Chapter 4

One day when Ken was in his office, he saw a light on his phone istrument come on and he was buzzed. This was a signal from Maureen to pick up his phone. When he did, he heard Maureen tell him that there was a Ms. Erin Daniels in the office who wanted to speak to Ken but she didn’t have an appointment. Ken had some time before he had to go to court so he asked that she be shown in.

When Erin came into Ken’s office he recognized her as he had seen her at his country club although he had never spoken to her. She was either the women’s winner or the runner up at the club’s annual golf championship tournament. He asked her to take a seat and asked what he could do for her.

She presented him with a letter that she had received from her automobile insurance company. Ken read it and said it was a standard form letter advising her that she was being sued because of an accident for an amount that exceeded her automobile policy limits. The letter stated that she would personally be liable for any amount awarded over her policy limits. She said that the letter indicated she might want to get an attorney to represent her for this exposure over her policy limits which was the reason she was here. She had heard Ken was the best attorney in town.

“There are a lot of good attorneys in town but tell me about this accident.”

“I was driving home from the club one afternoon and was changing lanes to make a right turn. Apparently there was a man on a bike in the curb lane who I didn’t see and when I changed lanes he ran into the side of my car.”

“Was he injured?”

“He didn’t act like he was injured. Nothing seemed to be broken as this man walked okay but the policeman insisted this man go to the hospital to be checked out. He was taken by ambulance to the hospital.”

“Do you have your automobile policy with you?”

While she was going through some papers looking for the policy Ken had a chance to appraise her. He knew from seeing her before that she was of average height and had an athletic body type. Her breasts were maybe a little larger than what one would expect but maybe that was because of the bra she was wearing since it seemed to hold her breasts higher than what he normally saw on other women. She appeared to be a few years younger than Ken. Facially she was attractive which was further complemented by her down to her mid-back dark hair. He thought that when she was a little younger that she would have given the image of being the All-American girl.

Erin handed him the declaration page of her automobile policy. A glance at the declaration page told him she had some very high bodily injury limits.

He asked her how much was she being sued for and she responded, “One million dollars.”

“Well from what you say and from what I see here I don’t think you have much to worry about. Law suits are typically filed asking for a lot of money. When that happens the insurance companies needs to send out this type of form letter if the amount sued for is over your policy’s bodily injury limits. Rarely do insured’s need to dip into their own pockets to settle claims as most cases are settled either within or at the policy limits. With these high limits you have there shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Just to ease your mind let me send the insurance company one of my form letters advising them that I represent you in this matter and that I expect them to make every effort to settle this case within the policy limits. I will ask them to advise me when they have offered their policy limits and the case hasn’t settled. Further that if they don’t handle this claim as if there were no policy limits, they will be guilty of ‘bad faith’ and they will be liable for all the damages. As I said I would think you have nothing to worry about here.”

“Oh thank you for that, I now feel a whole lot better. What do I owe you for doing this?”

After some hesitation Ken said, “A round of golf.”

“Say that again, I am not sure I heard you.”

“Let me explain. I am not a good golfer. I rarely break ninety. But I do enjoy watching good golfers golf. I know that you are one of the best golfers at the club and I would enjoy watching you play a round of golf. That is my fee.”

After a moment she smiled and said, “Fair enough, how about this Saturday?”

“I work this Saturday till noon.”

“How about a tee time at one and can you bring someone? I will also bring someone so we will be a foursome.”

Ken agreed to the time and rose to shake her hand. He watched the undulation of her pretty backside as she left his office.

It wasn’t every Friday night that Ken spent with Maureen, but there had been a number of them. Friday nights with Maureen were put on a hold when the daughter was going to be home and the daughter was supposed to be home this Friday.

Ken knew that Ted Reed was a good golfer who would periodically break eighty. He asked Ted to golf Saturday and told him what the arrangements were.

Arriving at the club Ken and Ted put on their golf shoes and went to the driving range. Erin and another lady where already there and were warming up hitting balls. Erin greeted Ken and he introduced her to Ted. She in turn introduced both of them to Terri Randolph who Erin said was her constant competition for the championship trophy. They were the two best women’s golfers at the club by far.

Erin said, “While we are constantly in competition with each other Terri is my best friend. I thought you might enjoy seeing both of us play.”

Ken enjoyed seeing these two women play excellent golf. All of the foursome teed off from the forward tees. During the round Ken learned a few things about Erin and Terri. Each of them had played on their college golf teams. Both were realtors with Terri being married and having two children while Erin was divorced with no children. They both were active with various civic and charitable organizations as that gave them exposure to a lot of people which produced real estate referrals and clients for them.

Ken’s golf score was as they say, “nothing to write home to mother about.” He shot a ninety seven. Ted did better and posted a seventy nine, largely he said because they played off the forward tees. The ladies posted the best scores with Terri being two over par and Erin three over par. The weather was nice and the golf tips that both of the ladies gave Ken made for a very enjoyable afternoon.

After the round they went into the club to have a drink and discussed golf as well as some other subjects. Ken did surmise because what was said during the round that both of these ladies were very successful as realtors. The discussion came around to work and Erin asked Ken if he does real estate work.

“While I can, I personally don’t do that type of work, but Ted here specializes in it. Why do you ask?”

“When clients ask me for an attorney to handle a sale or purchase I had been referring them to John Bergston but he recently passed away. I was impressed by how you treated me when I was in your office this past week. Would you mind if I sent clients who ask for an attorney referral to your office?”

“Not in the least as we are always looking for more business. Let me give you a few of my cards.”

Terri asked for some cards as well because Erin had told her of what had happened and how she was impressed by Ken.

Both Terri and Ted excused themselves as they had plans for the evening. Ken had enjoyed Erin’s company and asked her if she would join him for an early dinner here at the club. She said she would normally like to go home to shower and change but since it was already six they could have dinner now.

Dinning with Erin was very enjoyable. While she was attractive she was also an intelligent lady who apparently was quite successful and knowledgeable. Her being divorced or Ken still being single was a subject which wasn’t discussed.

Before they had dessert Ken took a small plastic bottle from his pants pocket and put some of the lotion on his palms and rubbed it in his hands. He explained he was doing this because of his dry hands problem. Erin asked for some of the lotion as dry hands were one of her constant problems. Ken put a generous amount on her palm.