- Leland McKenzie: I want to thank you all for staying late.
- Michael Kuzak: So what's going on, Leland?
- Leland McKenzie: This. Effective as of this Friday. I am resigning as Senior Partner of this law firm.
- Douglas Brackman, Jr.: What?
- Ann Kelsey: Leland.
- Leland McKenzie: I'll stay on as of Counsel. But one of you will have to take over.
- Douglas Brackman, Jr.: Are you sick?
- Leland McKenzie: No, no. I'm not sick. My health has nothing to do with it.
- Ann Kelsey: Then what? What possible reason could you have for dropping this kind of bomb on us?
- Leland McKenzie: Because for some time now, I've hated to come into work, Ann. People keep threatening to quit. People tell me to go to hell. The place is splitting at the scenes and I can't be the one to hold it together very long.
- Arnie Becker: So what are we supposed to do?
- Leland McKenzie: You'll elect the new Senior Partner, that's what you'll do.
- Ann Kelsey: Who? Who here can do this job?
- Leland McKenzie: Anybody but me.
- Michael Kuzak: Well, you can't do this, Leland.
- Leland McKenzie: Oh, yes, I can. I'm old. I'm rich. I'm done.
- [Leland resign as Senior Partner and going for to nominate and electing the next Senior Partner for the upcoming Election Day. Leland heads and leave the Conference Room Meeting]
- Douglas Brackman, Jr.: Proceeding along, Parral vs. Dayan. Victor?
- Victor Sifuentes: Yes. The hospital has settled out, leaving just the good doctor. We've offered 40,000, but they've rejected.
- Jonathan Rollins: Isn't 40,000 a little low for wrongful death?
- Victor Sifuentes: Well, the victim was terminal anyway, Jonathan, so the damage claims a little weak. Start today.
- Douglas Brackman, Jr.: Keep us surprised. People vs. Earl Williams. Uno más.
- Michael Kuzak: Motion to dismissed Wednesday.
- Leland McKenzie: Any chance of getting this kicked?
- Michael Kuzak: Slim, but Pinto has been seen in the PI's, I'm working with expect to find him.
- Leland McKenzie: And then?
- Michael Kuzak: I questioned him. Which reminds me, if I did find the guy, and I need somebody to be there with me when I talk to him. I may need an impeachment witness down the road.
- [Victor can't. He got his own case. Jonathan will help]
- Jonathan Rollins: I can do it.
- Michael Kuzak: Good.
- Douglas Brackman, Jr.: Lastly, cleanup items. As you know, the vote for the new Senior Partner is Friday, which is just 3 short days away. When it decided by plurality, the declared candidates are Rosalind, Stuart and myself.
- Arnie Becker: Uh, Stuart, you little power hog.
- Stuart Markowitz: I believe I'm qualified.
- Douglas Brackman, Jr.: Yes, well, best of luck to us all. Let's try to run a clean campaign. And very lastly, I've been instructed to request that you keep the evening of May 4th, clear on your calendar, though I have no idea why.
- Abby Perkins: Benny's clinic is doing a play, and he's landed a major role, so I think we shall all be there.
- Douglas Brackman, Jr.: Oh, no. First Roxanne think she's Aretha Franklin. What's he doing? An evening with Mark Twain?
- Abby Perkins: The Wizard of Oz. He's playing the Cowardly Lion. And Alice has been cast as Dorothy.
- Stuart Markowitz: That's great.
- Douglas Brackman, Jr.: Well, that's it, people. We're adjourned.
- [Douglas closed his pocket watch with a chain]
- Douglas Brackman, Jr.: Leland?
- [Leland gets up]
- Douglas Brackman, Jr.: I'd like a minute of your time, please.
- [They all dismissed]
- Douglas Brackman, Jr.: I wasn't going to say anything, but there's no way I can just swallow it. You betrayed me, Leland.
- Leland McKenzie: Excuse me?
- Douglas Brackman, Jr.: How many times we talked about? Your turning over the reins to me. "Pretty soon, it'll be your firm, Douglas". How many times have you said that?
- Leland McKenzie: You got my vote, Douglas.
- Douglas Brackman, Jr.: But not your endorsement. You could have sat down with me beforehand. We could have mapped out a transition, and you could have coupled your announcement with a recommendation. But you didn't do that. Instead, you invited everyone to throw his or her hat in the ring.
- Leland McKenzie: You can't expect me to mandate how the others should feel.
- Douglas Brackman, Jr.: You've made a career out of mandating and steering people in directions, you wanted them to go in for my money, you were staring them here, too. You're non endorsement was conspicuous, Leland.
- Leland McKenzie: Senior Partners don't have it given to them, Douglas. You want that job? You go out there. You take it. Now, you've got my vote. If you can't muster the support of your colleagues, that's not my problem.
- Mark Gilliam: And how soon after the accident did the ambulance arrive?
- Susan Parral: Maybe 15 minutes. And it was probably another 10 before we got to Cedric's.
- Mark Gilliam: And that will be Cedrics Israel Hospital.
- Susan Parral: Yes, they wheeled him right in. Some... nurses or paramedics or something checked him over but they weren't really able to help much. After a few minutes, he came.
- Mark Gilliam: Let the record reflect that the witness has indicated the defendant, Dr. Michael Dayan. And what happened then, Mrs. Parral?
- Susan Parral: We went into a little room and I think they took blood. And then they took him off for tests. And then Dr. Dayan came back and said that there was something wrong with his spleen, and that they'd have to operate right away.
- Mark Gilliam: And what happened then?
- Susan Parral: They took him off to prep, and they put me in a room where I could wait. About 1/2 hour or so, the doctor comes back and says he's not going to do the surgery.
- Mark Gilliam: Did the doctor tell you why not?
- Susan Parral: Yes, he says it was because my husband had AIDs. He said it would be too dangerous.
- Mark Gilliam: Too dangerous for whom?
- Susan Parral: Too dangerous for him, the doctor. He told me not to worry, that he'd get another doctor to do it. But that he wasn't going to operate. And then he left the room.
- Mark Gilliam: And when was the next time that you saw Dr. Dayan?
- Susan Parral: About an hour later. He came back in the room and he told me... He told me Warren was dead.
- Mark Gilliam: Thank you, Mrs. Parral.
- Victor Sifuentes: How did your husband contract AIDs, ma'am?
- Susan Parral: He had an accident at work about 6 years ago, and he received a blood transfusion that was contaminated.
- Victor Sifuentes: And he was being treated for this disease.
- Susan Parral: He was getting treatment. It wasn't effective.
- Victor Sifuentes: Your husband was dying.
- Susan Parral: Yes, he was.
- Victor Sifuentes: Um... I'm sorry, ma'am, but could you tell us how long the doctors had given him to live?
- Susan Parral: They said he probably wouldn't make it through the summer.
- Victor Sifuentes: And was your husband employed at the time of his death?
- Susan Parral: No. He hadn't worked since last October.
- Victor Sifuentes: Thank you, ma'am. I have nothing further, Your Honor.
- Susan Parral: [bitterly] That doesn't mean he should be left to just die. Like he didn't matter.
- Victor Sifuentes: Thank you, ma'am, there's no question before you.
- Ann Kelsey: Stuart, I didn't say you wouldn't make a good Senior Partner.
- Stuart Markowitz: No, you didn't say it. But you implied it, didn't you?
- Ann Kelsey: I simply ask why it is you want to run for it.
- Stuart Markowitz: Oh, which means, how could I possibly consider for a single second that I could actually run a law firm, right?
- Ann Kelsey: Oh, brother If that is what you infer from one simple little question, Stuart, I don't know what to say.
- Stuart Markowitz: Well, let's get down to it, Ann: are you going to vote for me?
- Ann Kelsey: Honey, of course I'm going to vote for you. You're my husband, how could I not support you in this?
- Stuart Markowitz: [laughing] Ho, ho, ho. Oh, great, there it is. You are unbelievable. The absolute maestro with a back-handed compliment.
- Ann Kelsey: Oh, my God's sake.
- Stuart Markowitz: No, it's great, Ann. It's great. You'll vote for me out of spousal obligation, not because I'd be any good at the job.
- [Knocking on the door]
- Stuart Markowitz: Not not because I'd be a good leader. Not because it would be good for the firm. No, But because it's a wife's duty to back her husband even though he may be tilting at windmills.
- [the nanny will take care of the baby Matthew]
- Ann Kelsey: Stuart, what do you want for me? Do you want me to stand up and cheer, the firm is saved? Stuart Markowitz to the rescue? You have never been the head of a single department. You have never been the boss of anything. At least Douglas has been an administrator.
- Stuart Markowitz: That's all he is, Ann, is an administrator. He has no vision. He can't see beyond the paper clip inventory, and he has no business being vested with the direction of our lives.
- Ann Kelsey: Better him than Rosalind Shays.
- Stuart Markowitz: She can't win.
- Ann Kelsey: She can, Stuart, if you and Douglas split your vote! You can take just enough support away from each other to make that queen bitch the winner.
- Stuart Markowitz: Ann...
- Ann Kelsey: Stuart, I can live with Brackman. Not happily, but I can live. But if Rosalind Shays gets control of this firm...
- Stuart Markowitz: It's not going happen. You want to how this thing's going break down? Leland backs Douglas, Rosalind votes for herself, you and I vote for me. That leaves Becker and Kuzak as a swing votes.
- Ann Kelsey: You think they'll vote for you?
- Stuart Markowitz: Oh, yeah. Arnie was never happy about her joining the firm to begin with. And he's never taken Douglas seriously. I think I can nail him down. The trick is Kuzak. Go to figure out a way to bag Kuzak.
- [Ann is looking pretty weird]
- Stuart Markowitz: What?
- Victor Sifuentes: Okay, 75,000.
- Mark Gilliam: Not a chance.
- Victor Sifuentes: Come on, Mark, you can't show damages here. You had a 3 month life expectancy and no lost income. I'm throwing you a bone.
- Mark Gilliam: We're not going for wrongful death here, Victor, I'm going for hedonics. Loss of enjoyment of life.
- Victor Sifuentes: How much enjoyment did he have coming to him, Mark? He was a month away from his organs beginning to shut down. If anything, this thing spared him tremendous suffering.
- Mark Gilliam: Your guy cost Warren Parral the rest of his life. I'm not forgiving that for 75 grand. Sorry.
- Victor Sifuentes: You going to take this offer to your client, Mark?
- Mark Gilliam: Yes, Victor, I'll tell her, and I'll tell her not to accept it.
- Victor Sifuentes: You told her everything?
- Mark Gilliam: Meaning what? Have I told her that I have AIDs?
- Victor Sifuentes: Look, Mark, I'm sorry, I just don't want to see your judgment here clouded by your own personal situation.
- Mark Gilliam: She knows about my situation, Victor. And she knows me to be an honest attorney who would never compromise his client's interest just to make a point, even if I'm dying.
- Victor Sifuentes: I'm sorry, Mark, that was out of line.
- Mark Gilliam: Your offer is rejected.
- Victor Sifuentes: And so you were the first doctor to examine this patient?
- Dr. Michael Dayan: Yes. Uh, I don't usually work in the ER, but I was on call that night and through a series of other emergencies, I happen to be there when they brought Mr. Parral in.
- Victor Sifuentes: And you diagnosed Mr. Parral having a ruptured spleen?
- Dr. Michael Dayan: It wasn't ruptured, but the cat scan revealed a severe contusion and a lot of blood in the abdomen, that's why I scheduled surgery.
- Victor Sifuentes: And then you decided not to operate, is that right?
- Dr. Michael Dayan: Yes, I had noticed during the initial examination that he was somewhat emaciated and then during prep, I saw the purple lesions on his skin and the advanced yeast infection in his mouth. I knew then that he had AIDS.
- Victor Sifuentes: And that is why you declined to operate?
- Dr. Michael Dayan: Yes, sir. I will treat AIDS patients. But I will not perform surgery.
- Victor Sifuentes: Why not, Doctor?
- Dr. Michael Dayan: Because I would be exposing myself and my team to an infectious disease that is almost always fatal.
- Victor Sifuentes: But can't you wear protective clothing?
- Dr. Michael Dayan: It's very common for surgeons to get cuts and Nick's on their hands while they're performing the procedure.
- Victor Sifuentes: Dr. Dayan, when this patient went into shock, you knew that if you didn't operate right away, he was going to die?
- Dr. Michael Dayan: Yes. And every single day, I'm haunted by the memory of watching him die. I stood there and watched it, but I also knew given his weakened immune system, that there was a chance that he wouldn't survive the procedure, and when I considered that along with the fact that it's a bloody operation and that I would be risking my own life as well. I made my decision. How am I conflicted about this? Absolutely. Was I wrong? I don't think so.
- Victor Sifuentes: Thank you, Doctor. Nothing further.
- Mark Gilliam: Dr. Dayan... you let a man die because he had AIDS?
- Dr. Michael Dayan: I decline to operate because I didn't want to die of AIDS.
- Mark Gilliam: Well, what exactly are the odds of contracting aids in that way, Doctor?
- Dr. Michael Dayan: Laws are only significant if you're willing to gamble, Counselor, I'm not.
- Mark Gilliam: Ever, uh, operate on a patient who was infected with Hepatitis B?
- Dr. Michael Dayan: Yes.
- Mark Gilliam: Well, I'm confused, is there? Hepatitis B is a deadly disease which is more easily transmitted than the HIV virus. You don't mind dying from hepatitis?
- Dr. Michael Dayan: First of all, Hepatitis B is not always fatal. There is a treatment for Hepatitis B. There is no cure for AIDS. If you get it, you died.
- Mark Gilliam: Well, over 200 healthcare workers die every year from Hepatitis B. Only 19 have ever contracted the HIX virus from job exposure and none have died.
- Dr. Michael Dayan: We don't know how many doctors have contracted the HIV virus. This disease has a long incubation period, Counselor, there could be thousands of healthcare workers out there who have this disease and don't know it.
- Mark Gilliam: Warren and Susan Parrel counted on you. They went to the hospital for help and what they got was a doctor who discriminates against patients on the basis of what diseases they have.
- Dr. Michael Dayan: [Pointing the finger] Do you see those kids over there, Counselor? They count on me, too. They count on having a father around when they grow up.
- Mark Gilliam: You took a note to save lives, and you let him die?
- Dr. Michael Dayan: He was going to die anyway.
- Mark Gilliam: So are we all, Doctor. We're all just trying to put that day off for as long as we can.
- Dr. Michael Dayan: Have you ever been in an OR, Counselor? We are passing around razor sharp instruments that can cut through your gloves that can cut your hand.
- Mark Gilliam: Move to strike.
- Dr. Michael Dayan: And if you're asking me to risk my life to buy three extra months for a man who's likely to spend them an excruciating agony? Yes. It's not worth it.
- Johnny Kayle: Found him this morning doing some business on Olympic.
- Michael Kuzak: He knows why you grabbed him?
- Johnny Kayle: Not yet. He's figured out it ain't no job interview.
- Michael Kuzak: You find out where he lives?
- Johnny Kayle: One room studio on Olympic. It was clean.
- Johnny Kayle: Ronnie, this is Mike Kuzak. He would like to know some things.
- Ronald 'Pinto' Sewell: What the hell is this?
- Michael Kuzak: I represent a man who is charged with killing Nina Corry. Does that mean anything to you?
- Ronald 'Pinto' Sewell: No.
- Michael Kuzak: Well, it should. You were seen leaving her apartment the night that it happened. That's what this is about.
- Ronald 'Pinto' Sewell: I don't know what you're talking about.
- Johnny Kayle: You're going talk to us, Ronnie. We are going to have a conversation here.
- Ronald 'Pinto' Sewell: I don't know nothing about what you're asking me.
- Michael Kuzak: You were seeing, Pinto. You were seen there. Now either you start telling us what we want or prepare yourself for a very long afternoon. You got that?
- [Pinto spitting on Kuzak's face. Johnny was having a fight with Pinto. But Rollins stop Johnny]
- Jonathan Rollins: Hey! Hey! What the hell? Hey! What the hell are you guys doing?
- Michael Kuzak: Listen to me, you stupid son of a bitch! I don't give a damn about you or laws or rules or anything. All I care about is who killed Nina Corry. Now, you better start telling me some things very quickly, or you're going get hurt.
- Ronald 'Pinto' Sewell: I told the police, and I'm telling you: I was in the building that night but I didn't kill nobody.
- Michael Kuzak: What do you mean, you told the police?
- Ronald 'Pinto' Sewell: I told him everything! And the district attorney, too.
- Michael Kuzak: You told the district attorney that you were in that building that night?
- Ronald 'Pinto' Sewell: I told him everything. What hell is this?
- Michael Kuzak: What was the district attorney's name?
- Ronald 'Pinto' Sewell: Get your hands off me!
- Michael Kuzak: [Yelling] I said what was the district attorney's name!
- Ronald 'Pinto' Sewell: Flanagan! Some chick named Flanagan.
- [Margaret Flanagan? Kuzak doesn't understand]
- Leland McKenzie: Jonathan told me what happened this morning.
- [Kuzak is reading. Leland will grab a seat and talk]
- Leland McKenzie: Needless to say, I was shocked. Terribly shocked.
- Michael Kuzak: Well, I guess we both been shocking each other these days.
- [Leland was patient]
- Michael Kuzak: Earl's desperate. I don't know what's gonna happen if this thing goes on much longer.
- Leland McKenzie: What happened this morning makes me worry about you, Michael. I think you're too close to this thing. Maybe you should step back. But Victor's pay you a little...
- Michael Kuzak: Oh, Victor's in trial, he can't do it. No, I've got to do this, Leland, I'm the one of those about this case. And what happened today will not happen again, I promise you that.
- Douglas Brackman, Jr.: Arnie, I've been thinking.
- Arnie Becker: Great. Every man should have a hobby.
- Douglas Brackman, Jr.: I've been thinking about the future of the firm. I think an Entertainment Department could be a very good idea. And I'd be willing to support you in that endeavor should you decide to pursue it.
- Arnie Becker: Thank you, Douglas, I appreciate the bribe.
- Douglas Brackman, Jr.: It's not a bribe. It is, however, an indication of how receptive I can be to new ideas. Perhaps your ideas.
- Arnie Becker: I haven't decided who I'm voting for yet.
- [Douglas goes into Arnie's office]
- Douglas Brackman, Jr.: And I certainly don't want to influence you in any undue way. But I might remind you of your own belief, that Rosalind Shays' is not a team player. Not to mention the fact that having a woman at the helm would shatter a long-standing tradition here.
- Arnie Becker: Mm-hmm. What about Stuart? Do we have any, uh, tradition against him?
- Douglas Brackman, Jr.: A fine tax attorney.
- [Close the door]
- Douglas Brackman, Jr.: Well, let's face it. A little Napoleon, who knows what would happen with him running around in charge, but this much we do know, a vote for Stuart Markowitz...
- [Arnie blowing his nose]
- Douglas Brackman, Jr.: is a vote for Ann Kelsey. She'd be the one calling the shots.
- Arnie Becker: It's pretty vicious, Douglas. I'm not altogether sure I agree with it.
- Douglas Brackman, Jr.: Well... then think about this. If I get the nod, the totem pole stays basically the same. But if Stuart gets elected, he becomes more powerful than you. And so does Ann Kelsey.
- Arnie Becker: Thank you for that objective analysis, Douglas. I'll, uh... I guess I'll have some thinking to do.
- [Douglas nodded]
- Douglas Brackman, Jr.: [Opening the door is Stuart] Uh-huh! Stuart.
- Stuart Markowitz: Douglas.
- [Arnie sees what's new]
- Stuart Markowitz: Hi, Arne.
- [Scoffs]
- Stuart Markowitz: I just found out I can't make it to the Laker Game this Saturday Night. You want tickets?
- [Arnie doesn't know]
- Mark Gilliam: And what is your opinion, Dr. Petit, of the defendant's conduct that night at the hospital?
- Dr. John Petit: His conduct was atrocious. The code of ethics promulgated by the American Medical Association requires him to treat that patient is in the emergency room, for God's sake, he has a legal obligation to treat him.
- Mark Gilliam: Even if the patient has a deadly infectious disease?
- Dr. John Petit: We're doctors. We've been treating deadly diseases for 100 years. Tuberculosis, malaria, yellow fever, smallpox. Those are all once deadly diseases.
- Mark Gilliam: So his conduct then, in your opinion, was a breath of the accepted standard of medical care?
- Dr. John Petit: He let a man die because he had AIDS. That's an affront to every decent doctor in this country.
- Mark Gilliam: Thank you, sir. Nothing further.
- Victor Sifuentes: His conduct wasn't an affront to every doctor, wasn't it?
- Dr. John Petit: To every responsible doctor, I believe it was.
- Victor Sifuentes: Well, you know I'm not sure what doctors you've been talking to. Because a recent survey of medical school graduates found that 25% do not want to treat AIDS patients.
- Dr. John Petit: Well, that's a bigotry.
- Victor Sifuentes: Maybe so, but it is shared by a big part of your profession, sir.
- Dr. John Petit: I don't care how widespread the paranoia is it's wrong. The AMA has an ethical code of conduct, counselor. He violated.
- Victor Sifuentes: Did the AMA take any action against my client as a result of his conduct?
- Dr. John Petit: The AMA has pronounced that a doctor cannot refuse to treat someone because he has AIDS.
- Victor Sifuentes: Did they take any action against my client, sir?
- Dr. John Petit: They should have.
- Victor Sifuentes: But they didn't?
- Dr. John Petit: Maybe because they're more concerned with protecting their own than in weeding out negligent...
- Victor Sifuentes: Wait a second. A minute ago, you were exalting the AMA as the example that he should live up to now you're condemning it?
- Dr. John Petit: If anything, I'm just condemning the fact they fail to discipline him.
- Victor Sifuentes: The fact is that nobody has disciplined him. Not the AMA, not the hospital that he works at...
- Dr. John Petit: Well, I think that's disgraceful.
- Victor Sifuentes: Yes, sir. You think it's disgraceful, but you do not speak for the medical community here, do you?
- Dr. John Petit: I don't care what other doctors...
- Victor Sifuentes: Many doctors would do exactly what my client did under the circumstances.
- Dr. John Petit: And that's what scares me the most.
- Victor Sifuentes: Thank you, Dr. Petit. Nothing further.
- [Back in prison, they were talking before a new trial]
- Jackie Williams: I love you.
- Earl Williams: I love you, too. I'll see you there.
- [Earl will be there and heads back to his cell accompanied by the Los Angeles prison guard]
- Jackie Williams: He's been having these dreams.
- Michael Kuzak: What dreams?
- Jackie Williams: He keeps seeing a crowd of people surrounding him, screaming at him that he should die. He keeps having this other one that... he says it's like he's lying down and he can't wake up and he doesn't know if he's asleep or if that's his state of consciousness when he's dead. It's happening almost every night, Michael. He's afraid to close his eyes. Can you win this motion to dismiss?
- Michael Kuzak: I don't think so.
- Jackie Williams: Well, you've got to try. He's falling apart, and if we don't get him out of here pretty soon, I think he's going break.