EPILOGUE
Bart Shaw closed his files and dropped his malpractice threats against Finley & Figg. He collected almost $80,000 from Varrick for his successful efforts to torment the firm and force it to trial in the Klopeck matter. Adam Grand filed an ethics complaint with the state bar association, but it eventually fizzled. Five other clients, of the “non-death” variety, did the same, with the same results. Nadine Karros made good on her promise not to seek sanctions for the filing of frivolous lawsuits, but Varrick mounted an aggressive, and sometimes successful, campaign in other courts to collect money from plaintiffs’ firms. Jerry Alisandros was hit with a huge fine in southern Florida when it became obvious he had no plans to pursue his Krayoxx litigation.
Thuya Khaing suffered a series of violent seizures and died three days after Christmas in Lakeshore Children’s Hospital. David and Helen, along with Wally, Oscar, and Rochelle, attended the small burial service. Also in attendance were Carl LaPorte and Dylan Kott, who, with David’s help, managed to have a quiet word with Soe and Lwin. Carl offered his heartfelt condolences and again took full responsibility on behalf of his company. Under the terms of David’s settlement agreement, all sums were vested and would be paid as promised.
Oscar’s divorce became final in late January. By then, he was living with his new girlfriend in a new apartment and had never been happier. Wally remained sober and was even volunteering to help with other lawyers battling addictions.
Justin Bardall was sentenced to one year in prison for attempting to torch the law office. He appeared in court in a wheelchair and was required by the judge to acknowledge the presence of Oscar, Wally, and David. Bardall had cooperated with the prosecutors for a light sentence. The judge, who had spent the first twenty years of his career practicing law on the streets of southwest Chicago and had a low opinion of thugs who conspired to burn law offices, did not show compassion for Justin’s bosses. The owner of Cicero Pipe was sentenced to five years in prison, and his construction superintendent got four.
David successfully won a dismissal of Bardall’s lawsuit against Oscar and the firm.
Not surprisingly, the new partnership did not survive. After his heart surgery and divorce, Oscar lost steam and spent fewer hours at the office. He had some money in the bank and was drawing a pension from Social Security, and his housemate made a comfortable living as a masseuse. (He had actually met her next door.) After six months under the new agreement, he began dropping hints about retiring. Wally was still smarting from his Krayoxx adventure and had lost his zeal to hustle new cases. He, too, had a new girlfriend, a slightly older woman with a “nice balance sheet,” as he described it. Also, it was painfully obvious, at least to David, that neither partner had the desire, nor talent, to put together big cases and take them to trial if necessary. He honestly couldn’t imagine walking into another courtroom with those two.
His radar was on high alert, and he saw the warning signs immediately. He began planning his exit.
Eleven months after Emma arrived, Helen gave birth to twin boys. That momentous occasion prompted David to plan a new future. He leased office space not far from their home in Lincoln Park, carefully choosing a fourth-floor suite with a view to the south. He could see the magnificent skyline of downtown, with the Trust Tower squarely in the center of it. The view never failed to motivate him.
When things were in place, he informed Oscar and Wally that he planned to leave when the agreement expired at the end of twelve months. The parting was difficult and sad, but not unexpected. It prompted Oscar to announce his retirement. Wally seemed relieved too. He and Oscar decided on the spot to sell the building and close shop. By the time all three shook hands and wished each other good luck, Wally was planning a getaway to Alaska.
David got the dog, and he also got Rochelle, though the two had been in secret talks for a month. He would never consider hiring her away from the firm, but suddenly she was a free agent. With a higher salary and more benefits, she was given the title of office manager and happily moved into the new digs of David E. Zinc, Attorney-at-Law.
The new firm specialized in product liability law. When David settled two more lead-poisoning cases, it was clear to him and Rochelle and their expanding staff that the practice was about to become quite lucrative.
Most of his work was in federal court, and as business boomed, he found himself downtown more and more. When possible, he stopped by Abner’s for a laugh and a quick lunch—a sandwich and a diet soda. On two occasions he had a Pearl Harbor with Miss Spence, who, though pushing ninety-seven, still knocked back three of the syrupy concoctions every day. David could choke down only one, and afterward he took the train back to the office and enjoyed a nap on his new sofa.
The Litigators
John Grisham's books
- As the Pig Turns
- Before the Scarlet Dawn
- Between the Land and the Sea
- Breaking the Rules
- Escape Theory
- Fairy Godmothers, Inc
- Father Gaetano's Puppet Catechism
- Follow the Money
- In the Air (The City Book 1)
- In the Shadow of Sadd
- In the Stillness
- Keeping the Castle
- Let the Devil Sleep
- My Brother's Keeper
- Over the Darkened Landscape
- Paris The Novel
- Sparks the Matchmaker
- Taking the Highway
- Taming the Wind
- Tethered (Novella)
- The Adjustment
- The Amish Midwife
- The Angel Esmeralda
- The Antagonist
- The Anti-Prom
- The Apple Orchard
- The Astrologer
- The Avery Shaw Experiment
- The Awakening Aidan
- The B Girls
- The Back Road
- The Ballad of Frankie Silver
- The Ballad of Tom Dooley
- The Barbarian Nurseries A Novel
- The Barbed Crown
- The Battered Heiress Blues
- The Beginning of After
- The Beloved Stranger
- The Betrayal of Maggie Blair
- The Better Mother
- The Big Bang
- The Bird House A Novel
- The Blessed
- The Blood That Bonds
- The Blossom Sisters
- The Body at the Tower
- The Body in the Gazebo
- The Body in the Piazza
- The Bone Bed
- The Book of Madness and Cures
- The Boy from Reactor 4
- The Boy in the Suitcase
- The Boyfriend Thief
- The Bull Slayer
- The Buzzard Table
- The Caregiver
- The Caspian Gates
- The Casual Vacancy
- The Cold Nowhere
- The Color of Hope
- The Crown A Novel
- The Dangerous Edge of Things
- The Dangers of Proximal Alphabets
- The Dante Conspiracy
- The Dark Road A Novel
- The Deposit Slip
- The Devil's Waters
- The Diamond Chariot
- The Duchess of Drury Lane
- The Emerald Key
- The Estian Alliance
- The Extinct
- The Falcons of Fire and Ice
- The Fall - By Chana Keefer
- The Fall - By Claire McGowan
- The Famous and the Dead
- The Fear Index
- The Flaming Motel
- The Folded Earth
- The Forrests
- The Exceptions
- The Gallows Curse
- The Game (Tom Wood)
- The Gap Year
- The Garden of Burning Sand
- The Gentlemen's Hour (Boone Daniels #2)
- The Getaway
- The Gift of Illusion
- The Girl in the Blue Beret
- The Girl in the Steel Corset
- The Golden Egg
- The Good Life
- The Green Ticket
- The Healing
- The Heart's Frontier
- The Heiress of Winterwood
- The Heresy of Dr Dee
- The Heritage Paper
- The Hindenburg Murders
- The History of History