“Still, no. Please, get back to the ethical question.”
“When we analyze those conflict questions at my firm, wealso look at the financial impact the putative litigation could have on the parent. For example, what’s the case about?”
“It’s an ADA action on behalf of a sales rep who was fired. The facts are sympathetic. If Mary can prove it, it’s a winner.”
“So they should settle it.” Sam spread open his palms in appeal. “If it’s little, it makes sense to settle. If it were bigger, I’d be on your side. I’d be more inclined to say that Mary should take it. But it’s not anything with enough exposure to impact the bottom line of Dumbarton.”
“True.” Bennie didn’t like the way this was going.
“So, it’s an individual case with some measure of damages that affect the bottom line of Dumbarton. It’s not even worth litigating, and OpenSpace is insured for the loss. What’s the big deal?”
“It’s the principle of the thing.”
“What principle?”
“The duty of loyalty to the client. I knew Nate when Dumbarton had two subs, then six, then twenty. I watched it grow.”
“So what? It’s a business, not an embryo.” Sam lifted an eyebrow. “Wait, what? Are you getting maternal on me?”
“God, no,” Bennie answered quickly. She knew she had a justice bone, but she wasn’t sure she had a maternal bone in her body. She loved dogs, but she was pretty sure it wasn’t the same thing.
“Then what’s bothering you?”
“I’m not proud of what she’s doing and I don’t think it’s right, so I don’t even feel that I could defend it to Nate.”
“But it’s a judgment call under the rules.”
“He’ll never see it that way. He’ll feel betrayed, and he’s a major client.”
“Pssh.” Sam waved her off. “You’re not going to lose him over it. He loves you.”
“He loves mywork.”
“Keep telling yourself that. And more importantly, whatabout Mary? Aren’t you trying to play nice with her? She’s your partner now. Where’s your loyalty to her?”
“What about her loyalty to the firm?”
“Not the point. She didn’t know. She’s trying to be a good lawyer.”
“So am I.”
Sam frowned. “Bennie, compromise. You should try to work with her.”
“I’m trying.”
“Try harder, girl. You’re her partner. Act like one.”
“Okay, whatever.” Bennie checked the clock. She had only a half hour before the deposition. “Let’s move on. We have more important things to talk about.”
“What do you know?” Sam snorted. “You made a skirt out of pants. I’ve lost all respect.”
CHAPTER FIVE
Mary sat at her desk behind her laptop, working faster than she had ever before. She’d already formulated a litigation strategy around her new idea and gotten a thumbs-up from Simon. The EEOC complaint was just a form, but the complaint took more work. She tapped away on a draft complaint, mindful of her main task. Under the ADA, it was unlawful for OpenSpace to fire Simon because it didn’t want their insurance premiums raised because of Rachel’s medical expenses, but it was lawful to fire him for cause, like falling sales quotas. She had to prove that the medical expenses were the real reason he was fired, not his performance. It was a commonsense task to show a causal relationship between the medical expenses and the termination, and in that regard, Simon’s notebook was extraordinarily helpful because the temporal relation between the two was clear.
Mary took the facts directly from Simon’s notes, and there were three different occasions on which Eddington had made comments about Rachel’s medical expenses, and Mary made each one into a specific allegation of facts to support her theory of the causal connection. She typed:
On Wednesday, October 20, after the plaintiff’s daughter’s first round of chemotherapy started, plaintiff submitted a bill to Todd Eddington, whereupon Eddington stated, “I hope this works, for her sake and for ours. These expenses are going to mount up, and we met our deductible already. Our premiums are going to go up.”
