Tales To Be Told

 So Allison returned Thursday, to continue the Wifey declutter project. Unfortunately, she learned that in the months since she was last here, Wifey RE- cluttered. But the good news is that Allison got done what I had requested: a bench in our newly done closet is open, so I can sit there each am and put on my shoes, the guest room bed is no longer a large shelf filled with stuff, and the newly created laundry room lets me walk in without tripping over stuff.

Allison's visits include martinis each evening, and last night we had a blast. Wifey also invited her friend Ronnie, and we drank and ate Di Napoli and laughed -- a lot. I reminded Allison of the conclusion of a large case we handled in 1996, and she asked that I write down the memory. I told her I would.

Meanwhile, today, my new contact or handler at FIU came through. Joelle and Kenny met Wifey and me at Eating House, a restaurant in the Gables, and enjoyed a sumptuous repast cooked by three local chefs. We had a terrific time, and plan to next meet early Wednesday at MIA for our flight to Barbados -- two nights there and then a cruise to the northwest back to PortMiami. It promises to be, as Jimmy Buffet sang, a lovely cruise.

But back to the tale... We were hired by a young woman from the Bahamas, who broke her nose as a rear seat passenger in a rental car, in Naples, Fl. Could we possibly also represent her boyfriend, who was in a coma with a major TBI? We could, and jumped right on the case and had it set for trial within a few months.

Back then, rental car cases were very good for claimants. The rental company had to pay damages caused by the rental driver. The party ended via something called the Graves Amendment -- aptly named since it was the death of most of those cases.

But ours was a great one -- the driver fell asleep, the car rolled, and our client Chris was really messed up.

The defense lawyers were a pair of fellows I'll call Mike and Dale, as that is their names, and they had left a large firm to ply their own shop. They became famous for wining and dining and other-ing the claim managers from all around the US, and got terrific business.

So fast forward -- we were at a mediation, and their client offered $4M to us -- the number we had targeted for settlement, but there was more to come.

The mediator was our old friend Murray, and he was handling the process very professionally.

Mike and Dale came into the room with great urgency -- the mediation needed to end NOW -- they had a flight to make.

Paul asked what matter could possibly be more important than a case worth at least $4M. Mike opened up a briefcase and showed us: it was filled with boxes of condoms and vials of Viagra. These two were headed to Costa Rica for a very different kind of Costa Rican vacation than I took with my family -- cloud forest, Arenal volcano, Jaco Beach, Howler monkey and sloths...

Paul and I appreciated their candor, and we got the case settled soon after. But I'll never forget the sex tour trip mediation...

Allison, who was my law school classmate, joined us soon after we started the firm, and saw the salad days. 

As we sat outside by the firepit last night, sipping our Stolis and olives, we looked back on some of them.

I toasted her -- telling her that some people seem to be able to get through this life without friends, but I was never one of those people, and she has been a terrific one.

We cried a bit, and then laughed a lot -- oh -- those memories are precious.