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TRANSCRIPT:
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Scene: Judge Stanton's chambers
Judge Stanton: Alvin Masterson called. I haven't heard him that worked up since McGovern had his ass handed to him on a platter by Nixon in '72. So, Mr. Fallin, how do you think your first week went? (pauses, Nick looks down and sighs) You know, you strike me as the kind of person who does your homework. My guess is that before you showed up for your first day of community service at Children's Legal Services, you probably did a pretty thorough review of state law regarding shelter hearings and placements. You read up on how CLS is run, its budget, its philosophy for handling its enormous caseload. And you don't like the fast food approach representing these kids.
Nick: Do you?
Judge Stanton: Masterson wants you to go away.
Nick: Then I'll go away.
Judge Stanton: Fifteen hundred hours of picking up trash from the highway and the public parks seems like such a waste.
Nick: I'm not too good to pick up trash.
Judge Stanton: I'm gonna give you a choice. One time only. You can finish your sentence at Children's Legal Services or you can transfer over to the community development desk and work with low income housing applicants. Think about it for a few days.
Scene: Hospital reception
Doctor: Can I help you?
April: Um, I was… um, I was…
Doctor: What?
April: I was raped.
Doctor: How old are you, honey?
April: Fifteen.
Scene: Hospital room
Nurse: The doctors are going to examine the condition of the vaginal area, then take any samples of fluids for DNA testing. The police will want to talk to you after that.
Man walks by with camera.
April: What's that guy doing?
Nurse: We have to take pictures.
April: Please don't do that.
Nurse: If you want to press charges, the police need the evidence.
Man starts taking pictures.
Scene: Children's Legal Services
Barbara: (answering the phone) Children's Legal Services. Can you hold please?
James: Nick, I need you to take a new case.
Nick: I don't think Masterson wants me to.
James: She's fifteen, walked herself in the hospital this morning. Said she was raped by her stepfather.
Nick: Evidence?
James: Abrasions, vaginal tearing, bruises from where she was held down at the wrists.
Nick: And where's the stepfather?
James: Arrested last night.
Nick: Then why isn't she back in her home?
James: Her mother bailed him out. She's at the county hospital rape crisis center.
Scene: Hospital room
April: You're my lawyer?
Nick: Yes.
April: Thank you. That's nice to know.
Nick: You want to tell me what happened?
April: He started to come into my bedroom at night. He'd lay next to me on the bed, and touch himself. Then one night he… put his hand, his fingers-he shoved them… he told me not to move, and put his… put it in my mouth. I fought him. But he told me he'd hurt my mom if I didn't. I saw what he could do to her. Hit her right in the face. So I just let him do what he wanted.
Nick: And you're staying with your aunt now?
April: Yeah. My mom's sister.
Nick: Why did your mother bail your stepfather out of jail?
April: Because he'd kill her if she didn't.
Nick: Why didn't you report this to the police earlier?
April: You don't get it, do you?
Nick: What?
April: My step dad is a cop.
Scene: Fallin & Associates
Receptionist: Conference room. 15 minutes ago.
Jake meets Nick and walks with him to the conference room.
Jake: You're killing me, man. You're killing me.
Scene: Fallin & Associates, conference room
Amanda sits with John Clayton. Nick and Jake enter.
Jake: John Clayton, Nicholas Fallin.
Nick: (shakes Clayton's hand) Mr. Clayton. What can we do for you?
Clayton: This conversation is completely confidential? (Nick and Jake assent.) Clayton Steel is 15 million in debt.
Nick: Bankruptcy?
Clayton: Yes.
Nick: Okay. You have two options. You can go chapter 11, reorganize. Or go chapter 7, liquidate, cut your losses.
Clayton: I want to reorganize.
Nick: It's easier to liquidate.
Clayton: I want to reorganize.
Nick: You've got the resources?
Clayton: Nods
Nick: Okay. That's a $25,000 retainer to start. (Clayton pulls out checkbook.) Uh, Mr. Clayton… Mr. Clayton, I can't take that until my father approves.
Jake leaves to fetch Burton. Nick eyes Clayton.
Clayton: What is it?
Nick: I was just wondering, ahem, how it felt to run the family business into the ground.
Jake and Burton enter.
Jake: Burton Fallin, John Clayton.
Burton: How are you? Well, quite a, quite a history your family has.
Clayton: My great-grandfather was third in command at Homestead Works, under Andrew Carnegie and Henry Frick.* He helped to revolutionize the way steel was manufactured.
Burton: Right. So, what, uh, what can we do for you today?
Jake: He wants our firm to file Chapter 11 papers for his company.
Burton: Didn't your father and your grandfather, didn't they deal exclusively with McGee and Kirk?
Clayton: Yes.
Burton: It's a good firm. So why are you leaving them now?
Clayton: I felt it was time for a change.
Burton: Not because your creditors have a blanket lien on your corporation?
Clayton: Well…
Burton: Didn't McGee and Kirk approach the bank with a request to reorganize?
Clayton: Yes.
Burton: They already did that, right?
Clayton: Yes.
Burton: Well, I'm assuming, uh, 'cause you walked across the street, that, uh, the bank told them that your company is worth more to them liquidated than reorganized.
Clayton: Yes.
Burton: So, so McGee and Kirk just washed their hands of you?
Clayton: They didn't see my account as profitable.
Burton: Neither do I, Mr. Clayton. But, um… good luck t'ya.
Scene: Children's Legal Services
Alvin: Mr. Fallin, we're reorganizing our filing system. Maybe you can help Barbara with some of the sexual abuse cases.
Barbara: I could use some coffee. Be a dear, will you, and pour me a cup?
Nick: Cream or sugar?
Barbara: Please. Any of these closed cases that are over five years old should be put in the storage box. You know, I'm from the Mon Valley. I knew some Fallins who worked at the plant with my dad. I think they were from Donora. Any relation?
Nick: Yeah, uh, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins.
Barbara: Oh, so you're one of those Fallins.
Nick: Huh, you make it sound kind of ominous.
Barbara: No, I, uh, just didn't take you for a real person.
Nick smiles. Al Sandro enters in policeman's uniform.
Barbara: Can I help you?
Al Sandro: Nicholas Fallin?
Nick: Yeah, that's me.
Al Sandro: I'm Al Sandro. I'm April Sandro's stepfather
Scene: Broom closet
Al Sandro: April's a problem. She's always been a problem. She sleeps around a lot. She parties.
Nick: Why are you telling me this?
Al Sandro: You believe her? Come on, man.
Nick: Well, the evidence suggests that-
Al Sandro: Evidence? What the hell do you know about evidence? This little slut is lying.
Nick: Little slut?
Al Sandro: DNA's going to prove me right.
Nick: Then why is she accusing you?
Al Sandro: A few weeks ago, I came home early from work and I caught April on the couch with some guy. It's an older guy. I threatened to arrest him for statutory rape, and he took off. I grounded April for a month.
Nick: You're saying she's doing this as pay-back for getting grounded?
Al Sandro: Don't believe her lies. You just send her back home where she belongs, okay Mr. Fallin?
Scene: Children's Legal Services, later
Barbara sits at her desk, crying. Nick tries to sneak out without being seen.
Barbara: How'd it go with the stepdad?
Nick: Oh, uh… he says she's lying.
Barbara: Well, a lot of these kids grow up around people who lie and cheat, and some of them pick those habits up themselves.
Nick: You're mascara's…
Barbara: Oh. Date night. Ha! Might as well send the baby-sitter home. (Starts to dial phone.)
Nick: (tentatively) Hey… I'm going to get some dinner. You want to come?
She hangs up and they enter the elevator.
Barbara: Don't get any big ideas, hotshot. You aren't getting lucky tonight.
Scene: The Incline
Jake and Amanda are sitting at a table as Nick and Barbara enter.
Jake: Nick!
Nick and Barbara walk over to them.
Nick: Jake, Amanda, this is Barbara Ludzinski.
Jake: Nice to meet you.
Amanda: Hi.
They all sit.
Amanda: So, where did you two meet?
Barbara: Personals, Nick was looking for a plus-size woman and I was looking for a cocky sugar daddy. (Jake laughs.) You think I'm kidding?
Jake: No, no, no.
Nick: (deadpan) This is actually our third date. I thought it was time to, you know, bring her around and meet the family.
Jake looks blank.
Barbara: I'm the secretary over at Children's Legal Services.
Amanda: (relieved) Oh! Oh. Right.
Barbara: We just met when Nick started.
Amanda: Right! How are you? Can I get you a drink?
Barbara: Uh, cranberry and grapefruit please. (To Jake) What's with the face?
Jake: Nothing.
Amanda: He's angry because Nick's dad won't represent the Clayton family.
Barbara: Clayton Steel?
Amanda: Yeah, Jake brought them in.
Barbara: Well, everybody used to work there. Old man Clayton walked around Donora like he was running for office. Kissing babies and shaking hands, till he decided to off himself with a shotgun. A regular Richard Cory. King of the Mon Valley. What a crappy fiefdom.
Jake: Richard Cory?
Barbara: Yeah. It's a poem about a rich guy who everybody thinks is real happy, who decides to shoot himself.
Amanda: A crappy fiefdom.
Jake: 'Whenever Richard Cory went down town / We people on the pavement smiled at him / He was immaculately groomed from toe to crown / Clean favored, and imperially slim… ' **
Barbara: So, what do you guys want with the Clayton family?
Jake: (laughing bitterly) You know, it, it really doesn't matter now, because Nick's father doesn't want his business.
Barbara: Because… ?
Nick: My grandfather. Non-union immigrant steelworker, 16 hour shifts, a-dollar-an-hour. You know.
Barbara: Yeah, I know this story too well. (Stands up and heads to the juke box.)
Jake: So, your family…
Nick: No, my father's family. Call Clayton, tell him we'll sort something out.
Barbara starts the juke box and begins dancing. She motions for Nick to join. Nick smiles but then deadpan when he looks to Jake.
Barbara: Doesn't anybody dance around here?
Jake: We're lawyers.
Scene: Children's Legal Services
James: You've got to do three petition hearings with me this morning.
Nick: (uptight) I can do them alone.
James: According to Alvin, you can't. Now we've got a 10, 10:30 and 11.
Nick: (trying to open the door to the broom closet) Why is this locked?
James: That your office now?
Nick: Why's it locked?
James: It's a broom closet. (Nick heads to Alvin's office.) Where're we gonna keep the brooms?
Alvin: (To Nick) You're late.
Nick: Where are my keys?
Alvin: (bemused) Your keys?
Nick: To my office.
Alvin: Your office?
Nick: Yeah, I gotta have some place to work.
Alvin: That's for the cleaning supplies.
Nick: You want me to be in here at eight, you want me to do three hearings a day, plus all the support work that goes with it? I gotta have a place to work.
Alvin: Fine. (Tosses the keys to Nick.) It's all yours.
April enters.
April: Mr. Fallin.
Nick: What are you doing here?
April: Did my stepfather come to see you?
Nick: Yeah, we talked.
They enter Nick's office, the broom closet.
April: Did he tell you I was a slut? That's what he tells everyone.
Nick: Why are you here?
April: I'm afraid… for my mother.
Nick: She can take care of herself.
April: No, she can't. I mean, I can get out of there. I'll be safe. You'll make me safe. But my mom… all the things he does to me… he'll just do to her.
Nick: There's nothing that I can do about that.
April: (almost crying) Sometimes I think I should just go back there. Live with him. Just so she doesn't get hurt.
Nick: No. You're not going back there, April, okay? Okay? (Opens the door) You need a lift to the courthouse?
April: No, um, my aunt's boyfriend. He's helping to look after me. He's waiting for me.
Nick: Okay. (Nick watches her leave and sees the boyfriend.)
Scene: Courthouse hallway
Jenny Sandro: Are you Mr. Fallin?
Nick: Yes.
Jenny Sandro: I'm Jenny Sandro. April's mom. I'm afraid of what's going to happen to her. (Sighs) Look, April… she hasn't had it easy. Her father left when she was just a baby. Men have been in and out of our lives. I haven't always made the best choices.
Nick: (pulls a card out of his jacket pocket) This is the number of the clinic. They'll tell you where there's a woman's shelter.
Jenny Sandro: April is lying. I would never do something like that, Mr. Fallin.
Nick: We'll discuss this in court.
Scene: Courtroom
Judge: Mr Fallin, what are you client's wishes?
Nick: My client would like to be placed under the care of her maternal aunt, Gail Behrhorst.
Judge: Where is the maternal aunt?
Gail Behrhorst: I'm here, your honor.
Judge: Are you currently employed?
Gail Behrhorst: Yes, sir. I waitress days.
Judge: Can you provide care for April until the petition hearing?
Gail Behrhorst: Yes, your honor.
Judge: The child shall be placed under the supervision of the Alleghany County Social Services, with permission to be placed in the home of her maternal aunt, Gail Behrhorst. The stepfather is under a no contact order.
Jenny Sandro: My daughter should be with me.
Judge: You'll have your chance to tell your side of the story at the petition hearing.
Jenny Sandro: Gail just wants the money.
Nick: (chuckles) I'm sure Miss Behrhorst could find an easier way to make $370 a month, your honor.
Judge: You may have one supervised visit a week. File a dependency petition within 24 hours, and schedule the petition hearing within the next ten days. (Gavels)
April: That's it?
Nick: That's it.
April: (quickly hugs Nick) Thank you. Thank you so much.
Nick: Yeah.
Scene: Courthouse hallway
Jenny Sandro: April, why are you doing this?
April: He's lying to you, mama. He's lying and you won't even see it.
Jenny Sandro: Please-
April: You let him do this to me. In your own house. You let him.
Jenny Sandro: Please, April—
April: I hate you. I'm never coming home. I hate you.
Gail Behrhorst: He raped your own daughter, and you still want her to be under the same roof with him.
Jenny Sandro: She's not your daughter.
Gail Behrhorst: Maybe she should be.
Scene: Fallin & Associates, Burton's office
Nick: (enters) I went out to the Clayton plant. I think we should represent them.
Burton: How do you see doing it?
Nick: Liquidate.
Burton: You know, Clayton wants to save the business.
Nick: He's wrong. He should take a scorched earth approach.
Burton: What about the workers?
Nick: Well, they won't see the money.
Burton: It's bad business, Nicholas. The retainer's too small. We wouldn't see a penny by the time the banks got what they're owed.
Nick: If I can save the trust, this will be worth millions in fees.
Burton: It could also eat up thousands of billable hours for nothing. Let's pass. Looks up briefly after Nick leaves.
Scene: Outside Burton's office
Amanda: Hey!
Nick: Oh, I'm late.
Amanda: I had a few questions for you about that brief I'm supposed to be filing. I thought maybe we go grab some lunch—
Nick: I gotta get back to the clinic.
Amanda: Can I tag along?
Nick: (chuckling) Not a chance in hell.
Scene: Children's Legal Services
Barbara: (to phone) Thanks. (Hangs up and sees Nick.) Nick, the woman from the rape unit just faxed some lab tests back from the hospital. (Shows Nick the fax.) April Sandro is pregnant.
Scene: School
Nick: What do you want to do?
April: If you're talking about an abortion, I'm Catholic.
Nick: April, you were raped.
April: My mother will never say I was, and she needs to sign the forms.
Nick: I just have to explain to the court the circumstances of your pregnancy. The judge will grant you a judicial bypass without your mother's consent.
April: I just want to be left alone now, okay? I'm good with Gail. See I'm back in school and people are leaving me alone. I can take care of myself from here.
Nick: If you have a child now, he will either be taken away from you, or—
April: Let me alone. All right? You did your thing. Just let me alone.
April slams her locker shut and walks away. Nick's pulls back his thumb, which was in the way, and shakes it. He opens the locker and finds a picture of the same man who picked April up from his office the other day. The man is wearing overalls with a logo.
Scene: Store
Owner: Can I help ya?
Nick: Do you know this guy?
Owner: Hmm. Joel. He works here. Who are you?
Nick: I'm a lawyer. I work for Legal Services.
Owner: Well, he's not here.
Nick: Got an address?
Scene: Behrhorst house
Nick enters the empty house and plays the tape machine. The messages are from men asking Joel for drugs.
Scene: Children's Legal Services, James's office
Nick: April Sandro is pregnant.
James: Uh-huh.
Nick: The aunt I placed her with has a live-in boyfriend who's dealing.
James: Are you sure?
Nick: I heard the answering machine tape.
James: How do you know that he was dealing?
Nick: I know.
James: So…
Nick: So, I placed a pregnant teenager in a dangerous environment.
James: And what else were you gonna do? Let here back with her stepdad?
Nick: No.
James: Tell me something. Who do you think the father of this baby is?
Nick: I don't know.
James: All right. Let's call Social Services and arrange for an emergency evacuation.
Scene: Behrhorst house
Nick, James, and some police officers hurry to the door.
Cop: Police. Social Services. Open up.
April: What are you doing?
Nick: Miss Behrhorst—
Gail Behrhorst: (coming out of her bedroom, half asleep) What the hell is going on in here? Get the hell out of my house!
Cops: Got a warrant here.
Boyfriend tries to run.
Cop: Hold it! Hey! (They grab him.)
April: Leave him alone! (crying) Let go of me!
Nick brings a blanket to cover her. They go outside.
April: (to Nick, crying) How could you do this to me?! I love him. He was gonna marry me! How could you do this to me?
Scene: Fallin & Associates, conference room
Jake: (to Clayton) … second mortgage property value analysis reporting of, this, this is the—
Nick enters.
Nick: We can't take the account.
Clayton: When I spoke with Jake, I thought your father's firm had been around for generations.
Nick: No. He started it himself.
Clayton: I know that now. I was curious why he disliked me so much, so I had my secretary search our employment records. You know your dad used to work in our fabricating plant?
Nick: That was my grandfather.
Clayton: Your grandfather and your father. (Pulls out Burton's employment file and places it on the table.) Burton Fallin worked here from 1953 to 1955. Seems your dad had a hand in the United Steel Worker's attempt to unionize the plant.
Nick: That was my grandfather.
Clayton: No, that was your father. (Slides file over to Nick, who looks at.) So, what are you, Mr. Fallin? You guys act like the Country Club set, but you do business like the liberals.
Scene: Burton's office
Nick: You always said, don't let your feelings get in the way of business. Your father would have loved the fact that they're coming to you for help.
Burton: (looking at the file) Heh… unfortunately, you don't really know what your grandfather would have loved. Is this… is this the kind of money you want to represent? (Tosses the file down on the desk.)
Nick: Money is money.
Burton: It's yours, then. You put in the hours. You take the risk.
Nick leaves.
Scene: Fallin & Associates, hallway
Nick rushes over to Jake.
Nick: We got the go-ahead.
Jake: Your dad changed his mind?
Nick: Yeah.
Jake: What'd you say to him? (Nick shrugs and Jake laughs.) I still can't get over this. I mean, he worked for those guys. No wonder he hates them so much. You must have had a pretty strong argument to get him to change—
Nick: You're gonna have to move on due diligence.
Jake: Where are you going?
Nick: I've got a meeting across town.
Jake: Well come on Nick, I'm gonna need a little help on this.
Nick: I got my dad to take the client. You get the due diligence.
Nick leaves and Jake sighs.
Scene: Allegheny Children's Shelter
Nick: I got to hand it to you. You had me going with the school uniform and the sad story. April, you do not want to spend your life with a guy like that.
April: Don't tell me what I want.
Nick: You're fifteen.
April: What's gonna happen to me?
Nick: I'm gonna recommend that you go back home to your mother.
April: You can't send me back there.
Nick: April—
April: My mother let him rape me. She knew it was happening. She let him.
Nick: April—
April: She could hear me crying. I know she could. Some nights, I tried to fight him off. She was just in the next room over.
Nick: I'm sending you home.
April: Why won't anybody listen to me? It happened. It happened.
Scene: Children's Legal Services
Nick and Psychologist watching a video tape of April's statement. We see and hear April on the videotape.
April: (on video) He rolled over, and… he put his hand… his fingers… he shoved them… he told me not to move and… I mean… I mean… I fought him at first, but… after awhile, I just… quit, and let him do what he wanted. He cried every time and said he would never do it again.
Nick: You think she's telling the truth?
April: (on video) Then I mean… then he would just come back a few nights later.
Psychologist: I believe she was raped.
Nick: But?
Psychologist: I've never seen a perpetrator give a fifteen-year-old girl such advanced warning-crawling into bed, masturbating next to her, working his way slowly towards touching her. It just isn't typical behavior towards a girl of April's age.
Nick: But you do see such behavior in rape cases?
Psychologist: Yes, but typically in pedophiles who prey on much younger children.
Scene: James's office
Nick peers around door.
Nick: Find out if April Sandro has any previous history of sexual abuse.
James: Hey, hey, come here. You may be used to having other people do your work for you over at your daddy's firm, but here we do it ourselves.
Alvin: (who overheard) Come here.
Scene: Alvin's office
Alvin: Working here is costing you a lot of money, isn't it?
Nick: $325,000 in billable hours.
Alvin: You realize that your yearly salary is as much as our entire operating budget?
Nick: Yes, I do.
Alvin: Well, you may want to think about the fact that the people who work here have so much to do on so little money and time, that your needs are the furthest thing from their minds.
Scene: Children's Legal Services, later
Nick, Barbara and James are going through files.
Barbara: (to phone) Can you run a check on a girl named April Sandro, see if she lived in another county or state?
James: Hold on. I got something—a marriage record for an Al Sandro and Jennifer Evans. It looks like she changed her name and April's as well.
Nick: Where are the closed cases?
James: Right here.
Barbara: (pulls out case file) Uh, April Evans. Oh, God, I remember this one. (Reads from file.) 'This court held the initial detention hearing in this matter on January 11, 1995, after the Bethel Park Police Department received a report that James Evans had sexually abused April, then nine. April reported that Mr. Evans, her new stepfather, had been getting into bed with her, and touching himself and then that he had put his fingers inside of her and had forced his penis into her mouth.'
Nick: This is exactly the same statement she made three days ago. (Takes file and walks away.)
Scene: Allegheny Children's Shelter
Nick: We have to start again. I'm your lawyer. There's gonna be a petition hearing regarding your custody the day after tomorrow.
April: My custody?
Nick: You have three choices, as I see it. You can go to a group home for pregnant teenagers, or, if the court sees fit to charge you, a detention center.
April: You said three choices.
Nick: You can still go back home. (Sits.) I know that you were raped… six years ago. I know that your mother made you drop the charges. (Pauses) April…
April: I was nine years old.
Nick: Sending an innocent man to prison is not going to change that.
April: I can't go home.
Nick: I really wish you would. It would be a terrible mistake to send you to a group shelter. You still have a chance, a good chance, for a better life with your mother and your stepfather. Tell the police what really happened. Tell them that your stepfather never laid a hand on you. (Pauses.) What happened to you… I'm sorry. It's not right. But we can't change it. Will you tell the police the truth?
April: If I did that…
Nick: Yes?
April: Will you talk to my mother for me?
Nick: Right now.
April: Thank you… for helping me.
Scene: Sandro house
Nick knocks on door.
Jenny Sandro: My husband isn't home and he doesn't like… when people are here with me alone.
Nick: This won't take long. (Opens door and enters.)
Jenny Sandro: Well, I'd offer you something, but I haven't been to the store.
Nick: Why did you leave your last husband?
Jenny Sandro: It just didn't work out.
Nick: Because he raped your daughter? (Holds up file.) Mrs. Sandro, April wants to come home.
Al Sandro enters.
Al Sandro: What the hell is going on here?
Nick: We picked April up last night. She's three months pregnant, and the father of the child is dealing drugs from your sister's house.
Jenny Sandro: What? Well, why can't you just bring her back here?
Nick: Not until the charges against your husband are dropped.
Jenny Sandro: I want her back here, Al.
Al Sandro: Shh. It's okay. I'll go stay at a motel.
Jenny Sandro: No.
Al Sandro: Yes. You go take care of your kid. (Leaves the room.)
Jenny Sandro and Nick leave.
Scene: Allegheny Children's Shelter
Nick knocks and he and Jenny Sandro enter to see a girl on one of the beds.
Girl: Yeah?
Nick: Where's April?
Girl: (pointing to April's empty bed) That one there? She ain't here.
Nick: Do you know where she is?
Girl: She left.
Nick: When?
Girl: I don't know. Some guy came and got her.
Scene: Children's Legal Services
Nick enters.
James: (on the phone) Right. No, no. I understand that. Well, I have the file right here in front of me. Well, actually, hold on. Give me a second. (Beckons to Nick.) Spoke with the police. April's boyfriend robbed the store where he was working and then took off. The police are looking for them, but they think they've left the state. (To phone) Hello?
Scene: Alvin's office
Alvin: She'll be back. If not through here for placement, then through the delinquency system for breaking the law. (Nick looks dejected.) You know… most of these kids are gonna stay in the system for the rest of their lives. It's just the way it goes.
Nick: Why do it, then?
Alvin: Because you never know when you'll make a difference. It doesn't happen often, Mr. Fallin, but uh, sometimes you do. Are you coming back tomorrow?
Alvin leaves.
Scene: Fallin & Associates, Burton's office
Nick: Clayton's coming in soon.
Burton: Tonight?
Nick: Ticking clock. We've got a meeting with the creditors' committee in the morning. You know… we don't have to represent him…
Burton: No, no. No, you were right. The past is the past.
Nick: Well, the guy is a spoiled ass.
Burton: That's no reason not to represent him. His grandfather… there was a tough, arrogant, son of a bitch. He'd go to war over nothing. We were asking for fifty cents an hour more, Sundays off. My father wanted to go to church with us, wanted to have one meal a week with his family, but, 'no way,' says Clayton. (Chuckles.) What a bastard.
Nick: I'll tell Jake to drop the case.
Burton: No, no, no. Go ahead and liquidate it. Let it just disappear. Can't be helped now anyway. We'll help him, uh, cut the cord.
Nick nods and leaves.
Scene: Conference room
Burton is listening and watching the conversation through his office door, which is open partially.
Nick: We're gonna drop the entire corporation and focus on protecting your assets.
Clayton: What'll we do?
Jake: Well, first we attack the bank, cancel the lien.
Clayton: How?
Jake: Claim that they interfered in the management of the company.
Nick: While we're doing that, you should fly down to Florida and get yourself a driver's license, and register to vote.
Clayton: Become a Florida resident?
Nick: Buy yourself the biggest house you can down there because the bank can't touch it.
Clayton: Can the workers come after me?
Nick: They can't do anything.
Burton enters.
Burton: Look, instead of protecting your assets, why not take a real shot at reorganizing the company? The first thing you do is exchange debt for equity.
Clayton: How?
Burton: Make the employees part owners of the company.
Clayton: The workers?
Burton: The workers.
Scene: Nick's car
Nick is driving, Burton is with him.
Nick: You okay?
Burton: Yeah, I'm okay. Why do you ask?
Nick: I don't know. You—you uh… you just seemed… .
Burton: Oh, turn left up here, Nicholas. Plant's on the other side of that hill.
Nick nods and looks at Burton.
Scene: Clayton Steel
Clayton: You know, if this doesn't work out, you probably won't get paid.
Burton: (laughs) I know. I know.
Clayton walks away. Burton and Nick begin walking across the courtyard.
Burton: Nicholas, see that door there? That's where your grandfather worked. Back down in there is a furnace room. When the plant was operating 4,000 men worked here, 12 hour shifts… 7 days a week… never got a raise. Never got any thanks. After Clayton fired my dad, he never worked again. Blackballed. You see that bar over there across the street? He spent all his days in there drinking. He died the week I passed the bar exam. I always felt like I had a… hand in his death. Well… they're gonna be owners, Nicholas. Isn't that something? (To a worker passing by.) Howdy. (To Nick) Gonna be owners.
Scene: Judge Stanton's chambers
Judge Stanton: So, Mr. Fallin, what's it going to be?
Nick: I'll stay. I'll stay with the clinic.
Nick leaves.
Notes
* Henry Clay Frick, 1849–1919, controlled much of the coke production in Pittsburgh, gave the city a 150-acre park.
** Richard Cory
Whenever Richard Cory went down town,
We people on the pavement looked at him;
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean favored, and imperially slim.
And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked,
But still he fluttered pulses when he said
"Good morning"--and he glittered when he walked.
And he was rich--yes, richer than a king,
And admirably schooled in every grace;
In fact, we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.
So on we worked, and waited for the light,
And went without the meat, and cursed the bread,
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet through his head.
Edwin Arlington Robinson
END OF EPISODE
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