At 9:00 AM on Wednesday, December 16, Judge Miriam Castellanos took the bench in Courtroom 424.
She was fifty-nine and wore reading glasses on a cord.
About forty people sat in the gallery.
Conrad Peale sat alone in the third row, in a gray overcoat.
Bea sat in the back, by the door.
Clay sat at the far table with his blue trial binder.
The binder was three inches thick.
Its spine faced the bench.
AEO — BETTENDORF
Lorna sat beside him, next to her outside counsel.
Kavanagh had the table by the jury box.
Jonah and I had the one in the middle.
Lorna's counsel argued first.
He read paragraph four of her declaration out loud.
"Sealed text that appears nowhere in the public version."
He said it like it settled everything.
Clay stood without being called.
"Your Honor, may I?"
"Briefly," the judge said.
"She's a paralegal who learned some words."
Someone in the gallery laughed.
Jonah stood.
"She wrote them, Your Honor."
He sat back down.
The judge looked at me over her glasses.
"Ms. Reyburn."
I stood.
"Page fourteen, Your Honor."
"Public."
"Filed June 9, 2023."
The judge turned to her own monitor.
She typed the case number.
She scrolled.
Then she read the chat line in the motion's exhibit.
"It's the same sentence," she said.
"It's been on my docket since June 2023."
She looked at Lorna.
"Ms. Keane, you swore to paragraph four on November 23?"
Lorna didn't answer.
"She saw page fourteen on November 18," I said.
"On my laptop, at Ambler Rusk."
"Five days before she signed."
Lorna's counsel started to rise.
The judge didn't wait for him.
"The motion for contempt is denied."
Lorna kept both hands folded on the table.
Kavanagh argued Corvane's motion in six minutes.
He used two numbers: 140 recipients, 97 opens.
He didn't need a third.
Clay stood again.
"Every recipient was plaintiff's counsel."
"Paragraph seven-a."
"Staff may see it."
"Seven-a is staff," I said.
"Seven-b is nine names."
The judge flipped through her copy of the order.
"Ms. Reyburn, who drafted this?"
"I did, Your Honor."
"In 2022, as his paralegal."
"How many of the hundred and forty are on Attachment 1?" the judge asked.
"Four, Your Honor."
"Two associates, Mr. Calloway, and me."
"And the other hundred and thirty-six?"
"Not one of them is named."
Clay smiled at the gallery.
"Every inbox on that list belongs to my firm."
"Your exhibit," I said.
"Page two."
"Lines sixty-one and sixty-two."
The deputy put the page on the courtroom screen.
Two lines glowed near the bottom.
@bexleyharrow.com
@bexleyharrow.com
Clay turned in his chair to read it.
He hadn't stayed for page 2 on Monday.
"Those are—"
He stopped.
"Lorna added them for the merger."
"Clay," Lorna said.
"Stop talking."
In the third row, Conrad Peale took off his glasses.
He folded them and held them in his lap.
"I offer Exhibit R-7," I said.
"Ticket OK-44718, dated November 2."
Lorna's counsel objected to foundation.
I pointed to the back row.
"The woman who filed it is here."
Bea raised her hand a few inches.
"Admitted," the judge said.
Clay found his voice again.
"I didn't add anyone."
"I hit send."
"She doesn't even know what that order means."
"I wrote the order you broke," I said.
Nobody in the gallery laughed after that.
The judge took a short recess.
She came back at 11:30 and read from a single page.
At 11:38 she looked at the far table.
"Mr. Haverty, you're off Attachment 1."
"The binder stays with the court."
Clay put his hand flat on the blue binder.
He left it there.
His knuckles went pale against the blue cover.
Lorna didn't look at him.
The deputy started forward and stopped, waiting for him.
"Take his binder!"
The shout came from somewhere in the gallery.
"Order," the judge said.
Clay's hand didn't move.
I turned to him.
"Hand it over."
He looked at me for a long second.
Then he looked at the deputy.
He lifted his hand.
The deputy picked up the binder with both arms and carried it through the door behind the bench.
The judge kept reading.
The firm would have to collect sworn attestations from all 136 recipients who weren't on Attachment 1.
Each one would say the file had been deleted.
They were due Friday at 9:00 AM.
Clay was referred to attorney regulation for the disclosure.
Lorna was referred for paragraph four.
"Ferris Calloway reported on time," the judge said.
"It's found compliant."
She set the page down.
"We're adjourned."
Peale stood in the third row.
He buttoned his overcoat and walked out without looking at Lorna.
Lorna watched him go.
Clay watched the door where his binder had gone.
In the hallway, Jonah waited until the courtroom doors closed.
"You did that yourself," he said.
"I know."
He held out his hand to shake mine.
His grip was formal.
"Send me your final bill, counselor."