Chapter 12

It was after nine o'clock when Ali entered her law office downtown and found that Judy wasn't at her desk. In fact, the front door was still locked. Ali went to the conference room and found the girls around the large table drinking coffee. Normally, the coffee hour was a time of joking and banter. This morning it seemed like a wake. When she opened the door it was as if the executioner had just entered the cell to bring out the condemned man.

Sandy Harris smiled wryly at the others and said, "Good bye, all. Thank you." She got up, passed a letter to Ali, and started to leave.

Ali glanced at the letter and said, "What's this?" Then she looked at Ginger who also had a letter which she, too, gave to Ali. She got up and prepared to leave.

Ali glanced at Ginger's letter and exclaimed, "Not so fast, you two. Sit down! I'm not through with you yet. You're not getting off so easy."

The two girls looked at Ali and saw blue fire in her eyes. Ginger thought, Uh, oh! This is going to be even worse than I thought. Her eyes were downcast as Ali sat down at the end of the table. "Let's review the events of the last twenty-four hours or so. You first, Ginger. This letter says you're resigning as a partner of Clifford & Jamison. Why?"

Ginger looked up, startled. "Because I went counter to the interests of our senior partner." Ginger was puzzled. While she was looking at Ali, Kathy, moving like a mouse, had poured coffee and passed the cup to Ali.

"Mrs. Conrad, I realize you're a new member of the bar. Whose interests are you supposed to represent? The firm's or the client's?"

"Why, the client's interest, of course," she said.

"Your client was William Harrison Clifford. What was his interest?"

"To contest your action for a divorce. He didn't want to give you one."

Ali's voice was accusing and the blue fire was still coming from her eyes. Ginger felt like a bug impaled on a pin. She couldn't move nor escape Ali's gaze. Ali continued, "And you won the case. Here." As she said the last word she had reached into her purse and pulled out a folded piece of paper which she slid down the table to Ginger.

Ginger unfolded the paper and saw it was a check. She looked at it and almost fell over. It was a check made out to Virginia Jamison Conrad for one million dollars. It was signed by William H. Clifford. Ali didn't say a word.

Ginger looked at her and suddenly saw the fire replaced by a glint of amusement. "What is this?" Ginger exclaimed. "It says one million dollars! And it's made out to me."

"It's the best I could do, I'm afraid," Ali said sadly. "Since half the money is mine, I was trying to economize but Bill was adamant. He thinks it's not nearly enough and will be happy to replace it with a check in what he considers to be a more appropriate amount."

She then wheeled on Sandy. "But as for you, Sandra Harris, what's your excuse? Believe it or not, Bill was going to give you the same size check. I told him it would be grossly unethical for him to pay counsel for the opposing party. Ginger was protecting her client's interest. What were you doing?" Again the blue fire was coming from Ali's eyes.

Sandy was sitting up straight in her chair. Tears were starting to roll down her cheeks. She said softly, "I was guilty of the worst sort of malpractice, Mrs. Clifford. That's why I'm resigning from the firm and from the Bar. Clearly, I can no longer practice law. I spoke with Jack last night and we thought I might be able to get a suspended sentence or only have to serve a few months in jail. He said he'll wait for me. I'm sorry."

Still Ali glared at the young woman. "Suspended sentence for what?"

"For a gross breech of client confidence, and..."

"What is a lawyer's responsibility?" Ali demanded.

"To serve her client's interest, of course," Sandy replied.

"I was your client. What was my interest?"

"To obtain a divorce. Except I thought..."

"You thought what?"

Ali didn't think the girl could sit up any straighter but she did. Sandy replied, "I did not think a divorce was in your best interest. I know you love Bill Clifford more than life itself. A divorce would have killed you. Therefore, Mrs. Clifford, I substituted my judgment for yours. I subverted the divorce action you began, I breached your confidence, and I'm not sorry. I still think it was the right thing to do, even if it was certainly unethical and probably illegal!"

Again Ali went to her purse and slid a piece of paper down the table, to Sandy this time. Sandy picked it up and looked at it. Her jaw dropped. It was a check on Bank of America made out to Sandra Harris for $500,000. It was signed by Allison McGrath. Ali smiled softly at the girl and said, "Sandy, that's only a down payment. It's all the money I have right now, and I refused to accept any of Bill's. There will be more later today — I get my investment management fee — and I'll sign it all over to you. You said you exercised your judgment over mine. You said you didn't believe a divorce was in my best interest. We both know you were absolutely correct.

"Sandy, I don't know what I have to do. Would it help if I crawled to you on my hands and knees and begged you to stay?"

Suddenly Ali had dropped her act. She went over to Sandy who rose from her chair. Ali hugged the girl tight and said, "Sandy, there aren't any words for me to tell you what I feel! As a start, you saved my life!"

Sandy pushed Ali away and glared at her. If blue flame had been apparently coming from Ali's eyes, it was nothing compared to the fire now in Sandy's. She took the check and carefully tore it into tiny pieces. She took Ali's hand and put the pieces in her palm and closed her fingers over them. "I've been listening to you Allison McGrath Clifford! Now you listen to me! We both know when I joined this firm I was a mess — a disgrace to the human race! What did you do? You picked me up and put me together. Notice, I didn't say back together; that would imply I had been together and we both know that's just not true.

"You and your partner even managed to find the love of my life, Jack Benson. He is coming over to meet me later this morning. He insists on going to the courthouse with me when I turn myself in to the District Attorney. He says he's waited for me for five years. Now that we've been together for a while, a few more months will be easy. Do you think what you have done for me has no value? It may not have value to you, but it certainly does to me!"

Ali was abashed. Just then Ginger gave her Bill's check, also ripped into small pieces. Ginger said, "Charley and I may talk to you about borrowing some money later for a down payment on a house. What you did for Sandy is nothing compared to what you did for me. Ali, will you just this once try to understand there are people for whom you have provided the greatest gift imaginable: the gift of love! Ali, it's priceless!

"All I can tell you is if I accepted Bill's check, it would not only cost me my marriage — and there's no value high enough for me to place on that — it would also cost me my parents. They would never speak to me again. They worship the ground you walk on and with reason." She looked at Sandy and said, "We'll make a deal with you: You and Bill can pay for the office Christmas party out of your own pockets and we'll call it square. Do you accept?"

For the first time in weeks the girls saw Ali's sunshine smile. There were audible sounds of relief from the girls around the table. Ali had been listening in wonder to her two partners. Slowly she nodded her head.

Then she turned to Kathy and said, "I need to be fattened up. I guess the lack of food finally affected my brain." Kathy went off to order a big breakfast for her.

When she returned, Ali was organizing the Christmas party. She grinned and put Sandy and Kathy in charge. Then she looked around the table and excused herself. When she arose, the sense of relief around the table was palpable. A few minutes later she returned with a folder. She reached into her purse and took out a pair of rimless reading glasses. Ginger smiled to herself. She knew the glasses were only a prop. Ali's eyesight was perfect; the lenses were uncorrected optical glass. While she wondered what Ali was doing, the answer was not long in coming.

She looked around the table and appeared stern. The girls slowly sat up very straight in their chairs and the room become quiet. The only sound was the air flow from the registers. Ali was amused. They appeared like children with their hands caught in the cookie jar, waiting for their mother to say something.

Ali said, "There's been enough time wasted around here. We have decided we're going to have a Christmas party. When I left the room the discussion seemed to be centered on making it a formal dance with husbands or dates. Normally, bonuses are paid at year-end. However, I've always felt that practice made life a bit difficult for people who have holiday expenses and no exact knowledge about a bonus: whether they would even get one, let alone how much it might be. Then, of course, there's all the jazz of withholding for FICA, and Federal and State income taxes.

"I decided we would have our performance reviews today. I remember from business school that compensation action is supposed to be removed in time from performance reviews. Frankly, I always thought that was a lot of garbage. If the compensation doesn't relate to performance, what's it supposed to relate to? Anyway, let's begin."

She looked at Kathy Carlson. "Kathy, aside from taking care of all the secretarial work for the three partners, what in hell do you do around here?" Then she grinned. "Kathy, your bonus is being reduced from what you deserve because you got a partial a month or so ago." Ali looked at the check and said, "We'll get you the appropriate stub later. The checks are net pay; we're going to need our computer whiz, Joan Fredrick, to run our payroll program backwards to figure out what the gross pay and deductions are. Anyway, Kathy, here's your bonus."

She slid the check down the table to Kathy who gasped. "Ali — Mrs. Clifford — you can't do this! It's not right! It's for $35,000!"

Ali looked at her and said, "You're earning $40,000. You already received five thousand. Forty minus five is thirty-five. See," she said with a grin, "I can, too, subtract. Now what's your problem? Isn't it good enough?"

Kathy just shook her head; tears of joy were flowing down her cheeks. Ali passed out bonus checks to Joan and Judy Jeffries also equal to their gross annual salary. The girls sat around the table stunned. Finally Ali looked at Ginger and Sandy and said, "As for you two, I'll take care of you later!" She left the room and went back to her office. Her breakfast had arrived and she sat down to eat it.

A few minutes later there was a knock on the door, and Joan Fredrick came in looking worried. "Joan, what's the trouble?" Ali asked.

"Ali, may I talk to you, please?"

Ali looked at Joan. She was about to graduate from Cal Tech with a major in computer science. Before coming to work for Clifford & Jamison, she supported herself by tending bar topless on Sunset Strip. Joan was dark haired with brilliant green eyes like Ginger's. She was five feet four with a perfect body. Ali liked the girl and liked her spirit. "What's the trouble, Joan?" Ali asked again. "I guess you're probably coming in to resign, aren't you? Don't you get your degree next month?"

Ali was surprised to see the girl's eyes widen and register genuine shock. "But Mrs. Clifford, I though I was doing a good job here for you and the others. And then you gave me that magnificent bonus!" Ali saw tears start to roll down the girl's cheeks. "Mrs. Clifford, I love it here! I really do. Do I have to leave? I'll work harder and try to improve the quality of my work. I didn't realize you weren't happy with it."

Ali realized she had put her foot in something and hastened to make amends. "Joan, first, damn it, it's Ali, and you better not forget again! Second, we couldn't be more pleased with your work. I didn't talk about compensation action for you, but I will now. We know from information we get from the bar association that Clifford & Jamison is probably the most profitable law firm in Los Angeles. I'm just sort of part time around here. I spend most of my time soaking up the sun.

"That leaves the workload to Ginger and Sandy. They handle about three times the case load of any other lawyers around ... and don't even stay late. They are both very passionate young women and their priorities are at home. So how can they do it? With a level of support that would be the envy of every lawyer in the city ... if they had the first foggy clue how we work. With our billings we're supposed to have a support staff of fifteen to twenty. We have three!

"Joan, you are the outstanding computer scientist in your class ... and Cal Tech is no slouch as a school. I have been hoping against hope you would consider staying ... at least for a while. I propose to increase your salary to $60,000 a year beginning the first of the year. You're still underpaid for what you do, but it's a start. We really do want you to stay, although we know this work is as simple as riding a tricycle for you. Don't you get bored?"