Chapter 465

“May it please the Court, Your Honour,” Gemma said, kicking off the Opening Statement for your Defence. “My name is Gemma Anderson, representing the defendant DeLittle Insurance in this matter. The case before you should be a simple misunderstanding of the finer points of contract law. The Plaintiffs have brought this case forward because they do not agree with the terms of the contract they signed with our client DeLittle Insurance, and refute that they broke both the spirit and the letter of those terms.”

Your girlfriend spoke evenly and paced herself, not rushing through her points or making anything sound urgent. It was exactly how you had practised with her, and because she was giving herself space to breathe she also had time to make eye contact with the Judge and keep him engaged.

Gemma went into her overview of the case from the side of the insurance company. A business transaction was arranged to benefit the Jacobs, and due to the price point the Jacobs wanted to pay for the arrangement strict guidelines and fine print were part of the contract. The Jacobs were in an unfortunate accident, made a claim on their policy, and due to the intricate nature of the claim in the multi-vehicle event an investigator was sent to assess the claim. The company investigator found two primary breaches of the contract, one of which was that the Jacobs’ were transporting oversized goods (lengths of two-by-fours) inappropriately with the back of their vehicle open and not properly secured, and the other that they had attached several cosmetic additions to their vehicle, one of which was the cause of the accident.

Moving through her overview took time, and you could feel the energy in the room slow to a crawl. It was the opposite of the Plaintiff’s opening - Gemma didn’t get into great detail, since it wasn’t the time to present evidence, but she hammered the broad strokes in a way that made it feel like they were mountains that the plaintiffs would need to overcome.

“In short, your Honour, the Plaintiff needs to prove that our client has acted in bad faith in their investigation of the event,” Gemma continued. “And that their findings are untrue. Our clients would be happy to honour the contract if this proves to be the case, but we firmly believe in the findings of the investigation.” This pushed into the introduction of witnesses, and what their key testimony would be. We had a list of ten witnesses prepared, each giving a different piece of the puzzle in terms of highlighting the breach of contract on the part of the Jacobs before and during the day of the accident, and that they had been made aware of the terms they had agreed to.

Gemma was winding down, and she’d been speaking for almost half an hour straight when she paused, coming over to the table. You had already poured her a cup of water and she smiled at you with her eyes as she took a long sip. As she set it down Sabrina spun her notepad around where she’d written, You’re killing it!

“In conclusion, you Honour,” Gemma said, turning back around and taking a few steps toward the bench before planting her feet solidly. “This is a civil case and the Plaintiffs must prove their case by a preponderance of the evidence. Based on the information gathered, we believe that the Plaintiff will be unable to do so and that they will attempt to turn this case on its head to try and make it into something it is not. This is a case about breach of contract; nothing more and nothing less. The Plaintiffs may wish to make this into a spectacle - an indictment of the system they wilfully engaged in, or of our client who dealt with them openly and fairly. No one is refuting that there was a legal contract made between the Plaintiff and the Defendant, and therefore for these reasons, after you have heard all the evidence, at the end of their trial we will ask you to return a verdict in favour of DeLittle Insurance. Thank you.” Gemma nodded respectfully, and then turned and came back to your table.