It's a reasonable offer, 1.5 million, plus 500,000 severance.
Plus a confidentiality agreement.
- Might put a little crimp in my plans. - To pen a tell-all book?
With five chapters about how my Zyre 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 did I just offer him two million dollars?
It's less than what a trial will cost you.
Sam Russell won't settle. Eli won't let him.
- How do you know? - I know Eli.
I think you should reject this offer and go to trial.
If for no other reason than I don't wanna take all this 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.
You simply formalized their de facto firing of you.
It's called constructive termination.
They're 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 what you say on the stand.
I don't have time. I have a company to run.
Find the time, Mr. Buckley. No jury will find Bay West Media sympathetic
if its own CEO can't be bothered to tell its story.
You tried to tell the truth to corporate power,
and you ended up getting exiled to 5 a.m.
I went from covering mayoral races to...
...reporting about fender-benders on 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 'cause a story was critical to advertisers.
Think I'm the only anchor with that problem?
I'm not doing this for the money but because my career
has been about bringing the truth to light.
They wanna take away my anchor desk, fine.
I'll do it from the witness box.
All right, big day tomorrow.
- Get a good night's sleep. - That what you'll do?
No, I'll be writing voir dire questions and an opening statement.
While drinking a lot of coffee.
- Eli... - Will you excuse me for a moment?
I think I'm about to cameo in my own swords and sandals movie.
I heard you had your eccentricities,
but this isn't making me swell with confidence.
Don't worry, I won't bill you for the time.
That reputation you got for eccentricity might be a little understated.
Yeah.
Don't tell me.
You want me to start looking into circus-related workman comps claims?
No. Just find out what gladiators,
or ancient Rome, or Latin, have to do with the Russell case.
Sure, that'll be a cinch, E Pluribus, you numbskull.
- Do you want me to call Dr. Chen? - No.
Why not? You have the vision, he interprets.
- Isn't that how it works? - When we're speaking, which we're not.
What does this mean to you?
Rome, two gladiators, and more gore than An Inconvenient Truth.
Here's an inconvenient truth, I don't do vision voodoo.
Chen is the one you take that to. It's bad enough
- you make me do all the paperwork. - Fine.
Any luck getting those documents Maggie hightailed out of Sonoma with?
- A good morning to you too. - It'd be a good morning,
if we had Bay West's internal memos about our client.
It's not like we're going to trial today. No, wait. We are.
I have a motion to compel. It should be a slam dunk.
- Why isn't Maggie playing by the rules? - I have no idea.
- Maggie is usually very big with rules. - 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 for this?
- I'm not speaking to him. - What about your brother?
- Him neither. - Don't talk to your acupuncturist.
- But you should always talk to family. - Morning.
Good morning.
I just a... I just need a muffin.
There are no muffins, sir.
Oh. Well, then...
- I'll just... - It's fine. I was just leaving anyway.
- Everything OK? - Just a little family spat.
- We'll be fine. - OK.
Well, I'm here, should you feel the need to...
Much as I appreciate your offer to be my personal Dr. Phil,
right now you should be worrying about your case.
Yes, of course.
- What happened 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.
'Cause you really wanna lecture me on ethics here.
- What did Stone do to piss her off? - No idea.
- But she absconded with our documents. - Technically, my documents.
Not technically. They belong to my client.
Which your client is required to let me see.
It's no secret that you're sleeping with the enemy?
No, the secret is I made a baby with her.
- You think? - Oh, right.
Which reminds me: we've got a 3-D ultrasound tomorrow at 2:30 sharp.
In 3-D, I'm gonna be able to tell the gender.
We agreed to wait. Besides, whatever it has is gonna be about a millimeter big.
Not if it takes after its daddy.
Leaving Sonoma without saying goodbye was one thing.
Not returning my phone calls is another. I get all that.
- I'm so very glad. - Things were awkward between us.
It's uncomfortable because of...
Is that American sign language for sleeping together?
Freezing me out, that's one thing, but withholding evidence?
That's something else. There are other people involved.
Right. My clients.
They have an attorney willing to fight to protect their interests.
I'll show you those files over my dead body or when a judge orders me to.
- Whichever comes first. - Then let's go see the judge.
- We'll table the dead thing for later. - Let's.
This is ridiculous. The documents are totally relevant.
Ms. Dekker has refused to comply with three requests and a motion to compel.
That's true.
Why haven't you produced the documents as requested?
It's true I haven't complied with Mr. Stone's discovery requests.
There's nothing in them that requires me to give him the documents.
It's called the Rules of Civil Procedure.
If we had produced the documents, you'd have see that Jennifer Contino,
West Media's in-house counsel, was copied on every single one.
Which means they're privileged,
which means we have no obligation to let Mr. Stone see them.
You can't retroactively make it privileged by CC'ing counsel.
Nothing retroactive about it.
The documents were dated before Sam Russell moved to 5 a.m.,
which is the event Mr. Stone claims was tantamount to firing him.
- Your Honor... - She's got you.
- She doesn't have me. - No kidding.
- The attorney-client privilege... - Save it.
Unless you can prove Ms. Contino's 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 pretrial motions? - I have one, Your Honor.
I move to disqualify Mr. Stone.
- You what? On what grounds? - He thinks he's a prophet.
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 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.
Jurors will be swayed by the fact that counsel counts God as a client.
- She's right. - She is?
Insofar as the personal details of the trial attorneys may prejudice the jury.
Your Honor...
They can't find out that Ms. Dekker and I slept together.
- That is prejudicial. - You dog! I knew it was just a matter of time.
She's also sleeping with opposing counsel.
- Irrelevant! - And carrying his child.
And Ms. Wethersby and I used to be engaged.
So I'm the only person in this room who's not having sex with one of you.
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 especially who's sleeping with whom,
I will hold you in contempt, I swear... to Mr. Stone's boss.
I've worked at KNIB for 12 years.
Until recently, we had the number one news show in San Francisco.
We did about an 18 share.
At the time you offered Mr. Russell the morning show?
Down to an eleven-three.
We were ranked 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 exposé on unsafe working conditions at a local Zyre Motors plant.
- I didn't kill anything. - We'll get to that. What relationship,
if any, does KNIB have with Zyre Motors?
Zyre is one of our advertisers. Nearly ever major auto manufacturer is.
But Zyre is your station's third largest advertiser.
How upset would you say Zyre was with Mr. Russell's exposé?
- Scale of one to ten. - I wouldn't know.
- You pulled the piece anyway? - I didn't pull it.
It got bumped by stories I deemed more important.
What was the more important piece that night?
I don't recall.
I had a feeling you wouldn't so I looked it up.
You replaced the Zyre Motors report with a public safety story.
"Bilingual Bandit strikes the Bay Area."
We felt it was the more compelling story.
Never been held up in two languages, I'll take your word for it.
Why didn't you air the Zyre report the next night?
- Did the Bilingual Bandit strike again? - No. News cycles are getting shorter.
We can't stay competitive with cable and internet by airing yesterday's news.
I forgot. Hazardous working conditions are so last year.
All right, for Russell, I think we should send in the Magster.
After what she did to Stone, we can't afford not to use the little pit bull.
Plus, the jury eats her innocent act right up.
You know I'm sitting right here, don't you?
I should take this. Hi, sweetie.
Take all the time you want, Dowd. It's not like we're in trial here.
I can't find my keys. I'm gonna be late.
Just tell the nurse, though, so she can sign us in.
- Listen, we have a strategy meeting. - Well, so do I.
But I'm not going. I mean, we only get to see our fetus in 3-D once.
- I thought you were excited. - 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 have enough to field a baseball team.
But somehow I can make it 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 be time-shifted.
The media has changed. The news division used to be a public service,
something the broadcaster did in exchange for using the airwaves.
- Now it's another way to make a buck. - Objection.
She's about to point out that doesn't seem related to you leaving the station.
It's related because news has become a profit center.
- I threatened the station's profits. - With the Zyre Motors piece?
I was demoted to 5 a.m. one day after they killed that story.
So you tell me, Mr. Stone.
- What's a Q score? - It's a way of measuring
an on-air personality's familiarity and appeal.
Would it surprise you that your Q score has been in decline for two years?
I assume, since you're not less familiar, you became less appealing.
- Objection. - Well, 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.
In the days of Cronkite and Murrow,
decisions were not made based on Q scores and share points.
You're right. Murrow's show was cancelled because it lost its sponsor.
It's like she went back to law school when I wasn't looking.
Don't underestimate the ambition of a woman scorned.
- What does that mean? - Are you kidding?
- She's out to get me because I... - Got her. You motivated her to beat you
in ways that go way beyond the normal ass-whupping.
So I was trying to figure out how to make her a better lawyer,
and the whole time I should have slept with her.
My loyal foot soldiers. How'd it go today?
- Great. - Not great.
Somewhere between "great" and "not so much."
Sam's testimony wasn't exactly the grand slam we were counting on.
That's unfortunate.
You make unfortunate sound so much worse than unfortunate.
It's nothing. Something we can discuss after the trial.
We're partners. Keeping secrets isn't gonna do either one of us any good.
I didn't wanna say anything. We're already operating under enough pressure.
- What's wrong? - I just spoke with our accountants.
We were treading water before the crisis made getting 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 myself in. Hope you don't mind. I wanted to surprise you.
- With blueberry pancakes? - Yeah.
Mm...
This is an incredibly good-smelling apology.
- Tastes even better. - Mm.
I am sorry. I wanted to be there. I should have been there.
- I felt weird bailing out on my team. - In the middle of the World Series.
I get it. They're the Yankees, and I'm playing for the Red Sox.
Not exactly, because the Yankees and Red Sox
could never play each other in the World Series.
- Anyway, it's just a trial. - Yeah.
You do know your client's not facing the death penalty here?
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 law school.
- What's going on? - The new firm is sinking.
We're in massive debt. We can't get credit.
We need an infusion of cash, and the only way to do that
is a huge win in the Russell case, a.k.a., a miracle.
Geez...
You OK?
You mean aside from being pregnant and about to be unemployed?
I'm so sorry. I wasn't gonna mention this, but since you're opening the door,
P & K's got an opening for a 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.
They wouldn't hire you in your current condition.
- Which would be sexist and detestable. - And Posner-Klein is just detestable.
No, I'd rather be a stay-at-home mom.
- Hey, I work for that detestable firm. - Yeah, I know.
I spend most days trying to forget that.
It's an impossible situation.
What the internet and 24-7 cable news started,
the recession and credit tsunami is threatening to finish.
Hard choices have to be made if evening news of any stripe is gonna survive.
Including pandering to advertisers?
Neither Bay West nor its affiliates have ever pandered to anyone.
Including Zyre Motors.
Which paid Bay West Media $3 million last year alone.
In ad revenue. Which buys the right to advertise, not editorialize.
So Sam Russell's contention
that the evening news is driven by corporate interests...
Is offensive and completely unfounded.
What about moving him to the 5 a.m. slot?
One of the hard choices I alluded to. But evening news ratings
have gone up five points since, so it's not one I regret.
Must have been difficult to find a replacement for three-time duPont,
two-time Peabody Award-winning journalist Sam Russell.
It's been a challenge, but we have great confidence in Kimberly Chavez.
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 gun's tubes weren't properly cleaned.
But Ashley still attended
the Sons and Daughters Foundation benefit at the San Francisco Zoo.
Well, 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.
What is becoming hard to find at your news station, is any real news.
Real news is a matter of opinion.
You're right. Let's use a clear standard.
How many reports has Kimberly Chavez done on your corporate sponsors?
Off the top of my head, I don't remember.
That's surprising, since zero is a pretty easy number to remember.
You also don't remember the top story on your competitors' programs
the night Kimberly aired her hard-hitting spray-tan exposé.
A story about how your parent company's CEO was indicted for stock fraud.
- You were brilliant. - Thank you.
Supporting the theory that if I sleep with someone,
it endows them with superior courtroom skills.
I'm beginning to understand your problem with women.
Excuse me. Is this... Am I in Rome?
Maggie. Hey.
Eli, what are you...?
So what was that about? Another vision?
It was 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.
OK, shouldn't have slept with her.
But there was wine, and I'd been dealing with some stuff, and...
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 no one for the guy with the divine calling.
I think she's been right in front of you the entire time.
You just haven't seen it.
It's like the aneurysm 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.
All right. Next witness.
The defense calls Jesse Bates.
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 13 years.
- Your Honor... - Overruled, Counsel.
I'll give you more time to prepare, if you want.
You're here under subpoena, 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 Zyre Motors?
Yes.
So you know whether that piece had any relationship
to the decision to move Mr. Russell to the morning show.
- I really don't know. - Best guess, then.
The news director, Mr. Church, moved Sam the next day.
But didn't Mr. Church propose to Sam
a move to the morning show a full six months earlier,
before the Zyre piece was investigated?
Is there a point here?
Only that if Sam Russell really believed that being moved to 5 a.m.
was the same as getting fired,
he'd have stopped showing up for work six months earlier.
But he didn't, did he?
You probably don't know why this is important, it would've been helpful
to know that the thing that we rested your entire case on,
the idea that moving you to 5 a.m. was as good as firing you,
was discussed a good six months before you quit.
- Being discussed is a little different. - Semantics.
Lawyers and judges and news anchors care about them.
But jurors don't. To them, it just looks like you quit.
Which is detrimental to our claim that you got fired.
Right, I forgot. A jury's just 12 people too stupid to get out of jury duty.
Incapable of parsing distinctions, of thinking for themselves.
- Know what you sound like? - An attorney trying to win.
Bay West Media.
"Sorry, Sam. That story's just gonna go right over the public's heads.
They're just not gonna understand that. It's just too darn confusing, Sam."
I have a theory. I've 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 setback.
Well, maybe I can help brainstorm a solution.
Perhaps bring a fresh perspective.
- We're fine. - That would be great.
Right. Of course.
Don't worry. We'll find a rabbit to pull here.
A little more of that Arctic wind, and the polar bears might have a home again.
I don't wanna talk about it, OK?
What's so bad for you to treat him like that when his firm's almost belly up?
Chasing my mother out of town and lying 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 a 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.
"Too little, too late" comes to mind.
If he had just told me all this years ago,
when I still needed a mother, I would have been furious,
but there'd have been time to fix things.
- And now? - My mother lives a thousand miles away.
It's been decades.
I think the window of opportunity has closed.
The window of opportunity.
- Care to run that by me again? - Happily.
The other day you ruled that the Bay West documents
that were protected by attorney-client privilege.
- Because they are. - Because you said all the documents
were dated before Sam Russell was moved to 5 a.m.
Yesterday, Ms. Bates altered that time line.
Now, it's obvious the documents were written
- after the 5 a.m. move was proposed. - We really should be thanking you.
The documents were copied to in-house counsel.
After the wheels were put in motion.
Ms. Wethersby was right. You can't retroactively make something privileged.
Make sure those documents are delivered to Wethersby, Stone & Associates today.
Now get out of here.
- This is huge. - Easy, killer.
We don't know if anything'll help us.
If not, Maggie would have just produced them to waste our time.
Posner & Crime 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 about wasting our time?
- I can't believe you. - Let me guess. You got the boxes.
The judge ordered you to produce those documents.
- Which we did. - You hid them in a ton of crap.
- That's one interpretation. - That's more crap.
Is this how your new firm does business? 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.
As morally ambiguous as you pretend to be, you used to know 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 city blocks away,
this anger's a bit of an overreaction.
Is some of it dad-related?
Yes, it is dad-related. 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.
You don't have much credibility right now when it comes to fairness.
What are we even looking for, Eli?
The box that says "secret smoking gun document in here"?
- Be nice if they were that obvious. - We need a system and 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 an affiliate. I write hundreds of emails to him.
How about this one?
If you could read it aloud, please?
"Church, heard about Russell's auto plant story.
Needless to say, Zyre's not throwing him a parade.
Take care of the problem. D.B."
Since Zyre Motors only purchased the right to advertise, not editorialize,
you just threw in the problem-solving for free.
Can you read the portion where you ask Mr. Church to fire Mr. Russell?
No, because I never did.
So what was the problem with Zyre Motors that you wanted Mr. Church to fix?
I could have the judge remind you what the penalties are for perjury.
- The problem was Sam. - What, specifically?
Zyre wanted assurance Sam wouldn't keep pushing his story.
I guess Sam wouldn't have a reason to for the 5 a.m. traffic report, huh?
Eli, don't let your window close.
What? You think it's open now?
She can't be too happy after what I did in there.
So do this before she's grown 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. - What?
- Ow! My wrist is fine, thanks. - Sorry, but we have to talk.
- You wanna talk. Slight distinction. - Right, I wanna talk.
So all you gotta do is listen. OK?
Firstly, I am...
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.
And the next morning, I just...
I had to think about my feelings.
Especially 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 sleeping together
would actually help me get over you.
So thank you. You gave me closure.
So why are you being so...
Why have things 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.
As friends.
Yeah.
Exactly.
In a minute, Bay West'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 losing it bit by little bit for years,
when the news division at Bay West 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 Bay West 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.
Katie Couric went on record saying that she felt corporate pressure
to cast the Iraq War in a positive light.
Even President Bush's former 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 ended McCarthyism and exposed Watergate
has been co-opted into making the case for WMDs in Iraq
and ignoring calamity in New Orleans,
when it's not preoccupied by Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears.
And when you consider how critical a free press is in a democracy like ours,
it's particularly loathsome.
But you wanna know what's really loathsome?
Trying to convert your justifiable outrage
into a personal financial windfall.
If Sam Russell were that concerned about the state of the media,
he wouldn't have quit.
He would have 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, there's little guarantee of a money judgment
sufficient to keep our lights on.
- Thank you, Mr. Optimist. - Just being truthful.
But along those lines, you two made me very proud.
I couldn't fathom two attorneys I'd rather practice with.
You'll be retiring, then?
Hello?
You want me to... Why?
OK.
Um...
I'll be back in a moment.
What...?
I'm not gonna bother telling you how weird this is.
- I have a settlement offer. - Which you need to make in a closet?
Does it involve us making out? No offense, but...
It's quite possible my team doesn't know about this offer, but my client does.
And he's willing to pay Sam $5 million.
- Does Sam have to make out with you? - This is serious.
It's a public perception thing. Sam's still got fans.
$5 million buys an end to this and a public statement saying he resigned.
- Sam's gonna have a problem. - Not as big a problem as you've got.
One third contingency on $5 million. It's Wethersby-Stone's life raft.
OK? Don't go until like a minute after I'm out the door.
- Of course. - OK.
- Should I 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, and disrespectful.
Mercenary turpitude.
I'm sorry, Sam, but that kind of admission
just doesn't happen in the real world, not in the world of corporate America.
Yes, they might take a hit from the jury, but they also might not.
This way you're guaranteed something.
After they pay you, Bay West'll think twice about silencing 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.
By allowing them to get away with it,
we are allowing corporate greed to roll over journalistic ethics,
to neuter the First Amendment.
- You need to stand up for what's 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, 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 lose something far worse than a trial.
He's right.
I know it.
No deal.
I'll go tell Matt.
Maggie.
We, the jury, in the matter of Samuel Russell
versus Bay West Media Incorporated find in favor of...
...the defendant.
- Great job. - Thank you.
Congratulations. Not only is there a nice paycheck in it for us,
but we nailed Wethersby, Stone & Associates
where it really hurts, the wallet.
Right.
And I would especially like to thank Maggie Dekker.
- Cheers. - Maggie!
Whose sweet voice and placid demeanor belie her inner animal.
- She was a panther out there, people. - Right on, Maggie.
Unless you can figure out a client to bill for eating cupcakes, back to work.
Dowd, a word.
Actually, it's two words.
Never again.
- You know what I'm referring to? - Pretty sure I've got an idea.
You're lucky they turned down that offer, and lucky our client won.
Now, I don't see you getting lucky three times in a row.
Do you?
You're a bit over your word limit there.
What are we gonna do?
Well, there are still some paintings I can sell.
Some bills we can defer payment on.
Maybe 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 got my old office. That's just an unacceptable situation.
And so is Posner-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
making up for past mistakes.
I thought 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.
No. Take Stone's name off the door, we'll call it even.
Nice try.
You were right.
I wanna show the little Dowd,
or Dowdette,
what it means to stand up for the things you 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, I had to know.
- I hope you're not mad. - No, I'm not mad.
I'm having a girl. Are you kidding me?
If you just call up to the office, she'll let me in.
It's Maggie Dekker. Two K's.
You looking for Maggie? You just missed her. She's probably outside.
Thank you.
Maggie.
Here.
I think...
I think my window closed.