Rough Justice

'They'd be at it already if Steere hadn't been in jail. It's the only open question in this case. When will they fuck, and how? Is there a way they can both be on top?'

'Judy, the case.' Mary blushed. She could curse with any trial lawyer, but she was uncomfortable with Judy's sex talk. To Mary, saying 'fucking' had nothing to do with fucking.

'Oh, the case. The case is a winner. It's a good jury and the D.A. didn't prove their case. Steere gets aquitted.'

Mary allowed herself to believe it then, on faith. Judy had won every graduation prize at Stanford Law, had published legal articles, and had even been offered a clerkship at the Solicitor General's office. Mary suspected Judy was the reason they got hired at Rosato & Associates. Judy had raw intelligence and legal talent, but Mary had to work hard to get results, and did. 'Maybe we'll get a bonus,' Mary said.

'From Rosato? Bennie Rosato?'

'It could happen.'

'She just started the firm a year ago. She's not about to throw money around, even at Girls '' Us.' Judy meant that Rosato & Associates was the first all-woman law firm in Philadelphia; five women litigators worked for the new firm. The fact that they were all women had attracted publicity, but whether it attracted clients remained to be seen. Steere was the firm's first major case, which was undoubtedly why Bennie Rosato entered the conference room that minute.

'Hello, you two,' Bennie said, knocking on the doorjamb. She was on her way out, with an overcoat on her arm and a packed canvas briefcase slung over one shoulder. Benedetta 'Bennie' Rosato's reputation as a civil rights lawyer was larger than life, and at six feet tall she intimidated the shit out of Mary, whose head popped up from the correspondence.

'Uh, we were just… organizing the file,' Mary stammered.

'Right,' Judy said, with an easy smile. 'We're not exhausted or anything. We work constantly, even when the jury's out.' Her blue eyes met Bennie's with a grin, and Bennie smiled back in a way that was friendly if not warm.

'We gonna win, Carrier?'

'How could we lose, boss?'

'That's the spirit.' Bennie smiled, satisfied. Loose sandy hair streamed to her shoulders, wavy and careless, and her un-made-up features were large and not unattractive. Bennie wore a pantsuit of black wool, selected without excessive attention to cut, fit, or style. Bennie Rosato looked every inch the sunny, no-nonsense jock who won the scholar-athlete award in high school, which was just what she was. An elite rower in college, she still sculled every day on the Schuylkill River, a narrow ribbon of blue that rippled through the city. 'How'd the jury charge go in? Did you get what you wanted?'

'Yes. They looked like they even understood it.'

'A first. How was Marta's closing? I wanted to hear it but I had a dep.'

'She nailed it, except when she started quoting Sun-Tzu. Their eyes glazed over.'

Bennie frowned. 'Sun-Tzu, the philosopher? What did she quote him for?'

Judy rolled her eyes. 'I have no idea. He's Steere's guru. If you spend any time with Elliot Steere, sooner or later he hauls out Sun-Tzu.'

Sitting at the table, Mary marveled at Judy's ease with Bennie. From their start at the firm, Judy acted more like Bennie's partner than an associate. Mary guessed it was because Judy and Bennie were so much alike. Both lawyers, athletes, and monstrously tall, as if from some legal master race. It made Mary nervous. Her chest blotched under her blouse and she wondered if she was cut out for the law. She was too short, for starters.

'You okay, DiNunzio?' Bennie asked. 'Don't let up now. You're almost at the finish line.'

Mary nodded in a way she hoped was perky. 'I'm fine. I'm okay. I'm great.'

'She's exhausted,' Judy translated.

'Hang in,' Bennie said. 'Listen, Marta just called from a pay phone. She's on the way back and wants to talk to you. Says it's important. You can stick around, right? You two live in town.'

'Sure,' Judy answered, and Mary sighed. The same thing used to happen when she was at Stalling & Webb. Mary's apartment was within walking distance, so she was expected to work no matter what the weather. It was so unfair. Mary made a mental note to burn down her building.

'Good. Thanks,' Bennie said, and her eyes scanned the conference table. The Steere file was scattered across its surface and manila folders were jammed into the accordions crookedly. It had been all the associates could do to pack the file in the rental car, drive it here, and lug it upstairs. 'Better clean this file up, guys. Get the exhibits in order. You know how picky Marta is.'

'Tell me about it. Anal is just a first offer,' Judy said, and as soon as Beanie closed the conference room door, the young lawyers began straightening up the conference room. In short order, the twenty-five red accordion files that represented the defense in Commonwealth v. Steere sat upright on the glossy walnut table, arranged from correspondence to pleadings, trial exhibits, and lawyers' notes. News clippings took up five accordions and over seventy foamcore exhibits rested against the wall under a mounted blueprint of an oar. The two associates finished just as Marta Richter flew into the conference room, when it became instantly apparent that she couldn't care less about the file.

* * *

Marta felt composed, glued together again. The endless, stuffy bus ride back to the office had given her a chance to think. She had a plan, but she would need DiNunzio and Carrier.

Marta slipped out of her wet coat as soon as she hit the conference room, sat the associates down, and told them what to do, without telling them the truth about Steere. They would run to Rosato if they knew they were gathering evidence against a client, and Rosato was an opponent Marta could do without. So Marta pitched it to DiNunzio and Carrier as one more impossible assignment after two months of impossible assignments. The associates looked stunned.