Chapter 7

At the end of the following week, we had put together a proposal to present to Richard Butler, Carlos Reyes and Jeremy Land. During that entire week, there was absolutely no way you could tell Belinda and I had slept together. She did give me the occasional wink when we were alone, but nothing was said for the first week at all.

I met with the three partners that Friday afternoon and presented my findings. After going back for five years and doing research on corporations this size several things were noted. Most attorneys in the firm billed less than four hours a day to their customers. The average lawyer would bill between five to six hours a day to his customer. With the average billing rate being between four hundred to nine hundred per hour. Leaving one to two hours unaccounted for per day was a loss of eight hundred to eighteen hundred a day per attorney.

The second issue was the firm spent entirely too much money on office supplies. After a quick check of the storeroom it was noted we were overbuying. And each floor had the ability to buy anything they wanted technically, which was another huge problem.

The next thing addressed were the credit card bills which seemed unusually high. The other problem that I encountered was the receipts. In a lot of cases there was simply no receipt to match the monthly bill. Then if there was a receipt for it to be a deduction on our taxes the reason for the bill had to be listed along with the name of the client. Very few bills were filled out properly.

I then noted the high turnover of cell phones on the bill. I suggested that all phones that had a problem should be taken to our in-house IT guy for evaluation. Let him make the decision on whether a new phone was warranted or not. Some employees traded in phones once a year which was excessive.

For the past five years, our profit had been running somewhere between twenty-four and twenty-seven percent. That profit was what the employee bonuses came out of. Hence, the larger the profit the bigger the bonus we would receive.

They seemed pleased with the results and told me they would take some time and talk about the findings. They would then meet with me and we could put new procedures in place to try and correct a few of these issues.

During, the first week of December I was asked to meet with the three partners again about the financial review I had performed. We met on a Tuesday morning in the conference room. Richard Butler informed me of several things that were about to take place. First and foremost, a meeting of all attorneys would be held on this coming Thursday. Richard was implementing a new system with a formal time card being put in each attorney’s customer file. When you were working for that client you logged your time the card. At the end of the month all cards would be pulled and time billed accordingly. Richard would then review each month’s timecards and see exactly what each attorney was billing.

The credit cards were addressed next with a new policy to be put in place. No charges on the credit card would be paid unless a documented receipt was attached. The receipt had to show the date, time and client the card was used for. If it was a company expense that had to be documented as well. Someone would be hired on my floor to track all credit card expenses and match them to the appropriate bill. The office supplies would also be housed on my floor and the same person who handled the credit card receipts would take care of getting the supplies to the appropriate floor via the courier.

As mentioned before, the IT department would allow or disallow all requests for new cell phones to company employees. All expenses would be routed through my office and each month beginning January of the coming month, we would do a monthly financial report.

Since we were taking on this much work, Richard wanted me to have more help. Since Nora Davis’ floor was being alleviated of all the financial work that we had taken over, he suggested I take two or three employees from her and transferred them to my floor.

Richard Butler scheduled a meeting with all of the department heads for this Friday at nine o’clock in the morning. Apparently, anyone who was anyone at Butler, Land and Reyes would be there. There was a buzz around the office all week with people trying to find out what the meeting was about but somehow it was kept quiet.

It was standing room only in the conference room Friday morning when Richard Butler, Carlos Reyes and Jeremy Land walked in the room. They sat down at their appropriate seats as everyone remained silent. Richard took a drink of water from the glass in front of him, set it down and looked around the room.

“Thank you to everyone for being on time and I’m sure you are dying to know what we are here. Well, this is it in a nutshell. The three of us knew we needed to streamline things for this firm and we needed the right person to do it. That is why a few years ago, I sought out Tim Williams and hired him right out of the University of Texas. Now what many of you know or maybe don’t know, here is the story.” he started.

“Tim, skipped grades in high school and started college a year early, if I’m correct. He earned his accounting degree and master’s degree in a little over four years. He passed the CPA exam in seven months and has now completed six law classes at SMU. He is not twenty-five years of age yet. Whether you like him or do not, I personally don’t care.” he started.

“The four of us just spent the last month evaluating the way this firm handles its money and the conclusion was not what I hoped for. We are sloppy, unorganized and lazy when it comes to documentation. This will change as of today. Carlos, Jeremy and I started this several years ago and this is where it has brought us.” he continued.

“Therefore, we are going to meet with each department head and go over the changes that will be made on your respective floor. I will also meet with all the litigators together and explain what changes you will make. I will start with the attorneys and Carla will call for you department heads one at a time. Department heads are excused for the time being.” Richard announced.

Everyone filed out except for the attorneys that had assembled in the room. We had seventeen full time litigators on staff and all were present. Richard broke it down all in the first sentence. He simply told them they were not billing enough recordable hours on their cases. He had the new file folders with the inner pocket and the new timecards which would be in each folder. He explained that he wanted if possible five to six hours billed each day by each attorney. No one really objected and they filed out fifteen minutes later.

One by one, we met with the department heads with Richard leaving Nora Davis for last. I felt that Nora, who had been with Richard a long time was going to be the toughest sell on the new system. Finally, Nora Davis arrived in the room and sat down.

“Sorry to keep you waiting Nora, it’s been a long day. As you are unaware, all financial matters now go through Tim’s office. You are no longer be responsible for credit cards, statements, expense accounts or ordering of any material of any kind. You will now head up the clerical division and will be responsible for closed files on all of our customers.” he started.

“So, you’re taking most of my work away from me?” Nora asked, not very happy.

“Nora, I hired an in house certified public accountant for a reason. He is now going to do that job. In addition, he is going to need a few of your people to move into his division. Ask around and see if anyone wants to relocate to his department. If not, I will figure something out.” he replied.

“So now I have to take orders from boy wonder here?” Nora snapped, pointing at me.

“Nora, I may be mistaken here but I have never seen Tim speak disrespectful to anyone since he has joined this firm. Much the opposite, he has gotten nothing but praise from coworkers and clients. I’m not sure what you have against him but I’m assuring you if it continues, I will put an end to it. Am I clear?” he asked, sternly.

“Yes, you’re clear, Richard.” she replied.

The next week or so was extremely hectic. I was able to get Terri Clark from Robin’s floor to come and take the job as my secretary. Bella Tomas would continue to be my assistant and Belinda would stay on as receptionist. Nora called down to Terri and told her she was sending two of her bean counters down for an interview. Apparently, they had asked Nora for the transfer or she wanted to get rid of them.

Several minutes later, Stacy Locassio walked into my office and sat down. Stacy was thirty years old and married with one child. She had been with Butler, Land and Reyes for close to seven years, the entire time on Nora’s floor. She seemed very nervous and kept wringing her hands together.

“Stacy, is everything ok. If you do not wish to transfer to this floor you don’t have to.” I stated, trying to be reassuring.

“No sir, it’s not that. I don’t want to cause problems but...” she started.

“Stacy, tell me what’s on your mind.” I said softly.

“Well, I used to keep track of all of the expense accounts, the credit card bills and petty cash for the firm. Many times, Nora would come into my office and change a receipt or have me pay something without a receipt. I tried to explain that I felt uncomfortable doing some of these tasks, but she paid me no mind at all.” Stacy admitted.

“I’m glad to hear most of that story. I have my reservations about several people at this firm after going over the records. However, I would like you to do much of the same for me. I want you to handle exactly what you did for Nora Davis. I want you to develop your own tracking system and once a month print me out a report. However, in no way can anyone now change anything or ask you to do something you’re not comfortable with. Every transaction has to have a legitimate receipt applied with all the correct information. If not, put it in an envelope, send it back to where it came from with a rejected stamp. I promise, I will never ask you to do anything you feel uncomfortable with.” I replied.

“Great, when can I start?” she laughed.

“Right now, go clean out your desk and come down here and find an office you like.” I replied, softly shaking her hand.

Stacy left the office and immediately went upstairs to gather her things. Terri Clark ushered a second woman in that was a file clerk for Nora Davis. Jennifer Thomas sat down and looked quite nervous at first. She told me that she handled all files for Nora Davis, including delivering files and retrieving files from the entire building. She mentioned that she liked working here but admitted that both her and Stacy were not in Nora’s inner circle.

I made the same offer to Jennifer that I made to Stacy which she jumped at as well. Several minutes later, she was on the elevator up to retrieve her belongings as well. I now had Belinda as a receptionist, Terri as my secretary, Bella as my assistant, Stacy keeping records and Jennifer filing for us. There were now six on this floor, but I was going to have to hire someone else to help Stacy with the record keeping.

The building was buzzing with rumors most of them involving Nora Davis and the victim role she was playing. After so many years of faithful service she was now stripped of some of her duties which were given to a snot nosed kid. Several weeks later, the floor was running well and we were about two weeks from Christmas. As was a traditional here at Butler, Land and Reyes the company would shut down from Christmas Eve until the first Monday after New Year’s Eve.

Our Christmas party was always held on December twenty third unless it fell on a weekend and it would move back to the previous Friday, as it was this year. Since our first full month wouldn’t be accessed until we came back after the first of the year, we simply got the files and spreadsheets ready for then.

I had some free time after lunch one day, so I sat down and made a simple financial plan for myself. Even though, I had not been with Butler, Land and Reyes quite a year, I had managed to save a good sum of money. Since my payroll check had doubled, I was putting away two hundred dollars a week in my 401K program. The company was matching that with a fifty percent contribution of one hundred dollars. So, every month twelve hundred dollars went in for a fourteen thousand four hundred a year total.

I had already paid back over four thousand dollars on the credit card for my initial clothing allowance. I was still using the company apartment although I had been thinking of possibly looking for my own home. I figured to research that right after Christmas.

At this point, I had one hundred and sixteen thousand dollars in my saving accounts and a little over eight thousand dollars in my checking account. I had few bills including just groceries, lunches at the office and my car insurance. I felt if I were able to keep this pace up for a few years by the time I hit thirty years of age I would be financially stable.

Everybody was excited about the company Christmas party due to the fact the annual bonuses were given out. From what I heard the women in the firm went all out for the party wearing cocktail dresses and such. All men wear required to be in a suit and tie, no exceptions.

I had slowed down just a bit at the gym mainly due to my shirts and jackets were getting a little tight. I could not afford to get larger and have to redo my wardrobe all at once again. After backing down a bit everything was fit comfortable and I had only dropped seven pounds.

Everyone from my office went upstairs for the party at about eleven thirty or so. I remained down in my office finishing up some emails and calls I needed to make. I arrived on the top floor a few minutes after twelve to see the party in full swing. I moved across the huge room to the table with the catered food and made myself a small plate, grabbed a soda then sat at the end of one of the tables. As I ate, I looked around the room and the rumor was correct, the ladies went all out. Carla Davenport was wearing a three-piece business suit and looked lovely. Terri Clark had on a tight white dress that showed off her body more than usual.

Just about that time, Robin Woods came walking across the room in my direction. Now Robin was always dressed to the nines, but she had outdone herself this time. She was wearing a thin strapped satin dress that went right above the knee but had a slit running up the left side to mid-thigh or perhaps higher. She walked up to me and sat down in the chair next to me. Robin and I had not talked much since the day I confronted her about the gossip she had put out.