Page 63 of The Best Lawyer
“No. And I didn’t take the call. My scheduler did. No reason given.”
“So it isn’t even accurate to say Mr. Loomis intended to reschedule. Because he didn’t. As you stated, he simply canceled the appointment.”
“You’re talking semantics, I guess. But yes. For whatever reason, the appointment was canceled.”
“By Mr. Loomis?”
“Yes!”
“So we’re clear, what is the legal effect of a drafted divorce complaint or drafts of an estate plan?”
“The legal effect?”
“Right,” I said. “In draft mode. If they’re not signed.”
She smiled. “There is no legal effect. Not until the client comes in and signs them. On the estate planning side, those also need to be witnessed.”
“Okay,” I said. “So you prepared drafts only. Then Mr. Loomis canceled the appointment you set up for him to fully execute them.”
“That’s right.”
“Clients change their minds, don’t they?”
“Excuse me?”
She seemed to be playing obtuse for no good reason I could think of. “Mr. Loomis could have changed his mind about getting a divorce or changing his will, right?”
“I suppose so.”
“And in this circumstance, if a client has you prepare certain documents then cancels the appointment to execute them, that would be a way of expressing a change of mind, wouldn’t it? At least one way.”
“Objection,” Addison said. “Calls for speculation. She can’t have it both ways. If Ms. Murphy can’t guess at Mr. Loomis’s intent in preparing these documents, she likewise can’t make assumptions about his actions or inaction afterward.”
“Sustained,” Castor said. “Ask it another way, Counselor.”
“Isn’t it true that as of the day that final appointment was canceled, your most recent representation of Tom Loomis amounted to nothing?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, even though he came to you to prepare those documents, nothing came of it. He never did anything to actually put those plans into place, right?”
“Objectively, that’s true. But as you said, I can’t assume his intentions.”
“No,” I said. “You can’t. I have no further questions.”
As soon as Judge Castor dismissed Marcia from the witness stand, Quick was on his feet. “Your Honor,” he said. “Before weproceed, I have a serious matter I’d like to bring to the court’s attention.”
Castor scowled. “Fine,” he said. “The jury could benefit from a short break, I suppose. We’ll take a thirty-minute recess.”
The bailiff ushered the jury out. Quick and I approached the bench.
“What’s going on, Counselor?” Castor asked.
“Your Honor,” he said. “It has come to my attention that Ms. Leary has engaged in some conduct outside of trial that could amount to jury tampering.”
I reared back as if he’d slapped me. “I’m sorry … what?”
Chapter 23
