Practice Makes Perfect

by Carsen Taite

  Chapter Seven

  Campbell waited until Wynne took her seat before walking to the front of the room. Wynne had done a good job of laying out the case for Worth Ingram to stay on board, but her presentation, while moving, was staid and worn. Now she, Grace, and Abby had fifteen minutes to steal this case, and they were going to make the most of it.

  “My name is Campbell Clark, and I’m a partner at Clark, Keane, and Maldonado. The other named partners are here with me today, and here’s why that’s important.” She paused and took a moment to lock eyes with each board member. “Whatever work we do for you will be performed by a partner, not an associate. I will take the lead, but you can reach any one of us, any time, to discuss any aspect of the case.” She motioned to Braxton’s laptop sitting on the table. “Grace has just emailed each of you a firm prospectus along with our standard representation agreement as an encrypted file. I can assure you our rates are competitive, and we bring to the table all the experience of a big law firm business and litigation practice, but in a customizable package that we will tailor just for you.

  “But enough about the logistics. Right now you’d like to see our strategic plan for winning this case.” She paused. None of them had expected that the team from Worth Ingram would be sitting in the room when they made their pitch, and she hesitated to be too specific in case Stoltz decided to co-op their plan if the board decided to keep them on. But vague promises weren’t going to sway this board and neither was the hour-long presentation she’d prepared to present. She would have to get to the point fast with hard-hitting specifics. Campbell took a deep breath, opened her Powerpoint, and plunged in.

  “Rhea Hendricks is a rising star whose last two singles debuted in the top five on Billboard’s country music chart.” Campbell pointed at the screen which displayed a trajectory on the right side and a constellation of connections on the left. “She has been in a steady climb on the charts, and until recently, her connections on Leaderboard were consistently increasing in both volume and quality. Her connection rate zoomed to ninety-five percent, in large part due to connections she’d made with some major players in the music industry.” Campbell clicked her remote to bring up the next slide. “But she took a tumble in the rankings several months ago, and she’s alleging that as a result, she lost a major film role, costing her millions of dollars in income.

  “As you know,” she said, knowing they probably had no idea, “news broke several months ago about her breakup with fiancé, Dash Wilder. Dash is a superstar in the country music world and his fans are extremely loyal.” She clicked to the next slide, which contained a graph. “There is a clear correlation between her breakup and her declining Leaderboard status due to the fact that she lost many of the connections she’d made by virtue of her relationship with Dash.

  “By now you probably think I’m more of a gossip columnist than a lawyer.” She grinned. “It’s true, I do keep up with current events, even those that some of you might find silly, but if your lawyers don’t understand your primary product, including its practical applications, then you aren’t getting your money’s worth. You don’t want to have to disclose any information about Leaderboard’s proprietary algorithm, but that’s exactly what Rhea Hendricks’s attorneys will try to get you to do. Our strategy will be to point out all the ways that Rhea Hendricks’s own actions killed her star quality and demonstrate that Leaderboard merely reflects the facts, but doesn’t make them up. You need our expertise both as lawyers and people who use and understand how social media works to win this case.”

  She reached behind her and opened the box of donuts. “This morning when we arrived, I spotted a food truck outside the building selling donuts. There was a crowd waiting in line, and I don’t know about you, but when I see a crowd outside of a food joint, I figure something good is happening inside.” She handed the box to the board member to her right, signaling for him to take one and pass the rest around. “I watched the woman in the truck, the owner and sole donut maker, as she answered questions about the ingredients, the cooking method, everything donut 101, and I was struck by what a completely different experience this was than walking into a big chain donut shop where the kid behind the counter probably doesn’t have anything to do with the actual donut making or any input into the process.

  “These donuts are amazing because the woman who is selling them put her name right there on the box, and she cares enough about her reputation to stand in that truck and make the donuts herself. Grace, Abby, and I are Clark, Keane, and Maldonado, and we know our way around cases like this one, where your business is being attacked and your reputation is at stake. We will personally handle every aspect of your case, and we stake our own reputation on getting you a favorable result. I’m not sure anything could be as good as these donuts, but we will do our level best to top them.”

  Campbell shook a few hands as they filed out of the room, noting that Wynne, Stoltz and the rest of the team from Worth Ingram had dashed out of the room the minute she was done. She had a good feeling about the presentation and couldn’t wait to talk to Grace and Abby, but before she reached the door, Brax pulled her aside. “Impressive. The donut thing especially.”

  “Thanks, but that part was easy. I mean, who doesn’t like donuts?”

  Brax grinned. “No one I want to know.” He glanced over his shoulder. “Do you mind sticking around? Grace and Abby too. We have one more thing to cover in executive session, but then I think we might have some news for you. There’s a suite around the corner where you can wait. Prairie will show you.”

  Campbell stifled the urge to burst into a big grin of her own. “You got it.” She walked over to Abby and Grace who were already waiting in the lobby.

  “What did he say?”

  “They loved it, right?’

  “He asked us to stick around. I think that’s a good sign. It is, right?”

  Grace nodded vigorously. “Definitely. Do we wait here?”

  “No, hang on a sec.” Campbell walked over to the receptionist. “Hi, Prairie, Mr. Keith asked us to wait. He said there was a suite down the hall.”

  Prairie looked puzzled for a moment, and then she nodded. “Oh, you mean Brax. Sure, come this way. The rest of the group is already there.”

  It was Campbell’s turn to be puzzled, but she waved to Abby and Grace and followed Prairie down the hall. When they reached the door to the suite, she heard voices coming from the other side, and she instantly knew who “the rest of the group” was. Wynne looked up and met her eyes as she walked into the room, and Campbell spent a moment trying to figure out the emotion she saw reflected back at her. Anger with a touch of envy? In the spirit of healthy competition, Campbell strode over to where Wynne was standing and stuck out her hand. “Good luck.”

  Wynne stared at Campbell’s hand like she viewed the gesture as some kind of trick. Campbell smiled. “Don’t worry. I don’t bite.”

  “Good to know.” Wynne finally clasped her hand in a firm shake. “You were great in there. You literally had them eating out of your hand.”

  Campbell laughed. “Donuts, the great persuader.”

  “I guess.”

  “Let me guess, you’re a no carb kind of girl.”

  “I eat plenty of carbs, but donuts are a gateway drug.”

  Campbell assumed a serious expression and nodded. “I’m familiar with this phenomenon. After donuts, it’s cake, then ice cream. A slippery slope of sweetness.”

  “Exactly.” Wynne patted her stomach. “Next thing you know you’re late to work because you can’t fit in your clothes.”

  “You don’t strike me as someone who’s ever late to work.”

  “See? Avoiding donuts has its upside.”

  “I guess. If that’s the way you want to look at it,” Campbell said, irrationally pleased they’d managed to bond even if they didn’t agree about her favorite sweet snack.

  “Wynne, can you come here, please?”

  Campbell watched Wynne’s smile turn sour a
t the sound of Stoltz’s voice. She wanted to tell her to ignore him, but she knew how it was when the partner said jump. You jumped. Grateful she didn’t have to be in that position anymore, she said, “You were great too. No matter what that guy says. Too bad only one of us gets the case.”

  Wynne looked like there was something she wanted to say in response, but Stoltz called out again, so she simply murmured, “Thank you,” and walked to the other side of the room. Campbell watched her go, wondering why she’d never noticed how long her legs were or…

  “Making friends with the enemy?”

  Campbell tore her attention away from Wynne’s backside to find Abby looking at her with a knowing smile. “What?”

  “I saw the way you were looking at her.”

  “Not even.”

  “Well, she sure has changed since school. She looks great.”

  “I guess. She seems pretty smart too. Gave us a run for it in there, but I think we have this locked down.” She heard the door to the suite open and watched Brax enter the room. “It’s go time.” Abby and Grace crowded close, and everything in the room came to a halt as Brax clapped his hands.

  “Thanks to all of you for showing up on short notice.” He cleared his throat. “As you know, since we decided to go public, the board has taken an active role in big decisions that affect the health and reputation of Leaderboard. I may not always agree with their decisions, but I have to believe they care about the future of the company. Today, they’ve decided who they would like to represent us in the first litigation we’re facing. Once we’ve had a chance to evaluate performance, we can decide who will be best to handle future legal work.”

  Campbell’s head spun as he paused for effect. What did he mean “who will be best to handle future legal work?” Whose performance would he be evaluating? Did this mean they had a shot? By the time she tuned back in, Brax was mid-sentence.

  “And you’ll work together, but it’s important to me that Campbell and Wynne take the lead. Jerry, the board trusts you’ll keep a close eye on things.” Without waiting for an answer, he finished with a simple “excellent work all around” and left the room.

  Campbell turned to Grace and Abby and whispered, “What just happened? I mean I think I know, but I need to be sure.”

  “We got the case,” Abby said. “Congrats, rock star.”

  “But…”

  “We got the case, but we have to work with them,” Grace said, pointing to the group from Worth Ingram across the room. “Correction, you have to work with them. He made you and Wynne lead counsel for the defendant aka Leaderboard.” She clapped Campbell on the shoulder. “Do us proud, and we might get all of Leaderboard’s business.”

  Campbell stared in the direction Grace had pointed and saw Wynne staring back at her, slowly shaking her head. Stoltz was standing directly behind Wynne, and he didn’t even attempt to mask his fury. Without breaking eye contact, he marched over to their group.

  “I’m not sure what law school you went to, but at Harvard we learned that it’s not okay to poach another attorney’s client. Good luck catching up.” He stalked off with his entourage in tow, and Campbell watched him go, noting that Wynne stayed behind.

  “Looks like we’ll be working together,” Campbell said.

  “If that’s what you want to call it.” Wynne stood with her hands on her hips. “I get that the client can choose whoever they want, but we’ve been working with Leaderboard since the beginning, and representing their interests is a little more complicated than conjuring up a bunch of special effects to put in a slide show and serving donuts to the board.”

  “You’re kidding, right?” Campbell said, shaking off Grace’s hand on her arm, bucking against the attempt to rein her in. “You know that we all graduated from the same school, so don’t act like you are better than we are. I promise you we are more than qualified to handle this case and the rest of Leaderboard’s business without your help.” She lowered her voice to a whisper and added, “And there are no Jerry Stoltzes at our firm, pretending they do all the work and then taking all the credit when things go well in spite of them.”

  Wynne’s eyes narrowed, but she didn’t say anything. Campbell wasn’t certain if she was unsure how to respond or merely taking her time to find the perfect zinger, but Wynne’s phone buzzed, breaking the spell. Wynne glanced at the screen and then shoved it in her bag.

  “Monday. My office. Eleven o’clock. We’ll go over the work we’ve done on the case so far. My secretary will call yours to confirm.” Wynne tossed the last few words over her shoulder as she strode out of the room, leaving Campbell staring after those legs again.

  “If she’s the enemy, you’re going to have to stop staring at her like that,” Grace said.

  “Not staring. I swear.”

  “Liar,” Abby said. “That was your last one. After today, we’re only friendly enough to get through this case. Then we go in for the kill.”

  Suddenly cognizant of the fact they were still standing in their new client’s offices, Campbell shook off the confusion of her encounter with Wynne. “Let’s get to work.”

  * * *

  Wynne paced her tiny office, waiting for inspiration, waiting for a way out of this untenable arrangement, and waiting for—

  “Garrity, get out here.”

  Stoltz to explode. And there it was. Making a mental note to call Seth to debrief once Stoltz was done with her, she stuck her head out the door, but Stoltz wasn’t in sight. She spotted Jennifer walking toward her desk with a mug in her hand. “Is he in his office?”

  “Yes. Tread lightly.”

  Wynne nodded her thanks for the unnecessary warning. Stoltz had left the meeting this morning in his own car, and she hadn’t seen him since, but she’d been dreading his wrath all afternoon. All she’d wanted to do was go to the nearest bakery and buy a dozen doughnuts. Damn Campbell Clark and her impossible metabolism.

  She paused in front of Stoltz’s partially open door, and he barked for her to come in before she could knock. He was spooky like that. He was a lot of things she didn’t like, but he was also a hurdle she had to jump if she wanted to become partner, and she wasn’t about to let a jerk like Stoltz shut her out.

  “Have a seat,” he said, his voice much calmer than she had expected.

  She sat on the edge of the seat, ready to spring into action, and waited for him to start railing about everything that had gone wrong that morning.

  “I think we have a good opportunity to use this situation to show Braxton and the board that we are the clear choice.”

  Wynne resisted the urge to stand up and look behind Stoltz to see if he was being operated by another power. “Okay,” she said tentatively.

  “Tell me everything you know about Campbell Clark.”

  The question caught her off guard. “Campbell?”

  “Yes, Campbell. The woman who’s trying to steal our client.” He waved his hand to signal his impatience. “I saw you chatting with her. How do you know her?”

  “I don’t. Not really. I mean we graduated in the same class at UT, but that’s about it. We didn’t run in the same circles, and today’s the first time we’ve spoken more than a couple of sentences to each other.” She conveniently left out that she’d run into Campbell a couple of months ago at the reunion.

  “Well, that’s going to have to change. Neutralizing her is the key to keeping Leaderboard’s business. Obviously, you’ll need to share some things with her so it looks like we’re working together, but we’ll have to work on a separate strategy to win this case. One that we can whip out at exactly the right moment to show Braxton we are the superior firm.”

  Wynne wanted to shudder at the idea of Stoltz whipping anything out, but she forced a smile instead. “And I suppose you have some specific idea for how you’d like me to proceed?”

  “Yes. First off, schedule your meetings with her at her office, not ours. That way we can control what she sees. We’ve already done a lot of preliminary work on the
case, and she shouldn’t benefit from it.”

  Wynne made a mental note to have Jennifer call Campbell’s office and change the location of tomorrow’s meeting. “And second?”

  “Since you’re going to be there anyway, get whatever information you have on their operation. Word is they’ve barely set up shop, and I doubt they have three clients between them, which probably means they don’t have much in the way of support staff. There’s lean and then there’s too lean to handle a client like Leaderboard. These girls are in over their heads, and it’s up to us to protect Braxton from making a big mistake just because he likes to root for the underdog.”

  Wynne wanted to argue with him, wanted to point out that he was being misogynistic for referring to Campbell and her friends dismissively as “girls,” point out that it was inappropriate and unethical to snoop around a rival’s office, but she knew her arguments wouldn’t have any influence on him and would only make her seem weak in his eyes. Attorneys who wanted to become partner were scrappy, and sometimes scrappy meant taking risks, so she merely said, “Okay. I’m meeting with her Monday.”

  “Excellent. That’s it then.”

  Wynne stood and started walking toward the door, eager to put some distance between them, but he called out again before she made it across the threshold.

  “Wynne?”

  “Yes?”

  “You do a good job on this little project and that partnership is yours for sure.”

  She paused for a moment, unsure of the best response to give to someone who was basically telling her to fight to the death. “Thanks. I got this.”

  Seth was in her office when she returned, sitting behind her desk with his feet propped on the desk. “You look cozy,” she said.