Sycamore Row - John Grisham

sophomoric objection to Buckley’s entry would prove to be so useful.
Judge Atlee went on at full throttle. “You’re not officially here, Mr. Buckley. Why
have you assumed such a position of authority?”
“Well, Your Honor—”
“Please stand when you address the court!”
Buckley lurched upward, cracking a knee on the table ledge as he struggled for some
dignity. “Well, Your Honor, I’ve never seen a case in which a duly licensed lawyer had
his appearance objected to on such baseless grounds, and so I figured you would
dispense with it on sight and we could proceed to much more pressing matters.”
“You figured wrong, Mr. Buckley, and you assumed you and your Memphis co-counsel
could march in here and take control of the proponents’ case. I resent that.”
“Well, Chancellor, I assure the court—”
“Sit down, Mr. Buckley. Gather your things and have a seat over here in the jury box.”
Judge Atlee was pointing a long bony finger in Jake’s general direction. Buckley didn’t
move. His co-counsel, however, did.
Booker Sistrunk stood, spread his hands wide, and said in his deep, rich, booming
voice, “Your Honor, if it please the court, I must say this is rather absurd. This is a
routine matter that we can certainly dispose of in short shrift. It does not need this type
of overreaction. We’re all reasonable people here, all trying to pursue justice. May I
suggest we confront the initial question of Mr. Buckley’s right to enter this case as local
counsel? Surely Your Honor can see that the objection filed by young Mr. Brigance here
has no merit and should be summarily overruled. You can see this, Judge, right?”
Judge Atlee said nothing and gave nothing away with his eyes. After a few, heavy
seconds, he looked down at a clerk and said, “See if Sheriff Walls is in the courthouse.”
That directive might have frightened Rufus Buckley, and it might have amused Jake
and the lawyers on the other side, but it angered Booker Sistrunk. He stiffened his spine
and said, “Your Honor, I have the right to speak.”
“Not yet, you don’t. Please sit down, Mr. Sistrunk.”
“I object to your tone, Your Honor. I represent the beneficiary of this will, Ms. Lettie
Lang, and I have the duty to protect her interests at every turn.”
“Sit down, Mr. Sistrunk.”
“I will not be silenced, Your Honor. Not too many years ago, lawyers like me were
not allowed to speak in this very courtroom. For years they could not enter, and once
inside they were not allowed to speak.”
“Sit down before I hold you in contempt.”
“Don’t threaten me, Judge,” Sistrunk said as he stepped from behind the table. “I have
the right to speak, to advocate for my client, and I will not be silenced by some arcane
technicality in your rules of procedure.”
“Sit down before I hold you in contempt.”
Sistrunk took another step forward as the lawyers and everyone else stared in
disbelief. “I will not sit down,” he snapped angrily, and Jake thought he was losing his
mind. “This is the very reason I filed a motion asking you to recuse yourself. It’s obvious
to me and many others that you have a racial bias in this case and there’s no way my