Chapter 5
CHAPTER 5
JASPER
“Are we ever going to talk about the case?” I ask, ready blurt out anything so as not to be overwhelmed by the presence of Marshall in the conference room where we are working.
It’s my third day on the job—the rest of the first one and the entirety of the second I spent with Penny, who caught me up to speed on the back-office side of things. I learned how to get into the file on this case and how to access the firm’s calendar and research platforms. That was on top of getting an office ID, email, and all the rest.
This is the first time Marshall and I have spent time together—even been in the same room—since the awkward morning of finding that my sexy hookup was now the person I would be working with all summer.
He quirks a brow at me and slides a take-away cup of coffee across the table.
“Let’s caffeinate first?” he suggests. “I don’t know your order, yet, but let Penny know and she will coordinate someone for the coffee runs.”
“I assumed I would be doing coffee runs.”
“You are much more helpful to me on this case than on a coffee run. We are heading to trial in a few weeks. You need to familiarize yourself with the file.”
I nod, pulling it up from the firm’s file management system and my notes that I have made so far on my laptop.
“Get up to speed today. Start with the Complaint and the Summary Judgement Motion and Order we just won.”
I nod again, fingers flying as he continues, and I make notes of what he’s saying, a little proud of myself that I would have started in the same place he suggested and that I can keep up with his bullet-point tempo.
“The depositions are also in the file—read those. In fact, your whole life this summer needs to be Ashby v. The City of Trenton .”
I look at him to gauge if he’s joking. He isn’t.
“I’m going to lay the facts of the case out for you,” he says, gesturing to Penny to join us as she enters the conference room. “I want both of you to write down questions. What you don’t understand, what has holes—especially you, Jasper, as you haven’t heard this before and can give us a sense of how the jury will understand the facts. Most of this will be in my opening statement, so I need to know what lands.”
Penny nods right along with me, and I can see why Marsh, I mean Marshall, and Professor Rutherford are friends. They have similar energy when it comes to discussing a case.
“After that, we need to go through the evidence. Piece by piece. I want an index card for everything we might offer into evidence. I want to be clear on what point we are proving with every piece we offer. What objections can be made and what is our response? Every piece. Then, the same for them. What the evidence is, what it can prove, and our arguments. If there is a case one way or another, I want it cited. Got it?”
Penny and I again nod in tandem. I know a few things about being prepared for trial. I’ve taken the trial class the law school offers and even sat in on a few trials. What Marsh wants is a level of dedication beyond what anyone has mentioned to me before.
Every piece of evidence? The man is thorough.
What would it be like to have that kind of thoroughness applied to other things, I wonder. Sexy things.
I’m transfixed as Marsh starts laying out the facts. He doesn’t have the background of a courtroom, just the windows of the sleek conference room. It’s less grand in a way, but his presence is still filling the space.
Hell, he isn’t even in a suit. It’s just him in business casual, reciting the facts of the case.
Doesn’t matter though; he’s mesmerizing. He’s the kind of handsome that draws you in, makes you want to listen.
I can see why he’s good in the courtroom.
I want to believe him and every word he says.