Chapter 13
Summary Judgment
Matt was in a good mood because he’d just received a letter advising him that his application to be reinstated with the State Bar of Texas had been approved. Finally he could put his name on pleadings and appear in court. It had been a long, painful journey back, and he was glad it was finally behind him. He just prayed the future would be brighter. He called Candy and told her the good news.
“Oh, that’s fabulous, honey. God, what a relief, huh?”
“Yeah, it really is.”
“We’ll have to celebrate tonight.”
“Sounds good to me.”
“The girls are going to be thrilled. Maybe we should have another slumber party.”
Matt thought about that for a moment. The last slumber party had been memorable but also a little overwhelming. “Nah, how about just you and me. You’re the only one I want to be with tonight.”
“Wow! Turning down a slumber party?”
“Yes, but don’t tell the girls. I don’t want to hurt their feelings.”
“I won’t. I don’t really want to share you, anyway.”
“Good. Then I’ll see you later.”
“Okay. Call me.”
After he’d told the good news to his secretary, Melissa, and his father, he returned to the task of answering his mail. It was a tedious process that a lot of attorneys delegated to staff, but not Matt. He wanted to see every piece of mail that came through the office. That way he couldn’t be blindsided by something that his secretary might not have thought to be important. His brow furrowed as he spotted a letter from Richmond. Now what’s he up to? He picked it out of the pile and noted it was heavy. Some kind of pleading. He thought maybe it was discovery responses, but it was too early for that. He opened it warily and read the title. Motion for No Evidence Summary Judgment. What the hell?
It was premature to be filing a motion for a no evidence summary judgment, as most judges wouldn’t consider one until the discovery period was over. The plaintiff couldn’t be expected to have all his evidence put together until he’d finished sending out his discovery and taken depositions. This was a bullshit motion designed for one purpose only—to harass him and waste his time. Anger welled inside him as he read the voluminous document. It would take him weeks to respond to it and distract him from more important work on the case. Worst of all, he’d have to spend hours with his client putting affidavits and evidence together for the response. He cursed Richmond for his underhanded tactics. As he was lamenting this development Ryan walked in.
“Hey! I heard the good news.”
Matt smiled and stood up. The two brothers embraced.
“Yeah, thanks,” Matt said.
“I’ve got good news, too!” Ryan said excitedly.
“Really? What’s that?”
“I got my bar exam results back. I passed!”
Matt forced a smile. “Oh. That’s great. Congratulations, little brother.”
“Thanks,” Ryan said, a little disappointed by Matt’s less-than-enthusiastic response. “What’s wrong? Something happen?”
“Yeah, look at this bullshit motion for summary judgment.”
“What? From Richmond?”
Matt nodded. “That’s right, and he’s already got it set for hearing.”
Ryan shrugged. “Well, that’s standard procedure for the defense bar these days, from what I’ve been reading in the Bar Journal. Any way to run up their bills. You know with tort reform cutting down on the number of lawsuits a lot of firms are hurting for business, so they compensate by billing the hell out of every file they have.”
Matt didn’t respond.
“So, are the girls throwing you another party?”
Matt shook his head. “No. I think Candy and I are just going to go out to dinner or something. No slumber party tonight.”
“Slumber party? Is that what happened after Amanda and I left? You never told me.”
Matt chuckled. “Yeah, well, some things are private.”
Ryan frowned. “No, no. You’ve got to share with your brother. You don’t get to keep secrets. When I left, Sharon and the twins were still there. Did they stay the night?”
The guilty look on Matt’s face answered Ryan’s question. “Okay, spit it out. I want all the sordid details.”
Matt sighed. “It was nothing.”
“Nothing, my ass. Did you have sex with anyone other than Candy?”
“I take the Fifth,” Matt replied.
“Oh, my God. So, you did, you little rascal. Who’d you do it with?”
“Sharon was first.”
“First?”
“Sharon and then Candy cut in.”
Ryan shook his head. “So, that was it? Sharon and Candy.”
“That’s all I could handle. I was half-drunk. The twins got me in the morning—in the hot tub.”
“Oh, you’re such a liar.”
Matt laughed. “It’s the truth. I promise you, but believe what you want. I don’t care.”
Ryan left Matt’s office rolling his eyes. Matt sighed when he was gone, recalling that memorable moment of seeing the twins there naked in the hot tub beckoning him to join them. He wondered if he’d made a mistake in declining another sleepover. His intercom broke that nagging thought. The receptionist announced that Cindy Sharp was on the line. He blinked to bring himself back to reality.
“Cindy, hi,” he said.
“Mr. Coleman. I was just calling to see if you heard anything.”
Matt took a deep breath. Clients were always impatient, and Cindy was worse than most. Even though he’d explained that litigation took years, she would call every week for an update. “Well, actually something has come up.”
“What?” she asked worriedly.
“RMS has filed a motion for summary judgment.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means they claim we don’t have a case—insufficient evidence to prove all of the elements of our causes of action.”
“So, are they right?”
“Well, maybe right now, but we haven’t conducted discovery yet. The judge will never grant it. It’s premature.”
“But they might win?”
“No. I don’t think so, but we will have to respond and it’s going to take a lot of time and hard work to respond to it. I’ll be needing your help to gather information and prepare a response.”
“I can’t believe this shit! They’re going to make us go through a bunch of hoops like a circus clown. The bastards killed my husband. You’ve got to make them pay.”
“We will. But it will take time. You’ve got to be patient.”
“Yeah, well time isn’t on my side. I’m destitute,” she said, starting to cry.
“Listen, remember the lady we told you about on the inside?”
“Yes,” Cindy said.
“Well, apparently Lucius Jones is involved in document forgery. We don’t know how it works quite yet, but there is a chance the affidavits attached to this motion may be forgeries.”
“What? The bastard is making up his own evidence?”
“Yes. That’s what it looks like, but I haven’t had a chance to study the affidavit or verify the title to the loan yet. But don’t worry, we’re on top of it.”
“Don’t worry? Right. That’s easy for you to say. Maybe I should go find the bastard and put a bullet in his head.”
The line went dead. Matt shifted nervously in his chair. Was she serious? He didn’t think so. She was just angry and for good reason. He called her back just to be sure, but she didn’t pick up. He wondered if he should do something, but what could he do? Finally, he decided he was overreacting and went to lunch.
When he got back he took a closer look at the motion for summary judgment and, in particular, the exhibits to it. One of them was an assignment of the original note from Southern Atlantic Mortgage Company to RMS dated July 11, 2005. It was signed by Robin Stuart, executive VP. He wondered if
Stuart had actually signed the assignment. Still worried about Cindy hanging up on him, he called her again. She picked up this time.
“Hello.”
“Cindy. This is Matt again. We were cut off. Are you all right?”
She sighed. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
“Good. I took a closer look at the motion, and I’m going to check the signature on one of the documents. It may be a forgery. If it is it could blow the case wide open. I just wanted you to know.”
“Thank you,” Cindy said, seeming dejected. “I’m sorry I hung up on you. It’s just been hard with Tony gone. I miss him so much.’
“I know it’s been hard on you, but I want you to know that Jones is going to pay for what he’s doing. In fact, I’m devoting every waking hour to figuring out how to take him down along with all the other scumbags in the mortgage business like him.”
“Yes, Lucius Jones will pay,” Cindy said evenly. “Thanks for calling me back, Matt. I’m okay. You don’t have to worry about me. Everything is under control.”
“Okay,” Matt replied, but he wasn’t sure Cindy was okay. She was different somehow—like she’d had a few drinks or taken a sedative. Finally, he decided she was still grieving and her mood swings were just part of the process. Perhaps after she got angry with him, she took her doctor’s advice and took a sedative. That’s probably it, he convinced himself.
Unconscionable, A Rich Coleman Novel Vol 3 Page 14
