Chapter 22 #2
The contractor is the biggest asshole I’ve ever met, and that’s saying something. Mediation has failed three times, and I was sick of his shit, so I told him Bill and I’d see him in court.
So here we are. I would love nothing more than to bury this smug jerk so he can’t rip off hard-working people because he’s over-committed to clients and performs subpar work to get jobs done quicker.
Mandi’s eyeing me suspiciously. I should’ve known she’d be able to tell I’m a little shaken up.
“All rise.”
I set my bag on the table in front of my chair and wait as the judge enters the courtroom. I’ve been in front of him before, and he’s always been a fair judge. Hopefully, today is no different.
“Please, be seated.”
Everyone takes their seats.
“Are both sides ready to begin?”
“Yes, Your Honor.”
“No, we are not.”
Both the other attorney and I speak at the same time. My head whips in her direction, annoyed that she didn’t make me aware of this and wasted all our time.
I look back at the judge, who’s staring over the top of his glasses at us.
“Your Honor, this is ridiculous. I spoke with Ms. Boothe two days ago, and she said nothing about not being prepared to begin today.” I pull a file from my bag.
“Furthermore, I have transcripts of our failed mediation that prove that opposing counsel here has a history of coming to meetings unprepared and remains unwilling to reach an agreement that’s acceptable to both parties.
And quite frankly, Your Honor, it’s disrespectful to your and my time, and her clients’ as well. ”
The judge shifts his stare from me to the other attorney. I do feel a little bad for her. She is clearly a newer attorney, and I know when I was just starting out and was under the kind of scrutiny she is, I was shitting my pants.
“Is that true, Ms. Boothe?”
Sadly, she makes it evident to all that she hasn’t learned self-preservation when she says, “Your Honor, I take issue with both of you questioning me.”
My jaw drops a little as the judge whips off his glasses and drops them on the bench with a clatter. I think I hear a snicker from the bailiff, who undoubtedly knows more than this woman that you don’t speak to a judge like that, especially not in his courtroom.
“I see,” the judge draws out, his tone one that would strike fear into more seasoned attorneys.
“Then please, enlighten the courtroom as to why you’re not prepared to proceed today, even though this court date had been set for”—he picks up a piece of paper—“four weeks. And while we’re at it, please also explain why you and your client were unable to come to a resolution during mediation. ”
Boothe stammers, finally seeming to come to her senses. “Uh, yes, Your Honor. Well, we tried to come to an agreement, but the requests being made were unreasonable. And as for today, we, uh, have something that came up yesterday that we were wanting to look into before we begin.”
The judge shuffles through a few papers. He finds the one he’s looking for and reads through it. “So you mean to tell me that you and your client felt returning the money needed to fix the work that was not done correctly is unreasonable?”
I slip my hands into the pockets of my slacks, curious to see what the excuse will be since I asked that same question in mediation multiple times.
My client could’ve asked for all of his money back, but we compromised for the average of all the quotes he received for the repairs.
Glancing over at me, as if I could help her, I raise my eyebrows in question.
“We felt there was some question about whether the claims of negligent work were actually true.”
The judge lets out an exasperated sound. “Ms. Boothe, from what I can see, they went above and beyond and got six different opinions from licensed contractors as to whether there was negligence. What would have been sufficient for you and your client? Ten? Twenty?”
She opens her mouth to respond, and the judge holds up his hand.
“That was rhetorical. I’m ready to make my ruling. I order the defendant to pay the plaintiff the highest of the quotes in the amount of $47,235.”
Smirking, I nod at the judge. “Thank you, Your Honor.”
His eyes never leave my counterpart. “And Ms. Boothe, if you’re ever in my courtroom again, I expect you to come prepared for proceedings and to conduct yourself in a more respectful manner. Is that understood?”
Her swallow is visible. “Yes, Your Honor.”
The gavel booms in the near-silent courtroom. “Case dismissed.”
As the judge leaves the bench, I shake hands with my client.
“Mr. Rivers, thank you so much. That’s even more than we hoped for,” he gushes, tears in his eyes.
“You’re so welcome. I can’t wait to see the finished space. Please keep me posted when you have an official grand opening. I love frozen yogurt.”
“I will. Thank you again.”
I turn to Mandi. “I need to get going. Can you get everything squared away here?”
Concern filters into her eyes. Under her breath, she asks, “You okay?”
Nodding, I tell her, “I’ll tell you later. I just need to check on something.”
With that, I stalk out of the courthouse. My heart is thudding as I laser focus on one thing—making sure Lily is safe.