, that no one will be found “guilty” of anything in this proceeding, and that the plaintiff will be required to prove his case by a preponderance of the evidence, not beyond a reasonable doubt?

7. Do you believe it is fair to compensate someone with money damages for both the psychological and physical harm they suffered as the result of the actions of another? Do you believe it is as fair to compensate for damage done to the plaintiffs mind and body caused by the conduct of another as it is to compensate for damage done to the plaintiff's property which was caused by that conduct?

8. Do you believe in fate, that sometimes accidents happen without cause, or are the result of acts of God?

9. Do you believe that no matter what the circumstances, a million dollars would be too much to pay someone for their losses as a result of a plane crash, no matter how badly they were injured? If a million dollars is not too much, do you believe there
is
some amount beyond which damages would be unwarranted no matter what the facts show?

10. Are you aware that money is the only form of compensation for injury that a person can seek under our system of Justice? Though money may not be capable of restoring a physical or emotional loss, would you feel Justified in determining an amount of money to be paid to a person who has suffered a loss?

11. Is there anything in your education, background, experience, or belief system that makes you feel that a person cannot be compensated with money for pain and suffering? Would you feel this way even if the court instructed you that the plaintiff has the right, under law, to be compensated for all pain and suffering he has felt or will continue to feel as a result of the defendants' conduct?

12. Once you have reached the sum of the reasonable amount to which the plaintiff is entitled as compensation, will you award the total amount rather than “knocking a little off the top” so the verdict won't seem too high?

13. You will be asked to decide whether punitive damages should be assessed against one or more defendants for their behavior in this matter. If you decide punitive damages are warranted, is there anything in your education, background, experience, or belief system that will prevent you from awarding an amount that will punish the company for its behavior and discourage it from repeating that conduct in the future?

14. Do you promise to follow the law applicable to this case as given to you by the judge at the end of the trial, no matter whether you agree with the law or not?

15. If you were a party to this lawsuit, do you know of any reason you would not want someone like yourself to serve as a Juror in the case?

Respectfully submitted,

Keith Tollison

Attorney for Plaintiff

ELEVEN

On the nineteenth floor of the Philip Burton Federal Building, on a rock-hard bench in the crowded arena of Courtroom 12, Alec Hawthorne allowed himself a grin: In a den of people who knew him best—lawyers, court personnel, marshals, news reporters—he had managed to become invisible.