Chapter 5

During the weekend in between doing his normal household chores and going to Ken’s West Saturday night, Thad practiced giving his opening and closing arguments standing in front of a mirror. He also recorded himself doing this and then critiqued his performance. He thought he was as ready as he could be but he still was nervous and had problems going to sleep.

Thad was in the courtroom with his client sitting at the table waiting for the Judge when Ken Pope approached him. He said the insurance company was increasing their offer of settlement to Carley’s original demand. After discussing this with Don Nash, Thad told Ken their offer would need to be doubled which Ken said wouldn’t happen.

The trial started and after picking a jury Thad gave his opening argument making sure to maintain eye contact with members of the jury. The trial progressed as Thad intended it would with having the police officer who investigated this rear-end accident testify to the facts. The officer also confirmed the photos introduced were of Don Nash’s car and showed the severe impact to the back end. The doctor’s evidentiary deposition was read and Nash testified as to his injury and the time he was off work.

Ken Pope tried to make the point in doing his cross-examinations that this was soft tissue injury with no objective findings. The injury he said was based solely on Donald Nash’s complaints and he now says he is pain-free which means he has made a good recovery.

Thad did his closing argument by going over what the evidence showed as to how the accident happened and the injury incurred along with the bills and time lost from work. The photos of the significant damage done to the rear of Nash’s car he emphasized in saying it showed this accident to be more than just a minor fender bender.

Thad said, “I want each of you to put yourselves in Donald Nash’s position. Say it was you who was stopped, minding your own business, and all of sudden you were rear-ended and injured and incurred these bills. What do you think would be the compensation you should receive for being injured and incurring the pain and suffering? Remember that you don’t know how your injury will affect you in the future. Maybe it will cause you to have early arthritis. After you decide what that amount should be, that is the amount we are requesting that you award in general damages along with the bills and lost time incurred by Donald Nash.”

The jury was out for three hours before they agreed on a verdict. The court clerk read the verdict which amounted to three times what the original demand Carley had made that Thad had withdrawn. Both Thad and Ken were surprised by this generous amount that was awarded. Needless to say, Thad did some celebrating that night which caused him to have a headache the next morning.

Back at his office, Thad received congratulations from Ron and all the staff. He was going through items he had on follow-up and saw where he had no response from the insurance company on the serious injury case of Harvey Turner’s that he had sent the special damages to a few weeks ago. He sent them another letter now demanding they pay their limits within the next ten days to settle the claim or he would file suit. Thad was feeling good both physically and mentally and thought he could only feel better if he could get laid.

Thad with time on his hands made an assessment of things to do in Lake Lancer which resulted in him concluding there wasn’t that much to do at night. There were activities at the club and also at the university that Thad could do but that was a forty-five-minute drive going there and another forty-five-minute drive coming back. At times Thad didn’t feel like doing this drive. It boiled down to Ken’s West or the Embers Restaurant as being the top two choices at Lake Lancer for things to do at night.

This Saturday night Thad opted for Ken’s. He was sitting at the bar checking out the action and watching who was coming in. He noticed a lady entering the lounge about his age that he recognized from seeing her at the fitness center. He had said good morning to her a few times which she acknowledged. To him, it looked like she was just looking at what was going on and maybe was uncomfortable in being here. He waved his hand at her and after catching her attention motioned to the unoccupied barstool next to him. She gave a smile as she came to him and took a seat on the barstool next to Thad.

Since he had never seen her at Ken’s before, Thad said, “First time here?”

“Yes, I was a little bored staying in the apartment and thought I would see all this great nightlife Lake Lancer had to offer.” They both laughed at her comment.

Thad introduced himself to her saying he had seen her at the fitness center. She said she had seen him there and said her name was Linda Driscoll. She went on to say that she was an executive assistant and was on a temporary assignment working at Charl’s Sandwiches here for the CEO. One of the regular executive assistants had gone on maternity leave. Linda thought she would be here for two more months and then with the regular executive assistant returning she would head back to her home in San Francisco.

As she was relating this information to Thad he couldn’t help but notice the wedding ring on her finger.

She seemed like an intelligent person who had a nice figure and was give or take about his age. In a way, she reminded him a little of Loren. Linda did ask Thad what he did and seemed to be impressed he was an attorney. He had a nice time talking to her and the time was going by pretty fast. The drinks he had consumed were starting to give him a rosy glow and because of that he knew he should be leaving but he enjoyed Linda’s company and certainly would like to enjoy more of it, maybe much more.

“I notice by the ring you are wearing that you are married. I don’t want it to sound like I am hitting on you but I guess in a way it will sound like I am if I was to ask you if you would like to see what else happens in the area at night. If you want we could go to the country club but there is a chance your boss who is a member would be there and that wouldn’t be good. We could go to North Rivers where the original Ken’s is which this place is pretty much a duplicate of. Like I said I know you are married and I enjoy your company but if you say no I can understand.”

“I enjoy your company too and going there would be better than staying home and watching the tube. Let me give you my phone number and you can call me later in the week.”

That she would go with Thad told him there were possibilities that there could be some interesting developments in the future.

During the week the Harvey Turner file came up on suspense. In reviewing it again he had to admit that Carley was meticulous in her handling of clients in that the file reflected Harvey did not have underinsured motorist coverage nor was he related to the Turners who owned Charl’s sandwiches.

Thad did however later in the day receive a phone call from Kevin Boyle who said he was the insurance claim representative on the Turner file. Kevin said he wanted to discuss the file with him and offered forty-five thousand dollars to settle the claim. Thad said that amount was less than the bills and he wanted the full fifty thousand to settle the claim. Kevin said he should get a discount since the claim wasn’t in suit. Thad was getting a little hot under the collar and said that if he didn’t get the full fifty he would file suit. Kevin said that was his option but it was only when they were at the courthouse steps before trial that he would offer the fifty.

Ending the call Thad thought this adjustor didn’t know what he was doing and it pissed him off. He calmed down a little but he drafted suit papers which would be filed tomorrow.

Bad things have a way of happening in pairs and that was confirmed at a real estate closing. Kelly Dodge who had attended a few of these closings to collect the realtor’s commission attended this latest one. Thad was getting ready to ask her out but doing that now probably wouldn’t happen since he noticed she was wearing an engagement ring. He asked her about it and she confirmed she had become engaged over the weekend. She said the marriage would take place next year. He could only wonder what might have been if he had asked her out earlier.