Eli Stone s02e12 Episode Script
Tailspin
- Hi.
- Hey.
I'm Tessa.
Four-C.
Hi.
Eli.
Penthouse A.
I just moved in over the weekend, from Buffalo.
Oh, yeah? Welcome to the building.
And the West Coast.
Thank you.
Yeah, it's been kind of a whirlwind.
New job, new apartment, new life.
- Did the new life thing last year.
- Really? So you're an expert, then? Happy to share my insights.
It's the least I could do.
I thought they got these things fixed.
- What do you mean? - I thought they fixed these things.
What? It's a vision, it's a vision, it's a vision.
Vision.
It's a vision.
Vision! Um It was really nice meeting you.
Yeah.
I'm going crazy.
What the hell are you gonna do about it? - Well? - Could I have my English muffin first? That man is driving me out of my mind.
- Which man exactly? - Jim Norris, annoying accountant.
The guy, you know, that Jordan in his infinite stupidity, decided to rent out office space to.
We need the money, Patti.
Recently, the firm's been hemorrhaging worse than my brain.
You're gonna represent me after I kill him? Because I'm gonna need one hell of a lawyer to get me off after the jury hears the gory details of what I did to him.
The guy pays his rent on time and in full.
He won't stop bothering me.
"Patti, the coffee machine is out of filters.
Patti, the copier is jammed.
" "Patti, the men's room is out of TP.
" I don't do TP.
You made that memorably and terrifyingly clear the day we met.
Let me be clear, Taylor.
The odds of Jordan Wethersby winning the Joel T.
Belmont Award this year are somewhere between "when pigs fly" and "when hell freezes over.
" - Hold on.
- Room service.
You do realize I placed this order over an hour ago? My apologies, sir.
The kitchen's backed up.
With our precarious financial situation, I'm not sure we should spend money buying a table at an awards dinner where I am not going to win an award.
Fine.
If it's so important to you, purchase the table.
I'll be at the office soon.
I ordered an egg-white-only omelet.
The third order you people have screwed up this week.
- How terrible for you.
- Excuse me? I was expressing sympathy for your omelet tragedy.
How terrible to have to eat yellow eggs.
- I'm really sorry.
- Don't leave.
- I'd like the name of your supervisor.
- To get me fired? I don't know who you think you are, but you can't talk to people like this.
You talked to me like this.
Think because you live in a hotel room, wear $5,000 suits, you're better than me? That makes you worse.
Just like the rest of them.
- The rest of whom? - What do you care? You obviously have something you want to say.
Why don't you say it? "Them" is guys like you.
Modern-day robber barons that are sucking this country dry.
As it happens, I'm an attorney, and I used to represent many of those robber barons.
Well, I used to work for them.
Why'd you stop? We had a mutual parting of the ways.
Yourself? - I transitioned into food service.
- You were fired.
The fashionable term is "downsized.
" - Were you fired for cause? - Did they have a reason? Yeah.
They had to give Clayton Wells, the ex-CEO, a $43-million severance, so to come up with the money they laid off me and 300 of my co-workers.
Have you considered suing to get your old job back? I realized there probably weren't many lawyers willing to work for free.
Well, as luck would have it, you brought the wrong eggs to the right lawyer.
Complete and total victory.
Think Appomattox, Mr.
Rollins.
Unconditional surrender.
Make the bastards rue the day they dared sue a client of Posner-Klein.
Not to worry, sir.
Chaykin Technologies won't pay a dime in damages.
- Yes, Ms.
Dekker? - Well, I I thought Matt Dowd was handling Chaykin.
Mr.
Dowd has left us for the decidedly un-greener pastures of Wethersby, Stone & Associates.
Sallying forth It gives me great pleasure to announce that, according to inside sources, one of our very own has at long last been nominated for the California Bar's Joel T.
Belmont Award.
Me.
The firm has purchased a half-dozen tables at the banquet.
Attendance, and applause, is mandatory.
- Sir? - What's this? Listening to Jordan Wethersby accept the last six Belmonts, I've had occasion to jot down a few stray musings of my own.
And I'd be most grateful if you two pooled your literary talents and typed them up into a boffo acceptance speech.
Feel free to be brilliant.
I think I speak for us all when I say how happy we are that Mr.
Dowd has returned to our somewhat empty nest.
Thank you, sir.
It's good to be back.
And I'm not alone.
I dropped a line in the water to see if any clients would consider leaving with me.
- Did any? - H.
C.
Clements.
If you want 'em, they're yours.
H.
C.
Clements won a no-bid contract to build affordable houses in New Orleans after Katrina.
How many houses did they build? Their board isn't made up of saints.
Show me the company whose is.
I don't see how this firm, dedicated to fostering social justice, can represent a company that got rich not helping victims.
This isn't about cleared consciences.
It's about cleared checks.
I think we should consider it.
It's a Fortune 500 company with profits in the billions.
Which doesn't live up to the reputation we've been cultivating.
I won't represent them.
This'd mean a walk for me.
We're all right behind you if we don't take cases that end in getting paid.
H.
C.
Clements has the legal representation it deserves.
- Jordan - In any case, I've already been retained by a new client who requires our attention.
Who? A gentleman in his middle years who lost his job due to corporate greed.
As a general rule, mid-life crises don't make a lot of money.
But what's money compared to a good cause? - Sure about this? - I'm aware of the firm's plight, Eli.
But we began this endeavor with a clear idea of the kind of cases we wanted to be associated with.
This suit against Everton, it's about basic right and wrong.
If it is to be our last crusade, let that case be something we can all believe in.
To end otherwise would not be to complete our quest with grace.
Should I take the look on your face to mean you don't agree? Not at all.
I just You said "grace.
" Made me think of Grace.
The would-be love of your life.
Patti gossips.
- So she's in Africa? - Kenya.
Well, looking on the bright side, should our firm close its doors, you'll have the time to visit her.
Welcome aboard flight 212 out of San Francisco with stops in New York and Rome before continuing on to our final destination, Nairobi.
Nairobi.
This plane is going to Kenya.
As I said, your plane to Kenya doesn't take off until after our firm crashes and burns.
Uh-hm.
Everton Financial fired my client on fraudulent grounds.
They claimed he had to be laid off because they couldn't afford his salary and yet somehow found enough money to pay its disgraced ex-CEO, Clayton Wells, a $43-million golden parachute.
- It wasn't a golden parachute.
- True.
At 43 million, it was more like a diamond-encrusted parachute.
It was a severance package.
Paid to Mr.
Wells after he was fired himself.
His botched management necessitated the layoffs.
You don't find it perverse that after being paid 220 million to do a bad job, he got rewarded with a $43 million bonus? There's zero basis in California statute or case law for the plaintiff's claim.
He's right, Mr.
Wethersby.
Your client was an at-will employee.
Under California law, that means he could be fired at any time.
I'm sorry, Your Honor.
Are you arguing opposing counsel's case? Stating the legal facts as I see them.
Being a judge and all, I do that sometimes.
You have failed to state a valid legal claim.
I hereby grant Everton's 12 motion to dismiss.
Mr.
Lebakowski? Lebakowski? That's the best name you could come up with? Frank Lebakowski is my given name.
Chen is my nom de needle.
Look, if you're looking to talk with a certain lawyer, I can't help you, Frank.
I'm looking to talk with a certain doctor.
Talk about what? Ahh How long has your throat been hurting? A few days.
How's Eli doing? He was doing great when he kicked you and me out, said he never wanted to talk to either one of us again.
- Any fever? - No.
You two will work things out.
You're brothers.
Brothers with a singular ability to piss each other off and let each other down.
Talk to my brother someday.
- I know Eli believes somehow you - I did.
I'm responsible for your father's death, Nate.
Look, I don't know about this Dark Truth stuff, but the medical truth is that my father's heart disease was a direct result of his drinking, not some voodoo acupuncture.
You didn't kill him, Frank.
We all have our own truths, Nathan.
And we have to live by them.
Just as we have to accept the consequences of believing in them.
What is Eli gonna do without you? This is for amoxicillin.
Unless you wanna stick with acupuncture and eye of newt.
You're joking.
Why don't you do the typing? Because you type faster than I do, Magnum.
Didn't you take some secretarial classes in case the law thing didn't work out? The quicker we get this over with, the faster I go back to not working with you.
Fair enough, Magna Carta.
And stop giving me the cute nicknames.
How would you like it if I called you Paulie? My grandfather still calls me Paulie.
Phones me every Wednesday.
"Paulie, how are things going at the office?" That's how I know something's off with his diabetes.
Then he Then he calls me Paul.
- Dekker.
- Dowd.
Don't you have a sinking ship to jump on? You know, Paul, I am really gonna miss bumping into you in the men's bathroom.
I have never felt so superior to another lawyer.
Hey.
How could you not tell me you were leaving? I thought you and I were, you know, co-strangers in a strange land.
Who am I supposed to vent to when this place drives me crazy? You can always call.
Or be somewhere that won't drive you crazy.
I can't go back, Matt.
Because there, I'll always just be Maggie.
Here, I'm a respected attorney.
Yo, Auto-Mag.
For the most part.
Jerk.
Sorry I didn't tell you about the copy of Dad's journal.
You're a jerk for being the first one to apologize, being the bigger man.
Well, the taller, better-looking one for sure.
Can we just skip the hug and talk about sports? Sure.
You know who else would love to talk about sports? - Don't We just got cool.
- I saw Frank today.
Think I wanna hear you've been chilling with the man who killed our father? He didn't.
Besides, I know how it feels to have convinced yourself you were responsible for the death of Jeremy Stone.
You were not responsible.
I'm not convinced that whatever juju Frank did is what killed him either.
I am convinced that he's your friend.
And you need him, Eli.
What happens the next time you have a vision, huh? Who you gonna call? I had a vision.
I was on a plane, leaving town.
We shouldn't have bothered to print up all that Wethersby-Stone stationery.
Wow, I didn't realize how bad your firm was hurting.
But Frank's hurting too, Eli.
- What else do you need? - I want Dad to be alive.
And he took that from me.
From you, too.
If the statute of limitations hadn't passed, I would sue him for guru malpractice.
I'm fairly certain there's no such thing as guru malpractice.
- Executive malpractice? - Yeah.
People sue their doctors when they botch a procedure, their lawyers when they botch a case.
Why shouldn't they sue their bosses when they screw up? What are you suggesting? We sue Clayton Wells, the ex-CEO, for screwing up the company.
Lately I've been thinking about how I'm perceived in the eyes of my peers.
Their estimation of me has been lowered, in part, because of my association with you.
But it's moments like this which affirm that partnership.
- So you're gonna call our client? - No.
I'm going to call our clients.
I see no reason why every employee who lost their job at Everton shouldn't avail themselves of your brilliant theory, all 300 of them.
First Mr.
Stemple sued Everton.
Now he's suing Everton's former CEO.
I have a few Everton shares in my 401.
- Should I expect a subpoena, too? - You didn't put 300 people out of work.
There's zero precedent for ex-employees of a company suing its ex-CEO for negligence.
- It's - It's innovative, I admit.
If Clayton Wells had been more creative, he and my clients would still have jobs.
This is nothing more than a clever crowd-pleaser, judge.
CEOs owe a fiduciary duty to their stockholders.
Why shouldn't they owe the same to their employees? In case you haven't noticed, Clayton Wells was just as fired as your clients.
One slight difference.
Mr.
Wells left Everton with a $43-million consolation prize.
Though I am loathe to accept it, the plaintiffs have stated a valid, if novel, legal claim.
- Your Honor - Sorry.
I am certifying the class-action lawsuit against Clayton Wells for executive malpractice.
- It isn't fair.
- What isn't fair? The view from my office? Yeah, it's pretty spectacular.
You can see what exactly from your cubicle? I don't have a cubicle.
I'm talking about Posner's speech.
I think we knocked it out of the park.
- There's not a word of mine in this.
- What do you care? Every assignment I'm given gets my best whether I think it deserves it or not.
Which is why you wrote your own draft.
I did.
But unlike you, I actually included some of your material.
- Priest-rabbi-lawyer joke? - Couldn't have deleted it faster.
While I greatly respect your previously hidden capacity for one-upmanship, this is not a creative-writing seminar, Mag-a-muffin.
This is a law firm, and I am a partner.
With a very funny priest-rabbi-lawyer joke.
And veto power.
You know what? Posner should use your speech.
I'm sure he'd rather be reading a speech written by his very own Mini-Me.
What's going on here is you'd rather be writing a speech for Jordan Wethersby.
What I'd rather be doing, Paul, is practicing law.
The job I was actually hired for at this firm.
Not the job you mistakenly think I have, being a subordinate for you to kick around just so you can feel better about your own empty life.
- What went wrong? - We made some bad bets.
Expanded into markets maybe we should have stayed out of.
Made investments in R & D that didn't pay off.
The plaintiffs say you're guilty of executive malpractice.
That you should be held to the same standard of care as doctors.
- Do you agree? - No.
Doctors operate in sterile, predictable environments.
Running a diversified multinational conglomerate is like waking up and trying to drink from a fire hose.
What about lawyers? Should you be held to the same standard of legal liability as, say, me? When those good people of the jury come back with a verdict, this trial's over.
As far as my stewardship of Everton goes, well, jury's still out.
Could you elaborate? Well, I'm still damn bullish that my decisions are gonna pay off.
I'd give anything to still be CEO and steer Everton into port.
Thank you.
So basically, you didn't get fired because you made bad decisions.
Everton's board made a bad decision when they fired you.
The board wanted to mollify panicky stockholders.
They took the short-term view.
I was focused on the big picture.
These are printouts of e-mails sent to you by Russell Covey, Everton's chief financial officer when you were CEO.
Could you please describe the contents to the jury? - I'd have to re-read them first.
- Or read them at all.
According to Everton's IT department, you deleted these e-mails and many others without reading them.
"Financial shortfall expected.
Your attention required.
" Followed days later by: "Please call ASAP re: financial shortfall.
" Followed just a week later by: "Urgent.
Do not delete.
" That's in all caps, by the way.
"Immediate action necessary re: merger integration problems.
" I'm sensing a pattern here.
I was too busy doing my job to be reading e-mails.
You recognize this document? It's a snapshot of my VirtuaIDuffer.
com home page.
A website that golfers use to track their handicap.
You enter your score after each round you play.
Would you tell the jury how many rounds of golf you played while you were CEO? I closed a lot of key deals on that golf course.
Really? Name one.
I forgot.
You don't deal in specifics.
You're a big-picture guy.
Give me your wallet.
If you're gonna hold up people you work with, go with a ski mask, and a gun.
You told me to take care of Jim Norris.
He doesn't like the soap in the men's room.
He wants hypoallergenic soap.
Also known as "white people can't do anything the easy way" soap.
And since our firm cannot afford a petty cash jar anymore OK, but after this, do me a favor.
Find out how much flights are from San Francisco to Kenya.
- Planning a trip? - No.
I don't know.
I just need to know how much it would cost.
- It'll cost you your assistant.
- What? This place is hanging on by a thread, Eli.
Now is not the time to go gazelle-herding with Grace.
The vision sent by the notorious G.
O.
D.
says otherwise.
What did you see? A never-ending supply of vacation days.
Maybe you made the wrong interpretation.
I can make an appointment with Dr.
Chen.
I don't need Chen.
I just I need to know about the ticket.
I thought things were going well.
Eli said he scored some points today.
- And so he did.
- Then why do you look like you've lost? Anxiety.
Stressful enough representing a man I considered my path not taken, and now having the responsibility of representing 300 of them? You should be 300 times more proud of yourself.
I know I am.
Not so long ago I would have been defending the ruthless CEO.
Ironic that back then I slept soundly.
At least there will be no such anxiety associated with tonight's awards dinner.
- You don't know you won't win.
- In fact, I do.
My opposing counsel on the Wells case is also on the nominating committee.
Doug, did we have an appointment scheduled? - You don't know? - Know what? And have you heard the latest about Everton, folks? Lovely Everton.
Our sources in the boardroom tell us that Everton Financial is in final-stage talks to rehire Clayton Wells as its CEO.
What? Can't believe it? Believe it.
Take it to the bank and smoke it.
They are going to give the Can they do that? Just hire him back? Yes.
But why in the world would they want to? That's why.
ENF.
Media coverage of the trial has caused Everton's stock price to further erode.
They think if they rehire Wells their stock will go back up? Obviously, but that's not our problem.
If Everton is willing to rehire Wells, then how negligent could he have been in the first place? Try and get as much of your homework done as you can on the plane.
What? You don't wanna take my name? People know me professionally by my maiden name, and I like it.
It would have been nice if you would have told me that before the wedding.
What were the Republicans thinking? Did anyone think that crotchety old veteran could beat Mr.
Young, Hip and Cool? - Experience doesn't count for much.
- Not against a rock star.
This isn't my future.
It's the past.
- Can I help you find your seat? - What? No.
No, I'm OK.
Dad.
It's kind of ironic.
We'd never get Dad to show up for ball games, or school plays, parent-teacher conferences.
Now he's a series regular in my visions.
This one was from about a decade ago.
Do you remember him taking a trip? No, but even if I did, he wouldn't have flown.
Dad hated flying.
Why do you think we road-tripped for our vacations? I just wanna know what he was doing on that plane.
There is one way to find out.
Come on, Eli.
Now might be a good time to bury the acupuncture needle.
We don't need Frank.
We need Google.
All right.
I saw the carrier name and the flight number.
Key Star Airlines.
Flight 212.
See if there's anything weird-ish.
Or Dad-ish.
Whoa.
That plane Yeah, but Dad, he couldn't have been on it.
What do you think it means? Motion for summary judgment.
Now that my client has his job back, this case is over.
- Jury reached a verdict? Did we win? - No, you lost.
- Hope you guys have a plan B.
- I'm thinking of killing the judge.
Leave that for later in the alphabet.
Judge Bortz's wife would miss him.
Lucky girl, getting to trade in her maiden name to become Mrs.
Bortz.
All rise.
It would've been nice if you'd told me before the wedding.
What are you talking about? Sir, can I see the list of Everton shareholders? Counsel, I haven't got all day.
The defense has apparently made a motion for summary judgment.
- Based on irrelevant developments.
- To use your dying patient analogy, the patient has hired back his doctor.
This case is premised on Clayton Wells' termination.
That termination has been rescinded.
Therefore, the case must be dismissed.
- You can't do that.
- Actually, I can.
Watch as I slowly raise the gavel and say "Motion granted, case dismissed.
" Are you entirely out of your mind? The fact that Everton's board wants to rehire Clayton Wells is irrelevant.
This case is not about Everton's board, but its employees, shareholders.
- Enough, Mr.
Stone.
- Even their spouses.
I think that you are just the judge to take us on our maiden name I mean, voyage.
You raise an excellent point, Mr.
Stone On further reflection, Everton's decision to rehire Clayton Wells should not preclude the jury from rendering judgment on his previous tenure as CEO.
Motion for summary judgment denied.
Did you just blackmail the judge? Not that I'm complaining.
Something you said reminded me that Brenda Hudson owns 7,500 shares of Everton stock in her retirement folder.
- Who's Brenda Hudson? - Brenda Bortz, actually.
Hudson was her maiden name.
Judge Bortz has his retirement to worry about.
The moment you've been waiting for.
The Joel T.
Belmont Award for Excellence in Jurisprudence is the highest honor the California Bar Association can bestow on one of its colleagues.
It is my distinguished pleasure to present the 2009 Joel T.
Belmont Award to Martin Posner.
Thank you, Neil.
Thank you very, very much.
Thank you all, ladies and gentlemen of the jury.
An obscure 19th-century American lawyer you may or may not have heard of, Abraham Lincoln, said, quote, "The leading rule for the lawyer is to leave nothing for tomorrow which can be done today.
" Lincoln's challenge to fellow attorneys holds as true now as it did a century and a half ago.
Far too many of us Wine, please.
Nice job with the speech.
How do you know it wasn't Posner's job? Maggie Dekker's obscure historical quote.
- I only co-wrote it.
- With Paul Rollins? - How did you know? - Just a lucky guess.
I know you two have been spending time together.
Did you have a vision about me? About me and Paul? Let's just say I saw you together.
I know it's none of my business.
- No kidding.
- So there is something going on? You know when I said last week that we were friends? I didn't mean the kind of friends who could have this kind of conversation.
Oh.
Thank you.
Martin, congratulations.
It's a well-deserved honor.
I confess a bit of surprise.
I wouldn't have expected you to be the better man.
That would explain our parting of professional ways.
Excuse me.
Before we wind things up tonight, we have one more colleague to hear from.
Taylor Wethersby.
Good evening.
This year, the California Bar Association is introducing a new accolade to recognize commitment to the legal system beyond the collection of courtroom and boardroom victories.
And while most of us are just trying to find our way in this world as lawyers, there are very few of us who use the law to make the world better.
So it is with great pride that I've been asked to present the first annual Ackerman Humanitarian Award to Jordan Wethersby.
Wow.
You really do have your own office.
And I have an actual law degree to go with it.
I thought Posner gave a pretty good speech.
I thought so too, since I wrote it.
Yeah, no need to thank me about that, by the way.
What do you need, Paul? I minored in theater in undergrad.
You'd have done a better job delivering the speech? The Paul Rollins you work for, it's a part I play.
It's a character.
The other lawyers in this firm are the same way.
They're playing roles.
So that when their alter egos cut corners or breach ethical boundaries or speak inappropriately to highly talented subordinates, it doesn't feel like bad behavior because they're not really doing it.
This is the weirdest apology ever.
OK, my point is, despite my considerable intelligence, it has taken me a while to see that, in the production known as Posner-Klein, the part of Maggie Dekker is being played by herself.
Why are you telling me this, Paul? Because I suspect that you're a pretty good judge of character.
This week, I suddenly found myself wanting you not to, uh judge me without all the facts.
I'll see you Maggie.
Eli Stone is a clever lawyer.
Main Street is furious with Wall Street lately, and for very good reason.
People are losing their jobs while the heads of these corporations continue to collect seven and eight-figure bonuses and golden parachutes.
It's a patent unfairness that the plaintiffs are hoping they can convert into a financial windfall.
And it all seems so perfectly reasonable, doesn't it? Why shouldn't CEOs be held to the same standard as doctors? Well, have you been to a doctor lately? The high prices, the needless tests, the bureaucracy That's all to shield them from lawsuits.
Now they want corporate executives to be subject to the same second-guessing.
Do you know what that will do to America's ability to compete in the global marketplace? If you take away the golden parachute, how will we attract qualified men and women to run these corporations that give us our jobs? Mr.
Stemple and his co-workers, they lost their jobs, and that is a tragedy, one that happens far too often these days.
But to give them what they're asking for could cost you your job.
Ms.
Miller's argument has a familiar ring to it.
CEOs have to make billions because without them, there are no jobs for the rest of us.
Greed is good.
A rising tide lifts all boats.
Prosperity trickles down.
Don't tie our hands with regulation.
Well, we see how that worked out.
Doug Stemple and his co-workers didn't lose their jobs.
Clayton Wells lost their jobs for them.
And not because anyone second-guessed him or tied his hands.
He ran Everton into the ground then ran away with a golden parachute.
But Ms.
Miller is right about one thing.
The vast majority of us depend on CEOs like Clayton Wells for our livelihoods.
So why shouldn't the law hold them to the same standard of care as doctors and stockbrokers? As accountants and attorneys? Why shouldn't they be held to the same standard of basic competency that you're held to in your job? This is your captain speaking.
We're in a bit of a delay here.
We should be cleared to push back in just a few minutes.
- So please sit back and relax.
- Champagne, sir? No.
Champagne, ma'am? Champagne? Excuse me.
Could everybody just stop what they're doing for a minute? Please, could everyone just listen for a minute? This plane is going to crash.
I'm trying to imagine what you must be thinking, looking at me, the whacked-out guy, dirty work jacket, telling you the plane you're on is going to crash, and that your lives will end today.
But I saw it.
I saw you.
And you.
And you.
And you.
And you all.
Look, I need you to imagine something else.
I need you to imagine being in your homes tonight, safe.
Watching TV.
Watching the news.
Watching story after story about this plane going down.
And then imagine your friends and your family calling in a panic.
And imagine answering because you weren't on this plane.
You listened to the nut in the dirty jacket, and you got off, and you lived.
- You lived.
- Sir, I need you to come with us.
You don't have to believe in the messenger to believe the message.
- Get him out of here.
- Come on, sir.
- Get your stuff.
- Are you serious? Yes, I am.
We are not flying on this plane.
- Grace.
- This is so weird.
Has the jury reached a verdict? In the matter of Stemple et al v.
Clayton Wells, we, the jury, find in favor of the plaintiffs, and award damages in the amount of $300.
Finding gross negligence to exist, we further award punitive damages in the amount of $220 million.
Congratulations.
Surprise! You've missed our birthdays by four and eight months.
Welcome to WS & A's first "we won a gazillion dollars and saved the firm" party.
Just say this won't need to become an annual event.
Who are these guys? These are the movers I hired to clear out Jim Norris's office.
I waited a full minute after hearing the verdict before tossing his annoying ass out the door.
Come on, taste these mushroom caps.
They're divine.
- If the verdict hadn't gone our way? - It'd be a wake.
So long as it's not a going-away party.
Don't worry.
I kind of misinterpreted the vision.
Try to imagine my galloping shock.
You're not planning on jumping, are you? It's only one story.
I'm not sure a broken leg would lift my spirits any.
Long time, no visit.
What brings you to Chinatown? There's a great dim sum place around the corner.
From the first time you walked into my shop, I knew one day the truth would come out about how your dad died.
I practiced my grand speech about how your dad begged me to do it and how I I was now begging you for forgiveness.
- Frank - Did you know your dad's name, Jeremy, is a derivation of Jeremiah? God told Jeremiah, "You will go to them, but they will not listen to you.
" - How's that for a mind-screw? - They did listen, Frank.
The vision that he had, why he desperately needed the Dark Truth? He saw a plane crash, people dying, and he saved them.
Some of them, at least.
He convinced them to get off the plane.
One of those people was Grace.
She was on that plane.
He saved her, too.
You helped save her.
I'm sorry.
I'm so sorry I took your father from you, Eli.
You didn't.
And it was wrong of me to accuse you like that.
You had every right to be angry.
You're his son.
Yeah.
Well, that's the thing.
I finally realized that so were you.
You were his son in the ways that mattered.
When me and Nate couldn't get far enough away from him, you were there.
Being what I never was.
- He loved you, Eli.
- I know.
I know that.
But I didn't know him, you know? At least not the him not stinking of alcohol and failure.
But you, even for the briefest moment, you knew him for what he could be.
Someone who could change the world.
So, what I came here to say is thank you.
From the both of us.
Thanks.
Sit.
- Hey.
I'm Tessa.
Four-C.
Hi.
Eli.
Penthouse A.
I just moved in over the weekend, from Buffalo.
Oh, yeah? Welcome to the building.
And the West Coast.
Thank you.
Yeah, it's been kind of a whirlwind.
New job, new apartment, new life.
- Did the new life thing last year.
- Really? So you're an expert, then? Happy to share my insights.
It's the least I could do.
I thought they got these things fixed.
- What do you mean? - I thought they fixed these things.
What? It's a vision, it's a vision, it's a vision.
Vision.
It's a vision.
Vision! Um It was really nice meeting you.
Yeah.
I'm going crazy.
What the hell are you gonna do about it? - Well? - Could I have my English muffin first? That man is driving me out of my mind.
- Which man exactly? - Jim Norris, annoying accountant.
The guy, you know, that Jordan in his infinite stupidity, decided to rent out office space to.
We need the money, Patti.
Recently, the firm's been hemorrhaging worse than my brain.
You're gonna represent me after I kill him? Because I'm gonna need one hell of a lawyer to get me off after the jury hears the gory details of what I did to him.
The guy pays his rent on time and in full.
He won't stop bothering me.
"Patti, the coffee machine is out of filters.
Patti, the copier is jammed.
" "Patti, the men's room is out of TP.
" I don't do TP.
You made that memorably and terrifyingly clear the day we met.
Let me be clear, Taylor.
The odds of Jordan Wethersby winning the Joel T.
Belmont Award this year are somewhere between "when pigs fly" and "when hell freezes over.
" - Hold on.
- Room service.
You do realize I placed this order over an hour ago? My apologies, sir.
The kitchen's backed up.
With our precarious financial situation, I'm not sure we should spend money buying a table at an awards dinner where I am not going to win an award.
Fine.
If it's so important to you, purchase the table.
I'll be at the office soon.
I ordered an egg-white-only omelet.
The third order you people have screwed up this week.
- How terrible for you.
- Excuse me? I was expressing sympathy for your omelet tragedy.
How terrible to have to eat yellow eggs.
- I'm really sorry.
- Don't leave.
- I'd like the name of your supervisor.
- To get me fired? I don't know who you think you are, but you can't talk to people like this.
You talked to me like this.
Think because you live in a hotel room, wear $5,000 suits, you're better than me? That makes you worse.
Just like the rest of them.
- The rest of whom? - What do you care? You obviously have something you want to say.
Why don't you say it? "Them" is guys like you.
Modern-day robber barons that are sucking this country dry.
As it happens, I'm an attorney, and I used to represent many of those robber barons.
Well, I used to work for them.
Why'd you stop? We had a mutual parting of the ways.
Yourself? - I transitioned into food service.
- You were fired.
The fashionable term is "downsized.
" - Were you fired for cause? - Did they have a reason? Yeah.
They had to give Clayton Wells, the ex-CEO, a $43-million severance, so to come up with the money they laid off me and 300 of my co-workers.
Have you considered suing to get your old job back? I realized there probably weren't many lawyers willing to work for free.
Well, as luck would have it, you brought the wrong eggs to the right lawyer.
Complete and total victory.
Think Appomattox, Mr.
Rollins.
Unconditional surrender.
Make the bastards rue the day they dared sue a client of Posner-Klein.
Not to worry, sir.
Chaykin Technologies won't pay a dime in damages.
- Yes, Ms.
Dekker? - Well, I I thought Matt Dowd was handling Chaykin.
Mr.
Dowd has left us for the decidedly un-greener pastures of Wethersby, Stone & Associates.
Sallying forth It gives me great pleasure to announce that, according to inside sources, one of our very own has at long last been nominated for the California Bar's Joel T.
Belmont Award.
Me.
The firm has purchased a half-dozen tables at the banquet.
Attendance, and applause, is mandatory.
- Sir? - What's this? Listening to Jordan Wethersby accept the last six Belmonts, I've had occasion to jot down a few stray musings of my own.
And I'd be most grateful if you two pooled your literary talents and typed them up into a boffo acceptance speech.
Feel free to be brilliant.
I think I speak for us all when I say how happy we are that Mr.
Dowd has returned to our somewhat empty nest.
Thank you, sir.
It's good to be back.
And I'm not alone.
I dropped a line in the water to see if any clients would consider leaving with me.
- Did any? - H.
C.
Clements.
If you want 'em, they're yours.
H.
C.
Clements won a no-bid contract to build affordable houses in New Orleans after Katrina.
How many houses did they build? Their board isn't made up of saints.
Show me the company whose is.
I don't see how this firm, dedicated to fostering social justice, can represent a company that got rich not helping victims.
This isn't about cleared consciences.
It's about cleared checks.
I think we should consider it.
It's a Fortune 500 company with profits in the billions.
Which doesn't live up to the reputation we've been cultivating.
I won't represent them.
This'd mean a walk for me.
We're all right behind you if we don't take cases that end in getting paid.
H.
C.
Clements has the legal representation it deserves.
- Jordan - In any case, I've already been retained by a new client who requires our attention.
Who? A gentleman in his middle years who lost his job due to corporate greed.
As a general rule, mid-life crises don't make a lot of money.
But what's money compared to a good cause? - Sure about this? - I'm aware of the firm's plight, Eli.
But we began this endeavor with a clear idea of the kind of cases we wanted to be associated with.
This suit against Everton, it's about basic right and wrong.
If it is to be our last crusade, let that case be something we can all believe in.
To end otherwise would not be to complete our quest with grace.
Should I take the look on your face to mean you don't agree? Not at all.
I just You said "grace.
" Made me think of Grace.
The would-be love of your life.
Patti gossips.
- So she's in Africa? - Kenya.
Well, looking on the bright side, should our firm close its doors, you'll have the time to visit her.
Welcome aboard flight 212 out of San Francisco with stops in New York and Rome before continuing on to our final destination, Nairobi.
Nairobi.
This plane is going to Kenya.
As I said, your plane to Kenya doesn't take off until after our firm crashes and burns.
Uh-hm.
Everton Financial fired my client on fraudulent grounds.
They claimed he had to be laid off because they couldn't afford his salary and yet somehow found enough money to pay its disgraced ex-CEO, Clayton Wells, a $43-million golden parachute.
- It wasn't a golden parachute.
- True.
At 43 million, it was more like a diamond-encrusted parachute.
It was a severance package.
Paid to Mr.
Wells after he was fired himself.
His botched management necessitated the layoffs.
You don't find it perverse that after being paid 220 million to do a bad job, he got rewarded with a $43 million bonus? There's zero basis in California statute or case law for the plaintiff's claim.
He's right, Mr.
Wethersby.
Your client was an at-will employee.
Under California law, that means he could be fired at any time.
I'm sorry, Your Honor.
Are you arguing opposing counsel's case? Stating the legal facts as I see them.
Being a judge and all, I do that sometimes.
You have failed to state a valid legal claim.
I hereby grant Everton's 12 motion to dismiss.
Mr.
Lebakowski? Lebakowski? That's the best name you could come up with? Frank Lebakowski is my given name.
Chen is my nom de needle.
Look, if you're looking to talk with a certain lawyer, I can't help you, Frank.
I'm looking to talk with a certain doctor.
Talk about what? Ahh How long has your throat been hurting? A few days.
How's Eli doing? He was doing great when he kicked you and me out, said he never wanted to talk to either one of us again.
- Any fever? - No.
You two will work things out.
You're brothers.
Brothers with a singular ability to piss each other off and let each other down.
Talk to my brother someday.
- I know Eli believes somehow you - I did.
I'm responsible for your father's death, Nate.
Look, I don't know about this Dark Truth stuff, but the medical truth is that my father's heart disease was a direct result of his drinking, not some voodoo acupuncture.
You didn't kill him, Frank.
We all have our own truths, Nathan.
And we have to live by them.
Just as we have to accept the consequences of believing in them.
What is Eli gonna do without you? This is for amoxicillin.
Unless you wanna stick with acupuncture and eye of newt.
You're joking.
Why don't you do the typing? Because you type faster than I do, Magnum.
Didn't you take some secretarial classes in case the law thing didn't work out? The quicker we get this over with, the faster I go back to not working with you.
Fair enough, Magna Carta.
And stop giving me the cute nicknames.
How would you like it if I called you Paulie? My grandfather still calls me Paulie.
Phones me every Wednesday.
"Paulie, how are things going at the office?" That's how I know something's off with his diabetes.
Then he Then he calls me Paul.
- Dekker.
- Dowd.
Don't you have a sinking ship to jump on? You know, Paul, I am really gonna miss bumping into you in the men's bathroom.
I have never felt so superior to another lawyer.
Hey.
How could you not tell me you were leaving? I thought you and I were, you know, co-strangers in a strange land.
Who am I supposed to vent to when this place drives me crazy? You can always call.
Or be somewhere that won't drive you crazy.
I can't go back, Matt.
Because there, I'll always just be Maggie.
Here, I'm a respected attorney.
Yo, Auto-Mag.
For the most part.
Jerk.
Sorry I didn't tell you about the copy of Dad's journal.
You're a jerk for being the first one to apologize, being the bigger man.
Well, the taller, better-looking one for sure.
Can we just skip the hug and talk about sports? Sure.
You know who else would love to talk about sports? - Don't We just got cool.
- I saw Frank today.
Think I wanna hear you've been chilling with the man who killed our father? He didn't.
Besides, I know how it feels to have convinced yourself you were responsible for the death of Jeremy Stone.
You were not responsible.
I'm not convinced that whatever juju Frank did is what killed him either.
I am convinced that he's your friend.
And you need him, Eli.
What happens the next time you have a vision, huh? Who you gonna call? I had a vision.
I was on a plane, leaving town.
We shouldn't have bothered to print up all that Wethersby-Stone stationery.
Wow, I didn't realize how bad your firm was hurting.
But Frank's hurting too, Eli.
- What else do you need? - I want Dad to be alive.
And he took that from me.
From you, too.
If the statute of limitations hadn't passed, I would sue him for guru malpractice.
I'm fairly certain there's no such thing as guru malpractice.
- Executive malpractice? - Yeah.
People sue their doctors when they botch a procedure, their lawyers when they botch a case.
Why shouldn't they sue their bosses when they screw up? What are you suggesting? We sue Clayton Wells, the ex-CEO, for screwing up the company.
Lately I've been thinking about how I'm perceived in the eyes of my peers.
Their estimation of me has been lowered, in part, because of my association with you.
But it's moments like this which affirm that partnership.
- So you're gonna call our client? - No.
I'm going to call our clients.
I see no reason why every employee who lost their job at Everton shouldn't avail themselves of your brilliant theory, all 300 of them.
First Mr.
Stemple sued Everton.
Now he's suing Everton's former CEO.
I have a few Everton shares in my 401.
- Should I expect a subpoena, too? - You didn't put 300 people out of work.
There's zero precedent for ex-employees of a company suing its ex-CEO for negligence.
- It's - It's innovative, I admit.
If Clayton Wells had been more creative, he and my clients would still have jobs.
This is nothing more than a clever crowd-pleaser, judge.
CEOs owe a fiduciary duty to their stockholders.
Why shouldn't they owe the same to their employees? In case you haven't noticed, Clayton Wells was just as fired as your clients.
One slight difference.
Mr.
Wells left Everton with a $43-million consolation prize.
Though I am loathe to accept it, the plaintiffs have stated a valid, if novel, legal claim.
- Your Honor - Sorry.
I am certifying the class-action lawsuit against Clayton Wells for executive malpractice.
- It isn't fair.
- What isn't fair? The view from my office? Yeah, it's pretty spectacular.
You can see what exactly from your cubicle? I don't have a cubicle.
I'm talking about Posner's speech.
I think we knocked it out of the park.
- There's not a word of mine in this.
- What do you care? Every assignment I'm given gets my best whether I think it deserves it or not.
Which is why you wrote your own draft.
I did.
But unlike you, I actually included some of your material.
- Priest-rabbi-lawyer joke? - Couldn't have deleted it faster.
While I greatly respect your previously hidden capacity for one-upmanship, this is not a creative-writing seminar, Mag-a-muffin.
This is a law firm, and I am a partner.
With a very funny priest-rabbi-lawyer joke.
And veto power.
You know what? Posner should use your speech.
I'm sure he'd rather be reading a speech written by his very own Mini-Me.
What's going on here is you'd rather be writing a speech for Jordan Wethersby.
What I'd rather be doing, Paul, is practicing law.
The job I was actually hired for at this firm.
Not the job you mistakenly think I have, being a subordinate for you to kick around just so you can feel better about your own empty life.
- What went wrong? - We made some bad bets.
Expanded into markets maybe we should have stayed out of.
Made investments in R & D that didn't pay off.
The plaintiffs say you're guilty of executive malpractice.
That you should be held to the same standard of care as doctors.
- Do you agree? - No.
Doctors operate in sterile, predictable environments.
Running a diversified multinational conglomerate is like waking up and trying to drink from a fire hose.
What about lawyers? Should you be held to the same standard of legal liability as, say, me? When those good people of the jury come back with a verdict, this trial's over.
As far as my stewardship of Everton goes, well, jury's still out.
Could you elaborate? Well, I'm still damn bullish that my decisions are gonna pay off.
I'd give anything to still be CEO and steer Everton into port.
Thank you.
So basically, you didn't get fired because you made bad decisions.
Everton's board made a bad decision when they fired you.
The board wanted to mollify panicky stockholders.
They took the short-term view.
I was focused on the big picture.
These are printouts of e-mails sent to you by Russell Covey, Everton's chief financial officer when you were CEO.
Could you please describe the contents to the jury? - I'd have to re-read them first.
- Or read them at all.
According to Everton's IT department, you deleted these e-mails and many others without reading them.
"Financial shortfall expected.
Your attention required.
" Followed days later by: "Please call ASAP re: financial shortfall.
" Followed just a week later by: "Urgent.
Do not delete.
" That's in all caps, by the way.
"Immediate action necessary re: merger integration problems.
" I'm sensing a pattern here.
I was too busy doing my job to be reading e-mails.
You recognize this document? It's a snapshot of my VirtuaIDuffer.
com home page.
A website that golfers use to track their handicap.
You enter your score after each round you play.
Would you tell the jury how many rounds of golf you played while you were CEO? I closed a lot of key deals on that golf course.
Really? Name one.
I forgot.
You don't deal in specifics.
You're a big-picture guy.
Give me your wallet.
If you're gonna hold up people you work with, go with a ski mask, and a gun.
You told me to take care of Jim Norris.
He doesn't like the soap in the men's room.
He wants hypoallergenic soap.
Also known as "white people can't do anything the easy way" soap.
And since our firm cannot afford a petty cash jar anymore OK, but after this, do me a favor.
Find out how much flights are from San Francisco to Kenya.
- Planning a trip? - No.
I don't know.
I just need to know how much it would cost.
- It'll cost you your assistant.
- What? This place is hanging on by a thread, Eli.
Now is not the time to go gazelle-herding with Grace.
The vision sent by the notorious G.
O.
D.
says otherwise.
What did you see? A never-ending supply of vacation days.
Maybe you made the wrong interpretation.
I can make an appointment with Dr.
Chen.
I don't need Chen.
I just I need to know about the ticket.
I thought things were going well.
Eli said he scored some points today.
- And so he did.
- Then why do you look like you've lost? Anxiety.
Stressful enough representing a man I considered my path not taken, and now having the responsibility of representing 300 of them? You should be 300 times more proud of yourself.
I know I am.
Not so long ago I would have been defending the ruthless CEO.
Ironic that back then I slept soundly.
At least there will be no such anxiety associated with tonight's awards dinner.
- You don't know you won't win.
- In fact, I do.
My opposing counsel on the Wells case is also on the nominating committee.
Doug, did we have an appointment scheduled? - You don't know? - Know what? And have you heard the latest about Everton, folks? Lovely Everton.
Our sources in the boardroom tell us that Everton Financial is in final-stage talks to rehire Clayton Wells as its CEO.
What? Can't believe it? Believe it.
Take it to the bank and smoke it.
They are going to give the Can they do that? Just hire him back? Yes.
But why in the world would they want to? That's why.
ENF.
Media coverage of the trial has caused Everton's stock price to further erode.
They think if they rehire Wells their stock will go back up? Obviously, but that's not our problem.
If Everton is willing to rehire Wells, then how negligent could he have been in the first place? Try and get as much of your homework done as you can on the plane.
What? You don't wanna take my name? People know me professionally by my maiden name, and I like it.
It would have been nice if you would have told me that before the wedding.
What were the Republicans thinking? Did anyone think that crotchety old veteran could beat Mr.
Young, Hip and Cool? - Experience doesn't count for much.
- Not against a rock star.
This isn't my future.
It's the past.
- Can I help you find your seat? - What? No.
No, I'm OK.
Dad.
It's kind of ironic.
We'd never get Dad to show up for ball games, or school plays, parent-teacher conferences.
Now he's a series regular in my visions.
This one was from about a decade ago.
Do you remember him taking a trip? No, but even if I did, he wouldn't have flown.
Dad hated flying.
Why do you think we road-tripped for our vacations? I just wanna know what he was doing on that plane.
There is one way to find out.
Come on, Eli.
Now might be a good time to bury the acupuncture needle.
We don't need Frank.
We need Google.
All right.
I saw the carrier name and the flight number.
Key Star Airlines.
Flight 212.
See if there's anything weird-ish.
Or Dad-ish.
Whoa.
That plane Yeah, but Dad, he couldn't have been on it.
What do you think it means? Motion for summary judgment.
Now that my client has his job back, this case is over.
- Jury reached a verdict? Did we win? - No, you lost.
- Hope you guys have a plan B.
- I'm thinking of killing the judge.
Leave that for later in the alphabet.
Judge Bortz's wife would miss him.
Lucky girl, getting to trade in her maiden name to become Mrs.
Bortz.
All rise.
It would've been nice if you'd told me before the wedding.
What are you talking about? Sir, can I see the list of Everton shareholders? Counsel, I haven't got all day.
The defense has apparently made a motion for summary judgment.
- Based on irrelevant developments.
- To use your dying patient analogy, the patient has hired back his doctor.
This case is premised on Clayton Wells' termination.
That termination has been rescinded.
Therefore, the case must be dismissed.
- You can't do that.
- Actually, I can.
Watch as I slowly raise the gavel and say "Motion granted, case dismissed.
" Are you entirely out of your mind? The fact that Everton's board wants to rehire Clayton Wells is irrelevant.
This case is not about Everton's board, but its employees, shareholders.
- Enough, Mr.
Stone.
- Even their spouses.
I think that you are just the judge to take us on our maiden name I mean, voyage.
You raise an excellent point, Mr.
Stone On further reflection, Everton's decision to rehire Clayton Wells should not preclude the jury from rendering judgment on his previous tenure as CEO.
Motion for summary judgment denied.
Did you just blackmail the judge? Not that I'm complaining.
Something you said reminded me that Brenda Hudson owns 7,500 shares of Everton stock in her retirement folder.
- Who's Brenda Hudson? - Brenda Bortz, actually.
Hudson was her maiden name.
Judge Bortz has his retirement to worry about.
The moment you've been waiting for.
The Joel T.
Belmont Award for Excellence in Jurisprudence is the highest honor the California Bar Association can bestow on one of its colleagues.
It is my distinguished pleasure to present the 2009 Joel T.
Belmont Award to Martin Posner.
Thank you, Neil.
Thank you very, very much.
Thank you all, ladies and gentlemen of the jury.
An obscure 19th-century American lawyer you may or may not have heard of, Abraham Lincoln, said, quote, "The leading rule for the lawyer is to leave nothing for tomorrow which can be done today.
" Lincoln's challenge to fellow attorneys holds as true now as it did a century and a half ago.
Far too many of us Wine, please.
Nice job with the speech.
How do you know it wasn't Posner's job? Maggie Dekker's obscure historical quote.
- I only co-wrote it.
- With Paul Rollins? - How did you know? - Just a lucky guess.
I know you two have been spending time together.
Did you have a vision about me? About me and Paul? Let's just say I saw you together.
I know it's none of my business.
- No kidding.
- So there is something going on? You know when I said last week that we were friends? I didn't mean the kind of friends who could have this kind of conversation.
Oh.
Thank you.
Martin, congratulations.
It's a well-deserved honor.
I confess a bit of surprise.
I wouldn't have expected you to be the better man.
That would explain our parting of professional ways.
Excuse me.
Before we wind things up tonight, we have one more colleague to hear from.
Taylor Wethersby.
Good evening.
This year, the California Bar Association is introducing a new accolade to recognize commitment to the legal system beyond the collection of courtroom and boardroom victories.
And while most of us are just trying to find our way in this world as lawyers, there are very few of us who use the law to make the world better.
So it is with great pride that I've been asked to present the first annual Ackerman Humanitarian Award to Jordan Wethersby.
Wow.
You really do have your own office.
And I have an actual law degree to go with it.
I thought Posner gave a pretty good speech.
I thought so too, since I wrote it.
Yeah, no need to thank me about that, by the way.
What do you need, Paul? I minored in theater in undergrad.
You'd have done a better job delivering the speech? The Paul Rollins you work for, it's a part I play.
It's a character.
The other lawyers in this firm are the same way.
They're playing roles.
So that when their alter egos cut corners or breach ethical boundaries or speak inappropriately to highly talented subordinates, it doesn't feel like bad behavior because they're not really doing it.
This is the weirdest apology ever.
OK, my point is, despite my considerable intelligence, it has taken me a while to see that, in the production known as Posner-Klein, the part of Maggie Dekker is being played by herself.
Why are you telling me this, Paul? Because I suspect that you're a pretty good judge of character.
This week, I suddenly found myself wanting you not to, uh judge me without all the facts.
I'll see you Maggie.
Eli Stone is a clever lawyer.
Main Street is furious with Wall Street lately, and for very good reason.
People are losing their jobs while the heads of these corporations continue to collect seven and eight-figure bonuses and golden parachutes.
It's a patent unfairness that the plaintiffs are hoping they can convert into a financial windfall.
And it all seems so perfectly reasonable, doesn't it? Why shouldn't CEOs be held to the same standard as doctors? Well, have you been to a doctor lately? The high prices, the needless tests, the bureaucracy That's all to shield them from lawsuits.
Now they want corporate executives to be subject to the same second-guessing.
Do you know what that will do to America's ability to compete in the global marketplace? If you take away the golden parachute, how will we attract qualified men and women to run these corporations that give us our jobs? Mr.
Stemple and his co-workers, they lost their jobs, and that is a tragedy, one that happens far too often these days.
But to give them what they're asking for could cost you your job.
Ms.
Miller's argument has a familiar ring to it.
CEOs have to make billions because without them, there are no jobs for the rest of us.
Greed is good.
A rising tide lifts all boats.
Prosperity trickles down.
Don't tie our hands with regulation.
Well, we see how that worked out.
Doug Stemple and his co-workers didn't lose their jobs.
Clayton Wells lost their jobs for them.
And not because anyone second-guessed him or tied his hands.
He ran Everton into the ground then ran away with a golden parachute.
But Ms.
Miller is right about one thing.
The vast majority of us depend on CEOs like Clayton Wells for our livelihoods.
So why shouldn't the law hold them to the same standard of care as doctors and stockbrokers? As accountants and attorneys? Why shouldn't they be held to the same standard of basic competency that you're held to in your job? This is your captain speaking.
We're in a bit of a delay here.
We should be cleared to push back in just a few minutes.
- So please sit back and relax.
- Champagne, sir? No.
Champagne, ma'am? Champagne? Excuse me.
Could everybody just stop what they're doing for a minute? Please, could everyone just listen for a minute? This plane is going to crash.
I'm trying to imagine what you must be thinking, looking at me, the whacked-out guy, dirty work jacket, telling you the plane you're on is going to crash, and that your lives will end today.
But I saw it.
I saw you.
And you.
And you.
And you.
And you all.
Look, I need you to imagine something else.
I need you to imagine being in your homes tonight, safe.
Watching TV.
Watching the news.
Watching story after story about this plane going down.
And then imagine your friends and your family calling in a panic.
And imagine answering because you weren't on this plane.
You listened to the nut in the dirty jacket, and you got off, and you lived.
- You lived.
- Sir, I need you to come with us.
You don't have to believe in the messenger to believe the message.
- Get him out of here.
- Come on, sir.
- Get your stuff.
- Are you serious? Yes, I am.
We are not flying on this plane.
- Grace.
- This is so weird.
Has the jury reached a verdict? In the matter of Stemple et al v.
Clayton Wells, we, the jury, find in favor of the plaintiffs, and award damages in the amount of $300.
Finding gross negligence to exist, we further award punitive damages in the amount of $220 million.
Congratulations.
Surprise! You've missed our birthdays by four and eight months.
Welcome to WS & A's first "we won a gazillion dollars and saved the firm" party.
Just say this won't need to become an annual event.
Who are these guys? These are the movers I hired to clear out Jim Norris's office.
I waited a full minute after hearing the verdict before tossing his annoying ass out the door.
Come on, taste these mushroom caps.
They're divine.
- If the verdict hadn't gone our way? - It'd be a wake.
So long as it's not a going-away party.
Don't worry.
I kind of misinterpreted the vision.
Try to imagine my galloping shock.
You're not planning on jumping, are you? It's only one story.
I'm not sure a broken leg would lift my spirits any.
Long time, no visit.
What brings you to Chinatown? There's a great dim sum place around the corner.
From the first time you walked into my shop, I knew one day the truth would come out about how your dad died.
I practiced my grand speech about how your dad begged me to do it and how I I was now begging you for forgiveness.
- Frank - Did you know your dad's name, Jeremy, is a derivation of Jeremiah? God told Jeremiah, "You will go to them, but they will not listen to you.
" - How's that for a mind-screw? - They did listen, Frank.
The vision that he had, why he desperately needed the Dark Truth? He saw a plane crash, people dying, and he saved them.
Some of them, at least.
He convinced them to get off the plane.
One of those people was Grace.
She was on that plane.
He saved her, too.
You helped save her.
I'm sorry.
I'm so sorry I took your father from you, Eli.
You didn't.
And it was wrong of me to accuse you like that.
You had every right to be angry.
You're his son.
Yeah.
Well, that's the thing.
I finally realized that so were you.
You were his son in the ways that mattered.
When me and Nate couldn't get far enough away from him, you were there.
Being what I never was.
- He loved you, Eli.
- I know.
I know that.
But I didn't know him, you know? At least not the him not stinking of alcohol and failure.
But you, even for the briefest moment, you knew him for what he could be.
Someone who could change the world.
So, what I came here to say is thank you.
From the both of us.
Thanks.
Sit.