Chapter 42: Holiday Specials

December 23, 1996, Chicago, Illinois

“You should have called me before discussing this with anyone,” Jamie said.

“Why? We’re not going to settle, and I understand the legal issues.”

“You won’t entertain any kind of settlement?”

“If Dante wants to hear my offer, I’ll tell him right now - my offer is ‘nothing’. And I’d appreciate if he paid your fee, personally.”

“Spare me the references to The Godfather, please.”

“That’s ‘Part II’m but I’m serious, Jamie. If he offers to get out of the software business, and out of the testing equipment business, Melissa and I will buy him out. But he’ll need to put up a $25 million surety bond, payable the instant he violates the detailed non-compete agreement he’ll have to sign.”

“You seriously want me to propose that as a settlement? When he’s suing you?”

“Not yet, but eventually. For now, just work with Deborah and the law firm in Dallas to file our answer, along with the standard motion to dismiss and our objection to his motion for a preliminary injunction. You know the grounds - a money award will cure any judgment. And expedited, Jamie. Don’t hold our responses until the deadline. Take a break until after New Year’s, and then deal with it. But no delaying tactics. I don’t want him to be able to make a claim we’re trying to run the clock out on him.”

“Why do I get the idea you expected this?”

“Because I did. It’s his only play.”

“Then why involve Lone Star?”

“Why do you think, Counselor?”

“Oh for Pete’s sake, you purposefully lured him into suing you.”

“Me?” I asked innocently. “I would NEVER do a thing like that. Ever.”

“What don’t I know?”

“Nothing which matters at this stage. Enjoy the holidays, and then deal with this. I spoke with Brad at Lone Star - they’re using the same firm as before. I’m assuming we’ll use the same firm we did in Texas.”

“Yes. Don’t try to be cute, Steve.”

“Jamie, there is nothing cute about this. I’m executing a valid business strategy. I haven’t done anything illegal nor done anything which is, and I use the term advisedly and only because it’s in the Sherman Act, ‘unfair’. Maybe Dante thinks licensing our software for resale is ‘unfair’ to him, but it’s not legally ‘unfair’. And you know as well as I do that an agreement to do something which is legal, and which isn’t prohibited by competition laws, isn’t a tort. But I also know that determining that is fact-based, which means we have to go to trial. I’m prepared for that.”

“You know it’s a crapshoot in front of a jury?”

“Not entirely, Counselor. I don’t believe he’ll be able to put up any evidence, beyond the licensing agreement, and those are perfectly legal. Think dismissal after he’s presented his evidence.”

“Tough to get,” Jamie replied. “Even tougher than a preliminary injunction on his part.”

“But if there are no facts alleged which are violations of the law?”

“Yes, then it would be appropriate, if the judge were to agree.”

“I understand. You know where to focus discovery, right?”

“His own business plans, obviously. And any involvement he had in trying to take down Lone Star the first time, and any interference in your purchase of the company.”

“And how do you think Dante is going to respond to THOSE discovery orders? And just what do you think Nathan Edwards might reveal in a deposition.”

“Remind me never to play poker with you again!”

I chuckled, “Oh, you will, because you have this forlorn hope that someday you’ll beat me.”

“One of these days...” Jamie said with a laugh.

“Just relax over the holidays, then file our responses.”

“Will do. I’ll set up a meeting with Deborah for the week following New Year’s.”

“We’re in Boca until the 6th, so after that, please. This answer to the complaint is straightforward, and so are the motions. It’s discovery where we’ll need to strategize.”

“Very true. See you at the New Year’s Eve party!”

“Thanks, Jamie.”

We said ‘goodbye’ and I hung up. I got up from my desk and went to Deborah’s office.

“Did you talk to Jamie?” she asked.

“I did, and I basically told him to take a chill pill. I know all my moves and we just need to continue to execute. I told him not to worry about even filing our answer until after the holidays, though I want it done soon after. He’s going to set up a meeting with you for when we get back from Boca. I don’t want you to worry about it until then.”

“You really should discuss your plans with someone.”

“When the time comes. Right now, it’s better if I’m the only one who knows. We’re all going to be deposed and you can safely say you have no information about my future plans. The same is true for the others as well. The really interesting depositions will be Nathan Edwards and Dante himself.”

“To show a pattern of HIM interfering with OUR business. Unclean hands, if nothing else.”

“Exactly. The courts, generally, won’t let you profit from the results of your own misdeeds.”

Deborah nodded, “‘Equity must come with clean hands.’ And from what I’ve learned, his are VERY dirty. That means he won’t get his injunctions, either preliminary or permanent. Have you discussed this with Jamie?”

“I reminded him of what happened when we tried to buy Lone Star and he said to remind him not to play poker with me.”

“OK. Then I guess I know what our argument against his request for an injunction will be. We claim ‘unclean hands’ and that puts the onus on him. But it also reveals our strategy.”

“Don’t you think he’ll figure that out once we depose Nathan Edwards, Skye, and other developers at Lone Star? And Jefferson, as well.”

Deborah smiled, “Remind me why you need in-house counsel?”

“Just because I know the basics of the law doesn’t mean I know the nuances or procedures. Your job is, among other things, to tell me when I miss something. Am I missing something?”

“Not that I can see right now, but I’ve only had a chance to read through the document twice. I was just about to start my line-by-line analysis, but you think I should wait?”

“If you have nothing else pressing, and this isn’t going to cause you to lose sleep or not enjoy the holidays, then go ahead.”

“It’s the first time I’ve been sued, so it’s exciting, if you’ll pardon me saying that.”

“I’ve been sued so many times at this point, it’s just become a normal part of doing business. But this is the knockout blow for Dante. I’m taking him all the way out, either by taking all his business away or having him surrender in court. It’s really his call.”

“Countersuit?”

I shook my head, “No. No tit-for-tat with him. We’re in a well-prepared position with interlocking fields of fire, and he’s charging headlong into it.”

“What about laches?”

“And this is why I need my own attorney,” I grinned. “I’ve heard that term, but I have no idea what it means.”

“It’s a defense against a claim stating that the party bringing the claim delayed too long and as such there is no equitable remedy. Consider it similar to the statute of limitations in a criminal case.”

“You must mean Dante’s interference with our purchase of Lone Star.”

“Basically all of his behavior. You’re asserting claims that should have been brought before.”

I shook my head, “Only for the purpose of showing ‘unclean hands’.”

“Ah! That’s why you aren’t filing a counter-suit! Yes, of course. He can’t use laches because you’re showing past bad behavior, not making an equitable claim.”

“That wasn’t exactly why I wasn’t bringing the claim, but yes, I was aware I need to be timely in bringing the suit. There was some question of timeliness when I was sued for paternity, but that defense was precluded by statute.”

“Right,” Deborah said, nodding. “Paternity claims are basically unlimited until the child turns eighteen. At that point, it’s not about child support, but usually about inheritance or something similar, and probate is generally decided in favor of the author of the will. So our argument boils down to ‘he started it’?”

I chuckled, “I would LOVE for that to be our entire response to his request for an injunction - ‘Your honor, his claims for an injunction are precluded because he started it!’ It would be like Birgit and Jesse when I confront them for taunting each other! But in the end, yes. He’s tried to interfere in our business for years, starting around the time Melissa fired his brother and sister.”

The intercom buzzed and Deborah pushed the button on the phone to answer it.

“I have Jamie Ferguson for you,” Lucas said.

“Put him through, please,” Deborah replied.

“I’ll head back to my office,” I said. “Let me know if anything comes up.”

I left and went back to my office. Fortunately, the rest of the morning was quiet, and I left for lunch just before noon. Dave and I met at Luke’s, and after we got our meals, sat in a corner of the room.

“Those cows still give me the creeps,” he said.

I chuckled, “What? Orgasmic cows with mustard and catsup squirting from bottles?”

“It’s creepy, as the little girls say.”

“I’ll give you that. I think the artist had a hit of LSD when he designed this.”

“Evidence suggests you might be right about that. So, what’s up?”

“I have a project for a couple of students looking for an internship or work-study credit.”

“It’s a bit late to get that for January.”

I nodded, “It only just came up. But I have some time.”

“What’s the project?”

“Voter tracking software. Basically for candidates to use to target specific voters when they walk their precincts or for get-out-the-vote drives. It would be some database work and some coding, with a collection app on a PDA, like a Palm Pilot. And then supporting and expanding the code.”

“Is this a NIKA project?”

“No. It would be something private. It’s for a friend of mine in Pittsburgh who’s a political campaign consultant. I’ll set up a small company to do this and fund it myself. I’ll end up selling the software, or, perhaps, if the students want to take it and run with it after it’s done, they can take ownership with some sort of royalties back to me. I can’t get NIKA involved in this because we’re already growing too fast.”

“You know,” Dave said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully, “this might make an interesting PhD project.”

“I’m not sure I could wait that long,” I replied.

“I believe I could use the work which was done to support an analysis of applying computer systems to electoral success. Do you mind if I talk to Charlie Bauer about this?”

“Not at all. I’m sure we can work out some kind of arrangement if you wanted to be involved. Are you sure?”

Dave nodded, “I am. It’s been a long time since you and I actually collaborated on something. I’ve missed it.”

“Me, too. Talk to Doctor Bauer after the break and let me know. OK to talk a tiny bit of shop?”

Dave laughed, “Oh, sure; why not?”

“Dante is suing us over the sole-proprietor version.”

“OF COURSE he is!” Dave said, shaking his head. “Spare me the details and tell me what you think.”

“He can’t win, as usual. But this time, I’m going to finish him off.”

“When I think about what I miss at NIKA, it is NOT fighting with Dante!”

“Did you talk to any of the ‘Young Ones’ about speaking with your class next semester?”

“I did. All three of them are going to come speak on two occasions - once near the beginning and once near the end. Julia agreed they could take the time off.”

I nodded, “I think that’s a good decision. Did she talk to you about hiring?”

“Yes. We’ll have you interview in February, and I have several good candidates. There are quite a few mediocre ones as well. Julia will know which ones are the best because they’ll have recommendation letters from me.”

“Good. And that’s enough shop talk!”

“Agreed!”

December 24, 1996, Chicago, Illinois

“So far, so good!” Jessica said as we sat down to a family dinner on Christmas Eve.

“You’re not worried you’ll jinx yourself?” Josie asked.

“You mean that I’ll say something like that and ten seconds later my phone will ring? No.”

It was fifteen seconds later; she sighed and answered.

“Doctor Adams. Correct. What? How many? Ten minutes.”

She pressed the button to disconnect the call.

“Bad?”

“Two gunshot wounds, a stab wound, and one blunt force trauma.”

“What the hell?” Elyse asked.

“They said the paramedics called it a ‘domestic disturbance’. I’ll take my BMW. Sorry.”

“Go fix ‘em up, Babe,” I said.

She kissed me, Kara, and the kids, then went to the study, grabbed her ‘go bag’ and headed for the back door.

“‘Domestic disturbance?” Josie asked. “Sounds more like a gang fight.”

“Tom always says he’d rather go into the projects than show up at a ‘domestic disturbance’. The cops all apparently say the same thing.”

“Should I fix a plate for her?” Kara asked.

“She could be a long time. We’ll take care of it when she gets home. There should be plenty of leftovers.”

“Does this happen often?” Maria Cristina asked.

“Not really, no,” I replied. “In the past she’s been scheduled. This way, once they clear the trauma, she can come home. Being on call is actually a step up for her. When you’re a PGY1, you’ll get stuck with thirty-six-hour shifts on holidays so the most senior Residents and Attendings can have time off. Jess isn’t quite senior enough to escape being on-call for holidays.

“In a couple of years she’ll be on the ‘mass casualty trauma’ list on holidays. For this one, they might have called the first person on that list, depending on how many people they actually had scheduled. And that list would include anyone who does elective thoracic surgery. And then there’s the specialist list, too.”

“Are any of your staff on call?”

“Only the support staff, and then only for actual emergencies. But I don’t know a law firm or private doctor’s practice that works holidays. We don’t support any ‘doc-in-a-box’ clinics or any hospitals. In eleven years we’ve had only two calls - one after a fire, the other after a burglary. Even our clients in other industries mostly take the time off.”

“Same here,” Jennifer added. “M&M basically closes between Christmas and New Year’s. Steve used to do that, except for skeleton staff.”

“True,” I replied. “Most of our software engineers take this time off because it fits into the development schedules. Maria Cristina, are you going to be here tomorrow morning?”

“Yes; I’m going to midnight mass tonight with my mom, I’ll stay overnight with her, we’ll do our Christmas early in the morning and I’ll come back for the family celebration.”

“Good.”

We finished our meal, put away the leftovers, then cleaned up the kitchen. Jess wasn’t home, which meant we had a decision to make.

“I say we let them stay up as long as possible,” Kara said. “They don’t have to be up before 11:00am tomorrow. And Birgit won’t be upset with you because she forgoes cuddles on Christmas morning!”

“I agree. It’s snowing, but maybe we should take a family walk and see how long Jess is going to be.”

“Let me see what the kids think.”

“I think they’ll say yes.”

They did, so we bundled everyone up, put on boots, and headed south towards UofC, with Birgit and Stephie holding my hands, and Ashley and Albert holding Kara’s. When we arrived at the hospital, Kara stayed outside with the kids and I went inside. I went to the desk to talk to the clerk, and saw it was Amit, someone I’d spoken to several times.

“Hi, Amit,” I said. “Is Doctor Adams busy?”

“She’s in the lounge; we’re waiting on paramedics from a house fire.”

“Thanks.”

I went into the lounge where Jess was reading a medical journal.

“Hey, Babe,” I said.

“Tiger! What are you doing here?”

“We finished dinner and decided to take a walk. Amit just told me you’re waiting on victims from a house fire.”

“A couple of burns and a fireman with smoke inhalation. Once we assess them, I’ll probably be able to come home. Doctor Johnston asked me to wait to make sure none of them were surgical.”

“How’d you do with the earlier traumas?”

“All either in medicine or ICU. The stab wound is in ICU because of a perforated stomach; we’re worried about peritonitis, and he lost a lot of blood.”

“Should I ask?”

“It started over the remote control for the TV.”

“Oh for Pete’s sake! Seriously?”

“I seem to recall a story like that about you!”

I chuckled, “In my youth, Babe; in my youth. But nobody pulled a gun.”

“Your brother pulled a knife on you at one point.”

“Point taken. We’re going to walk back home. Call if you’re going to be delayed.”

“The paramedics will be here in about two minutes. If none of the patients are surgical, I’ll be able to leave.”

“OK. Call if not, please.”

We hugged, kissed, and I walked outside. I told Kara what Jessica had said, and the six of us turned to walk for home just as two Chicago Fire Department squads pulled into the emergency room driveway.

“Why do dopey people have to get hurt on Christmas Eve?” Birgit asked.

“Well, the first ones your mom dealt with were dopey - they shot and stabbed each other over a TV remote control.”

“Come on, Dad!” Birgit said, in ‘that’ tone of voice.

“I’m serious - they had a fight over the TV remote and ended up shooting and stabbing each other.”

“That’s DUMB!” Albert declared.

“Yes, it is,” Kara agreed. “What about those two ambulances?”

“A fire. Two burn victims and a firefighter with smoke inhalation. Jess will leave in a few minutes if they aren’t surgical. She might even get home before we do, because she has her car.”

“When can I drive?” Albert asked.

“When you turn sixteen,” I replied. “First you get a permit which lets you learn to drive, then you take a couple of tests - one written, and one driving. If you pass, they give you your license.”

“And you’ll buy me a car?”

I chuckled, “Good luck with that idea! You can use a family car at first. When you can afford gas, insurance, and regular maintenance on a car, then we’ll talk about it. That means getting a job.”

“Do you think I could go to the Naval Academy?”

“You want to join the Navy?” I asked.

“I talked to Uncle Jake and Uncle Karl and I like what they do. Nicholas is going to join the Navy, too.”

“If you want to go to the Academy, you have to get very good grades and do some extra-curricular activities, and probably you’ll want to do something like Boy Scouts.”

“Could I learn to fly?”

“When you get older, yes. You can’t fly solo until you’re sixteen, but you could take lessons before that.”

“Why do you have to be grown up to do all the fun stuff?” he protested.

“Well, for one, your feet won’t reach the pedals in the car or the airplane! I think we’ll talk with Dave about Boy Scouts. You’d actually start in the Cub Scouts, which Dave’s boys are in. They do lots of fun stuff, and if you can become an Eagle Scout, it’ll help you get into the Naval Academy.”