John, You're Nothing To Me Now...

Ah, the Godfather -- I and II are two of the greatest movies of all time, and III is ok, though it took three viewings for me to really like it.  I think about scenes all the time -- Coppola's masterpiece resonates so well with all critical themes of human nature.

Of course, one of the saddest it the fraternal betrayal. Michael had become the leader of the family, and his loser older brother Fredo was envious and marginalized. So he betrayed Michael to rival Hyman Roth and his crew, and nearly got his brother killed. Michael, back in Nevada, confronts Fredo and Fredo admits his treachery, but tries to justify it on the basis that he was grabbing his own glory. Michael disowns him, and, after their mother dies, has Fredo shot on a boat in Lake Meade, and his body dropped to the bottom.

I met a fellow in '84 and we became friends. He was a young lawyer at the firm where I was a clerk, and we bonded over our quirky senses of humor. Over the years, we did some business -- I'd refer him cases that my firm didn't want -- and we made some nice money together.

He had a checkered work history -- left 4 firms on bad terms, but several years ago was looking for a new place to work. Now, I SHOULD have been objective and said that any lawyer who was 62 and nearly broke should be avoided, but, since he was a friend, I put a halo on him. This is, or has been, one of my flaws -- friends of mine get imbued with qualities they often do not truly possess...

So we brought him in, and gave him control of some cases. At first, things worked out -- he settled some can of corn matters, though the financial problems persisted. He missed many rent payments, but Stu, the boss of the operation, let him slide. When a case settled, they evened up.

But over time, he grew lazy. Cases sat. No money was made. All he had to do was work the cases, and he wouldn't -- for reasons we couldn't figure out.  He complained that he wasn't getting new cases, and I'd patiently explain that once he completed the ones he WAS given, there'd be more. Months, then years, passed. Cases sat.

Other members grew disgusted. When one partner would confront him about the lack of effort, John would whine "Well the staff doesn't follow my instructions." That was a laughable excuse.

But still, I hoped he would complete several key cases --including one set for trial next month. I naively thought the money from that case would solve things.

In the mean time, I helped him. A lot. His daughter was wait listed at college. I used my connections with major alums to assist her application -- she got in and graduated. I got John into medical appointments he'd never have gotten on his own. One day I drove him to the hospital and wasted an entire day waiting for him -- he was afraid to drive following surgery. I thought we were friends.

Well -- turned out we weren't. His failure to work continued, and he grew deeper into debt. A secretary told us his house was in foreclosure -- he tried pathetically explaining to his bank he couldn't pay because of damage from Hurricane Irma.  I don't think the bank bought that.

Last week, John disappeared. He said goodbye on Friday, and then went into hiding. We called and emailed. Nothing in response, except for texts to one secretary.

I grew worried. His daughter was no longer close to him -- she lives in Texas and seems to want less and less to do with him. He's single. Given his desperation, I started to worry he might kill himself.  I was about to sent the cops out to check, when the secretary got another text -- no, he said, he was fine. But he ignored my and the rest of our groups calls and emails.

Turns out I didn't need to worry about his welfare. In the same way cockroaches, they say, will survive a nuclear war -- John was scheming. He convinced another firm to hire him -- a job I knew about from years back -- basically managing cases for a big TV advertising firm.  He bullshitted his way in there the same way he did with us and the three firms before he left.  No one contacted to ask about his tenure with us. I'm certain they didn't know he was on the brink of bankruptcy.

I found out via a terse email.  I'm assuming he plans to try to take several of our group's cases with him. This is a common thing among the scoundrels in our profession -- ultimately a court works out which firm is entitled to how much of the fee.

The money won't make a bit of difference to me. My partner will be the one to fight it out.  But I feel responsible for being the one who brought what turned out to be a cancer to our group.

He'll last probably less than a year at the new shop. They'll figure out he's drawing a salary and is lazy. He doesn't close cases. He'll figure out a way to blame others -- make himself the victim -- and then he'll move on to another  firm that ought to know better. Or maybe he'll be dead by then.

He already is to me. I emailed those close to me to tell them he no longer exists. The responses were "But after all you did for him..."  The lesson, especially for my Ds, is that just because you know someone a long time doesn't mean you can trust them.

So other than this blog entry, I plan to never speak of or think about this piece of crap again. I treasure my friends -- we truly work together on handshakes. I feel like taking a shower that I ever shook John's hand. I never shall again...