All's Fair

So That's Who You Are

What was the matter with her? Why was she acting like such a moron? It was just being in the state of Florida that did this to her, she decided, and concentrated on channeling her Philadelphia big city big firm composure.

"Okay." She took a deep breath. "Take two. Yes. I have family here. My mother, two brothers, and, as noted, my stepfather. Since he practices in this area, you probably know him."

"I know Jimmy," Jack said, but didn't elaborate.

Well, she thought, that was to be expected. Most lawyers in the area either knew Jimmy or knew of him. With the type of high profile personal injury cases he handled – and the huge jury verdicts he pulled in – he was no stranger to the nightly news, either.

"You used to work for Graham, Spalding," she said, naming one of the national firms that had an office in Tampa. It was a well-respected law firm and the main competitor for the firm her father had been with. Serious business lawyers, and litigators handling complex commercial cases, with offices in most major cities in the U.S., and several foreign countries.

"Well, someone else did their research."

"My assistant printed out background information for me to read on the plane," she admitted, adding, "I've run across some lawyers from the employment law section in their Philly office a few times."

"Hmmm. So what else do you know about me?"

"Well, I know that you are also a Florida native, graduated with high honors from Columbia – impressive – then came back to University of Florida for law school. Again, high honors, law review editor, followed by a federal clerkship, then Graham, Spalding. Five years ago you left and opened your own office."

"My compliments to your assistant. Now you know everything there is to know about me."

She doubted that. "Maybe I know the what, but I don't know the why."

"So ask me."

"Ok. Why UF? With your credentials, you could have gone to Harvard, Yale, wherever you wanted."

"I did go where I wanted. Are you 'dissing my Gators?"

"No, I just – you know very well what I mean."

"Yeah, I think I do. Next question, counselor?"

She sat back in her stool. Oh, great, she'd already offended him, and anything she said now was probably just making it worse. "I don't know, I think I've got a hostile witness on my hands."

"Not at all," he said, his tone measured.

"O—kay, why did you leave Graham, Spalding? Go out on your own."

"Maybe I couldn't cut it in the big leagues." He was looking straight at her and she noticed that his shirt matched the exact color of his eyes. Probably had a whole closet full of them he trotted out to impress female jurors. Her own eyes narrowed.

"Now you're making fun of me." She swirled her drink in the glass, then looked up at him. "Your name came up on a lot of reported cases, Jack, on the winning side. No way Graham, Spalding was showing you the door."

"Is it so hard to believe I preferred to start my own practice?"

She hesitated a moment while a seagull landed on the railing, then took off suddenly and swooped back over the water, giving a loud cry, spreading its wings as it skimmed close to surface. Not the sort of thing she usually saw when dining out with a colleague in Philadelphia, that was for sure. Then again, Jack was turning out to be a lot different from the lawyers she typically dealt with in her practice.