 |
|
|
|
|
When Bobby walked into the firm’s offices at 8:45 a.m., everything went as usual. Secretaries were already at their workstations typing on computers and on typewriters, attending to incoming calls and catering to the lawyers’ needs. Young associates were already in, some of them may have slept in their offices without telling anyone so they would be better prepared for the day and they could submit more billable hours. Billable hours and billings were essential in the firm when associates were evaluated for advancement and eventually for partnership.
Bobby did not have anything to work on. He expected to be let go in a matter of hours and he could not care less about anything at the firm anymore. But he still did not want to be late. Punctuality was his second nature. He knew that at 9:00 a.m. he would report in Mac’s office. He thought through what he would say. He will take a shot at it and will try his luck. Exactly at 9:00 o’clock he called Mac on the intercom and was told to be at Mac’s office in fifteen minutes. At 9:15 a.m., when he knocked on the door and was granted permission to enter the four partners were in the same position as he left them there last week. On the right side, Robatelli sat like the poster at the local cleaner’s: ‘wrinkles removed without surgery.’ Impeccably dressed, ready for a GQ snapshot. Next to Ned, on his right side Cohen sat in his usual outfit but now without a jacket. Who knows, maybe he was ready for a fistfight or something. By leaving off the jacket he aggravated Robatelli who could not tolerate an attorney being relaxed, but Ned did not say anything to Cohen because it was no time for the partners to argue about these things. Next to Cohen sat Rowitz. Now he looked a little better than last week, his stomach was not hanging over his pants, maybe this was a better-tailored suit. But his open collar and sloppy tie were there. His small, nervous eyes behind the bifocals were pacing left and right in the room like a raccoon looking for food leftover. Only Mac was standing in a position ready to attack. Maybe he felt that because Bobby was his protégé he had to take charge in dealing with Bobby, and from a standing position he could radiate more power.
“All right, Bobby, we all know that you got very lucky. You do not even comprehend how lucky you were because you don’t handle criminal cases and you don’t know what sentence would have awaited you. Now, keep in mind, if the security company ever reaches you, do not discuss the matter with them. You investigated, you gave your report to me, and you were told by the firm not to work on it anymore. Do not make any judgment, any suggestion, or calculation of any sort. Your answer, if you ever got called on, is that the only involvement was the investigation that afternoon and you were taken off the case. Is that understood?”
“Yes, Mac, it is understood,” stated Bobby waiting for the conversation to continue.
“What do you mean, Mac? I am Charlie to you or maybe Mr. MacManus. But what is Mac? How can you take the liberty of calling a senior partner Mac, especially in a situation when you will be cooked like a lobster?”
“I am sorry, Charlie, but in the firm everybody calls you Mac and somehow it just came out naturally.”
“Since when is the firm calling me Mac? I never heard that before, I find it very offensive.”
“Since I’ve been here associates, secretaries and everybody calls you Mac, maybe not in front of you, but behind you. What your partners call you that I don’t know. How would I know?”
“What my partners call me or do not call me is not your concern, but I am not Mac to anybody. As a matter of fact, after this discussion is over I will circulate a memo to that effect.”
“It is understood, Charlie, I am sorry.”
“All right, that part of the subject matter is closed. Now, let’s get to today’s agenda. We are working on certain security issues for some matters not very much your concern, I tell you right now that the tape will somehow disappear because we cannot afford the client to give it to a private investigator or to the police and track you down and eventually track the firm down.”
“Since I was not asked, how will I proceed? I will have some suggestions,“ stated Bobby and wanted to continue but he did not have a chance. Robatelli did not give him a chance and aggressively stated:
“You are in no position to make any suggestions, you are in a position to apologize, feel sorry, feel embarrassed, kneel down or lay down on the ground and ask for forgiveness. You may confess your sins but you may not suggest. You are in no position to suggest anything. Is that clear?” and from his eye movements and aggressive stare it was clear that he did not expect any answer other than an affirmative one.
“I may have expressed myself improperly, I do not want to suggest anything, I want to say something, if I may.”
“That’s something different. You may say something, say it and be brief,” stated Robatelli like an executioner allowing the prisoner to make his last statement.
“Since you four partners already decided to destroy the tape, I would suggest to keep the 380 grand cash and divide it in five, after all, I did the job and I deserve a share.” Before Bobby had a chance to continue Robatelli was off his seat ready to attack.
“Counselor, you are adding insult to injury. The tape will be destroyed for only one purpose and the purpose is to avoid Lattice showing the tape to private investigators or the police and eventually find you and the firm. That is the only reason we violate certain bar ethics because we don’t want to be on the embarrassing side. The money will naturally be returned to the client. We will not steal from the client. Where did you go to school?” and when Ned spoke these words he faced Mac. “Where did this guy go to law school, Charlie? In one of the banana republics?”
“What makes you think, Bobby, that this firm will steal from the client? You have worked for us for quite awhile now. Have you ever seen stealing from the client?”
“I wish this matter could be submitted to the Bar Association but unfortunately we cannot afford to, because then the tape and everything would come into question. I don’t know where you found this guy, Charlie, but it was a big mistake,” stated Cohen and rested his incredulous stare on Mac.
“I do not need to be lectured on legal ethics, I understand I got lucky very much and I understand that the circumstances forced the firm to destroy the tape but not only the circumstances are important, important is the 380 grand, which I am one hundred percent sure will not be returned to the client. I may not be sure of a lot of things, but one thing I am sure of is this,” stated Bobby and he gave a challenging look at Rowitz and Cohen. He did not dare to look at Robatelli who was ready to attack like a Rottweiler.
“Charlie, I think the best would be to have this guy thrown out of here, let him write a simple resignation on a yellow pad, submit it to you in the next ten minutes and get rid of him,” then he turned to Bobby, “just write down that you are resigning from the firm effective immediately and submit that resignation to Charlie within ? an hour and get out of here,” stated Cohen looking at Bobby and not taking his eye off him. “And I think this meeting served its purpose. The young counselor demonstrated not only that he made a very serious breach of security and embarrassing move, a criminal act, a robbery and a burglary, but he has not learned from his errors and he wants to commit further crime and further ethical errors, he wants to steal from the client,” and as Cohen spoke, the other three partners radiated disgust, embarrassment and astonishment when they looked at Bobby.
“I think it is time for me to go but I want to make sure that the client gets the money, or if the client doesn’t, I want to be cut in. I won’t let you cut me out of it. After all, I took the greatest risk. I will wait a few weeks until this blows over and the client is already resigned to the fact. You will have no tape, you cannot contradict me and I am willing to go to great lengths if you want to cut me out of it.”
“Counselor, you must be out of your mind. First the cash will be returned to the client and this whole thing you talk about is nonsense. Second, whom would you talk to, what would you talk? How would anybody believe you?” asked Cohen.
“The answer is very simple. Once you give them the statement that you lost the tape and you could not help them in finding the perpetrator you basically stole 380 grand from the client. By that time you will not be able to reverse yourself and suddenly find the tape and the perpetrator and the cash. You are simply in a better position than myself, but not in an absolute position to cut me out,” stated Bobby and waited for an answer.
“I think, Charlie, we have to take a chance and even if it will be embarrassing for the firm, turn in the tape to the police. This guy thinks that after having been washed out of 20 years to life imprisonment he will take the upper hand and wants to blackmail us and force us to steal money and rob money from the client just for himself. I think the pendulum swings and some embarrass-ment to the firm is better than this man talking to us like that,” and Cohen’s voice when he spoke was unmistakably direct, harsh and ruthless.
“You don’t have to overdo it, you are not addressing the jury with your closing statement, you are talking to the other attorney who may have less experience than you have but has been in the business, too. You will not go to any bar association, to any police and to any security company with the tape and your finding. Simply not because you feel sorry for me, but because number one you want to keep the cash, number two, the firm would be incriminated. Maybe not incriminated but deeply, deeply embarrassed and ridiculed. So let’s not talk about garbage. Let’s talk about facts and plans. I want to be cut in a share, as simple as that,” stated Bobby staring at Cohen who himself felt somewhat embarrassed. Actually, it was not difficult to figure out what the partners had in mind, and Bobby was right on point.
“I think enough has been said and the more you talk the more stupid you look and the more embarrassment you cause to Charlie who had difficulty in explaining it even to himself how this could happen to his department. Now, just don’t talk anymore because there is nothing to talk about. Go back to your office, write your resignation and do not leave the office until you get instruction from Charlie. There is nothing else left open for discussion,” and as Cohen finished he got up, walked to the door, opened it for Bobby giving direct instruction with his right arm that it was time for Bobby to go.
As soon as Bobby was out of there, Cohen closed the door and walked a few steps in and stood in the same place where Bobby was standing half a minute before.
“This bastard got the message somehow,” and as Cohen spoke his stare quickly indicated that he wanted Robatelli to make a suggestion.
“The guy cannot do a thing. He may think that we keep the cash, actually, he may be right but there is nothing he can do about it. He cannot afford to call the client, the police or any authority because he knows he could spend 20 years in jail. He just makes an empty threat because he feels comfortable, he feels smart at this time. But the downside risk for him is so great that he will not call anybody. He cannot afford it. We can comfortably keep the cash. What we could do is keep it in the vault for a couple of weeks so if anything uncomfortable comes and this man gets out of his mind...”
“And how do you think we will explain five or six weeks from now if the guy writes to Lattice Industries from Rio?” asked Charlie clearly awaiting Robatelli’s opinion on this one.
“I don’t think anybody with a sane mind would go to Lattice and tell them that the firm kept the cash. That would ultimately trigger an investigation and he would be nailed, but you never know. The guy may be unstable. Remember, no balanced person would ever take a chance like this with Lattice. And if he is unstable, you never know what he could do. If he wants to revenge us, he may even go to the police with the whole story and spill the beans,” explained Robatelli as if he were a forensic psychologist.
“I don’t see, Ned, how someone would be so crazy as to go to the police.”
“Charlie, you don’t have a criminal practice, you don’t know what people may or may not do under pressure or out of revenge. I can imagine a scenario, also it’s highly unlikely, that this guy would spill the beans and leave the country just to incriminate the four partners, and if he writes a detailed letter to Lattice Industries and to the local police from Rio, what do we do? If we keep the cash in the company’s safe it may be difficult to explain to the client why we did not return it to them, but at least it will be there. And we have to circulate among the four of us a memorandum, handwritten without the staff seeing it that we want to return this money to the client immediately but we are investigating. Keep in mind that if it comes to that, we may have to explain to the authorities why we hid the cash, as it will be clear that we were playing for time and wanted to keep it,” lectured Robatelli to his partners.
“Then if there is such a downside risk that this ass may tell the story even risking prosecution or leaving the country, then probably it is a better solution to cut him in on the deal and to make sure he keeps his mouth shut and doesn’t spill the beans,” this is the first time Adu spoke since this morning.
“Adu, again you get involved in this matter when it’s almost over,” Charlie said facing Rowitz, trying to make Rowitz feel uncomfortable.
“Charlie, when I spoke and why I spoke doesn’t matter. Just keep in mind that if there is a chance that the guy would spill the beans and incriminate us, and Ned said that there is always a chance, that he will do it even if he has to go to jail, and I would assume that Ned knows better because he deals with criminals all the time. The best would be to secure the money by giving this bastard a few grand for his efforts and buy his silence,” and as Rowitz spoke he alternated his eye contact with Charlie and Robatelli.
“I still don’t understand why would someone like Bobby be that stupid to incriminate himself and spend 20 years in jail, I don’t see that he would ever report it. It was an empty threat because he was desperate, but he would never, never, ever do that, that is completely unreasonable and insane,” stated Mac facing Robatelli awaiting an answer.
“Charlie, keep in mind that criminals are not reasonable. If you were in this crazy situation, you would just forget about it, be happy that you walked away, and whether the partners return the money or not would not be your concern. You would be happy that it was over. You survived it and that is the end of it. But keep in mind that a criminal is not a reasonable person like you would be if you were in his shoes. Criminals are always unreasonable, that is why they are criminals. Your associate was very, very unreasonable otherwise he would never have taken a chance like this. To a criminal it is not unreasonable to act unreasonably. I simply say that this man could, out of jealously or out of revenge to the partners, do something crazy and unreasonable even if it causes his fall,” and as Robatelli spoke he sounded like a lecturer in criminal law.
“So, that means that you anticipate that this guy may incriminate us even at the expense of his suffering the greatest harm?” asked Charlie towards Robatelli.
“That’s exactly it. He is not reasonable and you cannot expect him to act like one.”
“That means that to play it safe we may have to cut him in or we have to return the cash?” Charlie turned towards Robatelli.
“Before Ned can answer, I think I can answer it, Charlie. That is the answer. Either we return the money and then we have no problem or we have to cut the kid in,” stated Adu facing Charlie now.
“But that would not make any sense, that would quickly demonstrate that the partners of an Upper East Side venerable firm, one of the best firms in the country, would steal 380 grand from a client, stall criminal prosecution, destroy evidence, violate every possible rule of criminal law, criminal procedure, contract, legal ethics and I don’t know what else and we would be hostage to this kid, or hostage is not the right term, but we could be blackmailed by this kid forever.”
“You don’t have to take it that serious, Charlie. If we want to keep the 380 grand, we have to cut in the kid no matter what. If you want to be venerable, reputable and honest with perfect integrity, then we don’t have a moral dilemma because we just have to return the cash to Lattice. But that is not the choice we made. Our choice was not to be the most reputable, most venerable, most honest, and if that was our choice, we have to follow it through. We are simply facing a very interesting dilemma: return the money and be the most venerable, reputable firm or keep it and cut the kid in,” and as Adu spoke the partners had to make a choice immediately on the spot.
“But we already decided that we keep the cash, I don’t want to give it back, I don’t want to lose 95 grand,” stated Cohen.
“It’s interesting that you consider it a loss. We did not lose anything, it is not ours,” said Mac facing Cohen.
“Charlie, don’t try to be Cardozo or Brandeis or some of those old-timers, just try to be practical. If we want to keep the cash, and I vote for keeping it, then we have to cut the kid in, let’s try to attack this problem practically in a pragmatic fashion. Don’t bring in a philosophical argument because the fact that we want to keep the cash already beats any philosophical argument,” and as Cohen spoke towards Charlie. Suddenly Rowitz interrupted.
“Charlie, he is right. Don’t make a philosophical argument because if you want to go that way you cannot win. Let’s attack this problem practically. If we split the 380 grand in five ways, that’s 76 grand apiece so basically the kid has to get 76 grand. Isn’t that right?” asked Rowitz, facing Robatelli.
“If we are to get 95 grand without the kid and 76 grand with kid, that’s nineteen thousand loss for each of us. The question is if that nineteen thousand dollars, simply nineteen grand, is worth to put this case behind us and sleep well on the 76 grand that we can surely keep without a trace,” pontificated Robatelli.
“I think the kid has to be cut in somehow but for the rest of my life I would not be able to look at his face. I am a senior partner of a venerable establishment. I am close to 80 years old, I have always done things the right way, now we have a young guy working for us who is less than 30 years old and he knows that I am stealing from the client 380 grand and I am covering up criminal prosecution. How can I practice law from now on?” and as Charlie spoke he did not really expect an answer. He just alternated his stare between the other three.
“Very simple, Charlie, you just come here every day, do what you customarily do and when it is over you just go home,” Rowitz laughed it off.
“You guys don’t understand, I am the oldest one here and I have always been held up to high principles. For me to go along with this scheme is to embarrass myself not only in front of this kid but also in front of myself. This is not my style. This is not me to go through with this,” murmured Charlie and his face betrayed internal emotional turmoil.
“Charlie, we have been in practice among us for probably an aggregate of 120 years or more. This is no time to take a law school Elementary Legal Ethics 101. We have to face this problem and solve it practically and the practical way is to cut the kid in, costing each of us nineteen grand and end this chapter in the firm’s history. As a matter of fact, if he keeps working for us, we can cut his year-end bonus this year and next year and we can recoup the 76 grand he stole from us,” and as Cohen spoke he expected Charlie to take over.
“You mean you want to keep him on the payroll, keep him here? But I will not be able to give him instructions anymore, I will not be able to be partner over him because this deal made all of us partners in crime, you guys do not understand,” Charlie begged Cohen to understand him.
“I understand, Charlie, but in this situation you cannot have it both ways. You can’t run with the hounds and hide with the hare at the same time. If you want to keep the cash that is the way to do it, if you want to return the cash, then, of course, you can do the honest thing, but then you lost the cash. You cannot hide with the hare,” and as Cohen answered to Mac, he almost begged Mac to understand.
“The point being that we did not have to run with the hound because the kid runs with the hounds and with the Rottweilers, and we can’t hide with the hare because I myself I don’t have much hair anyway,” laughed Rowitz trying to make a joke.
“Adu, you try to be very funny but you do not understand that an old-timer like myself cannot easily adjust to life if I go through with this,” addressed Mac to Rowitz.
“I understand, Mac, but you have only one choice and once you made a choice you are stuck with it. If we are making your choice to keep the cash, the kid is getting 76 grand and if you want to fire him, fine, if you don’t want to fire him then we will back-charge his bonus and get the money that way. Let’s decide one question first and if that is decided the decision was made. Cut the kid in, destroy the tape and the hell with it.”
“There is one more thing, Adu, if we get sued for malpractice, our insurance premium goes up,” said Cohen.
“It certainly will, but what else can you do?”
“Not much you can do, but the kid will have to chip in and he will not get 76 grand, he has to be chopped down to 60 and that 16 grand will cover premium increase for a year or maybe for two.”
“I don’t think we should worry about peanuts here. The question is not a few grand, the question is a matter of ethical principle,” stated Charlie still looking for a way out.
“The ethical principle is whether we get 95 grand each or 76 grand each. The client will not get back the money, for sure. And if you guys don’t want to build in the insurance premium increase into the split, then the guy gets 76 grand and let’s get it over with,” stated Rowitz now staring at all the three guys one by one, all tired of this whole discussion.
“I think we made the decision that we keep the cash, and if Charlie thinks that the boy is a good attorney in the real estate section then keep him, we will not give him a bonus for two years. And I don’t care if I see him every day, as long as he does not break into the client’s premises on a regular basis, it is fine,” smiled Robatelli the first time during the discussion.
“And how am I going to look into his face everyday and how am I going to give him instruction and how am I to keep him in order if I am a partner in crime with him? You guys don’t understand, I will lose respect, I will lose my ability to supervise him after this, isn’t that clear?” asked Mac desperately looking from one guy to another.
“You just have to bite the bullet. Money has a price tag on it, and this will be your price tag. I think we should not belabor this point anymore because we are driving each other insane. I think the decision was made that we keep the cash, the kid gets an equal share, and stays at the firm, and business is as usual. When bonus time comes we will cut him somehow, we recover his share, the insurance premium increase and whatever, and let’s get it over with. We are busy in this office and we can’t spend a full day on this nonsense. We already spent too much time on it, and now let’s get moving dictating letters back and forth, moving around typists, secretaries, papers, chairs and create confusion so we could blame the girls for losing the tape. I will bring the tape in and ceremoniously cut it up and destroy it. We have to destroy it immediately otherwise it may be evidence against us,” stated Cohen and he was ready to break up the meeting.
“You guys are more knowledgeable about litigation than myself. I do mostly tax and estates, in-office practice rather than a court practice, but I am glad to see that my litigation partners have excellent skills and experience in destroying evidence, and now that the meeting served its purpose, the motion was made, seconded, carried, the money is kept, the meeting is adjourned and I want to go back to my office because I have work to do,” and as Rowitz spoke he was already on his feet, ceremoniously shook hands with all of his partners, took a step back and stated, “And the guy can stay with us, he is good, if Mac kept him at this firm then he must be good because Mac would not keep anyone, even his own son, if he did not meet the standard of this firm.”
“I am glad that now you also call me Mac, I just wonder if I should not open a McDonald’s myself,” stated Charlie in a very unfriendly, offensive tone.
“I am sorry, Charlie, if I called you Mac, but in the last 20 years everybody called you Mac, and sometimes when you get aggravated or angry or you are in a hurry you can’t always be diplomatic, you have been called Mac by everybody, even ourselves behind you. And now this meeting is adjourned, decision is made and I have to go,” and Rowitz was already out of there.
The other three partners including Charlie could not help but to smile. As Cohen and Robatelli were leaving the office, Charlie could not help to remark:
“After almost 60 years of practice of law, I finally sold my soul to the devil.”
Robatelli who was half way out of the office turned back and stated with a straight face, “But if there is consolation, Charlie, you did not sell yourself cheap, you got yourself 76 grand.”
