Volume 3: My days in a college fraternity Chapter 123 A Little Fright
Office of Robert Morley, Partner, Hale & Doerr White Shoe LLP, Boston, Massachusetts.
Robert, a lawyer employed by Lotus Company at a high salary, dressed in a straight suit. He turned his chair so that he could face the floor-to-ceiling window to enjoy the scenery. He turned back to his desk, picked up the folder that had been prepared on the table, and threw it directly to the plain-looking middle-aged man sitting opposite him with a calm face: "Reynard, this is the permission ."
The middle-aged man stroked the stubble on his chin, took the document without even looking at it, and put it directly into the briefcase he was carrying.
He didn't need to look carefully at what was written on the documents. He just needed to listen carefully to what his partner and financial sponsor Robert told him to do.
As for the documents he had just thrown at them, they were only to be thrown in the other party's face when he was questioned or interrogated by the police or the other party during his investigation and evidence collection.
"Tommy Hawke, a computer science major at Stanford University. I received some simple information about him. He's from Warwick, Rhode Island, which is very close to here. Find out who his family is. He was able to start a company while in college, which means his father should also be a businessman. Find out if his father's business is tax evasion and if he has a record of commercial crimes. Visit the neighborhood and find out if his ancestors had sex with black people. In short, I need all the information that will make the judge and jury hate Actor enough." Robert picked up his coffee slowly and looked at Leonard across from him:
"And from what I understand, there are three students at Actor. Tommy Hawke is the most important one, but the other two can't be ignored. We need to know exactly how many times each of them masturbates every night."
Leonard is a retired veteran who runs a private detective agency in Boston with his companions, specializing in helping lawyers investigate and collect evidence. He has been working with me for three years and we have a good understanding of each other.
In the United States, the truth of the case is not the focus of the court.
The court is most concerned about the evidence collected by both the plaintiff and the defendant. Simply put, whichever side collects enough evidence has a better chance of winning. What's more, the US court will not take the initiative to investigate and collect evidence. It is a complete lie-in. Evidence must be submitted to it by both parties before it will take a look. This is why many poor plaintiffs ultimately lose the case, while rich defendants go unpunished.
If you don’t have the money to hire someone to help investigate and collect evidence, it’s best not to initiate any lawsuit other than public prosecution in the United States.
The task of helping both parties investigate and collect evidence naturally fell on lawyers who came from the same background as the judges. The United States stipulates that lawyers are not officials or consultants of the U.S. government or U.S. citizens, they are officials of the court.
In other words, with a letter of authorization issued by the court, lawyers can conduct a wide range of evidence collection work from individuals, institutions, and even opponents in the name of the court. The most important thing is that unless there are special circumstances and the question has nothing to do with the case from beginning to end, the other party cannot refuse, otherwise the court will make trouble for those who refuse. In addition, lawyers can hire professional investigation agencies to help them use the letter of authorization issued by the court to do this work for them.
The work that was originally issued to him alone and allowed him to do alone was directly subdivided, and a bunch of people were dispatched with copies of the license, like a group of vultures attacking at the smell of rotten meat.
"Understood. My best detectives have already flown to San Jose, California, and I'll fax the permission slip to them right away. I'll go to Warwick first to find out the guy's family background." Leonard stood up, bowed slightly to Robert, then turned and walked out of the office.
Robert called Jim Manz: "Jim? The court has allowed both parties to begin evidence collection and disclosure. Is there anything else you need me to know?"
"Fifteen amicus curiae, all of whom hold positions as congressmen or public officials, are in the process of drafting fifteen documents to be submitted to the court." Jim said on the other end of the phone: "The president of Xerox, due to his personal friendship with me, is considering submitting an amicus curiae document to the court as well. As a well-known company in the industry, he will give his views on the chaos in the same industry."
Robert nodded. "Very good. My investigators have already rushed to San Jose, California. I hope they won't scare those poor kids and the unknown lawyers they hired."
"You are just too soft-hearted, Robert. At a time like this, you just have to use all your strength...Fuck?" Jim was talking on the phone with Robert with a vulgar smile, but suddenly he was stunned on the other end of the phone and cursed softly.
Robert asked curiously, "What happened, Jim?"
"When did Davis Polk become a fucking unknown lawyer, Robert!" Jim cursed in a low voice, "You'd better get here within ten minutes! Stand next to me! I don't want the other party to overturn my verdict because of something I said wrong! Damn it!"
Robert asked, "What happened?"
"Why don't you let me explain it to him?" A female voice faintly sounded on the other end of the phone, and then Jim said, "Robert, I'm on speakerphone."
Soon, the female voice on the other end of the phone said to Robert, who was completely confused, with a smile: "Hello, attorney Robert Morley, I am Delia Keyes, the person in charge of the legal affairs of Actor and a partner of Davis Polk Law Firm. Mailing is too slow, so I chose to come to Boston in person to get the investigation and evidence collection permit from the court, and by the way, make some normal inquiries related to the case to some people involved in the Lotus company."
"I..." Robert wanted to yell, reminding Jim not to talk nonsense when he was not there, and he had the right to wait for his lawyer to arrive.
But before he could finish, Delia Case hung up the phone.
"Fuck!" Robert didn't bother to think about why a well-established white-shoe law firm in New York would take a job from a small company in California. He cursed and quickly called back. Soon the call was connected again. Jim answered the phone. His voice was calm, but Robert could hear the anger hidden in it: "I am listening to you under the gentle gaze of Attorney Case."
Robert turned on the speakerphone, sorted his briefcase, and said loudly, "You have the right to wait for the lawyer to arrive before being questioned. I will be there soon."
"If you can't make it within ten minutes, I guarantee that it will be the worst ten minutes of your life." Jim hung up the phone and looked at the leisurely white-haired female lawyer sitting opposite him. He smiled and said, "Ms. Case, how can I deserve your personal questioning?"
"I noticed that you..." Delia smiled and was about to ask a question.
"Give me a minute." Jim suddenly stood up, interrupting Delia's question, and walked quickly out of the office. He first glanced at the hall, and then rushed into Mickey's office. Sure enough, there were two lawyers in suits and leather shoes sitting inside, chatting with Mickey Kapur. Jim shouted loudly: "Mickey! Don't say anything! Wait for the lawyers to arrive!"
Then he ran around the company like a madman, shouting, "Shut the fuck up! Wait for the company's lawyer to arrive! You have the right to delay questioning! If I find out that someone is talking nonsense, I swear to let him know how the word "life is hard" becomes concrete!"
"You reacted quickly." Delia sighed with some regret, and looked at Jim who came back after running outside and said, "But I will record everything you just said. You tried to incite the person being interrogated to refuse to cooperate with the court investigation."
"It doesn't matter. You can report to the court that I'm passive in collecting evidence. It's just a fine." Jim sat back at his desk and smiled with relief. "Is this the lawyer of Actor Company? Do you like to give people a little scare as a greeting gift? By the way, beautiful lady, your hairstyle is really beautiful. What would you like to drink?"
Fortunately, he reacted quickly. When the secretary told him that the lawyer named Delia was visiting him alone, Jim really thought that the other party was alone. But when she revealed her identity, Jim immediately realized that there was a problem. That is, this white-haired girl was the full-power lawyer in charge of Actor's case. She didn't visit Mickey Kapoor first, but came to see him directly?
He was only a vice president in the company, and Lotus had four vice presidents, which meant that he could not enjoy any unique treatment, unless this woman had deliberately set a trap.
So Jim chose to run away. Sure enough, this woman brought enough people with her. She just wanted to entangle himself and then use other lawyers to easily trick those nerds into talking.
Those nerds have low emotional intelligence and don't know how to choose their words. You have to know that when you think you said something that feels completely fine, lawyers who are always ready to find fault with you may find countless reasons to question it.
"I guess before the lawyer gets here, I can only talk to you about the weather or recommended attractions in Boston?" Delia looked at Jim, her face didn't seem to be filled with disappointment because of Jim's quick reaction.
"Before the lawyer arrives, I can't even talk to you about the weather. I happen to have some very, very important documents in my hands that need to be reviewed urgently, so... Ms. Delia Case, please wait a moment." Jim gave Delia a bright smile, then opened the documents on the table and looked through them carefully.
Delia Keyes' eyes were full of smiles: "The article in National Review is very well written. I think many politicians are very interested in the word patent recently."
"Thank you." Jim responded simply.
There was an awkward silence in the office. Two or three minutes later, Lotus founder and CEO Mickey Kapur walked quickly into Jim's office and broke the silence.
Jim looked at his boss. "Is that the lawyer here, Mickey?"
"My friend at Soft Art called to ask about it. The lawyer team from Davis Polk Law Firm went to Soft Art with a letter of permission issued by the court and asked some employees to cooperate with the inquiry." Mickey Kapur looked at Jim nervously: "What happened? Jim, aren't we the ones filing the complaint?"
Jim Manz looked at Delia, who smiled at him elegantly. "I heard that Mr. Mickey Kapur has a good relationship with some engineers from Soft Art, the company that developed the world's first spreadsheet software, VisiCalc, and there are some rumors outside, so I came to find out and see if it can help with this case. Don't worry, it's just a routine inquiry."
Soft Art Company developed the world's first spreadsheet software VisiCalc for Apple system, headquartered in Newton, Massachusetts. When Lotus 1-2-3 was first launched, a rumor circulated in the industry that Mickey Kapur had received an inside message from Soft Arts that Soft Arts was going to try to develop an MS·DOS version of VisiCalc, but the top management was divided into two factions trying to convince each other. Mickey took advantage of the internal friction at Soft Arts and quickly completed the first version of Lotus 1-2-3 with Jonathan in the garage.
"I have never asked my friends to leak information. It's just that my classmate works at Soft Art, and we are good friends and often exchange computer technology." Hearing that Delia actually went to Soft Art to find out whether he had plagiarized the ideas of Soft Art Company, Mickey looked at Delia angrily and explained, "I don't bother to steal other people's ideas!"
"No! Mickey, calm down. She is provoking you. Don't say anything. Wait for the lawyer to come." Jim stood up and tried to persuade Mickey, whose face turned red.
After calming Mickey down and sending him out of his office, Jim looked at Delia and said, "It was really fast, and the troops were divided into two groups. The topic they chose was very clever, and they successfully angered my boss."
"It's just a little scare as a greeting gift. It will make Actor look too stingy." Delia said to Jim with a smile.
"Fuck..." Jim threw the document back on the table, looked down at his hands, and cursed softly: "Looking at the situation, a struggle of at least three years will begin again."
"My opinion is exactly the opposite of yours, Jim Manz. I think it may not take too long for all this to be over." Delia said to Jim in a firm tone.
