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Taming Ava & Fixing Jax - A Modern Fairytale
Chapter 38 Dodging a Bullet
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Ellie Lowen wasn't surprised when she was notified that she was being disbarred. It wasn't permanent. She could apply for reinstatement in two years if she jumped through a bunch of hoops.
It wasn't fair. Doctors killed people everyday with their negligence and they didn't lose their medical licenses because other doctors covered up for them. That was the problem with attorneys—they ratted on each other. She'd never killed anyone with her legal skills and yet she was the one who couldn't make a living as an attorney for two years.
If she'd been a little smarter, she would have been a doctor. She never would have had to worry about colleagues ratting her out then. She'd read an article about some neurosurgeon in Dallas who left patients paralyzed, dead and in permanent pain due to his poor surgical skills. The guy had even shown up for surgeries dirty and coked up and still no one stopped him from operating. Attorneys should be more like doctors.
When an attorney screws up, the client loses the case or maybe the attorney skims a little money from the client. Hours get billed that weren't worked. It was all part of being an attorney. If every attorney who billed for hours that weren't worked got disbarred, there wouldn't be any attorneys left.
Rosen had dissolved their partnership, so she couldn't even go and help out in the office. Fortunately, she'd stolen a lot of money from clients so she would be able to weather this downturn in her career.
After she'd finished watching the documentary on Jax's wrongful imprisonment, she felt like she'd dodged a bullet. The documentary had focused on the corrupt ATF agents and the prosecutor. She'd been left out. That had to be a good sign. That had to mean that Jax hadn't figured out she'd charged him for a defense and investigative services that she hadn't provided.
When Jax told her that he was innocent and been framed by the ATF agents, she hadn't paid much attention. She'd been a criminal defense attorney for too long to believe in her client's innocence. She also knew the MC too well to believe they were innocent of anything. Jax was guilty and there hadn't been any point in putting on a real defense. And then there was Clay offering her even more money to overbill the MC and throw the case. It was too good an opportunity to pass up.
The outcome for Jax whether or not she had provided him an adequate defense wouldn't have been any different. He didn't have the hundreds of thousands of dollars Ava's father poured into investigating the ATF agents and prosecutor.
There was dirt on her if TB had sent his team after her, but since there was only an occasional reference to her and nothing had been said about her providing an inadequate defense for Jax, she figured that meant she'd dodged a bullet. TB would focus his attention on the ATF and the department of justice for future lawsuits and she would be kept out of it.
It looked like she was going to get away with screwing up Jax's defense. Good new for her and Clay.
She heard the sound of a motorcycle. Her heart beat faster. Maybe Clay was dropping by.
No, it wasn't Clay. It was Jax with his bride. This was not going to be good. She went to her desk drawer, slipped a .38 into the waistband of her khakis and pulled her shirt out to conceal it. Now she was ready for anything.
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Author's Note: The neurosurgeon Lowen mentions is actually based on a true story with a few small embellishments. He was referred to as Dr. Death. He practiced in Dallas, Texas. There are several articles online about Dr. Death and how he was finally stopped.
Dr. Death attracted patients with a slick marketing campaign, so you have to be careful that the doctor or surgeon you're going to is more than just a marketing product.