It's a reasonable settlement offer
1.5 million plus 500 hundred thousand severance
Plus you sign a confidentiality agreement
That might put a little crimp in my plant
To pen a Tell-All-Book?
With at least five chapters about how my Zire Motors exposé cost me my anchor desk
Well that's the thing
My company didn't fire him
I know because I have the email he wrote resigning
He quit, so why don't I just offer him 2 million dollars?
Because it's still less than what a trial wind up costing you
Sam Russell won't settle
Eli won't let him
How do you know?
I know Eli
Personally, I think you should reject this offer and go to trial
If for no other reason than I don't want to take all this stuff down
Hopefully among all that stuff there's a way to get around that email I sent
I'm not interested in getting around it
You didn't resign Sam, you simply formalized their defact of firing of you
It's called constructive termination
Basically they are arguing that demoting Sam was tantamount to firing him
Except I didn't demote him
My news director moved him to another time slot
Which is exactly what we need you to say on the sand
I don't have time to take the stand, I have a company to run
Find the time Mr. Buckley, look
No jury will find Baywest Media sympathetic if its own CEO can't be bothered to tell the story
You have a compelling story. You tried to tell the truth
To corporate power and you ended up getting exiled to 5 am
Went from covering neoracist to reporting about fender benders and the 101
You're angry Sam and you have every reason to be
But if the jury sees that anger
We're dead
Don't worry I won't come off angry
Because I'm not, I'm concerned
They banished me because of a story they thought was critical to their advertisers
You think I am the only anchor in the country with that problem?
I'm not doing this because I need the money
I'm doing it because my entire career has been about bringing the truth to light
They want to take away my anchor, that's fine
I'll do it from the witness box
Alright, big day tomorrow
Get a good night sleep
Is that what you'll be doing?
No I'll be writing Boudoir questions and an opening statement
And, drinking a lot of coffee
Eli
Will you excuse me for a moment?
I think I'm about to cameo in my own shorts and sandals movie
I heard you had your eccentricities but this isn't exactly making me swell of confidence
Don' worry. I won't bill you for the time
That reputation you got for eccentricity might be a little understated
Don't tell me. You want me to start looking into circus related workman cups claims
No! Just find out what gladiators or ancient Rome or
Latin maybe that have to do with the Russell case
Oh! Should that'll be cinch, a --- so you numb score
Do you want me to call Dr. Chen for you?
No
Why not?
You have the vision he inteprets it, isn't that how it works?
When we're speaking to each other, which we're not
Just tell me what this means to you?
Ancient Rome, two gladiators and more gore than in An Inconvenient Truth
It is and inconvenient truth I don't do vision voodoo
Chen is the one you take that stuff to, it's bad enough you make me do all the paper work
Fine
Any luck getting those documents Maggie hightailed out of Sonoma with?
And a good morning to you too
It would be a good morning if we had Baywest internal memos about our client
I mean it's not like we are going on trial today
No, wait, we are
I have a motion to compel locked and loaded, it should be a slam duck
Then why isn't Maggie playing by the rules?
I have no idea
Maggie is usually very big with the rules
So you don't know what's gotten into her?
Off the top of your head do you foresee gladiators having any significance to our case?
Don't you have an acupuncturist entertainer for this sort of thing?
I'm not speaking to him
What about your brother?
Nate neither
Well you should, if you don't want to talk to your acupuncturist fine
But you should always talk to family
Good morning Eli, Taylor
Good morning
I just uh... I just need a muffin
Uh... there are no muffins
Sir
Oh, well then... I'll just, uh...
It's fine, I was just leaving anyway
Everything OK?
Just a little family's fray, we'll be fine
OK
Well, I'm here should you feel a need to...
Much as I appreciate you offer to be my personal Dr. Feld, Eli
By now what you should be worrying about is your case
Yes of course
What happened to you have to talk to family?
I meant you and your family
My circumstances are different
Different how?
Hey sweetie! Ready for trial?
Ready for documents
Theft of evidence is a felony
And refusal to produce it to opposing counsel is an ethics violation
Right, cause you really want to lecture me on ethics here
What he's done to her to piss her off?
I have no idea but she's the one who offscounded with our documents
Well, technically they're my documents
Actually not even technically, they belong to my client
Which your client is required to let me see
Obviously it's no secret that you're sleeping with the enemy, huh?
No the secret is I made a baby with her
Mmm, you think?
Oh, right
Which reminds me to remind you that we've got a 3D ultrasound tomorrow, 2.30 sharp
You know on 3D I'm gonna be able to tell the gender
We agreed to wait!
And besides, whatever it has it's going to be about milimeter big
Not if it takes after its daddy
Leaving Sonoma without saying goodbye it was one thing
Not returning my calls that's another
And I get all that
I'm so very glad
Things are awkward between us, it's uncomfortable because of...
Is that american sign language for sleeping together?
My point is, freezing me out that's one thing but withholding evidence?
That's totally something else
There are other people involved here
Right, my clients
And they have an attorney willing to fight to protect their interests
Look, bottomline I'll show you those files over my dead body or when a judge orders me too
Whichever comes first
Then let's go see the judge and we'll table the dead thing for later
Let's!
This is ridiculous, the documents we've requested are totally relevant
That's true Your Honor
Then why haven't you produced the documents as requested, Ms. Dekker?
Oh, I'm sorry, I meant it's true I haven't complied with Mr. Stone's discovery request
But that's because there's nothing in them that requires me to give him the documents
Yes there is, it's called the rules of civil procedure
If we actually had produced the documents you'd have seen that Jennifer Cantino
Which means they're privileged, which means we have no obligation to let Mr. Stone or anyone else see them
You can't retroactively make something privilege by CCing counsel after the fact
There's nothing retroactive about it
All the documents were dated before Sam Russell got moved to 5 AM
Which is the event Mr. Stone claims was tantamount to firing Mr. Russell
Your Honor
She's got you Mr. Stone
She doesn't have me
No kidding
And that the attorney client privilege is not a...
Mr. Stone, unless you can prove Ms. Cantino is not an attorney, not West Media's attorney
Or that the memos were written to her after Russell got fired or quit
She's got you
So, any other pre-trial motions?
I have one Your Honor
I move to disqualify Mr. Stone
You what?
On what grounds?
He thinks he's a prophet
Several months ago, Mr. Stone stood in your courtroom and told you he received messages from the Almighty
I believe my exact words were Higher Power, perhaps Divine
And last year he predicted the Silver Terrace earthquake to some public notoriety
Which actually supports the idea that I could be, you know, special
Which is an unfair advantage in a jury trial
What juror wouldn't be swayed by the fact that the plaintiff's counsel has God as one of his clients
She's right
She is?
In so far as the personal details of the trial attorneys, may prejudice the jury
Your Honor
So we should make sure that they don't find out that Ms. Dekker and I slept together last week
That is totally inapropriate
You dog! I knew it was just a matter of time
So if you think of it she's also sleeping with opposing counsel
That's irrelevant!
And now she's carrying his unborn child
And did I mentioned that Mrs. Wethersby and I used to be engaged?
So basically what you're saying is I'm the only person in this room who's not having sex with one of you?
And that Ms. Dekker's motion might be motivated more by personal issues than legal ones
You wish
Enough! Save it for your inevitable reality show
If Mr. Stone does work for God, I'm not gonna chance damnation by disqualifying him
But if I hear any of you utter one more word about prophets, prophecies or specially who's sleeping with whom
I will hold you in contempt, I swear... to Mr. Stone's boss
I've worked at KNIB for twelve years. Until recently we have a number one news show in San Francisco
We did about an 18 share
What about around the time you offered Mr. Russell the morning show
We were down to an 11.3
We were hemorraging viewers and rank third among the affiliates
So you fired him
No... I offered him the morning news
It's a less competitive time slot
Frankly, I thought Sam would be grateful
Thank you
You uh... offered Sam the morning news
The day after you killed one of his stories
An expose on unsafe working conditions at a local Zire Motors plant
I didn't kill anything
We'll get to that
What relationship, if any, does KNIB have with Zire Motors?
Zire's one of our advertisers
Nearly every major auto manufacturer is
But Zire is your station's third largest advertiser
How upset would you say Zire was with Mr. Russell's expose, scale it 1 to 10
I wouldn't know
But you pulled the piece anyway just in case
I didn't pull it. It got bumped by stories I deemed more important
What was the more important piece you had that night?
I don't recall
I had a feeling you wouldn't so I looked it up
Uh, you replaced the Zire Motors report with a public safety story
Bilingual bandit strikes the bay area
We felt it was the more compelling story
I've never been held up in two languages so I'll take your word for it
Why didn't you air the Zire Motors' report the next night?
Did the bilingual bandit strike again?
No, but news cycles are getting shorter and shorter We can't stay competitive with cable and internet
By airing yesterday's news
Oh I forgot, hazardous working conditions are so last year
Alright for Russell I think we should send in the Magster after what she did to Stone yesterday
I can't afford not to use a little pitbull
Plus the jury eats her innocent act right up
You know I'm sitting right here, don't you?
Sorry, I should take this
Hi sweetie
Yeah take all the time you want, it's not like we're in trial here or anything
Look, I can't find my keys, I'm gonna be late, alright?
Uh, and tell the nurse when you get there if she can sign us in
Listen, we uh... have a strategy meeting
Well so do I!
But I'm not going! I mean we only get to see our fetus in 3D once!
I thought you were excited about this!
I am, it's just a bad time, I don't think I should leave
Listen, I am really, really sorry
I just can't make it today
I'm one of two lawyers on our side
You've enough to feel the baseball team but somehow I can make it, you know, because it's important to me
It's important to me too. I have to triage, I can't move this meeting but you can get the nurse to burn me a DVD
Right, I forgot how babies can me time-shifted
The media has changed. The news division used to be a public service
Something to broadcast your deed in exchange for using the public airwaves
Now it's just another way to make a buck
Objection!
She's about to point out how that doesn't seem related to you leaving the station
It's related
Because news has become a profit center
And I threatened the station's profits
With the Zire Motors' piece?
I was demoted to 5 AM drive time time one day after they killed that story, so...
You tell me Mr. Stone
What's a cue score?
It's a way of measuring an on-air personality's familiarity and appeal
But it surprised you to learn that your cue score has been in decline for the past two years?
I'm assuming since you're probably not less familiar to people it was because you became less appealing
Objection!
Woah, I'll... I'll put it another way
What's more likely?
A conspiracy to keep Sam Russell away from an anchor desk...
Or a desire to replace him with someone who can pull in a larger audience?
You made my point for me, Ms. Dekker
In the days of Cronkite and Muro
Decisions were not made based on cue scores and sharepoints
You're right, Muro's show was cancelled because it lost its sponsor
It's like she went back to law school when I wasn't paying attention
Don't underestimate the ambition of a woman scorned
What does that mean?
Are you kidding?
Oh, you think she's out to get me because I...
Got her! Yeah you motivated her to beat you in ways that go way beyond the normal courtroom asswipping
So all last year, I was trying to figure out how to make her a better lawyer and the whole time I should've just slept with her
My loyal fit soldiers
How did it go today?
Just great - Not great
She's right, somewhere between great and not so much
Sam's testimony wasn't exactly the grand slam we were counting on
That's uh... unfortunate
You make unfortunate sound so much worse than unfortunate
It's nothing, something we can discuss after the trial
Sir, we're partners. I'm not sure keeping secrets is gonna do either one of us any good
I didn't want to say anything to either of you
We're already... operating under enough pressure
What's wrong?
I just got off the phone with our accountants
We were treading water before the financial crisis made getting a line of credit difficult
What are you saying?
That if we don't win the Russell case, and win big
We'll be joining Mr. Russell on the unemployment line
Matt!
Hi!
I might still be sleeping but I'm pretty sure you didn't stay here last night
I let my self in. Hope you don't mind, I wanted to surprise you
With bluberry pancakes?
Yeah
It's an incredibly good smelling apology
Tastes even better
I am sorry
I wanted to be there, I should've been there, I just felt weird bailing out of my team, you know?
In the middle of the world series I get it
They're the Yankees and I'm playing for the Red Sox
Well, not exactly because the Yankees and the Red Sox had never played each other in the World Series, but...
Anyway, it's just a trial
Yeah
You do know your client is not facing the death penalty here, right?
Not my client, my firm
You can't use this, OK?
This is boyfriend-girlfriend confidence, OK?
Two-people-who-made-a-baby-together privilege
I must have missed that class in lawschool
What's going on?
The new firm is sinking
We are in massive debt... we can't get credit
We need an infusion of cash and the only way we can do that is a huge win in the Russell case
AKA a miracle
Jeez!
Are you OK?
You mean aside from being pregnant and about to being unemployed?
Yeah
I'm so sorry
Look, I wasn't gonna mention this but since you're kind of opening the door here
P and K has an opening for family lawyer
When Wethersby Stone goes down
If it goes down
There are about a hundred other firms I could work at that
Don't employ the father of my baby
But they probably won't hire you in your current condition
Which would be sexist and detestable
Posner and Klein is just detestable
No, I'd rather be stay-at-home mom
Hey, I work for that detestable firm, remember?
Yeah, I know. I spend most days trying to forget that
It's an impossible situation
When the internet and 24/7 cable news started
The recession and credits anomies threatening to finish
Hard choices have to be made if evening news of any strive is gonna survive
Including pandering to advertisers?
Neither Baywest nor its affiliates have ever pandered to anyone
Including Zire Motors
Which paid Baywest Media 3 million dollars last year alone
In ad revenue
Which buys the right to advertise not editorialize
So Sam Russell's contemption that the evening news is driven by corporate interest
Is offensive
And completely unfounded
What about moving him to the 5 AM traffic and weather slot?
One of the hard choices I letted to earlier
But evening news ratings have gone up 5 points since, so it's not one I regret
It must have been difficult for you to find a worthy replacement
It's been a challenge but we have a great deal of confidence in Kimberly Chaves
I've seen a few of her segments, I can see why
Cardiff fainted from toxic chemicals during a sunless spray tan session because the spray guns tubes weren't properly cleaned
But Ashley didn't let that stop her from attending her son's and daughter's foundation benefit
At the San Francisco Zoo
Well, I know I'm gonna cancel my spray tan appointment this afternoon
All local affiliates fill their lineup with some fluff pieces. It's not that hard to find them
No, but what is becoming increasingly hard to find at your news station is any real news
What's considered real news is a matter of opinion
You're right. Let's use a clear standard
How many investigated reports has Kimberly Chaves done on your corporate sponsors since replacing Sam Russell?
Off the top of my head I... I don't remember
That's surprising since zero is a pretty easy number to remember
You also probably don't remember what the top story was on your competitors'
It was a story about how your parent company CEO was indicted for stock fraude
You were brilliant!
Thank you!
You totally supported the emerging theory that if I sleep with someone it endows them their superior courtroom skills
I think I'm beginning to understand the problem you have with women
Ciao, Bella!
Excuse me!
Is this uh... Am I in Rome?
Che si, Roma, Roma!
- Italian -
Maggie... hey!
Eli
What are you...?
So what was that about?
Another vision?
Rome again. Modern day this time... and Maggie was there and I couldn't get to her
Maybe because you already did back in Sonoma
Hmm... OK... Shouldn't have slept with her but , there was wine and I've been dealing with some stuff
And you love her
OK, maybe it's not love yet but it's something
Yeah, it's called platonic affection
What?
Eli, why are you the only person who doesn't seem to be aware that you feel something for Maggie?
OK, maybe it's not love but it's definitely not platonic affection
You two belong together
It's obvious to everybody else except you
OK... maybe... what if Maggie was just available
I've been feeling very alone lately
You know?
Like there's, there's no one for the guy with the divine calling
I think there is, Eli. I think she's been right in front of you the entire time, you just haven't seen it
It's like the aneurism woke up every part of you
Except your heart
So what do I do?
Talk to her
Can we talk?
All rise!
Apparently not!
Be seated
Alright
Next witness
The defense calls Jesse Bates
Uh, Your Honor, Jesse Bates is not on their witness list
I listed three former KNIB employees as John Doe witnesses
Ms. Bates was a producer at NIB for thirteen years
Your Honor
Overruled counsel
I'll give you more time to prepare if you want
You're here under supina, aren't you Ms. Bates?
Yes, I enjoyed the Sheriff's visit to my home very much, thank you
Seek to treat as hostile
Granted
Did you produce Sam Russell's piece on Zire Motors?
Yes
So you would be in a position to know whether that piece had any relationship
To the decision to move Mr. Russell to the morning show
I really don't know
Let's guess then
The news director Mr. Church moved Sam the next day
But didn't Mr. Church proposed to Sam a move to the morning show a full six months earlier?
Before the Zire piece was even investigated?
Is there a point here?
Well only that if Sam Russell really believed that being moved to 5 AM was the same as getting fired...
He would've stopped showing up for work six months earlier
But he didn't, did he?
You're not an attorney, so you probably don't know why this would be important
But you know what would've been helpful?
Knowing that the thing that we rested your entire case on
The idea that moving you to 5 AM was as good as firing you
Was discussed the good six months before you quit!!
Being discussed is a little different than being done
Semantics!
Lawyers and judges and apparently news anchors care about them
But you jurists don't
To them it looks like you quit!
Which is a little detrimental to our client that you got fired
Right, I forgot. A jury is just 12 people too stupid to get out of jury duty, incapable of parsing distinctions
Incapable of thinking for themselves. You know what you sound like Eli?
A trial attorney trying to win
Baywest Media: sorry Sam that story is just gonna go right over the public's head
Sorry Sam, but they're just not going to understand that, sorry Sam it's just too darn confusing Sam
I have a theory... you could say I'd bet my whole career on it
I think people are only as dumb as we treat them
I think people only act like morons if they're treated like morons
What do you think?
I think Taylor and I have a long night ahead of us
I'll let you get to it then
They could hear you on the first floor
I would tell you that berating clients is bad for business but that would imply we have any business
Sorry, we had a set back
Oh... maybe I can help brainstorm a solution
Perhaps, bring in a fresh perspective
We're fine - we're great
Right
Of course
Don't worry, we'll find a rabbit to pull here
Mmhh... a little more of that artic wind and the polar bears might have a home again
I don't want to talk about it, OK?
What could be so bad for you to treat him like that when his firm is about three inches from belly up?
How about chasing my mother out of town and lying to me about it for 20 years?
OK, that's bad enough
I'm so sorry, are you OK?
I fluctuate. Luckily I've got Matt to take it out on
I guess you're right to be angry
I recently found out that someone was responsible for my dad's death
It's been little hard to get over
Why do I sense a but coming on?
But, more than anyone I know, Jordan's been trying to change who he was
I'm afraid it's too little too late comes to mind
You know, if he'd just had told me all this years ago
When I still needed a mother, I would've been furious but at least there would've been time to fix things, you know?
And now...
My mother... lives a thousand miles away
It's been decades... I think the window of oportunity has closed
The window of oportunity
Care to run that by me again?
Happily Your Honor, the other day you ruled that we couldn't review the Baywest documents that we requested because
They were protected by attorney-client privilege
Because they are
Because you said that all the documents were dated before Sam Russell was moved to 5 AM
But yesterday Ms. Bates altered that timeline
Now it's obvious that the documents were written after the 5 AM move was proposed
We really should be thanking you actually
The documents were still copied to in-house counsel
After apparently the wheels were put in motion
Ms. Wethersby was right when she said you can't retroactively make something privilege
Make sure those documents are delivered to Wethersby Stone and Associates by end of business today
Now get out of here
This is huge!
Easy Taylor, we don't know if there's anything in there that's going to help us
If there wasn't Maggie would've just produced them if for no other reason than to waste our time reviewing them
Posner and Klein just delivered your documents
That was fast
I know... I thought it would take them forever just to unload the truck
Unload the truck?
How many documents could there be?
What was that you said about wasting our time?
I can't believe you would do this!
Let me guess! You got the boxes
The judge ordered you to produce those documents
Which we did
No, you hid them in a ton of crap!
Well that's one interpretation
And that's just more crap, you know?
Is this how your new firm does business Matt? Is this how you do business?
We're in trial Taylor, it's just tactics
Circumventing a court order to hide evidence isn't a tactic, it's illegal
And as morally ambiguous as you pretend to be there was a time you knew the difference
OK, that's fair. I'll own that
But?
But, and I wouldn't be floating this if I weren't safely eight cityblocks away,
This anger's a bit of an overreaction
Is it possible some of it's debt related?
Yes, it is debt related you know what? It's related to the kind of dad you're going to be
Which is related to the kind of person you are
That's not fair
I don't think you've got much credibility right now when it comes to fairness, Matt
What are we even looking for, Eli?
The box that says seek which smoking gun document in here?
It'd be nice if they were that obvious about it
We need some kind of system and some more manpower, perhaps hire some temps
I don't think that's gonna be necessary
This is the one
Do you recall writing an email to Ryan Church?
He's the news director of one of my affiliates. I recall writing hundreds of emails to him
How about this one?
If you could... read it aloud, please
Church, heard about Russell's autoplant story, needless to say Zire is not throwing him a parade
Take care of the problem, DB
I guess since Zire motors only purchased the right to advertise not editorialize
You just threw in the problem solving for free
Mr. Buckley, can you read the portion of this email where you specifically asked Mr. Church to fire Mr. Russell?
No, because I never did
So what was the problem with Zire Motors that you wanted Mr. Church to fix?
If it would help I could have the judge remind you what the penalties are for perjury
The problem was Sam
What about him? Specifically
Zire wanted assurance Sam wouldn't keep pushing his story
I guess Sam wouldn't have much of a reason to for the 5 AM traffic report, huh?
Eli, don't let your window close
What?
Do you think it's open now?
She can't be too happy with me after what I did back in there
Which is why you need to do this now before she's gotten too much scar tissue over her wounds
You know I slept with her, right? I didn't hit her with a baseball bat
Go!
Come on!
Hey!
Come here
Aooh! My wrist is fine thanks!
Sorry but... we have to talk
No, you want to talk, a slight distinction
Yeah, right! I want to talk
So, all you got to do is listen
OK?
Firstly, I'm... Look I'm sorry about Sonoma... I just...
What we did... it was... it was wonderful. It was great
And I'm glad we did it
On the next morning I just... I had to think about my feelings
Specially in light of your feelings which you told me... are substantial
Were... substantial
What?
I tried... every conceivable way to get over you
I got engaged... I left the firm
Never in a million years would I think that sleeping together would actually... help me get over you
So thank you
You gave me closure
So why have you been so um... why things have been so personal... with the case
No, it's not personal! I'm trying to win Eli
I can't beat you and be friends with you at the same time. I can't multitask like that
But after I beat you we can go for coffee
Catch up
Yeah... best friends
Yeah... exactly
In a minute, Baywest's lawyer is gonna stand here and she's going to remind you how Sam Russell quit his job
But the reality is you cannot quit a job that's already been taken away from you
Sam Russell was removed from his job anchoring the Bay area evening news
That's indisputable
It's uncontested
But the fact is that Sam lost his job much earlier than that
He's been loosing it bit by little bit for years
When the news division at Baywest Media became part of the entertainment division
When the wall between the boardroom and the newsroom grew so thin as to become nonexistent
And when television journalism became just something else to fill time between commercials
And yes, when his corporate bosses decided that if they couldn't shut him up then they would force him out
And they did
Sam Russell has been silenced
And now the only one who can tell Baywest Media that the media needs to start living up to its responsibilities is you
You know? He's absolutely right
The news media has lost its moral center
It's become dominated by corporate interest
Kitty Kirk went on record saying that she felt corporate pressure to cast the Iraq war in a positive light
Even President Bush's fore press secretary ironically refers to the liberal media because it's become so focused
On advancing Republican policies which benefit, guess who?
Corporations
The journalistic spirit that Andy McCarthyism at exposed Watergate has been co-opted into making the case for WMD's in Iraq
And ignoring calamity in New Orleans
And that's when he's not peoccupied by Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears
And when you consider how critical a free press is in a democracy like ours
It's particularly loadsome
But you want to know what's really loadsome?
Trying to convert your justifiable outrage into a personal financial windfall
If Sam Russell were really that concerned about the state of the media he wouldn't have quit
He would've stayed on and worked to change the system from the inside
Rather than running to you for a handout
It could go either way
Then it won't inconvenience them to go our way
Even if they rule for us, for Sam, there's little guarantee of the money judgement sufficient to keep our lights on
Thank you Mr. Optimist!
I'm just being truthful. Let alone those lines, you two made me very proud
I couldn't fathom two attorneys I'd rather practice with
So you'll be retiring then?
Hello? You want me to... why?
OK
Um... I'll be back in a moment
OK, I'm not gonna bother telling you how weird this is
I have a settlement offer
Which you felt the need to make in a closet?
Does the offer involves us making out cause, no ofense, but I just...
It's quite possible the rest of my team doesn't know about this offer, but my client does
And he's willing to pay Sam 5 million dollars
Does Sam have to make out with you?
This is serious
It's a public perception thing. Sam still got a few fans
5 million dollars buys an end to this settlement and a public statement saying he resigned
Sam's gonna have a problem with that
Not as big a problem as you've got
One third contingency on 5 million dollars is Wethersby Stone's life route
Ok? Don't go and tell like a minute after I'm out the door
Of course
Should I even consider this?
It's a lot of money
Enough to start over
Put all this behind you
But I want them to admit that what they did was wrong, not just wrong but disrespectful
Mercenary terpretude
Sorry Sam but... that kind of admission just doesn't happen in the real world
Certainly not in the world of corporate America
Yes, they might take a hit from the jury but they also might not
At least this way you're guarantedd something
And after they pay you 5 million dollars
Baywest is gonna think twice about trying to silence another reporter
I see your point
So you'll take it?
Do I have a choice?
Of course you have a choice
Sam, you were wronged. The station forced you out, we all know that and by allowing them to get away with it
We are allowing corporate greed to roll over journalistic ethics
To --- the first amendment, you need to stand up for what is right
But there is a cost to that
Yes, to your conscience
Sleepless nights and anxious mornings when the reality of your mistakes
Plague you the most when you realize that you've compromised your principles
That you've done the wrong thing
Believe me when I tell you living with regret is much harder than living with defeat
You've come this far, if you settle now I'm afraid you'll lose something far worse than a trial
He's right
I know it
No deal
I'll go tell Matt
Maggie!
Ciao mia bella ragazza
Ciao
We the jury in the matter of Samuel Russell vs. Baywest Media Incorporated
Find in favor of
The defendant
Congratulations! Not only is there a nice paycheck in it for us but we got to nail Wethersby Stone and Associates
Where really hurts: their wallets
And I would specially like to thank Maggie Dekker
For her sweet voice and placid demeanor bely her inner animal
She was a panther out there people
Alright, unless you can figure out a client to bill for eating cupcakes get back to work
Dowd... a word
Actually its uh, two words
Never again
You know what I'm referring to?
I'm pretty sure I've got an idea
You're lucky they turned down that offer
And you're lucky our client won
Now I don't see you getting lucky three times in a row
Do you?
You were bit over your word limit there
What are we gonna do?
Well, there's still some paintings I can sell
Some bills we can defer payment on
They would buy us six months... maybe a little less
You're not alone in this dad
Why are you smiling?
Just nice to hear you call me dad
Hey!
Matt
What are you doing here?
I heard Keith's got my old office
That's just an unacceptable situation
And so is Posner and Klein
At least that's what it's turned out to be
So you're...
Well you're always going on about how your dad says this place is about uh... making up for past mistakes
I though I'd give that a try
Not to rain on your parade but... has anyone actually offered you a job here?
How would you like to have a job here?
Not to sound ungrateful but we can't even afford to pay you minimum wage
Oh no, take Stone's name off the door and we'll call it even
Nice try
Um... you were right... I wanna show the little Dowd or...
Dowdette, what means to stand up for the things she care about
She's gonna be very lucky to have you as a dad
She?
I couldn't help it when I went to the doctor the other day
I just... I had to know
I hope you're not mad
No... I'm not mad!
I'm having a girl, are you kidding me?
Uh, yeah... if you just call up to her office, she'll let me in.
You're looking for Maggie?
You just missed her, she's probably outside
Thank you!
Maggie! Mag...
Here... I think um... I think my window closed
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