ItmighthavecostBaz years of his life and increased his yearning for a secretary tenfold, but he had managed to get thirty-eight of his clients to RSVP ‘yes’ to the meeting today to hear the new settlement offer.
Reading through the ludicrous terms that a paralegal had written up—Gerry Webster, who had shamelessly credited himself in the footnotes of every page—qualified as cruel and unusual torture in his book.The things he had to do to fulfill his duty of effective counsel…
The loud chatter defied the glass walls of the conference room as he and Aya approached.
Some of the plaintiffs sat on the desks arranged in a horseshoe formation rather than the chairs.A group of five took turns throwing crumpled-up paper into the trash can.The parents of the younger plaintiffs were huddled into a corner, loudly talking among themselves and paying equally little attention.The energy resembled an eighth-grade classroom more than a business meeting.
Baz cleared his throat.Someone’s mother was cackling, back turned to them.The ones who did pay attention made evil eyes at the disruptors, sighing loudly or elbowing them to be quiet.It made precious little difference to the noise.
“Thank you all for coming.”His words drowned in the sea of conversation flooding the room.He twirled his wrists, tapped his fingertips against each other.“If we can all settle down—”
“She saidwhat?” a girl in the back screeched.A numbing fog crept into the corners of Baz’s mind, eating away at his focus.
Aya put two fingers between her lips and unleashed a skull-splitting whistle.Baz flinched, fighting the urge to clutch his hands over his ears.She couldn’t have given him a warning?
Heads snapped toward them.Silence fell over the room.People moved off the tables, finally remembering where they were, and parents found their children, quietly standing behind them with their game faces on.About time.
“Thank you,” Baz said, to Aya more than the room.“I appreciate you all coming.As you know by now, your old counsel, Travis Grash, has retired, and we are honored to be your new representation.My name is Baz Hadley, this is Aya Hadi.”
Aya gave them a curt nod.
“Why’d they give the gig to you, Mr.H?”a young guy in baggy pants sitting in the front asked and got smacked on the arm, presumably by his dad.
“Because they wanted you to be well-taken care of.I assure you I have your best interest at heart, and I will fight with you to get you justice.”
Young Guy patted his chest, then pointed at Baz.“My man.”
Some people hummed their agreement.So far so good.On to the less fun part.
Having to bring up Ian’s offer at all, frankly, sucked.He didn’t care to get disbarred, however, so here went nothing.
“Unfortunately, Captain Green also has new representation, and they have withdrawn the previous settlement offer you’ve heard.”
“What the hell?”a kid in the back exclaimed.Baz shared the sentiment.
They would hate what came next.
He broke down what the new offer realistically meant, how little would be left for each of them.The more he went on, the more emotions he saw on people’s faces: confusion, disbelief, sadness, anger.
Especially anger.
“How did it get so much worse?”a middle-aged woman asked.A wave of muttered agreements swept through the room.
“Because they want to scare you into settling for less than you deserve.This is a slap in the face, and we advise each of you not to sign the agreement.”
“Oh, so you can up your bill?”someone shouted.Someone who evidently hadn’t read their contract.The firm got a fixed percentage of the settlement, regardless of how many hours went into achieving it, so by prolonging this, Baz gained nothing.Quite the opposite.
“I appreciate how frustrating this may be, but giving up now won’t do you any favors.You will forfeit your right to pursue another civil lawsuit for effectively peanuts.If we keep fighting this, the offer will go up again, or we get justice at court.”
“Easy for you to say.You don’t have fucking cancer,” someone in the front said.Hard to argue with that, but—
“This is bullshit, man.Can we get the other guy back?”a woman to his right said.Okay—
“Hey!”A girl with raven black hair fastened in a tight ponytail slammed her hands on the table so hard, the golden hoops in her ears rattled.Baz recognized her from her picture—Vanessa Martinez.Their lead plaintiff.Nice to match a face to the voice on the phone.“Any of y’all a lawyer?”
Silence.
“Then let them cook.I know I need more than fifty K to cover my bills.”
