Rachel sat in the meeting, doing her best to look like she was paying attention. She knew some of the other associates weren't as diligent. Marcy was doodling on her legal pad; Brett was playing a game on his blackberry. And if Rachel knew what they were doing, she was confident that the partners were aware too.
But she was only half-listening. The other half of her concentration was focused on Sandy Cohen. She couldn't believe she had finally convinced him to leave the PD's office. She wished they had more cases they could work on together, but then again, he'd only been at the firm for a week.
"This next case is important to the firm," George Kahn, the managing partner, said. "It could result in some important environmental law being decided." George turned to Rachel. "With your knowledge of environmental law, we've decided to let you take control of the case." George handed the file over. "The Newport Group is trying to develop Balboa Heights. The Balboa Land Trust hired us to prevent them from doing that. Rachel, we thought you could bring Sandy Cohen in on this, with his experience with the ENC and the land deal that he negotiated for them."
Rachel's heart flipped when she heard Sandy's name mentioned. As she flipped open the file, her brain registered what George had said about the case. "The Newport Group? I don't know if Sandy ... He does resent his father-in-law ..." Rachel was thinking out loud.
"Is there a problem, Rachel?"
"A problem? No ... no, not really. It's just ... Caleb Nichol – Sandy's father-in-law – owns the Newport Group. But Sandy and Caleb have completely opposite philosophies, and Sandy would relish the opportunity ..."
"It's a conflict of interest, Rachel. We'll have to find another lawyer to assist you."
Rachel started to scramble. She needed to get Sandy on this case. This case could make her career, so she couldn't turn it down. But it could take a few years, and she didn't want to risk not having a chance to work with Sandy. Otherwise, what was the point of convincing him to come work with her? "We could talk to the client about waiving the conflict of interest. Sandy is the best qualified to assist on the case and..."
"Rachel, we'll find someone else. You have a meeting with the client this afternoon. You can handle that one by yourself." George addressed the meeting. "All right, everyone. Back to work."
Rachel walked into the conference room to meet with The Balboa Land Trust's representative. The petite woman stood up when Rachel entered. "Hi, I'm Jenn Yeoh," she said, sticking out her hand to greet her.
"Hi, I'm Rachel."
"So we're still waiting for someone else?" Jenn asked.
"No, it's just me today."
"Oh." Jenn looked confused. "Mr. Kahn told me he was assigning two lawyers to this case."
"He still is. We've just run into a problem with the other lawyer we were planning on using. He's actually extremely qualified. He's on the Board of Directors at the Environmental Nature Center and was pivotal in helping them negotiate their land deal, which would be invaluable experience for this case."
"So what's the problem? He sounds like just the person we need."
"You're right; he is. But his father-in-law owns The Newport Group. They don't get along and he's willing to take the case, but a judge would never allow him to participate."
"There's no way he could take the case?"
"Not really. Unless ... no, I don't know if that would work."
"Is there something we could do to get him on the case?"
"Just ... if The Balboa Land Trust was willing to waive the conflict of interest ... you'd have to sign a paper saying you understand the conflict of interest exists but you're still willing to risk it."
"We'll do that. We want to win this case – we have to win this case. The water quality of Orange County depends on us winning this case. So we'll do whatever is in our power to make that happen."
Rachel smiled to herself, happy that her plan worked. "OK. If you insist on waiving the conflict of interest, we can bring Sandy Cohen in. Now, let's go over the case and see where we're at."
Rachel was in her office reviewing the Balboa Heights file when George Kahn burst in. He didn't look happy. "What did you say to Jenn Yeoh today?"
Rachel feigned innocence. "We just discussed the case today. Is there a problem?"
"I thought we decided that Sandy Cohen couldn't take this case."
"We did, George. I told Jenn he couldn't participate because of the conflict of interest. She insisted on having him and waiving the conflict of interest. I tried to talk her out of it."
George ran his hand over his head. "Do we even know if he's willing to take it?"
"I haven't said anything to him yet because I didn't think he'd be on the case."
"Don't say anything until we get the waiver drawn up and signed."
"Sure, George. Is your wife back from her vacation?" Everyone knew Diana Kahn wasn't on vacation. She was always off getting plastic surgery. Rachel heard that this time she was getting a chin implant. She didn't even know there was such a thing as chin implants.
George smiled. "She gets back tomorrow."
That night found Rachel driving to visit her friend Jack. She and Jack had met in law school and had even lived together while they were articling. Jack was the closet thing Rachel had to a best friend.
Jack lived in LA with his partner Jamie. At least once a month, Rachel would drive in to visit them. Rachel would bring wine and a movie, Jamie would cook, and then Jamie and Jack would take bets as to how long into the movie it would be before Rachel fell asleep.
Jack met Rachel at the door. He kissed her cheek as she handed him the wine. "You're just in time. Jamie said if you weren't here in five minutes, he was going to start without you."
Rachel laughed as she walked towards the kitchen at the back of the house. "Well, Jamie knows the night doesn't start until I get here, so I don't know what he's complaining about."
Jamie greeted Rachel with a kiss and a hug. "I'm complaining that you work too much and don't have enough fun."
"I like my work and I do have fun." Rachel helped Jack put the dishes on the table as Jamie carried the food over.
"Are you having fun with anyone in particular?"
Jack laughed. "That means 'Are you seeing anyone?' in Jamie."
Rachel took a bite of her lasagna. "Jamie, you've outdone yourself again. This is fabulous."
"You're avoiding the question, but thank you. So...?"
"So, not really. Though there is a new lawyer at my office..."
Jack looked relieved. "So you've finally given up on that married lawyer from the PD's office?"
Rachel was about to take a sip of her wine. She lowered her glass. "You could say that." She grinned and drank her wine.
"Good. Getting involved with a married man will bring you nothing but heartbreak."
Jamie looked at Jack with a mock hurt expression on his face. "I hope you're not speaking from experience."
Jack chose to ignore Jamie. "Tell us about this guy. Has he asked you out yet? Have you asked him out yet? Give us the scoop."
"It's not like that," Rachel said. "We're friends. We trade jokes and insults. He's a really smart guy and good at what he does. Not as good as me, mind you."
"Our Rachel, always so modest." Jamie raised his glass to salute her. "So when are you going to ask him out?"
Rachel hesitated. "It's complicated."
Jack shook his head at her. "He's married. What is it with you and married men?"
"He won't be married for much longer," Rachel protested.
Jack gave her a disbelieving look.
"Seriously. Our firm is representing a client who is suing his wife's company. He's going to take the case. If he really loved his wife, why would he put himself in that position? There's got to be animosity there."
"Or maybe their marriage is strong enough that the adversity won't affect them," Jack countered.
Rachel didn't continue the argument. She knew even the strongest marriage had its breaking point. And she was going to find theirs.
Rachel spent the rest of the weekend reviewing and researching the case. She spent Saturday familiarizing herself with the information and case law.
On Sunday she started preparing for the depositions. She hated taking depositions. As she went over the list, she realized Kirsten was scheduled to be deposed first thing Wednesday morning. Rachel smiled to herself. That was one deposition she was actually looking forward to.
Monday was a holiday, but Rachel was at the office anyway. She was hoping Sandy might be in and she could tell him about the case, convince him to take it. But she wasn't surprised when he wasn't in. He was probably doing some sort of family thing.
Rachel was in the office early on Tuesday. The lawyers were expected to be in their offices by nine, but most were in earlier. Sandy had been early the week before – his first week – and Rachel was anxious when he wasn't in yet. At 8:30, she decided to call to see what was holding him up.
She dialed his cell phone. It rang once, twice, three times ... where was he? ... five times ... shouldn't his voice mail kick in? ... seven times...
"Hello?"
"Sanford! Does your cell phone not have voice mail?"
"Rachel. Always good to hear from you too. Does this call have a purpose, or did you just call to inquire about my cell phone service?"
"I was just wondering where you were."
"It's only ... 8:35. I don't have to be there until nine, right?
"No, you're right. I just was expecting you earlier."
"Oh. It's the boys' first day of school and I wanted to see them off. That's not a problem, is it?"
"No, not at all. I'll see you when you get here."
Rachel hung up the phone. Now she felt silly for having called him for no good reason. She hoped she didn't come across as needy. There was nothing worse than a needy woman. He'd be in the office soon. She'd convince him that he had to take the case. And then everything would be good.
Rachel heard Sandy come in just before nine. She fought the urge to rush right in. She waited half an hour before going to his office.
Hey
What were you doing this morning when I called? You sounded, um, did I wake ya?
I was spending some time with my wife.
Oh yeah? How'd that go?
Well, I got to work on time, didn't I?
Too bad. It might be a while until your wife is in the mood for love.
Oh yeah? Is there something you know that I don't?
Well, I know lots that you don't. But in this case, are you familiar with the Balboa Wetlands?
Yeah, it's the largest coastal wetlands in California. Home to the blue heron, the brown pelican, and my personal favourite, something called the swamp rose.
The wetlands are key to water quality in the county, and not to mention, they're kind of pretty.
So naturally, they must be destroyed.
The Balboa Heights are 250 acres of land that sit above said wetlands.
Yeah, every developer's been going after The Heights for years.
Well, somebody got it. And they're looking to tear it up. Put in condos, a golf course...
Oh, thank god, because you know the lack of golf courses around here...it's tragic.
This is a policy making, career-changing piece of litigation. A tree-hugging crusader, like yourself, would probably kill for a case like this.
And you want to share this with me.
Yes.
Why? Oh. My wife's company is the plaintiff.
It's her father's company.
So why even tempt me with this? It's a conflict of interest. I'm not even sure it'd be ethical.
Well, the client, The Balboa Land Trust, not only waived the conflict of interest, they insisted you take the case. Your politics, your passion, your severe dislike for your father-in-law – you're the ideal advocate.
I suspect my wife is going to have a different spin on this.
Look, you came to this firm because we have the resources to help you make a difference. They're going to teach this in law school. So what's it going to be? Your sex life. Or the swamp rose.
"Give me a chance to think about it, OK? This is a big decision."
"OK. But I need a decision soon – by the end of the week. There's a lot of work to get done and we're starting depositions this week."
The next morning, Rachel was at The Newport Group offices with Brett, who was helping her take the depositions. They split the list, though Rachel made sure that Kirsten was on hers.
She waited in the conference room with The Newport Group's lawyer for Kirsten to arrive. Rachel noted the look of surprise when Kirsten first walked into the room. It was brief and Kirsten quickly composed herself, but it was enough for Rachel to realize that Sandy hadn't discussed the case with Kirsten yet.
"Rachel, how nice to see you again." Kirsten's voice sounded strained, and belied the sincerity of her words. She set the files she was carrying on the table between them.
Rachel stood up and shook Kirsten's hand. "I wish it was under better circumstances."
"I didn't realize it was your firm that was handling this for the Balboa Land Trust." Rachel could hear the question in Kirsten's statement.
"I'm surprised Sandy didn't mention it to you, especially since he's planning to join me on the case."
"He is?" Kirsten nodded her head slowly, as though she were mulling this information over. "He hadn't mentioned that to me."
"Oh, I'm sure he will," Rachel pretended to reassure Kirsten, while laughing to herself that Sandy was keeping secrets from his wife. "He just found out yesterday, and he hasn't fully agreed yet."
She was almost giddy, knowing the bombshell she just dropped on Kirsten. "Well, shall we get down to the business at hand?"
Kirsten nodded. "It's what we're here for."
Rachel returned to the office after lunch. As she walked into her office, she asked her assistant if anything exciting had happened that morning. Her assistant told her that Sandy's wife had stopped by, and she hadn't been happy to learn about his involvement in the Balboa wetlands case.
"Then he said, 'I feel pretty comfortable comparing ethics with your father' and she said, 'As long you're comfortable,' and then she stormed out. Oh, but before she left, she said something about trying to keep her father from finding out that Sandy's on the case."
Rachel smiled. Kirsten didn't want her father to find out Sandy was helping to stop his deal go through? Rachel picked up the phone to call her friend Rick at the newspaper.
On Thursday, Sandy stormed into the conference room after Rachel's meeting.
Well, Sanford, you are all anybody is talking about around here.
Tell me now, did you bring me into this firm because of this case?
Sandy waved a newspaper at her. Rachel glanced at the headline. "Wetlands Lawsuit Turns Personal – The Heights Reaches New Lows As Hubby Attorney Takes on Wife and Father-in-Law's Company." Rick had really outdone himself with that article. She was really going to owe him one now. And it seemed to have struck a chord in the Cohen household.
We didn't have this case when we hired you. But don't worry about it. You've already convinced everyone that you're really torn. Now, can we get on with it? You know this could go to the State Supreme Court.
Yeah. And I know I can win it. The question is what am I gonna lose?
Well, if your marriage can't survive this, what kind of marriage is it?
Rachel was pleased with how things were going. If Sandy didn't take the case, he was admitting that his marriage wasn't strong enough to withstand the pressure of the case. And Rachel knew Sandy well enough to know that he wouldn't succumb to the challenge she had just laid down. And when he did take the case, Rachel would ensure his marriage didn't survive it.
Rachel spent Friday morning taking more depositions at The Newport Group. By the time she returned to the office for the afternoon, Sandy had left for the courthouse. She didn't see him the rest of the day so she called him on his cell phone that evening.
It rang once, twice. "Rachel. Hi."
"Sandy, I was just wondering..."
"I'm going to take it."
Rachel smiled. "You won't regret it."
THE END