California Fire And Life

86

Mallon bangs on a gavel, which gets the expected chuckle from the group, and he asks them to finish filling out their "pre-stimulus questionnaires," and then he tells them that they're going to hear about a lawsuit involving a fire.

"You'll hear a brief statement from the plaintiff, then one from the defense. Then you'll be asked to fill out a questionnaire based on what you've heard. Then you're going to hear testimony from a witness for the defense, who will be examined and then cross-examined. After which you'll fill out, yes, another questionnaire, and then you'll discuss the case just as you would if you were on a real jury. Then I'll ask you to render a verdict for the defense or for the plaintiff, and if for the plaintiff, how much you would award. I encourage you to take notes; just please be aware that your notes will be collected at the end of the evening.

"During all of this, please manipulate your little ProCon joysticks so the people in the observation room know how you're feeling."

Which gets another appreciative chuckle from the jury.

"Can you believe," Jack whispers to Goddamn Billy, "that with all the law, all the science, everything we do on a file, that a multimillion-dollar decision is going to be made by twelve people who show up for fifty bucks each and all the cookies they can eat?"

"I can believe anything," Billy says.

"Sorry you got dragged into this," Jack says.

"You didn't drag me," Billy says. "I walked."

Casey gets up from the plaintiff's table, looks at the jury for a few moments and says, "This is a story about how a gigantic insurance company, let's call it Great Western Insurance, cheated a policyholder. How it lied, cheated, bullied, and oppressed a man who had lost his wife and his home."

Jack looks up at the monitor.

Negative 10.

"How," Casey says, "Great Western Insurance took his premium money for years, assuring him that in his time of need they would be there for him – and then when that time came, when tragedy struck, instead of being there for him, accused him of fraud, arson, and murder and denied him the millions of dollars in benefits that he is due.

"This is a story about how a big corporation thinks that it's above the law, because even though the authorities declared that the fire was accidental, and the coroner said the death was accidental, and even though the police have not even investigated, let alone charged, let alone convicted my client of arson or murder, Great Western Insurance accused him of burning his house down and murdering his wife, and convicted him of the crimes of arson and murder without even the benefit of a hearing, let alone a public trial."

Negative 10s across the board.

"And this is a story about a man, an individual, my client – we'll call him Mr. White – who came as an immigrant to this country with only an old suitcase and the clothes on his back. Who through hard work and application and diligence lived the American Dream. Became a millionaire and fulfilled his dream, a dream that is now shattered by a sudden accident, and the deliberate, malicious, and oppressive actions of a greedy, powerful corporation that would rather slander a good man and destroy his life than pay what it owes.

"My client's only hope to restore what's left of his life is you. His wife is gone, his children bereaved, his house lies in ashes. You cannot bring back his wife, you cannot comfort his small children, but you can restore to him his home and property and punish the large and callous corporation that, perhaps even more than the fire, has destroyed my client's life. You can rebuild a home for him and his children to live in. You can send a message to the boardroom of Great Western Insurance that they must never, ever engage in this kind of despicable behavior again.

"My client rests his fate in your hands.

"I know that you will see the truth for what it is and act on that truth. Thank you."

Positive 9s and 10s.

The jury, Jack sees, is "happy."

Jack hears Herlihy mutter, "I'm glad that son of a bitch is on our side."

"It's the standard Paul Gordon opening," Reinhardt says. "Just fill in the blanks."

"Shit."

Emily Peters, one of Casey's partners, gets up to respond.

"Go, Emily," Jack whispers.

"It's not easy, following that kind of speech," she says. "That was a great speech, a real tearjerker, a real appeal to your emotions. But ladies and gentlemen, a lawsuit should not be decided by emotions, it should be decided by the law and by the facts. And the law says that if a person burns down his own property, the insurance company cannot – by law – cannot pay that claim. And when you listen to the two witnesses that I will bring on, ladies and gentlemen, I am confident that you will recognize that, sadly, those are the facts."

Maybe yes, maybe no, Jack sees. The monitor is hovering around a lot of Neutrals, a few 1s and 2s on either side of the line. The jury doesn't "like" Emily as much as they do Tom.

She goes on anyway. "Mr. White, as we're calling him, is rather like the man who murders his parents and then asks for mercy because he's an orphan-"

Not a laugh or a murmur or a chuckle from the jury. Uh-oh, Jack thinks, they're pissed at us already.

Yup, Negative 4s and 5s.

"-because that is the sad fact of this case.

"Now, my esteemed colleague, Mr. Casey, has told you – correctly – that the authorities ruled the fire an accident and the death an accident. That is true. What he didn't tell you is that those findings are not binding upon an insurance company. Great Western doesn't think itself above the law. The law states that an insurance company has the right, indeed the obligation, to independently investigate a claim and render its own decision. And the law further states that the insurance company may deny a claim if it reasonably concludes that it was 'more likely than not' that an insured set fire to his own property.

"That is the law – 'more likely than not' – and when you hear our witnesses, and carefully consider the facts that they present, I am confident that you will also conclude that it is far more likely than not that Mr. White is an arsonist and a murderer. And that far from awarding the millions of dollars that he is asking for, you will be asking, 'Why isn't this man in prison? Why isn't he the defendant in this trial?'

"Now, Mr. Casey asked you to send a message.

"So do I.

"Send a message that you are not going to be swayed by cheap dramatics. You are not going to be swayed by emotion. That you are instead going to consider the facts and send the message that, far from being rewarded, Mr. White should be charged, convicted, and punished.

"Thank you."

As the jury starts filling out their questionnaires, Jack hears Reinhardt say, "She came out too strong."

"I liked it," Herlihy says.

It was strong, Jack thinks, but that's what she had to do. You come out half-assed in an arson trial, all you do is get your half-ass totally kicked.

Jack sees the TSI consultants typing like mad. Typing and waiting like vultures for the responses to the opening statements to come in. Jack knows that the responses are key: if Casey "wins" the opening, it's going to be damn hard to convince the jury otherwise. The TSI people would say that 80 percent of jurors have their minds made up after the opening statements.

It's also going to be damn hard to convince Mahogany Row not to settle.

The jury finishes writing and one of the consultants rushes in to get their papers.

Peters says, "Calling to the stand Mr. Smith."

Which is me, Jack thinks.

Now Jack's in an interesting position here.

If he goes in there and does a good job and wins, Sandra Hansen drops the hammer on him.

If he goes in there and does a bad job and loses, then he gets to keep his job but Nicky Vale gets away with arson and murder.

Sort of your basic dilemma.