The Guardian (2001–2004): Season 1, Episode 12 - Causality - full transcript

Have you reached a verdict?

We have, Your Honor. What say you?

In the case of the Commonwealth versus
Dr. Thomas Reed, on the count of

Murder in the First Degree,
we find the defendant

not guilty by reason of insanity.

Quiet.

Dr. Reed, you must prove to the
court that you are not a risk

to yourself or to others before
you are allowed to go home. Until then,

you will remain under the care of
Southwestern Psychiatric Institute.

Nick, does this change anything?

It changes everything. I won't start at
Kirk and McGee until this thing is settled.



Why not? - Because I don't want
to lose my piece of the

Reed settlement after my father
kicks your ass.

Dad.
- Yeah?

I just advised Sample to keep
his civil suit with you.

I won't start at Kirk and McGee
until this thing settles.

Meryl? What are you doing here?

What? Aren't you gonna give me a hug?

May I sit?
- Sure.

So...

How are the folks?

Oh, Dad's got diabetes. Mom is, you
know, same old pain in the ass.

And Cindy's living in Florida with
some guy who sells surfboards.

What do you want, Meryl?

I was fired from my job for reporting a



design defect in the brakes we manufacture.
- What?

This company makes brakes for cars.
These brakes were defective.

At least ten people have died so far.
- Hold on, Meryl. What...

They fired me for tipping the government, and
now I'm suing them for wrongful termination.

And?

I want you to represent me.
- No.

Look at this. This is an
internal memo that shows that

the company knew these brakes were
defective all along. - I can't.

I have a clinic to run.

All right, fine. You want to make
me beg. That's my tax returns.

I qualify for legal aide, okay? I can
barely make my rent. I have nothing.

Alvin... Sorry.
- No, Nick, it's fine.

Come on in.
- What is it?

My father's taking over
Hunter Reed's civil suit.

So?

So I want you to reinstate
me as Hunter's legal guardian.

I'm sorry. Nick Fallin, this
is my ex-wife... Meryl Dimetrio.

Hi.

I just spoke to your father's attorney.

They're gonna be releasing him from
Southwestern in a couple of days.

Well, can I go home then?

Well, your father doesn't
have custody of you.

Your grandparents do. There's
going to be another hearing.

This one will determine
who is gonna raise you.

The other thing is, the uh
the jury said that it was

the drugs that made
your dad kill your mom.

And the company that made those
drugs is gonna have to pay for that now.

Are they going to jail? - No. They will
have to pay you a lot of money.

Is that good?

It's fair.

But money could complicate things.

Can it help me get back with my dad?

That's the thing.
It- it could make it harder.

Hi. Uh - Alvin Masterson and
Meryl Dimetrio to see Burton Fallin.

One moment, please.

Alvin?
- Burton.

Well, what the hell are you
doing up here? How are you?

All right.
- Mr. Masterson is my new attorney.

Oh. Well... Oh, wait a minute. You
used to practice labor law, right?

But you - you represented management
over at uh - at uh -Mandel and uh...

Moore.
- Mandel and Moore. Right.

Yeah. Well... huh.
- We used to be married.

Oh. Come on back. I'll get
you a coffee or something.

So, is Nick working out okay over at the
- the clinic?

Yeah. He's coming around.

Well, that's good. That's good to hear.

He speaks very... Oh, Sam. This is uh...

Burton.

This is uh Sam Whittenburg, CEO
of American Friction Corporation.

This is his chief engineer,
Jeff Harnik. Alvin Masterson.

Hello.

Miss Dimetrio. So, Alvin,
your ex-wife got fired

because she wasn't
competently performing her job.

Or because she notified the Highway Transportation
Authority that there was a design defect.

Well, the truth is, Alvin, your
ex-wife is a liar, and a troublemaker.

Well...

She had no business contacting anybody.

I don't think a jury's gonna
see it that way, Burton.

And as you well know, in cases like this,
punitive damages can run into the millions.

Well, we're not prepared to make
any kind of a settlement offer.

Then I'll be moving
for a new trial date.

Do what you have to do.
Okay, good to see you, Alvin.

Laurie. I've been reinstated
as Hunter's guardian.- Okay.

You know he wants to
go back home? - I know.

So what's the recommendation?

He's in a stable supportive
environment at his grandparents'.

He's doing well in school. We
think he should stay where he is.

Well, he wants to go
back home to his father.

Dr. Reed has already proven
that he lacks stability.

Stability? He was the victim
of a mis-prescribed medication.

And if it should happen again?

If his paranoia comes back,
if he attacks his own son?

Nick, I know you mean well,
but please, use your head.

He's already established
that he can become violent.

He stabbed his wife seven
times in front of the boy.

Social Services is not going
to recommend giving him custody.

So, what have you
been up to? - Work.

I have this temp service that sends
me out a couple of times a week.

I'm also taking these courses in
homeopathy. And I got a cat.

Are you happy?
- I don't know.

When you left Mandel and Moore
you said that it would only be

a couple of years before you
went back into private practice.

I know what I said, but I love this job.

Are you seeing anyone?
- No. Are you?

No. Not really. Since
Eric and I got divorced,

I've been kind of keeping to myself.

Look, we've got an awful lot to do before
tomorrow. Can we just get back to work?

Sure.

You're getting out of here.

After five months.
- That's good.

My son's civil suit...
- They're gonna settle.

It's gonna be a problem,
isn't it? For me.

They're going to say I'm
profiting off my wife's death.

Your son is gonna be
worth millions of dollars.

And if you gain custody, and you
will mostprobably be appointed as

trustee of his trust fund, the
judge may have a problem with that.

How much will you make from this?

Dr. Reed, right now the only job I have
is looking after your son's interests.

He wants to be with you.

Do you think I have a shot?

Are you ready to take him back?
- Yes.

Do you trust yourself with his life?

Mr. Fallin, I know how people see me.

But I would never put
Hunter at risk. Never.

You think your wife was at risk?

That wasn't my fault. I managed my disease
without any problem for twenty years.

I went through medical school.
Opened a successful practice.

I coached Little League. Twenty
years. Then one day I take a new drug,

everything goes to hell. I'm better now.

I want Hunter back.
I want my son back.

Okay.

Sorry, Mr. Sample.

Mr. Sample, the lawyers for
Bendaprine Pharmaceutical are here.

How much are you going to ask for?
- Oh, we'll let them make the first offer.

But what are you asking?

We might get a size of five million, but
you're gonna have to let me fight for that.

If if we go to trial?

Well, we could get more, or we could
get less. It just depends on the jury.

Should we wait?

Well, if your son-in-law
regains custody of the boy,

the jury is apt to award less
than if you maintain custody.

But I I think you're in a good position
to split the difference, and uh - if they

hit the five million mark, we just
take the money and don't look back.

All right.
- Okay? Good. Let's go.

Miss Barstow, thank you for coming.

Thank you. Nice to see you.
- Hi. Welcome.

So, Miss Barstow, I'm not gonna start

negotiations until my
son leaves the room.

I'm here as Hunter
Reed's guardian, ad Litem.

You have confidential and privileged
information about my client,

and you're about to become
adverse to us in this case.

I'm not in conflict here. I have not
yet started work at Kirk and McGee.

I am here purely to represent
the best interests of that child.

Well, I'm not gonna start
negotiations till you leave the room.

All right. What's uh
- what's the offer?

Two million dollars. Sealed.
No press. No further discussion.

Now, if you're not prepared to talk
seriously, you can leave the room, too.

They'll allow me to go to three. Ten.

Mr. Fallin, what's the real
number? Just give it to me.

I can go to my clients, see
if I can arrange something.

It's ten. - Well, I can promise you
they're not gonna go for that.

And I can promise you that I'm not gonna
sit here and negotiate against myself.

Come back with a better offer, maybe
we can work something out. Excuse me.

Hey, Sam. How you doin'?
- Good. Who's up first?

Your chief engineer. Hey, Christina.
A little moral support, huh?

Absolutely.
- Good girl.

Yeah. Don't you believe it.
She came to see you in action.

Oh, great. We'd better get in there.

How's that handsome son
of yours? - Oh, he's good.

Meryl Dimetrio was let go because she was
not a good secretary, plain and simple.

Can you be a little bit uh
- more specific about that?

She was consistently
late. She spent too much

time on personal calls.
Worst of all, she lies.

She lies? Did you say she lied?
- Yes.

What did she lie about?

Her work, her home life, her past.
I've seen her lie about what she ate for lunch.

Oh, geez. Did you ever have a conversation
with Mr. Samuel Whittenburg, the CEO of your

company where you told him there was a
design defect in brakes that people make?

Absolutely not.

Well, is there a defect in the
design of the brakes?

Absolutely not.

And one more time, why
why did you fire Miss Dimetrio?

Because she was a
poor performer at work.

No more questions.

If she was such a bad
employee, why did you give her

a satisfactory grade in her
last seven performance reviews?

Those were just satisfactory,
not good, not excellent.

Satisfactory.

I was within my rights to terminate an

at will employee for
being just satisfactory.

Oh. You're saying you could fire her for reporting
a public safety hazard to the government?

There was no public
safety hazard, and her job

description does not include
making reports to anybody.

That's your job.
- Yes.

And last year you asked
Miss Dimetrio to compile data

for the Austin, Texas
Automobile Extravaganza.

You're talking about a car show.

And the year before that you asked her to submit
data to Road and Car's Annual Buyer's Guide.

That was very basic...

So in the past you have delegated some of
your reporting requirements to Miss Dimetrio?

I never had her report
to the federal government.

You have delegated some of your reporting
requirements to Miss Dimetrio.

Yes or no?
- Yes.

Thank you.

Nick.

Hey, Jake. Lunch?
- no, I'm not hungry.

Someone sitting here?
- No. It's all yours.

So how you doin'?
- I'm good, man. I'm good. I'm fine.

I really do wish you
well, Nick, you know.

You're glad I'm gone.
- Look, I'm not gonna lie to you.

I mean I got a lot of responsibility at the
firm now. I mean that's just the way it goes.

Hey, guys. So, Fallin,
what's it gonna take?

I think you're gonna
have to ask Jake that.

I cant tell you anything.
- But if you were gonna speculate?

I would say ten million
dollars, if I were speculating.

You do you care to join us?

Yeah.

So, what's it like having
Nick as your boss, huh?

Oh, well, he hasn't started yet. It
will be kind of interesting, though,

you know to see how Nick
holds up... you know,

now that he skipped to the
head of the line and all. - Skipped?

Let's see, there are
seventeen associates at

Kirk who have been there for over six years.
- Skipped.

All of us have a bit
more experience than Nick.

None of us, however, have
his father's last name.

You don't think I'm
up to it, Miss Barstow?

All I know is that I've got another week before
I have to start pretending that I like you.

So I thought I should make
the most of it right now.

Bye.
- Bye.

Sweet girl. Single?
- Nope. She's married.

I have thirty minutes.

We have to stop this.
- Yeah, I know.

No, I mean it, we have to stop
doing this. - Absolutely.

I mean I'm married. You're
gonna be a partner at my firm.

You never found any studies or other
documentation that confirmed what you heard?

No. But I'm no engineer. I may have
seen it and not known what it was.

Listen to me. This is gonna all
come down to your credibility.

Which you doubt.
- I have reason.

You and I were both to blame, Alvin.
- I never lied to you, Meryl.

When we moved from Lewisburg, you
promised we would live differently.

And we did.

Yeah, until you threw it
all away for social work.

I never said I was gonna be rich.

You never said we would be poor either.
- It was always about money, wasn't it?

Oh, God, I hate it when you
oversimplify things like that.

No. Eric had money.

Eric had time for me. Eric didn't spend

eighty hours a week
trying to save strangers.

I fell in love with you.
It had nothing to do with anything else.

I just think, along the way,
you fell in love with your work.

Six million dollars.

Hunter's mom was in the prime of life.

Healthy. President of the PTA.

Eight.

Seven. That's as far as we go.

I'll recommend it.

Seven million dollars. Your father
got us seven million dollars.

Toughest negotiator in the
business. Did you accept?

Of course.

Hunter's share is almost five. That money
will be placed into a trust account for Hunter.

Now, whoever has custody will
most probably be appointed as...

What do you mean "whoever has custody?"

Well, there's still a chance
that Hunter's father...

No, no.

Well, the court hearing
will determine that.

My grandson will stay with me.

Well, I'm sure Social Services agrees with
you, but Hunter wants to go with his father.

Hunter is twelve years old,

Mr. Fallin. He doesn't
know what he wants.

He's a child who plays video
games and collects baseball cards.

He has the right to have his
wishes communicated to the court.

And you're gonna tell the court to place my
grandson with the man who killed his own mother?

They're gonna ask you a lot of questions

about your father. What
he's like to live with.

Whether he has a hard time controlling
his temper. If he's around enough.

And what was your dad like?

I you know, I didn't really live with
my father after my mom died.

Where'd you live?

Boarding schools,
mostly. Boarding schools.

What is it?

Well, I know what people
think about what happened.

But my dad, every day when I came
home from school, he'd always be there.

And he always used to walk me to school
every day. Till I told him to stop when

I was in the fourth grade. And then he
would just walk behind me and pretend he

was going somewhere else. We laughed
all the time. Told really bad jokes.

And some nights when I couldn't get
to sleep, or we just felt like it,

we'd go driving. We'd get an ice cream.

Or we'd just sit there and
listen to the radio and sing.

I don't do any of that
with my grandparents.

Right.

If you had a dad like my dad,
you would get. You really would.

About three weeks before I was fired,
I overheard Mr. Harnik tell our CEO,

Mr. Whittenburg, that he thought our
brakes were responsible for ten fatalities.

He said that there was some kind
of design defect in the brakes,

and he wanted them to
be recalled immediately.

And how did Mr. Whittenburg respond?
- Objection, Your Honor. That's hearsay.

It goes to state of mind, Your Honor.

Fabrications of an indignant
former employee. - Objection.

Sit down, Mr. Fallin. You'll have
your turn. Answer the question.

Mr. Whittenburg said
that in this economy that

the company couldn't
afford to recall the brakes,

and he said he would look into it
personally and decide what to do.

And what did you do after that?

I went into Mr. Harnik's office
and asked him what was going on,

and he told me to mind my own business.

I kept wanting to think
that it was a mistake,

that I had heard wrong,
and then I saw the memo.

Are you referring to
Plaintiff's Exhibit Number One?

Yes.

May I approach, Your Honor. Would
you please read this for the court?

Yes. This is a memo from my boss, Mr.
Harnik, to the CEO, Mr. Whittenburg.

"Sam, See attached. This is what I was
talking about. It's a real problem."

And what's attached?
- Two articles about fatal car accidents.

What'd you do with this information?

I notified the Highway
Transportation Authority.

What'd they do?

Tuesday morning they called the company,
and by Tuesday afternoon I was fired.

And what became of this conversation between Mr.
Harnik and the Highway Transportation Authority?

Nothing came of it.

Nothing came of it. Thank you
very much. Nothing further.

Mrs. Dimetrio, specifically, what was
that design defect you say you heard?

I didn't catch that part.

You didn't catch that part?

Well, this is Defendant's Exhibit One.
Would you read that to the court?

It's the same memo from Mr.
Harnik to Mr. Whittenburg.

It says, "Sam, See attached. This is what
I was talking about. It's a real problem."

And what's attached?
- Well, this wasn't the attachment.

What's attached, Miss Dimetrio?

This is uh...
- What?

It is a new pricing sheet for carbon
black, but it wasn't the attachment.

Now, this is a raw material
that they use to produce brakes.

Yes. But it wasn't the attachment.

No, it wasn't. Because
you changed the attachment.

No, I did not.
- You know why?

Cause you were looking for a windfall.
- No.

Let me ask you this. Before
you called the government,

didn't you have a conversation
with a coworker named Helen Aceves,

and you told her you were gonna
get a lot of money for this?

I didn't say that. I said that
they couldn't fire me over this.

I didn't say anything about
getting a lot of money.

Matter of fact, wasn't there a time when

you under oath admitted
that you were a liar?

I don't know what you're talking about.

Well, see if this refreshes your memory.

Your Honor...

Would you read that to the court?
They just the highlighted portion.

No.

Miss Dimetrio...

Well, that's all right, Your Honor.

I'll read it. May I?
"I told Alvin that..."

Oh, by the way, this
Alvin you refer to here,

he was your husband at
the time, was he not?

Where are we going with this, Your Honor?
- Weren't you married to him at this time?

Yes.
- Objection.

"I told Alvin I was taking classes at

Allegheny Community
College two nights a week."

Objection.

"But the truth is I was meeting Eric
at the Crafton-Ingram Motor Court."

Sidebar, Your Honor!

Admission under oath, Your Honor.

Whether she was unfaithful has
nothing to do with her credibility.

She lies whenever it suits her needs.

It is more prejudicial than probative.
- I agree.

And I move for a mistrial.
- Denied. Step back.

That was way out of line.

You are to disregard
that last statement.

Dr. Reed killed his
wife in front of his son.

Nothing we've heard can guarantee
that he won't kill again.

We all feel sorry for this family. But
we're not here to offer them our sympathy.

We are here to decide which
home is best for Hunter.

I believe his grandparents
offer the superior choice.

How can we place this child in the
custody of a man with a serious,

chronic mental illness when
such a good alternative exists?

I am a schizophrenic.

I killed my wife as a result of taking
an experimental anti-psychotic drug.

My wife was the only woman I ever loved.

We were married for sixteen years.

We had a very happy life together.

As amazed as I was by my capacity for
loving her, when Hunter was born...

I found that I was opened up to the
world in an entirely different way.

From the first moment I held him, I had
a profound sense of purpose in my life.

When I learned... what
I had done to my wife,

I didn't care what happened to me.

I wanted to be punished, to be hurt.

I had taken the person in the
world I loved more than myself,

the mother of my son. I hoped
I would be locked away forever.

But my son needs me.

I need him. We both have
to live with what happened.

But my son and I should be
able to live with it together.

We'll recess and resume
tomorrow morning at ten o'clock.

You know what I told
Larry Hines when he told

me to take my business
over to Kirk and McGee?

No.

I told him to take a flying
leap. I know where the juice is.

Oh, I appreciate it, Sam.

That was a great job you
did on Meryl Dimetrio.

Well, it all comes down to that that memo.
- Who they believe.

Ah, she was a mediocre employee
who knew she was on the way out.

Yeah. Remember when she first got fired?
She called the house over and over again.

Is that right?

She even parked her car outside
one night and just sat there.

You call the police or...

No. Sam told me about her history

with psychiatric problems. It's ready.

Honey, would you take the table?
We'll be right over.

I want to talk to Sam a second.
- Okay.

Sam, Miss Dimetrio has no
history of psychiatric problems.

I had to tell her something.

How many times did
you have sex with her?

I don't know, over a couple of months.

Do you realize this gives
her motivation to lie?

Oh, but you're gonna win
without bringing it up.

Sam... A big corporation fires a
woman for exposing a safety hazard.

Juries eat that up. The
sky's the limit for punitives.

I'm telling you not to bring this up.
Understood?

Now let's have a nice dinner?
- Right.

You know that guy in the lobby, he
- he was looking at us.

No, he wasn't.

I think I know him. I think
that we should change hotels.

Next week let's go somewhere else.

There's no next week. In five
days I'm gonna be your boss.

I'm serious. There's firm policy. You
could bring a sexual harassment suit.

Oh, I cannot believe that you
actually think I would do that.

You know you could date
anyone. So why'd you pick me?

Come on, Meghan.
- You like the fact that I'm married.

You like the fact that there's
no way we could be together.

No emotional involvement.

Sex whenever you want it,
and a built in exit strategy.

This wasn't supposed to be difficult.
Yeah, well, it is for me.

Well, you told me you could handle this.

I can.
- Then why are we fighting?

Because you don't have to pay
the price of these hours we spend.

You don't have to go home and lie.

Then don't lie.

This is over.

That's what I was saying.

Burton.
- Hey, Arthur. How are you?

Good. How are you?
- Good to see you. Sit down.

Thanks for coming by.
I really appreciate that.

My pleasure.

So how uh how are things going?

I'm setting up the Arthur B.
Conner endowment at Carnegie Mellon.

Oh, great, great. Well, if
you -if you need any help...

Oh, no, no, no, no. I so what's this
urgent matter you wanted to talk about?

Well, uh - it's about
the Whittenburg case.

You know if we lose this case, the
consequences could be devastating.

That's why we wanted you
to handle it personally.

Right. Well, here's
here's the thing, Arthur.

I just found out that Sam was having
an affair with that Dimetrio woman.

That's what you think this is all about?

I think it changes
the picture, don't you?

I mean he broke it off
with her, and then she goes

to the government with
these newspaper clippings.

I may have to bring that up.

It'll destroy Christina.

Well, we'd win the case.
- And you'll get fired.

You're still chairman of the board,
aren't you? Make sure I don't get fired.

Thanks for coming by,
Art. Good to see you.

I'll let you know.
- Thank you. Okay.

Nicholas.
- Dad.

Son,

you know maybe it's maybe
it's better this way,

you working across the street.

Maybe give us a chance to get to know
each other away away from the office.

Right. Yeah.

Or maybe it was a bad idea.
I mean that's what I'm saying.

I just thought might be easier
if we if we worked together,

did something together.

Otherwise, just so much silence.

Yeah. Maybe it's better this way.

You get the door for me?
- Yeah.

Last year we supplied
over six million brakes

to seven different
automobile manufacturers.

Everything from minivans to
high-performance vehicles.

Are there any uh design defects
in the brakes that you manufacture?

Absolutely not. Our brakes are
the best quality in the industry.

Can you think of any reason why Miss
Dimetrio would want to hurt your company?

She's looking for a windfall.

Can you think of another reason?

She wants some notoriety.

Doesn't she want to hurt you personally?

Objection. Question is leading.

Permission to treat this
witness as hostile, Your Honor.

You want to treat your
own client as hostile?

American Friction
Corporation is my client.

Permission granted.

Did you and Miss Dimetrio have
an affair, Mr. Whittenburg?

Do I need to ask the question again?

Yes, I had an affair with Miss Dimetrio.

Did you break off that relationship?

Yes.

And what was Miss
Dimetrio's reaction to that?

She was angry. She wanted
me to leave my wife for her.

Leave your wife? So when she made
up all these lies about the brakes,

she was just doing that to get
back at you. Is that correct?

Yes.

My grandparents are really, really
nice to me. But they're not my dad.

Do you want to stay with them?
- No.

Why not?

My grandma cries all the time. She
wants me to sit there and cry with her.

She's so mad at my dad. She
wants me to be mad at him, too.

Are you?

Sometimes. But most of
the time I just miss him.

What is it like to live
with your grandparents?

All that my grandma talks about is my
mom. What she was like when she was my age.

What she would be doing today if
she was still here.

I miss her, too, but I guess
I don't want to be living in

a house where all they
talk about is what happened.

I want to be at home, in my old room,

be at my old school... doing
the things I used to do.

Yeah.

We never had an affair.

You know, I remember that day. When I
came home and told you about the clinic.

And you said -what'd you say? You said,
"I married a lawyer, not a social worker."

Because it was true. Because you said
that you would stay in private practice.

I was miserable, Meryl. You knew that.

Well, you know what? I wasn't so happy going
back to waitressing. Ever think of that?

I wasn't so happy clipping
coupons. I'd spent a lifetime doing

that before I met you. I spent
a lifetime doing it ever since.

You're telling the truth about
you and Whittenburg? - Yes.

Like you're telling the truth
about the defective brakes.

Alvin...

You have always been
such a pathological liar.

Anything to suit your needs.
Eric's your best friend.

I'm the love of your life. People
are dying because of defective brakes.

You have a sickness, Meryl.

Mr. Fallin, you will be
speaking as Hunter's guardian?

Yes.

The jury has already found Dr. Reed
not guilty for the murder of his wife.

A team of doctors and psychiatrists
have determined that Dr. Reed

is fit to live among us. The only question
left is whether he gets his son back.

Now there's no one
here that can blame Mr.

and Mrs. Sample for
being angry at Dr. Reed.

They have suffered a terrible loss.

And everyone here can understand Social

Services making the
conservative recommendation.

That is what they do. But
I respectfully submit that

the opinion here that matters
the most is Hunter Reed's.

And Hunter wants to go
back home with his father.

And you've seen you've
seen father and son.

There's a rapport. There's a bond. There's
a connection. They're father and son.

If you keep these two apart...

if there is anything worse than
growing up without a mother,

it's growing up without a
mother and without a father.

Now Hunter Reed wants to go back
home with his father. Just let him.

Have you reached a verdict?

We have, Your Honor.
- What say you?

In the matter of Dimetrio versus
the American Friction Corporation,

we find in favor of the defendant,
the American Friction Corporation.

Alvin, wait.
- It's over, Meryl.

Just wait. Look, I slept
with that jerk, okay?

He said that he would leave his wife
for me. He said that he loved me.

You lied to me.

I lied to you because I loved being with
you again, and I didn't want to screw it up.

And I didn't lie about the brakes.

You'll see, Alvin. I
didn't lie about the brakes.

I've carefully considered the
reports of the psychologists,

the psychiatrists, the court
transcripts of the criminal case.

I've weighed the testimony.
It is a difficult decision.

By law I am required to
preserve the unity of the family,

unless I believe the welfare
of the child is in danger.

I'm going to turn Hunter Reed
over to the custody of his father.

Social Services will
supervise and monitor the case.

But I believe the boy
should be back at home.

Thank you. Thank you.

You never were my friend, were you?
Just a lawyer servicing Connor's account.

I still consider you my friend, Sam.

Did you ever think what
this would do to Christina?

My job is not to protect
your infidelity, Sam.

You could have cost your
corporation millions of dollars.

Sam...

If Miss Dimetrio were telling the truth,
what would it cost to do the recall?

It would be prohibitively
expensive. But she's...

I said if.

You should do it.

There are a lot of things we
should do, Burton.

A lot of things.

Nicholas. What are you doing here?

I'm just I'm just looking for a file.

You're gonna get your percentage of that

Bendaprine settlement when
the when the check comes in.

Good.

Well...

You know,

you were a huge asset to this
firm. You know that, don't you?

Could have had the whole thing.

Is that 'cause you wanted to give
it to me or because I earned it?

Both, son.