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An older lawyer nodded, representing the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. “The College of Physicians made an apology of its own, though we hadnothingto do with such experiments.”
Gabby leaned forward. “Frankly, none of these apologies constitute justice for my clients. Let me address each of you in turn.” She faced the lawyer for the College of Physicians. “Your client may have apologized, but before it did, the College of Physicians honored Dr. Kligman with a Distinguished Achievement Award.” Next she turned to the assistant city solicitor. “My research reveals that tests were conducted not only at Holmesburg, but at seven other county prisons. The City can never apologize enough for its utter dereliction of duty in opening up the county prison system to the most heinous commercial exploitation of its citizens, whom the City had a duty to protect.” Finally Gabby faced Penn’s assistant general counsel. “The University of Pennsylvania allowed Dr. Kligman to operate under its auspices, and its Ivy League imprimatur attracted major corporations like Johnson & Johnson, as well as smaller companies like Rhone Pharma and Fournette Laboratories. This is where I tell you that I’m a graduate of Penn’s law school, and I recall its Latin motto,Leges sine Moribus vanae, which means ‘Laws without morals are useless.’ It’s time to make that motto true and compensate these plaintiffs. Somany of the men who were so grievously injured have passed away or are impossible to locate, especially given the apparently willful destruction of their records. One of the plaintiffs, Joe Ferguson, just passed away yesterday, and I won’t allow further delay to enable your clients to escape responsibility.” Gabby leaned back in her chair, addressing the group. “Folks, your clients have wronged my clients, and justice is long overdue. So apologies just don’t cut it. They’re simply too little, too late.”
“Excuse me.” The female local counsel for Johnson & Johnson didn’t blink. “I don’t see how your suit survives the statute of limitations. You must know that a similar suit was dismissed on that basis in 2002.”
Gabby nodded. “Of course I know that. The case you’re referring to isYusuf Abdulaziz v. City of Philadelphia, Dr. Kligman, & the University of Pennsylvania, and it was dismissed on statute of limitations grounds. However, Judge Weis made clear that those plaintiffs lived in the Philadelphia area, so they knew or should have known of the controversy following the testing and could have brought it earlier. The judge left open the possibility of a different result if a plaintiff could show they werenotwithin the jurisdiction and could not have known. Our Complaint meets that requirement, and I represent only plaintiffs who were outside the state for decades after their incarceration.”
I wondered how long Maya would be outside. I wished I could go out and apologize for standing her up.
A scoff came from the lawyer at Rhone Pharma. “But you have only a handful of plaintiffs. I can’t believe I came from the city on such a minor matter.”
“It’s hardly minor, and it takes only one plaintiff to bring this matter to court and to the public eye.”
“Now wait one minute,” interrupted an older lawyer, outside counsel from Fournette Laboratories. “What do you mean by ‘the public eye’? Are you going to try this matter in court or online? Are you attempting to get us canceled? Twitter boycotts? Social media castigation?”
Gabby bore down. “I’m simply going to inform the public of the truth. There’s no colorable argument that these plaintiffs have suffered the devastating effects of cancer caused by your clients. Your clients know they did wrong, yet refuse to compensate these men or their families, and they can’t have it both ways. You need to go back to them and tell them that if I can get to a jury—and I can under my theory—the sky’s the limit on punitive damages. What happened at Holmesburg will shock the conscience of any jury. If your clients won’t settle because it’s the right thing to do, they should settle because it makes excellent business sense.”
I could tell the important part of the meeting was over, and Maya was getting ready to go, too, pulling her key fob from her purse.
Gabby turned to the Complaint. “Now let me take you briefly through the allegations and I’ll end with the rationale for our settlement demand, so you can take the figure back to your clients.”
I touched Gabby’s arm. “Can I go for a minute?”
She nodded.
I mouthed my thanks and took off.
Chapter Thirty-Six
I jogged through the parking lot, scanning quickly to make sure I wasn’t being watched or followed. As I got closer to her, I could see that Maya was a knockout in person. Her eyes were large and wide-set, and her smile dazzled me. Thick black hair spilled over her shoulders, and she looked incredible in a black knit top, jeans, and black heels. I smoothed down my guilty-plea tie.
“Maya, hi,” I said, when I reached her and her friends. “I’m TJ, Patrick’s friend.”
“You stood me up.” Maya’s eyes went flinty, and her friends exchanged looks, evidently having heard about the Total Jerk Nicknamed TJ. The friend on Maya’s left was also Indian-American, with a bright blue streak in her dark hair, and the one on her right was a freckle-faced strawberry blonde.
“I’m so sorry. Did you get my flowers?”
“Yes.” Maya remained unsmiling. “What are you doing here?”
“I was in a meeting.” I hoped that sounded corporate. “Do you work here? Is this where you sell calculus?”
“What do you want?”
“Well, uh…” I met her eye, trying to block out the strawberry blonde looking daggers at me. “I wanted to say I’m sorry.”
“You did already, in the card with the bouquet.”
“I saw you out the window and wanted to do it face-to-face.” I tried to collect my thoughts but couldn’t. “I’m really sorry about what happened. I was running late, and it ended with our office being burglarized.”
“Burglarized?” Maya snorted, and I realized she didn’t believe me. I wouldn’t have believed me, either. I almost wished I were back inside. It’s easier to face an army of lawyers than a woman with justified anger.
“Yes, it’s really true. They took the computers and ransacked the place. We had to call the police.” I hoped specifics would convince her. “It’s my family’s law firm, and they took statues my sister loved and my mother’s coral earrings. She used to take them off because they click on the phone screen.”
Maya blinked. “I hate that.”
Her friend with the blue streak nodded. “Me, too.”
The strawberry blonde didn’t reply.
