Volume 3: My days in a college fraternity Chapter 114 Jim Manz's Influence
Hale & Doerr White Shoe LLP, Boston, MA.
On the door of the office, there is a metal plate that specifically indicates the identity of the partners: Law Office of Robert Morley.
The intern pushed open the door and handed the document in his hand to Robert, who was sitting behind his desk with his back to the huge French window, concentrating on reading an investigation report: "Mr. Morley, this is the information you want."
Robert took it and opened it while saying, "Call Leonard later and introduce him to Mr. Novick. Mr. Novick has a case that requires his private detective to help collect evidence."
"Okay, Mr. Jim Manz wants to see you." The intern said after hearing Robert's instructions.
Robert was stunned for a moment: "Jim? Do I have an appointment with him?"
"Yeah, ask you out for some fun? I'm your fucking employer, and then I want to see you..." Jim's voice sounded outside the door.
Seeing Jim's big face appear 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."
"Do you need me to prepare coffee for you and Mr. Manz..." the intern asked.
Robert looked at Jim Manz who walked in expressionlessly and said, "No, as a partner, I need to save money for the firm."
After the intern walked out and helped close the door, Jim walked straight to the French window behind his desk and admired the street view: "The view from this office looks much better than your previous room that was no bigger than my underwear, Robert."
"You embarrassed me in front of the interns, Jim, please, this is my first day as a 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 the first day you just became a partner?"
"Fuck, Jim, you can't..." Robert raised his head and tried to remind his friend of many years in an unhappy tone that he should be careful about the occasion when making jokes.
But before he could finish, he saw this guy took out a business card and stuffed it into his mouth, stopping him from saying the rest of the words.
Robert reached out and took it. The exquisite British-style business card read Thomson Holdings International, Chairman of the Board Kenneth Thomson.
"I recommend you to be the independent director of Thompson Holdings International. Mr. Thompson agreed. He is willing to talk to you next time he comes to Boston from Toronto. What do you think? Does this gift make you feel happier?" Jim slowly walked back to the seat opposite Robert and said with a smile:
" Seven years. Seven years and you become a partner in a white-shoe firm. Sometimes I think you are a genius, Robert."
"Thank you, I think so too." Robert put away the business card and laughed.
How many of my friends would be if all of them were as thoughtful as this bastard Jim? Those friends have prepared various gifts, maybe fine wine, maybe flowers, or even parties, but only this bastard knows what I need most, and then sends a gift that is truly important according to my needs.
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 sufficiently important cases in order to demonstrate sufficient ability and enterprising spirit in the industry. This will be of great help to him whether he is wooed by other firms, or invited by the government to join the judicial department, or go further and pursue the position of managing partner.
But the title of an ordinary small company will only reduce its value. It is better to have some companies with sufficient influence to be worthy of the identity of a partner of the White Shoe Firm. For example, Thomson Holdings International, which Jim recommended to him at this time, is a large publishing organization located in Canada. It publishes many regional newspapers in the United States with a total circulation of more than one million copies. If he becomes an independent director of this company, the first thing the congressmen in the areas where the newspapers are published will have to consider whether to be friends with him and pull him into a new circle.
"You can brag about this amazing speed to everyone, because it's only half as slow as the three years it took me to become assistant editor-in-chief of National Review," Jim said, hooking his finger at him.
Robert opened the drawer and threw him a box of cigars. "So you just came to my office, gave me a gift to congratulate me, and then used your perverted experience to stimulate me?"
"No, dear consultant from Lotus, I'm more curious about what stage the case has reached?" Jim took the cigar box, took out a cigar from it, sniffed it slowly at the tip of his nose, and asked.
Robert leaned back in his chair, put his hands on his lower abdomen, and thought for a while with his head tilted up. "The other party sent a letter of defense to the court, indicating that they will respond to the lawsuit. That's all. Under normal circumstances, the next step is to wait for the court's permission, and the lawyers on both sides will enter the stage of collecting and disclosing evidence. Once the evidence is collected, the court battle will begin."
"Which law firm helped the other party to send the reply letter?" Jim didn't use a cigar cutter, but directly bit off the cigar 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. Why could he tolerate you!"
"Because I dared to go to the Soviet Union for investigation and research, and helped the magazine become an indispensable reading material for all American politicians. I am just a magazine editor, but I am doing the work of the CIA. This is why Mr. Buckley thinks highly of me." Jim laughed arrogantly, "It was me who used a 150,000-word investigation report to tell those stupid American politicians who didn't even know where Moscow was that the Soviets were not living in dire straits as the intelligence sent back by the CIA said, so don't make those idiotic remarks, otherwise you will become a laughing stock."
"Okay, stop bragging. I've checked for you. It's a small law firm near Stanford University, founded in 1979. It's a nobody in California and has no strength at all." Robert told Jim to stop bragging, but in fact he waited until Jim finished speaking before saying this. He didn't interrupt him in the middle. From his personal heart, he admired this bastard very much. When the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union was the most tense, this guy ran to the Soviet Union and secretly lived with the most ordinary Soviet people for nearly a year to help Buckley complete the investigation report. Others didn't even have the courage to raise their hands to sign up, let alone go to the Soviet Union.
Robert took a cigar and played with it. "Do you think that Actor has a lot of money and hired white-shoe elites as corporate legal advisors like Lotus?"
"After the other party responded to the lawsuit, it seems that we can't meet privately anymore, right?" Jim did not answer, but continued to ask while slowly roasting his cigar over the fire.
"It is best to meet in person, with both parties accompanied by lawyers, to avoid being caught by the other party and using them to attack them."
"I understand that they seem to have trained a group of low-level women, the kind who are cheap prostitutes, and then cooperated with organizations like the Stanford Women's Promotion Association. Are you sure these won't cause trouble if they go to court? You know that most women are troublesome, except for prostitutes." Jim put the lit cigar into his mouth and said in a vulgar tone.
Robert shrugged. "Even if they cooperated with the president, let alone the women's organization, it would not change the fact that Lotus' rights were violated. The interface is the same, the functions are the same, and you have a special edition in your hands, which proves that they knew they were plagiarizing from the beginning. When the court allows lawyers on 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 a large investment suddenly, otherwise it will turn into a tug-of-war situation like the one with Moore's company. Both parties spent hundreds of millions of dollars in legal fees over the past three to five years, and finally couldn't accept the cruel reality that both sides were losing money and only the lawyers were making a fortune. The lawyers took their money and both sides took the initiative to settle."
"I have done some PR work. Those computer magazines and newspapers will not report on Actor in the near future. I will pay double the PR fee they pay, so they will not appear in any professional magazines or newspapers in the future, to avoid being seen by investors to the greatest extent and reduce this possibility." Jim thought for a moment and asked again:
“How long will it take for the court to issue documents allowing lawyers on both sides to collect evidence in this case?”
"Inside information, one week. We specially accelerated the process for you. This is the benefit of hiring a large law firm. It is worth the money. The whole of Massachusetts knows that the current judge of the state court was a partner of our firm before he became a judge. If a small and unknown law firm in California came to Boston to appear in court and won, our firm would not be able to gain a foothold in Boston for a hundred years. Isn't it because of this that you chose us?"
"What will happen if a large company interferes, I mean large software companies like Microsoft, Wicresoft, and Baolan, and treats Actor as a puppet and hides behind the scenes?"
"It will probably take years of struggle before we reach a settlement. We can't lose in state court or circuit court."
"So, there is still a possibility of losing?"
"Jim, the United States has a three-tier court system. 99% of cases can be resolved at the circuit court level. We are always victorious in the Massachusetts State Court and the United States Second District Circuit Court. 70% of the judges and clerks in these two courts have internship or work experience at our Hale & Doerr Law Firm. Even if this case ends up in the U.S. Supreme Court, our influence in Washington cannot be compared with the connections of those computer nerds in California."
"The worst-case scenario is a fight and then a reconciliation, right?"
"Yes, it can't be any worse."
"Very good, I will convince Mr. Buckley to allow me to publish an article in National Review under the title of Assistant Editor-in-Chief, which I haven't used for many years." After Jim got Robert's affirmative answer, he exhaled a light blue smoke, and in the haze, a grim smile appeared on his face:
"Don't think I have no influence in the software industry. Those nerdy upstarts can drool over Lotus."
