The Practice (1997–2004): Season 3, Episode 11 - Split Decisions - full transcript
Eugene is stunned when he is called to defend an old friend of his, arrested for prostitution charges, while dressed in women's clothes. Things get even more complicated when it is discovered that the man who hired him was a prominent politician, in the race for the position of DA - and Hellen is forced by her boss to humiliate him in public for political gain. Meanwhile, Ellenor tries to bring in a big client to the firm, and is enraged when she is voted down by Bobby and Lindsay.
LINDSAY: Previously on
"The Practice"...
- You know, that's easy
for you to say.
It's not your personal life.
- Who's got a personal life?
ALL: Lucy.
- Hey!
Bite it right off.
I quit.
- We all snipe at each other.
The fact that they dish it out
to you like everybody else,
that's just a sign
of being accepted.
- I'm not that tough.
I'm just pushy.
- Our dialogue with that office
is more important
than any one case!
LINDSAY: I've got to deal with
them on sentencing next week.
I'm sure they'll be
in great moods to--
- Oh, get over your professor,
Lindsay.
What'd you do,
sleep with the guy?
[crash]
- You know, Lindsay,
about a month or so ago,
we exchanged a kiss.
Should we talk about it?
- Not right now, no.
- You're in love with him.
- What?
- What are you afraid of?
Because you two work together?
- Let's just decorate the tree.
Uh, this Christmas party,
are we supposed to bring dates?
- Do you have a date?
- Well, no, I mean,
I haven't asked anyone.
I was just wondering.
Are you bringing anyone?
- No.
- Merry Christmas.
- Basically,
we're getting victimized
by the David versus Goliath
syndrome.
Poor dying man with emphysema
going up against
a giant asbestos corporation.
- Well, that's pretty much
how it is, isn't it?
- Yes, but we've decided
to fight David with,
well, David.
Putting it more directly,
we want great lawyers
who don't look
corporate or affluent.
Your firm, particularly you,
come highly recommended.
- Well, that's nice to hear.
- We'd be looking for you
to handle litigation
in Massachusetts--
state and federal.
There are three different
class actions
currently pending,
all in discovery.
We'd probably
want you to take over,
assuming we can work
out the transition.
It would probably mean
your having to hire on,
but we're not opposed
to the idea
of supervising other firms.
- Well, I'd have to discuss this
with my partners
before I could even consider it.
- Of course.
Why don't you do that
and get back to me?
- Great.
- Thank you for seeing me.
- Thank you.
- Who was that guy?
- Potential new business.
- Why do you look so white?
Is it a lot of new business?
- You could say that.
- Suppose you say it.
- Maybe $2 million a year or so.
- I had a feeling about 1999.
We're going into
the millennium rich.
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
- Seaboard Limited?
- Yes.
- We couldn't possibly
have the manpower to--
- No, they already know that.
They said we could
either hire on
or supervise other firms
to do the work.
- Why us?
- They've got this new underdog
litigation strategy,
and they think
I'm the poster lawyer for it.
They were asking
about Jimmy too.
I think his beating Silva
caught their eye
because Silva has beaten them.
- That kind of client
changes the firm.
I'm not sure I'm ready to--
- This kind of a client
builds a firm.
If we are serious about
expanding in the future--
- Let's call a partners' meeting
and discuss it.
- Great.
- Jerry Green.
- Second stall on the left.
MAN: Could be an hour later.
- Jerry?
[dramatic music]
- Got myself
in some trouble, Eugene.
♪ ♪
- Going in or not?
♪ ♪
- Yeah.
♪ ♪
- What am I gonna do?
- Jerry, uh--
- [whimpers]
What if my kids find out?
♪ ♪
- First, let's get you
through the arraignment.
- Can I go to jail on this?
♪ ♪
- Well, yes.
- [whimpers]
- Is this your first offense?
♪ ♪
- Yes.
- Okay, uh,
the arraignment
is in about 20 minutes,
and we'll go from there.
♪ ♪
- 32712, Commonwealth
versus E.J. Green.
Solicitation,
sexual conduct for fee.
- Eugene Young.
Waive reading, Your Honor.
Plead not guilty,
ask for personal.
- We'd be asking for some bail.
- My client is a respected
stockbroker.
He's a partner
at Marstley Bruner.
He's got strong roots
in the community--
- $25 bond, $1,000 cash.
Trial date?
- Your Honor,
I think we can dispose of this--
- Fine.
Call the next case, please.
WOMAN: 32713--
- We'll post your bond
and get you out.
- What's with E.J.?
- Well, I know the clerk.
Puts your middle name first,
and then we entered it
with just initials.
So what's the deal?
- You caught a break.
The john was Gilbert Carr.
- The guy running for DA?
- Running for DA against
my boss.
In exchange for a colorful
testimony, we'll let him go.
- And by colorful, you mean?
- Detailed enough to kill
a political career.
- Uh-huh.
- Probable cause hearing
is tomorrow.
If we get the job done there,
your guy gets immunity.
- Do me a favor.
If his address is in the record,
would you white it out?
Um, I want to keep his identity
a secret best I can.
He's got kids.
- I'll try.
- Reportedly, Gilbert Carr
has denied all charges
at this point,
though there's no indication yet
that sex with a prostitute
will affect his popularity.
- You see how their eyes
light up--
MAN: Thank you, Michelle.
That was Michelle Reichert--
- Who?
- The reporters.
Their eyes light up
when they talk about this case.
You don't see their eyes twinkle
when they give you the weather.
- Yeah.
- Are you a lesbian?
- Excuse me?
- It's really none
of my business,
but I always become
kind of close
with coworkers eventually,
and, you know, I figure,
why wait till we're close
when I can ask now?
The answer to which could
bring us closer,
kind of like
speed-dial friendship.
Are you one?
- No, are you?
- No, but I wouldn't be ashamed
if I were.
You can get back to me on that.
- Where's Eugene?
- Down at court.
He said to start without him.
- Okay.
I think everybody's up to speed.
The big question is
should we hire
and build a litigation
department internally,
which, business-wise,
makes the most sense?
Or do we want to hire
outside firms
and supervise, which may make
the most practical sense,
but it means fee-splitting.
My recommendation is
that we start that way,
and then we expand
internally so eventually
we can do all the work in-house.
- My recommendation is that we
don't take this client at all.
- Excuse me?
- Ellenor, it's asbestos-defense
work.
- So?
- So do we really want
to do that?
I mean, this company
killed a lot of innocent people.
I'm not crazy about
representing these--
- You're kidding me, right?
- No, I'm not kidding.
- We represent murderers.
Why would we--
- Not keep them in business
as murderers.
- Oh, please.
- I have to admit, Ellenor,
I think--
- Okay, wait a minute.
Just hold on.
We are not talking
about corporate criminals here.
Asbestos is not
like cigarette companies
who knowingly put out
products that kill.
Nobody knew this stuff
was dangerous
when it was first installed.
- That's debatable,
but even so, we all know
the defense strategy
they employ--
delay, delay, delay
till one of the wheezers
either stops breathing
or they settle for
ten cents on the dollar
'cause they're
about to stop breathing.
- You don't know that.
- Hello.
- Come on, Ellenor.
They still contest liability.
- So do all our clients,
even the ones
who shoot people five times.
BOBBY: All right, that's enough.
- And the ones
who cut off people's heads.
- Hey!
- Do you have any idea
how much money
we're talking about?
- Problem is
it would consume us.
This is massive
product liability.
It will completely dominate--
- I-I don't get this, Lindsay.
You're the one who wants
to shift into civil
away from criminal.
This is your dream client.
- Not asbestos.
- Okay, you--wait a second here.
Have we suddenly adopted
a moral criteria
for accepting new business?
Because if so, nobody told me.
- Don't get snide.
- I will get snide--
- This company
has killed people.
- The only difference
between them
and half our other clients
is that this one
didn't intend to kill anybody,
and they're willing
to pay us 20 times
the amount to defend them.
- There's no way
we can manage this.
It's--
- Is that the issue?
Whether or not
we can manage this?
Because that is different
than the morality objection.
The management issue
doesn't fall under hypocrisy.
- Hey, bite me.
- All right.
- Look, I think we need to have
a full partnership meeting
with Eugene.
There's a lot to consider here.
- This is a no-brainer.
What is stopping you?
- Some of us have brains.
BOBBY: All right, come on.
- Excuse me?
BOBBY: Come on.
Let's just table this for now
and we'll talk more
about it later.
- Bitch.
[doorbell rings]
- Helen, hey.
- Scott.
- Can I come in a second?
- Somebody dead?
- I just came by to see
your new place.
- Right.
- Nice.
The Gilbert Carr case--
- Scott, I'm not sure
if you've met my roommate,
Lindsay Dole, from
Donnell, Young, Dole & Frutt,
Eugene Young's firm,
the lawyer repping Jerry Green.
- Oh, hi.
- Well, if that
isn't a hint to beat it.
I'll be in my room.
[door clicks]
- I'm a little embarrassed
to be making this call.
The primaries are
a ways off, but--
- But what?
- It's important
that people remember
Gilbert Carr's little incident.
- Oh, okay,
you're here to ask me
to do something disgusting
for political gain.
All right, let's hear it.
- You can't just establish
probable cause and sit.
You got to get out
some of the graphic details.
- You want me to Kenneth Starr
Jerry Green.
- In which case, we drop on him.
It's in his own interest.
- Yes, how lucky
that he has you.
- Like I said,
I don't enjoy coming here
to tell you how to do--
- But here you are.
Um, could you excuse me?
I need to shower.
- You're looking at me.
Am I unzipped?
- Why did you ask me if I was,
you know, a lesbian?
- [sighs]
Truth?
- No, Lucy, lie.
You can tell the truth
when we're close.
- I was just curious.
You got no guy in your life
with a rump like yours?
Plus the cropped-cut
butchy-do hair--I mean,
it looks good, but I--
- I have butchy-do hair?
- It was just a question,
Rebecca.
Hey, some of my best friends
are lesbians.
Today, it's almost the thing
to be.
- Well, I'm not one,
thank you very much.
- You don't have
to deny it on principle.
[phone ringing]
Donnell, Young & Frutt.
- And Dole.
ELLENOR: Yes, Dole.
That name's been
moving up around here.
- Excuse me?
- Never mind.
- No, forget "never mind."
What's that supposed to mean?
- They're gonna fight again.
BOTH: Lucy.
LINDSAY: What's your problem,
Ellenor?
- My problem?
- Yes, your problem.
Besides me, do you have
a legitimate problem--
- All right, cut it out.
God, you guys are
both acting like kids.
Cut it out.
- What's wrong?
- In open court?
EUGENE: Yes.
- It'll be public record.
- It's public record now.
Jerry, if we don't agree,
you could go to trial yourself,
and you could get convicted.
Now, what they're offering,
you could have a clean slate
by the end of the day.
- And they'll conceal my name?
- First and middle initial's
the best we can do.
Um, you could testify in--
incognito.
- You mean incognito
like I was arrested incognito.
- Let's not kid ourselves.
The likelihood is
it's gonna get out.
- Oh.
- But--but maybe
there's a chance.
You know, I didn't recognize you
in the cell,
and I've known you for 20 years.
- Testify in drag.
- I'm not saying
that it's the right way to go,
but--I don't know.
- You haven't even
asked me about--
- I don't need to know.
- I need you to know.
- Okay.
- I like wearing
the clothes,
going out,
wearing the clothes,
but I am not gay,
and I've never--
I-I just--I just would go out
wearing the clothes.
I--I've never performed
a sexual act on a man.
I've never solicited anybody.
I am not a male prostitute.
- Then why did you go in a room
with Gilbert Carr?
- He came up to me,
said he wanted to look at me
while he, um--
[sighs]
[dramatic music]
Said he wanted me
to talk to him,
but I wouldn't have
to touch him or anything.
♪ ♪
I don't know why I said yes.
I don't know.
I-I like--
I like to be looked at
in the clothes.
I--
[sighs]
♪ ♪
I'm not a male hooker.
♪ ♪
- I think we should cut
the deal.
♪ ♪
- First, I, uh--
I got to talk to my wife.
♪ ♪
- When you defend
a cigarette company,
you help them
to go on making them.
On principle,
I would never do that.
I totally get it,
but with asbestos,
they're not still putting
that stuff out there.
It's representing somebody for
something they did in the past.
It's exactly what we do
with our criminal cases.
- Yes, with a couple
of very big exceptions.
First, in criminal cases, you're
not just defending a client.
You're playing a role
in the system.
You're safeguarding
the Constitution.
- Okay, this is
a brand-new conference table.
Please don't make me puke on it.
- Are you the only one
who gets to talk?
There is a principle
at work in criminal law.
I know you know that.
There's no such purpose going on
in asbestos-defense work.
- And the defense
itself victimizes people.
It's stall tactics
against people
who have suffered real injuries.
- That's true
in any defense work.
Every product-liability defense
is drag and stall.
We are right back to hypocrisy.
Are we ready to declare
right now
that we will never
represent defendants
in product-liability cases?
- You really want
to be an asbestos lawyer?
- This is one client,
a very big, paying client
that maybe will help
subsidize us
in defending some
of our more worthy causes.
- Now you sound like
a congressman.
- Lindsay--
REBECCA: All right.
We've hashed this out
long enough.
Why don't we vote?
ELLENOR: Hold on.
I think everybody's biggest
worry is that this work
will consume us,
so here's the tradeoff:
we take the client
and I will farm out
all of the work to other firms.
- But you're the one
they want to try the cases.
Isn't that the point?
- I can supervise
all of the discovery,
and then we get to fee split.
None of you will ever even
have to look at a file.
All in favor?
- I guess I can go with that.
- All right.
- Against.
That's three to three.
I decide tie-breakers.
We reject the client.
- One of the things
about being a partner
is you get to bring in clients.
- Subject to a partnership vote.
- Eugene,
Gilbert Carr's lawyer's here.
He wants to talk.
I showed him into your office.
- I was hoping, in addition
to introducing myself,
we might agree to coordinate
our respective defenses.
- Let me stop you.
We've been approached by the DA.
This seems to be an occasion
where they'd like the Jane
to flip the john, so...
- That would be politics.
- This I know,
but since the politics
run in my client's favor, it--
- I won't presume
to tell you what to do,
but what happened in that room,
the police can't prove.
- They were followed up,
600 bucks on the table,
and your client
had his pants down.
- None of which constitutes
a crime.
They can't get a conviction
without the cooperation
of one of the defendants.
- This may be true,
but why risk it?
We're being offered immunity.
- Immunity from
criminal prosecution.
The court of public opinion
might be less forgiving.
- Meaning?
- Gilbert Carr is running
for district attorney.
A prosecution against him comes
with a big microscope.
Anybody who falls under it--
- Is that a threat?
- All I'm saying is
there's no need
to turn this into a spectacle.
I believe, in time, I can make
the whole matter dissipate,
but if your client
takes the stand this afternoon
at the probable cause hearing,
I'm sure you can appreciate
that I'd have no choice
but to use my best efforts
to discredit him.
- What are you gonna do,
get him to admit
on the stand that,
instead of your
basic transvestite,
he's actually
a respected stockbroker?
That won't discredit him.
If anything,
it makes him more believable.
- I could ask him his real name.
- Let me do you a favor and tell
you something about Jerry Green.
He's a decent guy
and, as of right now,
he has no real interest
in hurting your client.
But cross him,
sexual proclivities aside,
he's one of the most
principled people I know,
and extortion isn't
something he'd warm up to.
- Do you know the stakes here,
Counsel?
- Do me a favor, Mr. Cavern.
When the DA passes the witness,
don't get up.
♪ ♪
- Oh.
♪ ♪
I will get up, Mr. Young.
♪ ♪
- You hurt my client,
I'll bury yours.
♪ ♪
- We have an angry Ellenor.
- I'll talk to her.
Right now I'm late
for a settlement conference.
- Bobby, that vote--
you getting two votes, okay,
but you also getting
to be tie-breaker--
- It's in the partnership
agreement, Rebecca.
- Maybe so, but this alliance
with Lindsay isn't.
- What?
- You two being a couple,
I think it's great,
but it also sets up
kind of a power base.
- Lindsay's free to vote
her way, and I'll vote mine.
- Well, then maybe the problem
is a perceived one,
but it's still a problem
with Eugene as well as Ellenor.
- And you?
- Bobby, I'm just telling you
'cause I think you should know
what's going on.
- Okay, thanks.
- Um, can I ask you something?
I mean, I-I know
you have to rush off, but--
- What's wrong?
- Well, nothing.
I mean, um...
do people think I'm gay?
- Excuse me?
- Well, Lucy wondered
if I'm a lesbian
because of my haircut
and how I dress.
I don't know.
- And you took her seriously?
- No, but, I mean,
I-I started thinking, you know?
I can't remember the last time
a guy asked me out--
any guy asked me out,
and, I mean,
I may not be beautiful,
but I'm not bad.
Am I bad?
- Rebecca, you are beautiful.
Are you kidding me?
- Do I look butch or something?
- Rebecca.
- Well, how come I never
get asked out?
- Because you never
leave this place, that's why.
Listen, can we talk
about this later?
- Oh, just forget about it.
No.
- No, I won't forget.
We'll talk later?
- Yeah.
Ay, boy.
[sighs]
- He's gonna go drag?
- Well, anything
to reduce the chance
of him being recognized.
- Eugene, I'm willing
to go initials and no address
and all, but come on,
let's face it.
The whole idea
from our side is publicity.
- To embarrass Carr, not Jerry.
- Even so,
I mean,
are you being realistic
about preserving
this guy's anonymity--
- Maybe not.
- How long you known him?
- We played high school ball
together.
He's a good man.
He really is.
- I'll try to keep it short.
- Susan?
- Hey, Eugene.
- I'm sorry.
- Where is he?
He said he'd be coming in
with you.
- We brought him in the back.
With any luck, we might be able
to preserve his real identity.
It might not be smart
for you to be in the room.
Somebody might connect you to--
- I'll be in the room.
♪ ♪
I'll stay in the back.
♪ ♪
- I am sorry.
♪ ♪
- You ready to go on this?
- I'm not gonna
dog-and-pony him, Scott.
- Helen, Gilbert Carr engaged
a prostitute.
He broke the law.
Just be a vigilant
district attorney.
You don't have
to distract yourself
with the idea
of what would happen
should he win this election
and decide to clean house.
- I'll prosecute
this man because,
like you say, he broke the law.
- That's all I ask.
- So I'm not gonna
testify in drag?
- I'm suddenly thinking
it'll create interest
in your identity.
Plus--
- Plus what?
- Gilbert Carr's lawyer
could come after you.
Probable cause hearings,
defense attorneys usually
hold back, but he might not.
- Can't you stop him?
- Well, Jerry's a witness
in there.
He's not on trial,
which means
you don't get counsel,
which means I can't protect you.
- What about
the district attorney?
She can protect me, right?
- Well--
- Eugene, I'm getting
a bad feeling here.
- Look, Helen Gamble
is a friend,
but my firm has torpedoed
her a few times.
Now, I think she'll be
sympathetic to us in there,
but I guess what I'm saying is
she doesn't owe us any favors.
- This is gonna be all over
the news, isn't it?
My kids, people at work--
- Look, I can't promise
that it won't be.
- Why don't we
just kill the deal?
- 'Cause I don't think
it'll solve anything.
At least this way, you don't
get prosecuted yourself.
- Honey.
Honey, I'm sorry.
I just--I don't--
- Sorry.
- Right.
ELLENOR: Excuse me?
LINDSAY: I have been.
- You have been what?
- Excusing you.
- You know, maybe we should go
into the conference room
and discuss a few things.
- Maybe we should.
- I can take the minutes.
BOTH: Quiet.
- And keep everybody else out.
Can you do that?
After you.
Do you see this here?
Do you know what this is,
Lindsay?
- A table.
- It's not just a table.
It's a piece
of across the street,
the high-rise firms
with the big clients
and the libraries
and the computers--
- Clients who don't
kill people.
- It is a piece
of across the street
that you have been chasing.
Bobby, I knew his vote.
He has some success phobia
that none of us will
ever understand,
but you?
This new client is exactly
our ticket to admission
to the other world
that you want!
And by you voting
to turn it down tells me
that you are either more
concerned with your own success
than that of the firm's,
or you are suddenly
under the influence
of Bobby's bedcovers.
Either way,
I have got a big problem!
- Are you done?
- For now.
- First of all,
this table
never represented a world where
we we represent companies that--
- That isn't what--
- You said you were done.
- It has nothing
to do with this client!
- You said you were done.
- You just don't like the idea
of anyone besides you bringing
in a blue-chip--
- It's about the client!
- We don't have to do it
forever.
- It's not who we are.
It's not who you are unless
you're under some new influence.
- Oh, please.
- But don't be accusing me
of being subject to--
- Don't tell me who I am.
- Are you somebody who wants
to cross-examine widows
every day saying, "Hey, maybe
your husband had the flu"?
- You have never even tried one
of these cases--
- Every day, your job
will be to wear them down!
- You don't even know
what you're talking about!
- I don't care.
You'll be the victim eventually!
- And where in the partnership
agreement does it say
that we have to live up to
Lindsay Dole's moral standards
of what cases we take or not?
- This has got nothing
to do with me or Bobby!
- The day I let you judge me
will be the day
that I walk out of this office!
- Hey!
- I tried keeping him out,
honest.
- Ellenor, in my office.
- Oh, go to hell!
- That was rude.
- Sir, calling your attention
to the evening
of January 1, 1999,
did you encounter anybody
sitting in this courtroom?
- The defendant.
- The record will reflect
the witness has indicated
Mr. Gilbert Carr.
Could you describe
that encounter?
JERRY: I was walking
on Columbus Avenue
about 10:30,
and he pulled up in his car
and invited me to get in.
- You were dressed as a woman.
- Yes.
HELEN: And when he invited you
in his car, you got in.
- Not at first,
but eventually I got in,
and we drove to an apartment
and went inside.
- And when you got inside,
what happened then?
- He removed his trousers
and his underwear.
He said he just
wanted to look at me
for a minute, which he did.
Then...
He asked me
to serve my country.
- Serve your country?
- He wanted me
to sing the national anthem
while he sexually gratified
himself.
HELEN: Did he give you money
to do this?
JERRY: He put $600 on the table.
- Did you do what he asked?
- Yes.
HELEN: And while you sang,
did he, in fact,
sexually gratify himself?
- Yes.
- Sir, could you step out
and show us
how you were
standing while you sang?
CAVERN: Objection.
- I apologize, Your Honor,
but I'm sure Mr. Cavern
will try to convince us
that his client simply
hired Mr. Green
to do a musical number.
- Step out, Mr. Green.
- If I'm Gilbert Carr,
where were you standing?
- Right about here.
- And could you sing for us
the way you sang for Mr. Carr?
I'm sorry, Mr. Green,
but we need to get an idea
of what we're talking
about here.
Just a few bars, Your Honor.
- The witness will sing
as he did that evening.
- Mr. Green.
- ♪ Oh, say, can you see ♪
♪ By the dawn's early light ♪
- Objection.
I am this man's lawyer.
I object to this.
- This man is not represented
by counsel for the purpose
of this hearing.
- He is now.
He cut a deal with the state,
and I would advise him right now
to withdraw that--
- It's a little late!
- I'm still doing it, Helen.
- All right!
I'm gonna sustain
Mr. Young's objection.
This isn't necessary.
Mr. Young, please sit down.
Mr. Young, take a seat.
- I'm sorry, Mr. Green.
I have nothing further,
Your Honor.
- Did you ever touch my client?
- No.
CAVERN: My client
ever touch you?
- No.
- Thank you.
That's all.
- What the hell was that?
- I had to paint
a picture, Eugene.
- Paint the picture?
That was more than painting
any damn picture.
- Hey.
- You made him sing
the national anthem
in front of a room
full of people--
- I buried his name
and his address!
I stayed away
from anything personal so--
- That was personal!
- What was?
- You stood him up there
to get laughed at.
Now, whether anybody ever
finds out who he is or not,
he has to live with what just
happened in that room there,
and don't tell me
it didn't feel personal.
- Eugene,
I did what I had to do.
What I told you--
- Oh yeah, you were just
following orders, Helen.
Good for you.
I mean,
you're a real team player.
- Get out
before I call security.
♪ ♪
- Truth is, right now,
I'm kind of glad
not to be a partner.
- Yeah, I know what you mean.
Ever sin--
- What?
- We were just talking.
- Nothing.
- About what?
- Clinton.
- Stock market.
[tense music]
- Where'd this come from?
- What?
- There's a medical bag
on the floor right here.
- Ha, ha.
- No ha, ha.
It's right here.
How'd this get here?
- I don't know.
We didn't get any deliveries.
- Come on, this is a joke.
Who did this?
- It's not even his bag.
- Yeah, well, it's close enough.
Open it.
- You open it.
He's your client.
♪ ♪
- He couldn't have gotten
another date so fast.
- Funny.
- Ellenor, open it.
♪ ♪
- This is ridiculous.
♪ ♪
[all yell]
- [laughing]
Got you good, didn't I?
- Hey!
BOBBY: Ellenor!
- For God--
it was a joke,
for God's sakes!
♪ ♪
- Everybody go to hell.
♪ ♪
- When did she get so rude?
♪ ♪
- Judge rule yet?
- 10:00.
- Pretty good splash, huh?
- Everything we wanted.
- I'm sorry.
- You did all you could.
- You talk to people at work?
- Not yet.
- I feel like
I let you down, Jerry.
JERRY: I'm the one
who put on those clothes
and went out there.
Don't feel sorry for me, Eugene.
I did this to myself.
[sighs]
Feel sorry for my kids.
- Your kids will stand by you.
First, we got
to get you some help.
Your kids, Susan, me,
we'll all be here for you.
- I was just trying
to break the tension.
- By putting a fake head
in a medical bag?
- In time, you'll all laugh.
- Lucy, remember when I said
you were working out just fine?
- You were lying?
- No, you're doing great,
but maybe you can just
pull back a little.
- Oh.
Okay.
What does that mean?
- Well, maybe you don't question
people bluntly
about their sexual identity.
- I knew it.
She is one.
God.
- No, she isn't.
But you see, right there,
your response to me
probably should've been just,
"Okay."
- Okay.
- You don't always
have to spice things up
with your take.
Does that make sense?
- I guess.
- Great.
Can you ask Ellenor
to come on in?
- Sure.
Ellenor, Bobby would like
to see you in his office.
And don't punch me.
I'm just the messenger.
- Lucy.
- Still too much spice?
- I understand
your disappointment
in our not taking
your new client,
but to accuse Lindsay--
- Oh, what, she go running
to her boyfriend?
- I'm entitled to some respect
from you,
not just because
I'm senior partner,
but because I think
I've earned it.
- I'm sorry.
- [sighs]
What's this about?
- I'd like to earn
some more money, Bobby.
I'd like to buy a new car,
some new clothes.
The romance of the law is great,
but after a while--
All my classmates in law school
have houses.
I'm not ashamed to admit that
I want to be able to buy things,
and this client--
- That it?
Money?
- Most of it.
And then there's her.
- Lindsay.
- I love her,
don't get me wrong,
but this whole office expansion,
everything,
it was paid for
mostly with her business.
She's better than me.
I know.
- Ellenor,
she's not better than you.
- All the big clients
that come through these doors
come in asking for
you or her, not--
This one came in asking for me,
and it felt good.
And now that you and she--
and I am happy for that,
for both of you,
but this idea that she's
the chosen child, it just--
it doesn't help it any.
- First of all, I'm not even
gonna dignify the suggestion
that you take a backseat
to her as a lawyer.
- All the blue chips come in--
- If you cared about
what the blue chips thought,
you wouldn't wear 102 earrings.
Second, even if
there were some legitimacy
to all these feelings,
you're wrong to punish Lindsay
because you know she's not
imposing anything on you.
You know that, Ellenor.
MAN: All rise.
Be seated.
- As there is no allegation
of any sexual contact,
nor any evidence of money
actually changing hands,
I find the commonwealth
has failed
to demonstrate probable cause
for the arrest of Mr. Carr.
The case is therefore
dismissed with prejudice.
The defendant is free to go.
Adjourned.
[gavel thuds]
- Thanks so much.
SCOTT: He was got to.
Somebody got to that judge.
There is no way
we didn't have probable cause.
This is politics.
- Imagine that.
- Well, Helen,
we have to prosecute
the other guy now.
Green.
- We already gave him immunity.
- Conditioned on our
getting probable cause on Carr.
We didn't get it.
- I think we've put Jerry Green
through quite enough.
- We didn't get PC.
- You only want
to prosecute Green
to keep flaming this story.
- The man committed
an act of prostitution.
- Look, if we didn't get
probable cause on Carr,
we're not gonna get it on Green.
- Different judge, we will.
- I won't do it.
- Helen.
- I said I won't do it,
and you won't get any other
district attorney
to do it either,
and if you do,
I'll go to the press
with the truth
about your political motives.
- Don't threaten me, Helen.
- I will threaten you.
I am threatening you.
We just destroyed a man
in that courtroom.
There's only so much politics
I can stomach.
If it costs me my job, fine.
That I can live with.
[dramatic music]
Here, you got your headline.
♪ ♪
Now go get a conscience.
♪ ♪
- Thanks.
♪ ♪
- The last thing I need
is for you to stick up for me.
- I wasn't sticking up for you--
- You tell her to lay off me?
What's that?
I can fight my own battles.
- [sighs]
I was talking to her
as senior partner,
which I still am.
That doesn't change anything
just because I'm--
- You're not
senior partner here, Bobby.
- Well, let's put
our clothes back on.
We'll drive over to the office
and we'll have
the conversation there.
- [sighs]
- What?
- They're treating me
differently ever since--
you know, like I'm Helen
in some Trojan horse trying to--
- That is your imagination.
Look, can you not handle this?
Because we can go back to--
- Is that what you want?
To go back?
- No.
- It's causing a lot of--
I mean, if you really
want to go back,
I'll understand.
I will.
[light instrumental music]
♪ ♪
- My New Year's resolution
was...
to move ahead.
- And everybody certainly thinks
that was mine, don't they?
- You care what they think?
- Yes.
- But you care more
about what I think, right?
♪ ♪
I'm not going anywhere.
I'd rather fire you.
♪ ♪
- You can't just fire me.
I'm a partner.
♪ ♪
- Yeah, you are.
♪ ♪
Mine.
♪ ♪
- Hi.
Is your father home?
- Yeah.
- Can I come in for a second?
- Um...
I don't think so.
- Okay.
I came to apologize,
and under the circumstances,
I can imagine how hollow
that must sound.
What you did in that room
was illegal.
But what I did
in that bigger room
was unconscionable.
I also know what distinguishes
our actions, and...
Mine was more
a product of free will.
♪ ♪
I'm truly sorry.
♪ ♪
- I believe you.
♪ ♪
- Good night, Mr. Green.
- Good night, Ms. Gamble.
♪ ♪
[upbeat funky music]
♪ ♪
- You stinker.
"The Practice"...
- You know, that's easy
for you to say.
It's not your personal life.
- Who's got a personal life?
ALL: Lucy.
- Hey!
Bite it right off.
I quit.
- We all snipe at each other.
The fact that they dish it out
to you like everybody else,
that's just a sign
of being accepted.
- I'm not that tough.
I'm just pushy.
- Our dialogue with that office
is more important
than any one case!
LINDSAY: I've got to deal with
them on sentencing next week.
I'm sure they'll be
in great moods to--
- Oh, get over your professor,
Lindsay.
What'd you do,
sleep with the guy?
[crash]
- You know, Lindsay,
about a month or so ago,
we exchanged a kiss.
Should we talk about it?
- Not right now, no.
- You're in love with him.
- What?
- What are you afraid of?
Because you two work together?
- Let's just decorate the tree.
Uh, this Christmas party,
are we supposed to bring dates?
- Do you have a date?
- Well, no, I mean,
I haven't asked anyone.
I was just wondering.
Are you bringing anyone?
- No.
- Merry Christmas.
- Basically,
we're getting victimized
by the David versus Goliath
syndrome.
Poor dying man with emphysema
going up against
a giant asbestos corporation.
- Well, that's pretty much
how it is, isn't it?
- Yes, but we've decided
to fight David with,
well, David.
Putting it more directly,
we want great lawyers
who don't look
corporate or affluent.
Your firm, particularly you,
come highly recommended.
- Well, that's nice to hear.
- We'd be looking for you
to handle litigation
in Massachusetts--
state and federal.
There are three different
class actions
currently pending,
all in discovery.
We'd probably
want you to take over,
assuming we can work
out the transition.
It would probably mean
your having to hire on,
but we're not opposed
to the idea
of supervising other firms.
- Well, I'd have to discuss this
with my partners
before I could even consider it.
- Of course.
Why don't you do that
and get back to me?
- Great.
- Thank you for seeing me.
- Thank you.
- Who was that guy?
- Potential new business.
- Why do you look so white?
Is it a lot of new business?
- You could say that.
- Suppose you say it.
- Maybe $2 million a year or so.
- I had a feeling about 1999.
We're going into
the millennium rich.
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
- Seaboard Limited?
- Yes.
- We couldn't possibly
have the manpower to--
- No, they already know that.
They said we could
either hire on
or supervise other firms
to do the work.
- Why us?
- They've got this new underdog
litigation strategy,
and they think
I'm the poster lawyer for it.
They were asking
about Jimmy too.
I think his beating Silva
caught their eye
because Silva has beaten them.
- That kind of client
changes the firm.
I'm not sure I'm ready to--
- This kind of a client
builds a firm.
If we are serious about
expanding in the future--
- Let's call a partners' meeting
and discuss it.
- Great.
- Jerry Green.
- Second stall on the left.
MAN: Could be an hour later.
- Jerry?
[dramatic music]
- Got myself
in some trouble, Eugene.
♪ ♪
- Going in or not?
♪ ♪
- Yeah.
♪ ♪
- What am I gonna do?
- Jerry, uh--
- [whimpers]
What if my kids find out?
♪ ♪
- First, let's get you
through the arraignment.
- Can I go to jail on this?
♪ ♪
- Well, yes.
- [whimpers]
- Is this your first offense?
♪ ♪
- Yes.
- Okay, uh,
the arraignment
is in about 20 minutes,
and we'll go from there.
♪ ♪
- 32712, Commonwealth
versus E.J. Green.
Solicitation,
sexual conduct for fee.
- Eugene Young.
Waive reading, Your Honor.
Plead not guilty,
ask for personal.
- We'd be asking for some bail.
- My client is a respected
stockbroker.
He's a partner
at Marstley Bruner.
He's got strong roots
in the community--
- $25 bond, $1,000 cash.
Trial date?
- Your Honor,
I think we can dispose of this--
- Fine.
Call the next case, please.
WOMAN: 32713--
- We'll post your bond
and get you out.
- What's with E.J.?
- Well, I know the clerk.
Puts your middle name first,
and then we entered it
with just initials.
So what's the deal?
- You caught a break.
The john was Gilbert Carr.
- The guy running for DA?
- Running for DA against
my boss.
In exchange for a colorful
testimony, we'll let him go.
- And by colorful, you mean?
- Detailed enough to kill
a political career.
- Uh-huh.
- Probable cause hearing
is tomorrow.
If we get the job done there,
your guy gets immunity.
- Do me a favor.
If his address is in the record,
would you white it out?
Um, I want to keep his identity
a secret best I can.
He's got kids.
- I'll try.
- Reportedly, Gilbert Carr
has denied all charges
at this point,
though there's no indication yet
that sex with a prostitute
will affect his popularity.
- You see how their eyes
light up--
MAN: Thank you, Michelle.
That was Michelle Reichert--
- Who?
- The reporters.
Their eyes light up
when they talk about this case.
You don't see their eyes twinkle
when they give you the weather.
- Yeah.
- Are you a lesbian?
- Excuse me?
- It's really none
of my business,
but I always become
kind of close
with coworkers eventually,
and, you know, I figure,
why wait till we're close
when I can ask now?
The answer to which could
bring us closer,
kind of like
speed-dial friendship.
Are you one?
- No, are you?
- No, but I wouldn't be ashamed
if I were.
You can get back to me on that.
- Where's Eugene?
- Down at court.
He said to start without him.
- Okay.
I think everybody's up to speed.
The big question is
should we hire
and build a litigation
department internally,
which, business-wise,
makes the most sense?
Or do we want to hire
outside firms
and supervise, which may make
the most practical sense,
but it means fee-splitting.
My recommendation is
that we start that way,
and then we expand
internally so eventually
we can do all the work in-house.
- My recommendation is that we
don't take this client at all.
- Excuse me?
- Ellenor, it's asbestos-defense
work.
- So?
- So do we really want
to do that?
I mean, this company
killed a lot of innocent people.
I'm not crazy about
representing these--
- You're kidding me, right?
- No, I'm not kidding.
- We represent murderers.
Why would we--
- Not keep them in business
as murderers.
- Oh, please.
- I have to admit, Ellenor,
I think--
- Okay, wait a minute.
Just hold on.
We are not talking
about corporate criminals here.
Asbestos is not
like cigarette companies
who knowingly put out
products that kill.
Nobody knew this stuff
was dangerous
when it was first installed.
- That's debatable,
but even so, we all know
the defense strategy
they employ--
delay, delay, delay
till one of the wheezers
either stops breathing
or they settle for
ten cents on the dollar
'cause they're
about to stop breathing.
- You don't know that.
- Hello.
- Come on, Ellenor.
They still contest liability.
- So do all our clients,
even the ones
who shoot people five times.
BOBBY: All right, that's enough.
- And the ones
who cut off people's heads.
- Hey!
- Do you have any idea
how much money
we're talking about?
- Problem is
it would consume us.
This is massive
product liability.
It will completely dominate--
- I-I don't get this, Lindsay.
You're the one who wants
to shift into civil
away from criminal.
This is your dream client.
- Not asbestos.
- Okay, you--wait a second here.
Have we suddenly adopted
a moral criteria
for accepting new business?
Because if so, nobody told me.
- Don't get snide.
- I will get snide--
- This company
has killed people.
- The only difference
between them
and half our other clients
is that this one
didn't intend to kill anybody,
and they're willing
to pay us 20 times
the amount to defend them.
- There's no way
we can manage this.
It's--
- Is that the issue?
Whether or not
we can manage this?
Because that is different
than the morality objection.
The management issue
doesn't fall under hypocrisy.
- Hey, bite me.
- All right.
- Look, I think we need to have
a full partnership meeting
with Eugene.
There's a lot to consider here.
- This is a no-brainer.
What is stopping you?
- Some of us have brains.
BOBBY: All right, come on.
- Excuse me?
BOBBY: Come on.
Let's just table this for now
and we'll talk more
about it later.
- Bitch.
[doorbell rings]
- Helen, hey.
- Scott.
- Can I come in a second?
- Somebody dead?
- I just came by to see
your new place.
- Right.
- Nice.
The Gilbert Carr case--
- Scott, I'm not sure
if you've met my roommate,
Lindsay Dole, from
Donnell, Young, Dole & Frutt,
Eugene Young's firm,
the lawyer repping Jerry Green.
- Oh, hi.
- Well, if that
isn't a hint to beat it.
I'll be in my room.
[door clicks]
- I'm a little embarrassed
to be making this call.
The primaries are
a ways off, but--
- But what?
- It's important
that people remember
Gilbert Carr's little incident.
- Oh, okay,
you're here to ask me
to do something disgusting
for political gain.
All right, let's hear it.
- You can't just establish
probable cause and sit.
You got to get out
some of the graphic details.
- You want me to Kenneth Starr
Jerry Green.
- In which case, we drop on him.
It's in his own interest.
- Yes, how lucky
that he has you.
- Like I said,
I don't enjoy coming here
to tell you how to do--
- But here you are.
Um, could you excuse me?
I need to shower.
- You're looking at me.
Am I unzipped?
- Why did you ask me if I was,
you know, a lesbian?
- [sighs]
Truth?
- No, Lucy, lie.
You can tell the truth
when we're close.
- I was just curious.
You got no guy in your life
with a rump like yours?
Plus the cropped-cut
butchy-do hair--I mean,
it looks good, but I--
- I have butchy-do hair?
- It was just a question,
Rebecca.
Hey, some of my best friends
are lesbians.
Today, it's almost the thing
to be.
- Well, I'm not one,
thank you very much.
- You don't have
to deny it on principle.
[phone ringing]
Donnell, Young & Frutt.
- And Dole.
ELLENOR: Yes, Dole.
That name's been
moving up around here.
- Excuse me?
- Never mind.
- No, forget "never mind."
What's that supposed to mean?
- They're gonna fight again.
BOTH: Lucy.
LINDSAY: What's your problem,
Ellenor?
- My problem?
- Yes, your problem.
Besides me, do you have
a legitimate problem--
- All right, cut it out.
God, you guys are
both acting like kids.
Cut it out.
- What's wrong?
- In open court?
EUGENE: Yes.
- It'll be public record.
- It's public record now.
Jerry, if we don't agree,
you could go to trial yourself,
and you could get convicted.
Now, what they're offering,
you could have a clean slate
by the end of the day.
- And they'll conceal my name?
- First and middle initial's
the best we can do.
Um, you could testify in--
incognito.
- You mean incognito
like I was arrested incognito.
- Let's not kid ourselves.
The likelihood is
it's gonna get out.
- Oh.
- But--but maybe
there's a chance.
You know, I didn't recognize you
in the cell,
and I've known you for 20 years.
- Testify in drag.
- I'm not saying
that it's the right way to go,
but--I don't know.
- You haven't even
asked me about--
- I don't need to know.
- I need you to know.
- Okay.
- I like wearing
the clothes,
going out,
wearing the clothes,
but I am not gay,
and I've never--
I-I just--I just would go out
wearing the clothes.
I--I've never performed
a sexual act on a man.
I've never solicited anybody.
I am not a male prostitute.
- Then why did you go in a room
with Gilbert Carr?
- He came up to me,
said he wanted to look at me
while he, um--
[sighs]
[dramatic music]
Said he wanted me
to talk to him,
but I wouldn't have
to touch him or anything.
♪ ♪
I don't know why I said yes.
I don't know.
I-I like--
I like to be looked at
in the clothes.
I--
[sighs]
♪ ♪
I'm not a male hooker.
♪ ♪
- I think we should cut
the deal.
♪ ♪
- First, I, uh--
I got to talk to my wife.
♪ ♪
- When you defend
a cigarette company,
you help them
to go on making them.
On principle,
I would never do that.
I totally get it,
but with asbestos,
they're not still putting
that stuff out there.
It's representing somebody for
something they did in the past.
It's exactly what we do
with our criminal cases.
- Yes, with a couple
of very big exceptions.
First, in criminal cases, you're
not just defending a client.
You're playing a role
in the system.
You're safeguarding
the Constitution.
- Okay, this is
a brand-new conference table.
Please don't make me puke on it.
- Are you the only one
who gets to talk?
There is a principle
at work in criminal law.
I know you know that.
There's no such purpose going on
in asbestos-defense work.
- And the defense
itself victimizes people.
It's stall tactics
against people
who have suffered real injuries.
- That's true
in any defense work.
Every product-liability defense
is drag and stall.
We are right back to hypocrisy.
Are we ready to declare
right now
that we will never
represent defendants
in product-liability cases?
- You really want
to be an asbestos lawyer?
- This is one client,
a very big, paying client
that maybe will help
subsidize us
in defending some
of our more worthy causes.
- Now you sound like
a congressman.
- Lindsay--
REBECCA: All right.
We've hashed this out
long enough.
Why don't we vote?
ELLENOR: Hold on.
I think everybody's biggest
worry is that this work
will consume us,
so here's the tradeoff:
we take the client
and I will farm out
all of the work to other firms.
- But you're the one
they want to try the cases.
Isn't that the point?
- I can supervise
all of the discovery,
and then we get to fee split.
None of you will ever even
have to look at a file.
All in favor?
- I guess I can go with that.
- All right.
- Against.
That's three to three.
I decide tie-breakers.
We reject the client.
- One of the things
about being a partner
is you get to bring in clients.
- Subject to a partnership vote.
- Eugene,
Gilbert Carr's lawyer's here.
He wants to talk.
I showed him into your office.
- I was hoping, in addition
to introducing myself,
we might agree to coordinate
our respective defenses.
- Let me stop you.
We've been approached by the DA.
This seems to be an occasion
where they'd like the Jane
to flip the john, so...
- That would be politics.
- This I know,
but since the politics
run in my client's favor, it--
- I won't presume
to tell you what to do,
but what happened in that room,
the police can't prove.
- They were followed up,
600 bucks on the table,
and your client
had his pants down.
- None of which constitutes
a crime.
They can't get a conviction
without the cooperation
of one of the defendants.
- This may be true,
but why risk it?
We're being offered immunity.
- Immunity from
criminal prosecution.
The court of public opinion
might be less forgiving.
- Meaning?
- Gilbert Carr is running
for district attorney.
A prosecution against him comes
with a big microscope.
Anybody who falls under it--
- Is that a threat?
- All I'm saying is
there's no need
to turn this into a spectacle.
I believe, in time, I can make
the whole matter dissipate,
but if your client
takes the stand this afternoon
at the probable cause hearing,
I'm sure you can appreciate
that I'd have no choice
but to use my best efforts
to discredit him.
- What are you gonna do,
get him to admit
on the stand that,
instead of your
basic transvestite,
he's actually
a respected stockbroker?
That won't discredit him.
If anything,
it makes him more believable.
- I could ask him his real name.
- Let me do you a favor and tell
you something about Jerry Green.
He's a decent guy
and, as of right now,
he has no real interest
in hurting your client.
But cross him,
sexual proclivities aside,
he's one of the most
principled people I know,
and extortion isn't
something he'd warm up to.
- Do you know the stakes here,
Counsel?
- Do me a favor, Mr. Cavern.
When the DA passes the witness,
don't get up.
♪ ♪
- Oh.
♪ ♪
I will get up, Mr. Young.
♪ ♪
- You hurt my client,
I'll bury yours.
♪ ♪
- We have an angry Ellenor.
- I'll talk to her.
Right now I'm late
for a settlement conference.
- Bobby, that vote--
you getting two votes, okay,
but you also getting
to be tie-breaker--
- It's in the partnership
agreement, Rebecca.
- Maybe so, but this alliance
with Lindsay isn't.
- What?
- You two being a couple,
I think it's great,
but it also sets up
kind of a power base.
- Lindsay's free to vote
her way, and I'll vote mine.
- Well, then maybe the problem
is a perceived one,
but it's still a problem
with Eugene as well as Ellenor.
- And you?
- Bobby, I'm just telling you
'cause I think you should know
what's going on.
- Okay, thanks.
- Um, can I ask you something?
I mean, I-I know
you have to rush off, but--
- What's wrong?
- Well, nothing.
I mean, um...
do people think I'm gay?
- Excuse me?
- Well, Lucy wondered
if I'm a lesbian
because of my haircut
and how I dress.
I don't know.
- And you took her seriously?
- No, but, I mean,
I-I started thinking, you know?
I can't remember the last time
a guy asked me out--
any guy asked me out,
and, I mean,
I may not be beautiful,
but I'm not bad.
Am I bad?
- Rebecca, you are beautiful.
Are you kidding me?
- Do I look butch or something?
- Rebecca.
- Well, how come I never
get asked out?
- Because you never
leave this place, that's why.
Listen, can we talk
about this later?
- Oh, just forget about it.
No.
- No, I won't forget.
We'll talk later?
- Yeah.
Ay, boy.
[sighs]
- He's gonna go drag?
- Well, anything
to reduce the chance
of him being recognized.
- Eugene, I'm willing
to go initials and no address
and all, but come on,
let's face it.
The whole idea
from our side is publicity.
- To embarrass Carr, not Jerry.
- Even so,
I mean,
are you being realistic
about preserving
this guy's anonymity--
- Maybe not.
- How long you known him?
- We played high school ball
together.
He's a good man.
He really is.
- I'll try to keep it short.
- Susan?
- Hey, Eugene.
- I'm sorry.
- Where is he?
He said he'd be coming in
with you.
- We brought him in the back.
With any luck, we might be able
to preserve his real identity.
It might not be smart
for you to be in the room.
Somebody might connect you to--
- I'll be in the room.
♪ ♪
I'll stay in the back.
♪ ♪
- I am sorry.
♪ ♪
- You ready to go on this?
- I'm not gonna
dog-and-pony him, Scott.
- Helen, Gilbert Carr engaged
a prostitute.
He broke the law.
Just be a vigilant
district attorney.
You don't have
to distract yourself
with the idea
of what would happen
should he win this election
and decide to clean house.
- I'll prosecute
this man because,
like you say, he broke the law.
- That's all I ask.
- So I'm not gonna
testify in drag?
- I'm suddenly thinking
it'll create interest
in your identity.
Plus--
- Plus what?
- Gilbert Carr's lawyer
could come after you.
Probable cause hearings,
defense attorneys usually
hold back, but he might not.
- Can't you stop him?
- Well, Jerry's a witness
in there.
He's not on trial,
which means
you don't get counsel,
which means I can't protect you.
- What about
the district attorney?
She can protect me, right?
- Well--
- Eugene, I'm getting
a bad feeling here.
- Look, Helen Gamble
is a friend,
but my firm has torpedoed
her a few times.
Now, I think she'll be
sympathetic to us in there,
but I guess what I'm saying is
she doesn't owe us any favors.
- This is gonna be all over
the news, isn't it?
My kids, people at work--
- Look, I can't promise
that it won't be.
- Why don't we
just kill the deal?
- 'Cause I don't think
it'll solve anything.
At least this way, you don't
get prosecuted yourself.
- Honey.
Honey, I'm sorry.
I just--I don't--
- Sorry.
- Right.
ELLENOR: Excuse me?
LINDSAY: I have been.
- You have been what?
- Excusing you.
- You know, maybe we should go
into the conference room
and discuss a few things.
- Maybe we should.
- I can take the minutes.
BOTH: Quiet.
- And keep everybody else out.
Can you do that?
After you.
Do you see this here?
Do you know what this is,
Lindsay?
- A table.
- It's not just a table.
It's a piece
of across the street,
the high-rise firms
with the big clients
and the libraries
and the computers--
- Clients who don't
kill people.
- It is a piece
of across the street
that you have been chasing.
Bobby, I knew his vote.
He has some success phobia
that none of us will
ever understand,
but you?
This new client is exactly
our ticket to admission
to the other world
that you want!
And by you voting
to turn it down tells me
that you are either more
concerned with your own success
than that of the firm's,
or you are suddenly
under the influence
of Bobby's bedcovers.
Either way,
I have got a big problem!
- Are you done?
- For now.
- First of all,
this table
never represented a world where
we we represent companies that--
- That isn't what--
- You said you were done.
- It has nothing
to do with this client!
- You said you were done.
- You just don't like the idea
of anyone besides you bringing
in a blue-chip--
- It's about the client!
- We don't have to do it
forever.
- It's not who we are.
It's not who you are unless
you're under some new influence.
- Oh, please.
- But don't be accusing me
of being subject to--
- Don't tell me who I am.
- Are you somebody who wants
to cross-examine widows
every day saying, "Hey, maybe
your husband had the flu"?
- You have never even tried one
of these cases--
- Every day, your job
will be to wear them down!
- You don't even know
what you're talking about!
- I don't care.
You'll be the victim eventually!
- And where in the partnership
agreement does it say
that we have to live up to
Lindsay Dole's moral standards
of what cases we take or not?
- This has got nothing
to do with me or Bobby!
- The day I let you judge me
will be the day
that I walk out of this office!
- Hey!
- I tried keeping him out,
honest.
- Ellenor, in my office.
- Oh, go to hell!
- That was rude.
- Sir, calling your attention
to the evening
of January 1, 1999,
did you encounter anybody
sitting in this courtroom?
- The defendant.
- The record will reflect
the witness has indicated
Mr. Gilbert Carr.
Could you describe
that encounter?
JERRY: I was walking
on Columbus Avenue
about 10:30,
and he pulled up in his car
and invited me to get in.
- You were dressed as a woman.
- Yes.
HELEN: And when he invited you
in his car, you got in.
- Not at first,
but eventually I got in,
and we drove to an apartment
and went inside.
- And when you got inside,
what happened then?
- He removed his trousers
and his underwear.
He said he just
wanted to look at me
for a minute, which he did.
Then...
He asked me
to serve my country.
- Serve your country?
- He wanted me
to sing the national anthem
while he sexually gratified
himself.
HELEN: Did he give you money
to do this?
JERRY: He put $600 on the table.
- Did you do what he asked?
- Yes.
HELEN: And while you sang,
did he, in fact,
sexually gratify himself?
- Yes.
- Sir, could you step out
and show us
how you were
standing while you sang?
CAVERN: Objection.
- I apologize, Your Honor,
but I'm sure Mr. Cavern
will try to convince us
that his client simply
hired Mr. Green
to do a musical number.
- Step out, Mr. Green.
- If I'm Gilbert Carr,
where were you standing?
- Right about here.
- And could you sing for us
the way you sang for Mr. Carr?
I'm sorry, Mr. Green,
but we need to get an idea
of what we're talking
about here.
Just a few bars, Your Honor.
- The witness will sing
as he did that evening.
- Mr. Green.
- ♪ Oh, say, can you see ♪
♪ By the dawn's early light ♪
- Objection.
I am this man's lawyer.
I object to this.
- This man is not represented
by counsel for the purpose
of this hearing.
- He is now.
He cut a deal with the state,
and I would advise him right now
to withdraw that--
- It's a little late!
- I'm still doing it, Helen.
- All right!
I'm gonna sustain
Mr. Young's objection.
This isn't necessary.
Mr. Young, please sit down.
Mr. Young, take a seat.
- I'm sorry, Mr. Green.
I have nothing further,
Your Honor.
- Did you ever touch my client?
- No.
CAVERN: My client
ever touch you?
- No.
- Thank you.
That's all.
- What the hell was that?
- I had to paint
a picture, Eugene.
- Paint the picture?
That was more than painting
any damn picture.
- Hey.
- You made him sing
the national anthem
in front of a room
full of people--
- I buried his name
and his address!
I stayed away
from anything personal so--
- That was personal!
- What was?
- You stood him up there
to get laughed at.
Now, whether anybody ever
finds out who he is or not,
he has to live with what just
happened in that room there,
and don't tell me
it didn't feel personal.
- Eugene,
I did what I had to do.
What I told you--
- Oh yeah, you were just
following orders, Helen.
Good for you.
I mean,
you're a real team player.
- Get out
before I call security.
♪ ♪
- Truth is, right now,
I'm kind of glad
not to be a partner.
- Yeah, I know what you mean.
Ever sin--
- What?
- We were just talking.
- Nothing.
- About what?
- Clinton.
- Stock market.
[tense music]
- Where'd this come from?
- What?
- There's a medical bag
on the floor right here.
- Ha, ha.
- No ha, ha.
It's right here.
How'd this get here?
- I don't know.
We didn't get any deliveries.
- Come on, this is a joke.
Who did this?
- It's not even his bag.
- Yeah, well, it's close enough.
Open it.
- You open it.
He's your client.
♪ ♪
- He couldn't have gotten
another date so fast.
- Funny.
- Ellenor, open it.
♪ ♪
- This is ridiculous.
♪ ♪
[all yell]
- [laughing]
Got you good, didn't I?
- Hey!
BOBBY: Ellenor!
- For God--
it was a joke,
for God's sakes!
♪ ♪
- Everybody go to hell.
♪ ♪
- When did she get so rude?
♪ ♪
- Judge rule yet?
- 10:00.
- Pretty good splash, huh?
- Everything we wanted.
- I'm sorry.
- You did all you could.
- You talk to people at work?
- Not yet.
- I feel like
I let you down, Jerry.
JERRY: I'm the one
who put on those clothes
and went out there.
Don't feel sorry for me, Eugene.
I did this to myself.
[sighs]
Feel sorry for my kids.
- Your kids will stand by you.
First, we got
to get you some help.
Your kids, Susan, me,
we'll all be here for you.
- I was just trying
to break the tension.
- By putting a fake head
in a medical bag?
- In time, you'll all laugh.
- Lucy, remember when I said
you were working out just fine?
- You were lying?
- No, you're doing great,
but maybe you can just
pull back a little.
- Oh.
Okay.
What does that mean?
- Well, maybe you don't question
people bluntly
about their sexual identity.
- I knew it.
She is one.
God.
- No, she isn't.
But you see, right there,
your response to me
probably should've been just,
"Okay."
- Okay.
- You don't always
have to spice things up
with your take.
Does that make sense?
- I guess.
- Great.
Can you ask Ellenor
to come on in?
- Sure.
Ellenor, Bobby would like
to see you in his office.
And don't punch me.
I'm just the messenger.
- Lucy.
- Still too much spice?
- I understand
your disappointment
in our not taking
your new client,
but to accuse Lindsay--
- Oh, what, she go running
to her boyfriend?
- I'm entitled to some respect
from you,
not just because
I'm senior partner,
but because I think
I've earned it.
- I'm sorry.
- [sighs]
What's this about?
- I'd like to earn
some more money, Bobby.
I'd like to buy a new car,
some new clothes.
The romance of the law is great,
but after a while--
All my classmates in law school
have houses.
I'm not ashamed to admit that
I want to be able to buy things,
and this client--
- That it?
Money?
- Most of it.
And then there's her.
- Lindsay.
- I love her,
don't get me wrong,
but this whole office expansion,
everything,
it was paid for
mostly with her business.
She's better than me.
I know.
- Ellenor,
she's not better than you.
- All the big clients
that come through these doors
come in asking for
you or her, not--
This one came in asking for me,
and it felt good.
And now that you and she--
and I am happy for that,
for both of you,
but this idea that she's
the chosen child, it just--
it doesn't help it any.
- First of all, I'm not even
gonna dignify the suggestion
that you take a backseat
to her as a lawyer.
- All the blue chips come in--
- If you cared about
what the blue chips thought,
you wouldn't wear 102 earrings.
Second, even if
there were some legitimacy
to all these feelings,
you're wrong to punish Lindsay
because you know she's not
imposing anything on you.
You know that, Ellenor.
MAN: All rise.
Be seated.
- As there is no allegation
of any sexual contact,
nor any evidence of money
actually changing hands,
I find the commonwealth
has failed
to demonstrate probable cause
for the arrest of Mr. Carr.
The case is therefore
dismissed with prejudice.
The defendant is free to go.
Adjourned.
[gavel thuds]
- Thanks so much.
SCOTT: He was got to.
Somebody got to that judge.
There is no way
we didn't have probable cause.
This is politics.
- Imagine that.
- Well, Helen,
we have to prosecute
the other guy now.
Green.
- We already gave him immunity.
- Conditioned on our
getting probable cause on Carr.
We didn't get it.
- I think we've put Jerry Green
through quite enough.
- We didn't get PC.
- You only want
to prosecute Green
to keep flaming this story.
- The man committed
an act of prostitution.
- Look, if we didn't get
probable cause on Carr,
we're not gonna get it on Green.
- Different judge, we will.
- I won't do it.
- Helen.
- I said I won't do it,
and you won't get any other
district attorney
to do it either,
and if you do,
I'll go to the press
with the truth
about your political motives.
- Don't threaten me, Helen.
- I will threaten you.
I am threatening you.
We just destroyed a man
in that courtroom.
There's only so much politics
I can stomach.
If it costs me my job, fine.
That I can live with.
[dramatic music]
Here, you got your headline.
♪ ♪
Now go get a conscience.
♪ ♪
- Thanks.
♪ ♪
- The last thing I need
is for you to stick up for me.
- I wasn't sticking up for you--
- You tell her to lay off me?
What's that?
I can fight my own battles.
- [sighs]
I was talking to her
as senior partner,
which I still am.
That doesn't change anything
just because I'm--
- You're not
senior partner here, Bobby.
- Well, let's put
our clothes back on.
We'll drive over to the office
and we'll have
the conversation there.
- [sighs]
- What?
- They're treating me
differently ever since--
you know, like I'm Helen
in some Trojan horse trying to--
- That is your imagination.
Look, can you not handle this?
Because we can go back to--
- Is that what you want?
To go back?
- No.
- It's causing a lot of--
I mean, if you really
want to go back,
I'll understand.
I will.
[light instrumental music]
♪ ♪
- My New Year's resolution
was...
to move ahead.
- And everybody certainly thinks
that was mine, don't they?
- You care what they think?
- Yes.
- But you care more
about what I think, right?
♪ ♪
I'm not going anywhere.
I'd rather fire you.
♪ ♪
- You can't just fire me.
I'm a partner.
♪ ♪
- Yeah, you are.
♪ ♪
Mine.
♪ ♪
- Hi.
Is your father home?
- Yeah.
- Can I come in for a second?
- Um...
I don't think so.
- Okay.
I came to apologize,
and under the circumstances,
I can imagine how hollow
that must sound.
What you did in that room
was illegal.
But what I did
in that bigger room
was unconscionable.
I also know what distinguishes
our actions, and...
Mine was more
a product of free will.
♪ ♪
I'm truly sorry.
♪ ♪
- I believe you.
♪ ♪
- Good night, Mr. Green.
- Good night, Ms. Gamble.
♪ ♪
[upbeat funky music]
♪ ♪
- You stinker.