Free Doubt (Caroline Auden Book 1) by C. E. Tobisman Page B

Louis scowled. “Paul Tiller’s right. Judge Jacobsen is a dreadful draw for us. He defended companies against asbestos litigation for decades before being appointed to the bench. He also did some graduate work in molecular cell biology prior to going to law school. By nature and by training, he’s going to be skeptical of the science.”
    “Can we get a new judge?” Caroline asked.
    “No. Jacobsen’s involvement in asbestos litigation isn’t enough to require him to recuse himself. We’d have to move to disqualify him, and I’m not comfortable with our chances of success. If we fail, we’ll have poisoned the well. If you shoot at a king—don’t miss.” Louis shook his white-haired head. “I’m afraid we’re stuck with him.”
    “So what do we do?” Caroline asked.
    “We write a singularly compelling brief. We make it impossible for Judge Jacobsen to deny the existence of a link between SuperSoy and kidney damage.”
    Caroline nodded. It was a good speech. A great set of aspirations. Unfortunately, reality wasn’t being so cooperative.
    “I’d feel better about our chances if we had some science showing a direct link,” she said.
    “Agreed,” Louis said, letting the mask slip enough for Caroline to see his concerns. When she’d told him about Dr. Heller’s death and Dr. Wong’s apparent disappearance, he’d taken the news with the grim determination of a cavalry lieutenant facing a wall of cannons.
    Now he exhaled softly.
    “All we can do is to play the hand that’s been dealt to us,” he said.
    “But what if it’s a bad hand?” Caroline asked.
    “Then unless you play very well or you are very lucky, you lose.”
    Louis’s eyes flickered over to the chess game on the small table by his window. Caroline noted that neither side had moved since her last visit to the senior partner’s antiquated domain. It was a slow, deliberate game that Louis played. But while he might win his chess match, Caroline couldn’t see how he’d win the SuperSoy case.
    Litigation wasn’t chess. A game of chess always began the same way. The pieces lined up, identical on both sides. Who won and who lost depended on each player’s skill. Litigation was different. Sometimes the evidence just didn’t fall into place. Sometimes you couldn’t win.
    The thought depressed Caroline. Still, she waited for Louis to say something inspirational. Something hopeful.
    But the only sound she heard was the ambient hum of activity in the firm’s halls. A hum that had nothing to do with SuperSoy.
    Caroline studied Louis’s face. She worried she’d started to see traces of disappointment. In the faint tightening of his mouth, in the soft sigh of his breath when she’d told him that she hadn’t managed to locate the Heller article, she feared she saw his interest in her waning like a balloon with a slow leak, its bright sheen growing limp before crumpling into a rumpled heap.
    “The transfer of this case to New York is going to create some issues for us,” Louis said finally. “I need you to prepare a pro hac vice application for me so I can appear before the district court there.”
    “Will do.” Caroline had googled pro hac vice at a stoplight on her way back to the office from the hearing. Wikipedia had provided a superficial description of what the Latin phrase meant. Translated as “for this one occasion,” pro hac vice was a lawyer’s request for permission to appear in a court where he was not licensed.
    “New York allows appearances by out-of-state attorneys so long as they’re sponsored by a local attorney and they provide a Certificate of Good Standing from the state bar,” Louis said. “Silvia has my Certificate of Good Standing on file. Please arrange to have Anton Callisto sponsor my application.”
    “I’ll get right on it,” Caroline said. She kept her face neutral even as she noted that Louis only planned to request permission for himself to appear. She wondered if he’d even ask her to