Dead Ringer

“Fittings, I see,” Be

“Well, a fitting is a little ring that”-Abrams made an O with his index finger and thumb-“well, forget the details, the bottom line is that fittings are rings that fit like collars on things, in my case most types of medical equipment. My company, FitCo, manufactures them in West Chester, outside the city.”

“Okay, I’m with you.”

“Last year, I wanted to expand my business, so I acquired a small English concern that manufactures medical lenses. My English sub, also called FitCo, has been damaged by the trade association’s boycott against foreign lenses. We’ve lost two contracts since the association’s meeting.”

“You can document this?”

“Easily.” Abrams spread his palms. “I’m wondering if I can join the class-action litigation against the association.”

“What were the damages from the lost contracts?” Be

“Nothing in the neighborhood of St. Amien amp; Fils’s, but significant for us. A contract with Key Medical, Inc. A half million dollars.”

“That’s significant, all right,” Be

“It certainly is, and it was only the begi

“Thank you for giving us a shot,” Be

“I saw your argument yesterday in the courtroom. I was in the gallery.” Abrams smiled in an encouraging way. “I thought it was very interesting, what you did. I didn’t follow all the technicalities, but I liked how you handled yourself, and the motion you filed seemed to do the trick.”

“It may have, but the judge didn’t exactly rule,” Be

“Don’t drink coffee.”

“Okay.” Be

“I am considering retaining Rosato amp; Associates because of what I saw, and part of my thinking is that if Robert chose you as counsel, that’s a very high recommendation. There are a lot of lawyers in this suit, and he could have gone anywhere.”

“Thank you.” Be

“I’ll say. My corporate lawyer says that the roster reads like a who’s who of class-action lawyers. Linette, Brenstein, Quinones, and a man named Kerpov, I think. My lawyer did some asking around, and he referred me to Bill Linette.”

Be

“Bill Linette is a very qualified lawyer, Mort. I’m sure he’d serve FitCo with skill and vigor.”

“That’s not what he says about you.”

“Excuse me?”

“He said that you had no business representing a plaintiff in any class action. That it was malpractice for you to represent Robert, or to try to assume a leadership role in the lawsuit.”

Be

“Gimme a break!” somebody blurted out, and Be

“Carrier!” Be

“Well, Jeez, boss!” Carrier protested. “It’s just absurd to let him get away with that!”

Murphy piped up, “Really, it’s not true! We can do as good a job as-”

“Ladies, that’s enough,” Be

“Okay,” Carrier answered with a teenager’s huff, and Murphy folded her ski

“Good. Fine.” Be

“I see that,” Abrams said, and faced the associates. “Judy, A

“Thanks,” Carrier said gratefully, and Murphy nodded.

Abrams turned back to Be

“Well, you just got it,” Be

Abrams smiled gently. “For what it’s worth, I wouldn’t take what Linette said to heart. He was well into a few drinks when he said it, and it was probably the scotch talking.”

Scotch. Be

“I shouldn’t have said anything-”

“No, it’s okay, but when did he say it?” She had assumed they’d met in Linette’s office, but maybe not. “Was it last night by any chance?”

“Yes.”

“At the Palm?”

Abrams looked mildly surprised. “Why, yes.”

Bingo! “You had di

“Yes. We’ve been looking for representation since we heard about the lawsuit. We wanted to interview him about representing us, and he took me and my controller out to di

So it wasn’t Quinones and Kerpov at di