Not What I Expected

Part 9

It was Friday morning and Ryan was sitting at his desk rifling through papers and different documents on his desk and he was really feeling the exhaustion as it settled nicely inside him.

A big, high profile case of his was going to trial in three weeks and the preparation was going to take up most of his time and his assistant's time. He damn near peed himself when he realized who the lawyer on the other side was. He hoped to crush Chad Sanders in this case, not just for his own personal reasons, but also because that's what he did. In litigation matters, Ryan was known for his directness and his eagerness and ability to win a case.

"Ryan speaking," he said after he picked up the ringing telephone.

"Mr. Wilson," Jan, his assistant said on the other end, "Mr. Sanders is on the phone for you."

"Put him on," Ryan replied with an evil twinkle in his eye, "Chad, what can I do for you?"

Ryan was not about to let on that he knew that Chad was Nicole's husband. This conversation was not about exchanging niceties or becoming pals, he knew exactly why Chad was calling and he refused to give Chad what he wanted.

"Ryan, I'm just calling on the Jansen case," Chad said on the other end, "My client wants to try arrange a second mediation in hopes of settling this matter without proceeding to trial. Nobody wants this thing to go to trial. It's a three week trial and everyone is tired of negotiating and dredging up the horrible events of this matter."

"If you recall, which you don't because you weren't the lawyer on this matter a couple years ago," Ryan replied with a snarl, "The mediation attempt went horribly. It destroyed my clients that your firm attempted to negotiate such a low settlement with respect to this. My clients are entitled to much more than what you were offering and I know that they will get it if they proceed to trial."

"My clients are willing to go up an additional $20,000.00 for pain and suffering," Chad replied, "I think that's a good deal, don't you Ryan?"

"No deal Chad," Ryan said as he began to feel angry, "I'll see you in court."

He hung up the phone and threw his pen across the room.

This case wasn't that simple. His clients were a 16 year old girl and her five year old brother and their guardian. Three years previous their family was on a road trip across Canada and their destination was Vancouver. They were in between Hope and Chilliwack when a semi-truck swerved across the grass meridian and hit the mini-van head on. The truck obliterated the van and left the girl and her brother nearly dead on the side of the road. Alcohol was a factor in the accident, but Chad's firm was trying to keep that under wraps. The mom, dad and two older brothers were killed on impact.

At the last mediation the other side offered $350,000.00 for pain and suffering and other damages and now they were willing to add another $20,000.00. Ryan had done his research and read through case law where similar accidents were involved and in about 90% of them, the Plaintiffs were awarded amounts in the millions. He just didn't see how the other side thought that less than half a million dollars was a fair deal.

These two children were left as orphans and this accident would affect them for the rest of their lives. Their aunt had graciously taken them in and gave them a home and a loving family, which was exactly what they needed. But Cassie, the 16 year old girl, had multiple injuries that hadn't healed. She lost her leg and suffered a minor brain injury. Her five year old brother Jack, came out a little less harmed than Cassie. He suffered a broken leg and several broken ribs in which he had healed from with no issue, but that didn't mean he wasn't suffering from severe mental trauma of watching his parents and older brothers die right in front of him.