American Entertainment 1982

Hale \u0026 Dole White Shoes LLP, Boston, MA.

On the door of the office, there is a metal nameplate with a special identification of the partner: Robert Morley Lawyer's Office.

The intern pushed open the door and handed the document in his hand to Robert, who was sitting behind his desk with his back to the huge French window, intently flipping through an investigation report: "Mr. Morley, here are the documents you want."

Robert took it and opened it while ordering: "Wait a minute, you call Leonard and introduce him to Mr. Novick. Mr. Novick has a case that needs his private investigator to help collect evidence."

"Okay, Mr. Jim Manzi wants to see you." The intern said after listening to Robert's instructions.

Robert froze for a moment: "Jim? Do I have an appointment with him?"

"Yeah, ask you to have fun together? I'm your fucking employer, and then I want to see you..." Jim's voice sounded outside the door.

Seeing Jim's big face appearing at the door, Robert immediately said to his intern: "OK, Noah, you go out first, thank you for the materials you sent, I will call you if I have other questions."

"Need me to help you and Mr. Manzi prepare coffee..." the intern asked.

Robert looked at Jim Manzi who walked in with a blank expression, and said, "No need, as a partner, I need to save money for the firm."

Waiting for the intern to go out and help close the door, Jim went straight to the floor-to-ceiling windows behind the desk, admiring the street view: "The scenery in this office looks much better than your previous room, which was not as big as my underwear. , Robert."

"You made me embarrass myself in front of the interns, Jim, please, this is my first day as a partner." Robert said with his back to Jim depressed.

"Really?" Jim turned around, walked behind Robert, and clapped his hands on his shoulders: "So you are a little unhappy? On the first day you just became a partner?"

"F*ck, Jim, you can't..." Robert raised his head, his tone was very uncomfortable, and he wanted to remind himself that this friend he had known for many years should pay attention to the occasion when joking.

It's just that before he finished speaking, he saw this guy take out a business card and put it in his mouth to block his words.

Robert reached out to take it, and the refined British-style business card said Thomson Holdings International, Chairman of the Board Kenneth Thomson.

"I recommend you as an independent director of Thompson Holdings International. Mr. Thomson agreed. He is willing to chat with you when he comes to Boston from Toronto next time. How about this gift? This gift will make you feel happy Have you got some?" Jim slowly walked back to the seat opposite Robert, and said with a smile:

"Seven years, seven years you've been a partner in a white shoe firm, and sometimes I think you're a real genius, Robert."

"Thank you, I think so too." Robert put away the business card and laughed too.

How many of my friends would be as caring as that bastard Jim? Those friends have prepared all kinds of gifts, maybe famous wine, maybe flowers, maybe even a party, but only this bastard knows what he needs most, and then he will give it to him according to his needs. Needs, send a gift of real weight.

A lawyer like Robert Morley who has just been promoted to a partner in a large firm needs to assume the title of independent director of several companies and take on a few important enough cases in order to demonstrate sufficient ability and aggressiveness in the industry , so it will be of great help to him whether he is recruited by other firms, or invited by the government to enter the judiciary, or to go further and pursue the position of managing partner.

But the title of an ordinary small company will only reduce the gold content. It is best to be a company with sufficient influence to be worthy of the status of a partner of a white shoe firm. For example, Thomson Holdings International, which Jim recommended for him at this time, is located in Canada. A large publishing organization that publishes several regional newspapers in the United States, with a total circulation of more than one million copies. If I become an independent director of this company, first of all, the members of the newspapers’ distribution areas must consider whether to be friends with me. Pull him into a new circle.

"You can already brag about this amazing speed to everyone, because it's only more than half slower than the speed when I became the editor-in-chief of "National Review" in three years." Jim ticked his fingers at him and said in his mouth.

Robert opened the drawer and threw him a box of cigars: "So you just come to my office, give me a gift to congratulate me, and then stimulate me with your perverted experience?"

"No, dear consultant of Lotus Corporation, what I'm more curious about is how far has the case progressed?" Jim took the cigar box, took out a cigar from it, sniffed it slowly, and asked in his mouth.

Robert leaned on the back of the chair, put his hands on his lower abdomen, raised his head slightly and thought for a while: "The other party sent a letter of defense to the court, indicating that they will respond to the lawsuit, that's all. According to the normal situation, the next step is to wait for the court's approval. , the lawyers of both sides have entered the stage of collecting and disclosing evidence, and the court will start the battle only after the evidence is collected.”

"Which law firm helped the other party send the defense letter?" Jim didn't use a cigar cutter, but directly bit off the cap with his teeth and spit it on the carpet.

Seeing Jim's demeanor, Robert said depressedly: "You can't be a gentleman? I really can't believe that a bastard like you was able to become Mr. Buckley's assistant back then. Why did he put up with you!"

"Because I dared to go to the Soviet Union for investigation and research, and helped the magazine become an indispensable reading material for all American politicians. I am just a fucking magazine editor, but I do what the CIA should do. This is what Mr. Buckley thinks highly of me. The reason." Jim smiled arrogantly: "I used the 150,000-word investigation report to tell those stupid politicians in the United States who didn't even know where Moscow was. Live in dire straits, so stop making idiotic remarks or you'll be a laughingstock."

"Okay, stop bragging. I've helped you understand. It's a small law firm near Stanford University. It was established in 1979. It's just a nobody in California and has no strength at all." Robert let Jim Stop bragging, but actually waited for Jim to finish before saying this sentence, and did not interrupt midway. From his own heart, he admired this bastard very much. When the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union was the most tense, this guy He went to the Soviet Union, secretly lived with the most ordinary Soviet people for nearly a year, and helped Buckley complete the investigation report. Others, let alone going to the Soviet Union, did not even have the courage to raise their hands to sign up.

Robert took a cigar himself and played with it: "Do you think that Actor company has a lot of money, and like Lotus, it hires white-shoe elites to serve as the company's legal counsel?"

"After the other party responds to the lawsuit, it seems that we can't meet in private, right?" Jim didn't answer, but continued to ask while slowly roasting the cigar.

"It's best to meet when both parties are accompanied by lawyers, so as to avoid being caught by the other party and using it as an attack."

"I understand that they seem to train a group of low-level women, cheap hookers, and then they work with organizations like the Stanford Women's Advancement Association. Are you sure if these go to court, they will not cause trouble? Trouble, except for whores." Jim put a lit cigar into his mouth and said in a vulgar tone.

Robert shrugged: "Don't let the other party say that they cooperate with women's organizations. Even if they cooperate with the president, they will not be able to change the fact that they have violated the rights of Lotus. I know that I am plagiarizing. When I enter the court and allow the lawyers of both parties to collect evidence, I will ask my colleagues in California to help get detailed evidence from Stanford University. Don’t worry, the only thing you need to worry about is that they had better not get it suddenly. A large amount of investment, otherwise it will become a situation of dragging and pulling with Moore Company. The two parties have spent hundreds of millions of dollars in lawyer fees in the past three to five years. In the end, it is really unacceptable that both parties are losing money, and only the lawyers make a fortune. In reality, the lawyers took their money, and the two parties offered to settle."

"I have done some public relations work, those computer magazines, newspapers will not report on Actor for a while, I pay double the public relations fees they pay, so they will not appear in any professional magazines or newspapers next, Avoid being seen by investors to the greatest extent and reduce this possibility." Jim thought for a while and asked again:

"How long will it take for the court to issue a document allowing lawyers for both parties to collect evidence in this case?"

"Inside information, one week, I specially speeded up your speed. This is the benefit of hiring a large firm, which is worth the money. The entire state of Massachusetts knows that the current judge of the state court was a partner of this firm before becoming a judge. If a small unknown law firm from California came to Boston to appear in court and win, it would be impossible for this firm to establish itself in Boston for a hundred years, and that is why you chose us."

"If there are large companies disrupting the situation, I mean Microsoft, MicroPort, Bioglan and other large software companies, using Actor as a puppet and hiding behind the scenes, what will happen?"

"Pull, the most likely is to pull for many years and then reconcile. In the state court and circuit court stage, we can't lose."

"In other words, there is still a possibility of losing?"

"Jim, the United States has a three-level court system. 99% of cases can be resolved at the level of circuit courts. We are always victorious at the two levels of the Massachusetts State Court and the Second District Court of the United States. These two courts 70% of judges and clerks have intern or work experience in our Hale \u0026 Dole law firm. Even if this case ends up in the U.S. Supreme Court, our influence on Washington is not California Those computer nerds have comparable connections."

"Worst case scenario is pulling and reconciling, right?"

"Yes, absolutely no worse."

"Very well, I will convince Mr. Buckley to allow me to publish an article on the "National Review" with the title of assistant editor-in-chief that I have not used for many years." After receiving Robert's affirmative answer, Jim spit out light blue In the haze of smoke, a grin appeared on his face:

"Don't think that I have no influence in the software industry. Those nerdy upstarts can fucking drool over Lotus."

Second update~~