Return of the Closer
Monday, August 13, 2007
***WARNING: NO POKER CONTENT***
I had a fun/weird experience today at work. I had about 5 motions (requests to the Court for an Order directing something to occur) in a particular case. I had appeared at Court hoping that the motions would not be adjourned for a 4th time. As it were, the motion was originally set for a hearing in February. However, the defendant had done everything in his power to delay, delay, delay. As part of his delays, he stubbornly or absent-mindedly forgot to put in his opposition papers. As some background, opposition papers are a MUST. First off, I could have won on default for his failure to oppose my motion. But otherwise, opposition papers are needed to appeal any decisions. So, by failing to provide papers, it looked like I'd have a slam dunk, assuming that the motion wasn't adjourned again.
Out of the 5 motions, I only cared about one, my motion for summary judgment. If I won, it would be like winning the case without a trial. The trial would still occur, but rather than having to prove that the defendant was liable, all we would have to prove is how much (i.e., $$) the defendant was liable. These are big stakes, potentially worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, so if I could win summary judgment, it would be a great coup.
I arrived at Court and shot the shit with the other parties, all of whom shared my dislike of the defendant. As part of the defendant's delays, he brought in about 5 other parties, claiming that they should cover his litigation costs and any recovery by the plaintiff. I didn't want these other parties in the case, and they didn't want to be in the case, so we had a sense of comraderie, solidified by the defendant's dilly-dallying. Once the Judge took the bench and called our case, the defendant asked for another adjournment. I took this opportunity to recite the 6 month, 3 adjournment history of the case, and to my delight, the Judge decided to hear our motion.
After waiting our turn, we approached the bench. While the defendant had no opposition papers, the Judge decided to have oral argument. I succintly explained why we should win the case, and the defendant set forth a B.S. defense. The Judge saw right through it, and I won.
After this, I headed to the subway, ready to return to the office. On the way, I called the head secretary at the firm to tell her the good news. She was going to tell the Big Bossman as soon as he got back from wherever he was at. As I waited for the train, I loosened my tie and undid my first button. I took off my coat and rolled up my sleeves. It's hot as hell waiting for the subway, and I was done with Court for the day. Just as I hit play on my iPod, I saw three people walking toward the platform, the Big Bossman and two coworkers. They were at a deposition nearby and coincidentally bumped into me.
When we entered the train, Big Bossman asked what I was up to. Some more background. About two weeks ago, I fucked up big time. I missed the time for a motion and as a result, we lost our opportunity to request some stuff. Even before that, I was taking some ribbing from the Bossman. He knows I play poker (but does not know of the blog). During my first year at the firm, I was at least partially responsible for over $3 million dollars worth of verdicts or settlements. From that, I got the nickname, the Closer. After my recent Vegas trip, where I lost money, and my quiet year, the Bossman took to jokingly refering me as the Loser (Closer, without the C).
When I told him I won, he turned to me and did the "L" hand signal, shorthand for my Loser nickname: "You are no longer this, then," he said. And then, to my amazement, he said, "You are this now" and made the sign of the devil. \m/ Fuckin' A! The CLOSER is back.
Not much to the story, but I just had to recount how my Boss, a guy in his 50s who enjoys highbrow art and golf, flashed me the sign of the devil. AlCantHang would be proud. ROCK ON, people.
Until next time, make mine poker!
posted by Jordan @ 5:07 PM,
3 Comments:
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At 12:59 AM,
Pseudo_Doctor said...
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nice job on the case jordan....
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At 9:24 AM,
TripJax said...
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Well done (c)loser.
Always feels good to bring home the bacon... -
At 3:09 PM,
KajaPoker said...
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I really enjoyed this post. All I could think of was the Bossman doing a Jim Carrey impersonation and saying:
Loo-Hoo Ze-Herrr !!
