Disclaimer: The following chapter will have references to characters that have appeared in other forms of fiction. Perry Mason was created by Erle Stanley Gardner and Ben Matlock was created Dean Hargrove. I claim no permission from either property holder of those characters. All other disclaimers apply.
A few weeks after Maya departed The Law Offices of Fey and Wright, the two attorneys had received in the mail a formal invitation from The American Trial Lawyers Association, letting the pair know that they were chosen as recipients of the legendary Perry Mason/Ben Matlock Memorial Award for their work on the Bluecorp Incident. The awards namesakes belonged to two of the most legendary defense attorneys in the criminal justice system. They stuck up for the innocent when things looked bad enough for a wrongful conviction to the point where they had their share of violent run-ins in the course of their careers. Perry Mason had passed away back in 1995 leaving behind a widow named Della Street Mason, who used to be her secretary. Ben Matlock died in 2012 leaving a behind a daughter who was still running her own law firm in Philadelphia. The award was created while Matlock was still alive and with his consent, calling it a humbling and kind honor.
Their work in uncovering a high profile scandal was still generating buzz for the fledgling law firm to the point where they were becoming a magnet for potential new clients. Right now, their focus was on them attending the dinner that was included with receiving the award. The pair was attending this dinner at the ballroom of the Gatewater Hotel and Mia was looking over a speech that she wrote for this occasion, already deciding to be the main speaker of this award, because of her personal and emotional investment in this case.
"And now ladies and gentlemen, without any further ado," said the speaker of the ATLA at the podium which laid at the center of two large tables (think White House Correspondence Dinner). "I proudly present to you, one of the first co-recipients of the coveted Perry Mason/Ben Matlock Award, Mia Fey of The Law Offices of Fey and Wright."
The crowd in the hotel ballroom, consisted of multiple prominent attorneys who had practices all around the country and at one time knew Mia's old boss Samuel Rosenburg. Political figures from both ideals, either still active in their respective offices or had long since retired, were also in attendance because if there was one thing that was equally hated, it was child trafficking. They all broke in a round of applause with a standing ovation, Mia took her place at the podium while they continued to applaud for her.
The applause continued for two minutes before the audience continued to sit down, which gave Mia an opening to start her speech:
Thank you ladies and gentlemen, first off it's an honor and a privilege to accept this coveted award named after two people who were revolutionary in criminal defense. I also speak on behalf of my senior partner Phoenix Wright, that we humbly thank you for considering this new law firm as recipients of this award. For those that don't know, the entire Bluecorp incident has been very personal for me, I came from a simple family who have extraordinary gifts, a lot of us in my family communicate with the dead and my mother Misty Fey was called on by the LAPD to help solve the murder of the late Gregory Edgeworth, father of Miles Edgeworth, who I'm sure many of you know of our involvement in the closure of that case. My mother tried her best to help the police in giving both Gregory and Miles justice but had ended framing the wrong man.
My reason for going after Bluecorp was because they wrongly outed my mother as a fraud and my involvement was mostly out of revenge for making her disappear when both me and my sister were still at our tender years. I was growing into my teenage years and back then I knew how to handle responsibility for the caring of Maya, but a little girl needed a mother more than she needed a sister and Bluecorp took that away from me. So fast forward a few years, in between caring for my sister and spending late nights studying to be an attorney, I graduated from the Themis Legal Academy and soon became an attorney under Samuel Rosenberg.
Before I continue, I need you to know that I have long since made peace with Rosenberg not long after uncovering this incident and for awhile he was a very nurturing mentor and a father figure for me. But I also had a very bitter falling out with him when I found about his role in my mothers disappearance, but even then he never stopped thinking about me and my safety, especially after I had escaped being murdered by Redd White because of how close I was to outing him to the public. In the end, even though I had lost Samuel Rosenberg to Redd White, I can still feel his comforting presence when I walk into the courtroom with Phoenix. His spirit alone was what brought down Manfred von Karma as Gregory's murderer so aside from me dedicating this award to Rosenberg, I also accept this award on behalf of all the children who were victims to Bluecorp's trafficking, I'm happy to say that all of them had been reunited with their families all safe and sound. To top it all of, they are all receiving great medical and psychlogical treatment and even though they will never get over being victims of forced prostitution, my gut tells me they will grow up to become productive members of society and will hopefully become role models for other victims.
With that said, The Law Offices of Fey and Wright will proudly accept this award with the knowledge that we will continue fighting for the right of due process, the right to be innocent until proven guilty and above all else we will continue to fight for people who have no one else to turn to. We are The Law Offices of Fey and Wright and together we don't want to be just your attorneys, we want to be your friends.
You couldn't hear a pin drop when the crowd at the Gatewater Hotel had erupted into thunderous applause.