Sycamore Row - John Grisham

and Marvis.
He was with a client, but his secretary had pulled the file. Jake promised to copy what
he wanted and return it soon. No rush, said the secretary. It’s been closed for some time.
Wade Lanier’s favorite lunch spot was Hal & Mal’s, an old Jackson haunt a few blocks
from the state capitol and a ten-minute walk from his office on State Street. He took his
favorite table, ordered a glass of tea, and waited impatiently for five minutes until Ian
Dafoe walked through the door and joined him. They ordered sandwiches, covered the
weather and football, and soon enough got down to business. “We’ll take the case to
trial,” Lanier said gravely, his voice barely above a whisper, as if delivering an
important secret.
Ian sort of nodded and shrugged and said, “That’s good to hear.” Anything to the
contrary would have been a surprise. There weren’t too many jackpots in the state and
lots of lawyers were circling around this one.
“But we don’t need any help,” Lanier said. “Herschel has that clown from Memphis,
unlicensed of course in Mississippi, and he’ll just get in the way. There’s not a damned
thing that boy can do to help us, and he can do plenty to irritate me. Can you talk to
Herschel and convince him that he and his sister are on the same team and I can handle
it?”
“I don’t know. Herschel has his own ideas and Ramona doesn’t always agree.”
“Well, figure it out. The courtroom is already crowded, and I suspect Judge Atlee will
start whittling down the lineup pretty soon.”
“What if Herschel says no, wants to keep his own lawyer?”
“We’ll deal with it then. First, though, try and convince him that his lawyer is not
needed, that’s just another finger in the pie.”
“Okay, along those same lines, what’s your fee proposal?”
“We’ll take it on a contingency. One-third of the recovery. The legal issues are not
overly complex and the trial should last less than a week. We would normally suggest 25
percent of any settlement, but that looks highly unlikely, in my opinion.”
“Why not?”
“It’s all or nothing, one will or the other. No room for compromise.”
Ian considered this but didn’t fully grasp it. The sandwiches arrived and they spent a
few minutes arranging the food on their plates. Lanier said, “We’re in, but only if both
Ramona and Herschel sign on. We—”
“So you prefer a third of fourteen million as opposed to a third of only seven,” Ian
interrupted in a half-baked attempt to add a little humor. But it fell flat. Lanier ignored
it and took a bite; he didn’t smile very often anyway. He swallowed and said, “You got
it. I can win this case, but I’m not going to have some jackass from Memphis looking
over my shoulder, getting in the way, and alienating the jury. Plus, Ian, you gotta
understand that we, my partners and I, are extremely busy. We’ve vowed to stop taking
new cases. My partners are reluctant to commit the firm’s time and resources to a will