Island of Hope (eBook)

Chapter
1

There was a time when a person’s pledge and a handshake were just as good as an attorney-prepared affidavit. The sense of commitment and trust were integral to a man or woman’s reputation. Some of the great entrepreneurial success stories were first built on a handshake.

There was a time when political differences were resolved through negotiation and mutual compromise. It was consensus oriented and most often both parties were not fully satisfied but they each understood and recognized that having a piece of the ‘strawberry shortcake,’ no matter how small, was better than not even enjoying a morsel.

There was a time when a person felt very strongly about an issue and would be relentless in arguing or defending their perspective but would be open to listening to someone else’s point of view. Despite their differences, mutual respect allowed for a meaningful dialogue.

Thirty-nine-year-old Samantha has just about seen it all. As an attorney for fifteen years and the three hundred cases her firm had litigated, she was very much aware of the changes in people’s values, the slow lava-like movement of society towards narcissism, and the lack of respect for the dignity of others. Her early morning reflections always included a quick mental review of the pending lawsuits and her perceptions of the parties involved as she sipped her cup of freshly brewed Gevalia Majestic Roast black coffee. She loved the strong, intense flavor of the Arabica beans. She was not a Dunkin’ Donuts coffee lover! Samantha was getting ready for a negotiating session this morning with Gavin Sullivan who was the opposing attorney representing the T. R. Benson Company. The case had proceeded past the pleadings and discovery stages and her motion for a Summary Judgement was denied by the court two months ago. Both parties were headed towards a trial that was a month away but just last week her lead investigator, Matt Sorkin, uncovered that one of the T. R. Benson Company executives lied under oath during his deposition. So, Samantha reached out to Gavin and set up today’s meeting for 10:00 a.m. She expected that this new evidence would result in a strong financial settlement for her client. However, Gavin’s reaction to the perjury incident may not be enough for him to settle the case, but she was reasonably confident that it would. She finished her coffee, showered, and dressed for the meeting.

Samantha was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1971. Her father worked at The Westfield Insurance Company and always wore a business suit and tie, while her mother stayed home to care for Samantha and her two younger brothers. At an early age, she became their protector and advocate and began to lobby on their behalf to settle parental disputes regarding permissions to go somewhere or do something. Quite often she was able to convince her parents to a compromise that was acceptable to her brothers and parents. Samantha was not always one-sided. When she agreed with her parents’ position, she had no problem explaining their thinking to her brothers and effortlessly convinced her siblings that “Mom and Dad are right.”

Samantha joined her high school debate team as a first-year student and by her junior year, she was captain of the team. In her debates, Samantha’s opening statements were always clearly stated with a natural, confident delivery citing many supporting reasons and examples for her position. In rebutting the opposing arguments, she managed to first give them credence but then swooped in with an abundance of logical points to easily win over the three-panel judges. Her excellent vocabulary and mastery of complex but clear sentences were the envy of everyone. In her senior year, Samantha’s high school team won the Baltimore Regional debates with their pro-position that the federal government should establish a comprehensive national policy to protect the quality of water in the United States. However, on the eve of the Maryland State High School debate tournament, her father suddenly passed away and she chose not to participate the following day. Without Samantha as the closing debater, her high school came in fourth place.

Even as far back as Samantha’s grammar school days and continuing through high school, her parents were extremely impressed with her negotiating skills and did not resent her role of a somewhat surrogate parent. Whenever Samantha was able to resolve a dispute on behalf of her brothers, her father would always tell her that one day she would be an attorney. And that’s exactly what happened. Samantha graduated from Loyola University Maryland and obtained her law degree from nearby Georgetown University. She had several corporate offers, but her dream was to return to Baltimore, pass the bar exam, and open her own practice specializing in litigation. What began in 2005 as a sole attorney practice with a few small civil cases blossomed by 2015 into a larger office with three other partners, four associate attorneys, a full-time investigator, a stellar clerical support team, and a wide array of litigation dispute cases including personal injury, intellectual property, medical malpractice, employment, and contracts.

The T. R. Benson litigation involved an employment discrimination case where Henry Baines, a sixty-two-year-old male with twenty years of company employment as the marketing director, was terminated based on inferior performance. Henry reported directly to Timothy Benson, son of the CEO and Vice President of Sales and Marketing. Until six months ago, Henry always received “Above Average” to “Outstanding” evaluations but then his last review was a ‘Needs-Improvement’ and each of his monthly follow-up assessments showed no improvement. Samantha took this case on because in all of her meetings with Henry, she found him to be intelligent, creative, and his portfolio of accomplishments was impressive. He kept telling Samantha that there was nothing wrong with his performance and said that Timothy had not been the same person Henry had come to know over the years. Her instincts told her that there was something else that was driving this. She assigned Matt Sorkin, her lead investigator, to perform a full workup on Timothy Benson and it was his report now that she held in her briefcase as she stepped into Gavin Sullivan’s office.

“Samantha, what is so critical that you needed to see me today?” inquired Gavin.

Samantha replied, “Timothy Benson committed perjury.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“During his deposition under oath.”

Gavin shot back. “That’s crazy!”

“You want to bet the company marbles on it?”

“Look, I know Timothy since he graduated from Ohio State and joined his father’s company twelve years ago.”

Samantha smiled and calmly said, “We both know that the business world can change you. You get sucked up into thinking that you’re invincible. But lying under oath is in a league all by itself. The exposure is absolute.”

“Okay, what did Timothy lie about?” Gavin finally asked.

“As you well know, Henry Baines was terminated by Timothy on the grounds of poor job performance and for no other reason.”

Samantha retrieved from her briefcase the deposition transcript of Timothy’s testimony. “Let me read an excerpt.