Class Action Page #7

- She's hiding something.

- Yeah. Maybe.

- I ever tell you you're a terrific lawyer?

- Yes.

I lied.

Find this guy Pavel. You know,

the bunny man? I wanna talk to him.

The testing methodology was state of the art

at the time and that's what we went by.

OK, George.

We're through for the day.

You're still talking a little above the jury.

Not that that would be difficult.

Just keep it simple.

- I wish I'd never seen that damn report.

- Makes two of us.

- May I ask a question, please?

- Sure.

Why didn't you just

change the blinker circuit?

It's just a question.

I told Flannery about the problem

a month or so before he died.

- He called in his head bean counter.

- What's that?

- Risk management expert, right?

- Yeah.

Flannery shows him the data and asks him

how much it would cost to retrofit...

- You mean recall?

- Yeah, you got it.

To retrofit 175,000 units.

Multiply that times 300 bucks a car,

give or take.

You're looking at around $50 million.

So the risk guy,

he crunches the numbers some more.

He figures you'd have a fireball collision

about every 3,000 cars.

That's 158 explosions.

Which is almost as many

plaintiffs as there are.

These guys know their numbers.

So you multiply that

times $200,000 per lawsuit.

That's assuming everybody sues and wins.

30 million max.

See? It's cheaper to deal with the lawsuits

than it is to fix the blinker.

It's what the bean counters

call a simple actuarial analysis.

Dad?

- Dad!

- Miss Ward? What an honor.

You've come to admire your handiwork, I see.

- Is he here?

- He's gone.

This wasn't my idea. I'm sorry.

I'm glad to hear that.

So.

You guys got anything stronger

than herb tea to drink around here?

That bad?

I'm sorry.

Deborah usually does this kind of thing.

- You mean she has anotherjob?

- Maggie! She's married.

That never stopped him before, Nick.

She's married to a woman named Cindy.

Really?

Really. He doesn't play around any more,

or maybe you hadn't noticed.

- Nope. Maybe I didn't care.

- Of course you care. The man owns you.

Everything you are, everything you do

is based on driving him crazy.

- Well, thank you, Dr Freud.

- Like it takes a genius to spot it?

Jesus, Maggie!

If he stands up, you sit down.

If he turns right, you turn left,

even if you don't want to.

Your biggest aspiration

is to be his mirror image.

Exactly the opposite of what he is,

and the problem is you don't know what he is.

That makes being you impossible.

You give him too much credit, Nick.

I guess you always have.

And what the hell have you done?

You're probably gonna beat him, Maggie.

We both know that.

You got the staff and the money

to grind us into the ground.

But even if he loses,

he'll know he went down on the right side.

You'll have your big success.

Your partnership. And what else?

I got work to do.

What?

Oh, no. Oh, no!

- Of course, he denied everything.

- There's not one single copy left?

- No.

- Then, who's to say the notes ever existed?

Here! Good dog.

Go catch the ball.

It won't work, Mr Quinn.

I can still testify.

I can tell them the notes existed.

What then? Your testimony will be vitiated

by Michael who has an impeccable record

and loyal friends in the legal community.

And you will have destroyed

a very promising career.

I'd hate to see that happen.

What about Pavel?

My father will find him, call him up

as a witness and he'll blow the cover.

I don't think so.

We have a way of neutralizing him.

- How?

- You.

I watched your deposition of Mr Kellen.

You discredited him while making it seem

like he was doing it to himself.

That takes talent.

The good doctor's a far more impeachable

witness. He shouldn't be a problem.

At least, I hope it's you. The jury accepts this

kind of thing much better if a woman does it.

But even if it's not, you can be certain the

good doctor will be dispatched by someone.

It's going to happen.

This is really the way you want it?

It's the way it is.

Bottom line, Michael Grazier's put us

in an extraordinarily difficult position.

When it's over, he's going to pay for it.

But that needn't concern you.

You're gonna be far too busy...

as the youngest partner

in the history of this firm.

- Margaret!

- Yeah?

- Margaret, are you here?

- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Nick said you came by the office

the other night. Did you...

- Yeah.

- I guess we just missed each other.

How did you get in?

I used your mother's key.

I tried calling you

but your phone's been disconnected.

Come in.

I didn't want to use it but I...

I got worried.

I thought something had happened to you.

Your mom was mad at me

when she died and I...

Don't worry. I'm not going out any windows.

I just wanted to say that I was sorry

and I'm wrong. I was dead wrong.

I got real defensive.

I started... I was acting like a clown.

I was bullying people. You...

Dad, you don't have to do this.

Wait, I'm not finished yet. I...

I guess I'm finished.

Would you sit down?

Yeah.

You can just toss that.

Dad. I wish Mom were here.

I wish I could call her and talk to her.

And yet I know exactly what she'd tell me.

And I was going to call you. I was.

I wanted to. But I didn't know how.

I'm so used to being angry with you

that anything else just doesn't feel right.

It felt kind of awkward.

I'm sorry I spent my whole life

being angry with you.

It's been a constructive anger.

I've gotten a lot done, somehow.

You were also my scapegoat.

If anything went wrong, I blamed it on you.

Anything. I could fail a test

and somehow it was your fault.

Now I look at things as they are

and I realize I need a new approach.

I don't have the slightest idea where to begin.

I don't know.

I get up and pray to God I can get through

the day without somebody catching on.

In-between, it's just all smoke and mirrors.

I always thought I was doing the right thing

but maybe I was wrong. I don't know.

I think that's the first time

I ever heard you say that.

I guess I should work on that, shouldn't I?

Come in.

Hi.

- These are for you.

- Fine.

Nothing terribly important. Interrogatories,

depo summaries, witness lists.

Just leave it.

Michael, you were right.

I would make a lousy messenger.

I'm listening.

I saw my father last night.

We talked about a lot of things.

Even got some of them straightened out.

Afterwards I did some thinking

and I realized...

I realized it had been a long time

since I'd done any thinking. It felt good.

Somebody once told me

an emotional lawyer is a bad lawyer.

- I've been a pretty bad lawyer lately.

- No argument.

I've come very close to blowing everything

around here for everyone, including myself.

So, what do you say?

You forgive me, I'll forgive you.

Or I'll forgive you, you forgive me.

Please.

Tell me what you know about Pavel.

He doesn't have a chance.

Right.

Dr Pavel.

Let's talk about the Meridian blinker circuit.

In your capacity as research scientist at Argo,

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