Harry's Law (2011) s02e04 Episode Script

Did the world just turn into a sea of jerks, or? Puck? Hey, Harry, how are you? Meet Paul and Marcie Vinson, and their daughter Sela.
Hello.
Uh, can we go into your office for a second? It's important.
We really appreciate this.
I'm not quite sure what it is you're appreciating.
We'd like you to represent Sela.
She's being charged with An acquaintance of hers at school recently took her life, and Sela's being held criminally liable for the girl's death.
I wasn't trying to bully her.
I have a blog that she read.
It's an unfortunate situation.
I have been representing her.
The case and files are fully developed full developed.
Another one of my cases also got called for trial.
So I was wondering if perhaps you would take over this one? Please.
Harry, I need you here.
More importantly, so does Sela.
Exactly what was on this blog? I just said she was gay.
Harry's Law 2x04 - Queen Of Snark Original air date October 12, 2011 I have a pretty low opinion of lawyers, so it's not as if I have high expectations.
But you set a new low.
You are unconscionable.
I would go so far as to say despicable.
- What's your point? - My point? My son came to you desperate for help and you prey on him to get hold of his life insurance?! That's one way of looking at it.
Here's another.
Your son, dying of leukemia, comes to me, Tommy Jefferson, in search of a lawyer to help him get some experimental treatment that the pharmaceutical company refuses to provide.
I take his case for free in exchange for an assignment of his policy.
I fight valiantly for him in court.
I do not prevail, but I am valiant just the same.
I lose the battle in court, but I tried.
And I charged him nothing.
You are here crying, because you didn't get the proceeds to his policy.
Well, sir, tell me, as he was dying, desperate as you say, what did you do? I, Tommy Jefferson, fought for him, you heard me say valiantly.
That's what I did.
What did you do? - I'm sorry.
- No, it's Are you okay, sir? You work with that guy? Are you kidding me? You took a dying man's life insurance? What good is it going to do him? He's dead.
Tommy, I don't even know what to say.
Say good-bye then.
See ya.
You're going to get sued for this.
- You do realize that? - Yeah, right.
Good luck to daddy finding a lawyer to go after me.
He did find one.
- Me.
- Very funny.
I'm serious.
I took his case.
I'm representing him.
- We share the same office.
- But we're separate firms.
You either sign over this life insurance policy to my client, or I'll get the court to order you to.
Is Harry in her office? I think so.
Hey, Cassie, how you doing? I'm flattered.
- You're very kind, but no thanks.
- I just said how you doing.
Okay.
Doing fine, Ollie.
Oh, you thought I was hitting on you, that's what you thought.
I wasn't hitting on you.
Okay, lunch that's not hitting.
Everybody eats.
It's hardly hitting.
Everybody eats lunch.
What do you mean you're leaving? Harry, it's Christian Louboutin.
I don't care who it is, why are you leaving? This is a huge opportunity for me.
Christian Louboutin is like the holy grail of women's footwear.
- They make shoes.
- Well, they saw the Vogue-Online interview and they called and asked to interview me, which I did.
- Successfully.
- Jenna, we're just getting started here.
Even Sarah Palin stuck it out two years before she quit.
Don't make this difficult.
I will make it difficult.
I'll make it as difficult as all get-out.
- I need you here.
- No you don't.
I hired a great girl downstairs, she's going to take care of the shoe store.
- And the law office is practically - Jenna.
Look, this is a calling for me.
And if you really care about me as much as you pretend to Well, I don't care that much.
I was pretending.
I'll sue your ass if you leave me in the lurch like this.
You okay? Why are you here, Ollie? Uh, well Actually, I don't care, sit down.
I helped bail you out last time, now you need to help me.
I just took on a new client, Sela Vinson.
That's funny.
You're serious? The cyber-bully? I don't think she's really a bully.
The trial is set to go, I could use your help.
Listen, Harry, defending wife-killing murderers is one thing.
But cyber-bullies who contribute to teen suicide this is a public relations disaster.
I'm not looking for P.
R.
advice.
I need a good second-chair, and since you owe me Ah, Sela, come in.
Meet Ollie Richard, he's joining the case.
- Hi.
- Hi.
Okay, look, uh first order of business, I'm going to meet with the D.
A.
, see if I can get the charges reduced.
I don't figure to be successful, but it's worth the shot.
Sit, honey.
I wanted to talk to you alone, since well, in that courtroom, your parents can't really be that much good to you.
It's gonna be a rough go.
You see how the way the media is making you out to be a monster, so will the prosecution.
There's no avoiding that.
Okay.
You're going to need to testify.
You up to that? I think.
You all right? If we lose, I'm really in trouble, aren't I? Sela, you're being charged with a homicide.
If we lose, you go to prison.
They make me do everything.
How you doing, Harry? I hear such nice things from Hosanna.
I can imagine.
I pulled the Sela Vinson case.
So I'm told tell Puck he's a coward.
Are you sure you really want this one? God knows I don't.
Maybe we can make both our lives a little easier.
Yeah, that's not gonna happen.
Kim, negligent homicide? We've got a bullying problem here in Ohio, did you know that? So you're going to make an example of Sela? Well, you said that, but okay.
She's 17 years old.
As was Hannah Wells, who is now dead.
Look, Harry, the cyber-bullying is out of control, so is the gay-bashing, especially in this state.
We have to sound an alarm, and a plea bargain is not going to do that.
We'd rather file homicide charges and lose than quietly resolve it, and unfortunately for your girl, that puts her in the crosshairs.
She's a decent kid.
Look, negligent homicide is the best I can do.
There's nothing illegal about accepting a life insurance policy as consideration, it's just, you know - Beyond repugnant? - Bug.
Let's keep looking, there's gotta be some actual case law.
Adam, can I talk to you? I may need a favor.
Um, I've decided to leave.
I got this really incredible job and Harry is threatening to sue me, and I was just wondering if you could help me.
I know that she's your boss and everything, but What do you mean, you've decided to leave? You can't leave.
It's Christian Louboutin.
They make shoes.
You can't just leave.
Okay, folks, we're going to trial.
I'll need everybody on standby.
We're going to need the down and dirty on all the laws regarding homicide and bullying liability.
Start with state and go national.
Politically speaking, it would be best for me to take that assignment from a partner in this firm, and not somebody else's.
Take it from me, then, we need the research.
Harry, Jenna just told me she's leaving.
Is is that true? Oh, she just thinks she is.
She's probably just having her God, it's been so long since I've had one I can't even remember what they're called.
Harry, I know that technically we're separate firms, but the fact is we cohabit, we have a duty, you hear me, a duty, of good faith to each other.
Is that how you got a man dying with leukemia to sign over his life insurance, you used good faith? He signed over the policy willingly.
In fact you know what he said, bug? Thank you.
Thank you, Tommy Valiant Jefferson.
He's suing me, you believe that? My client is.
You took a man's life insurance? Dying man's.
It's an acceptable form of compensation.
Not to me it's not.
It's disgusting.
Well, I can see now I not only need a judge to tell me I'm right, I need him to tell you, and you bug, and mother-bug.
Harry, check this out.
And what exactly has 17-year-old Sela Vinson done now other than torture a classmate online until she kills herself? Vinson has lawyered up.
That's right, hiring a high-profile defense attorney, Harry Korn.
Korn just out of court Is this is on nationally? I think you should take a shot with a restraining order before she poisons the entire jury pool.
Good luck with that.
There's such a thing as the first amendment.
You ever heard of it? I have, and it's not absolute.
Did you think it was? It is with the news.
This show is less news than it is infotainment.
Give me a break.
Here you go.
Can you let me finish talking to the nice grown-up now? This woman is in the vengeance business Even if you're right, you're just going to be giving her a soapbox to tee off even more on our client, and you, have you ever thought of that? Take it outside? Wait, are you two sleeping together? - He'd like to.
- No, I wouldn't.
- Yes, you would.
- No, I wouldn't.
- Yes, you would.
- I asked her out to lunch.
Take it outside? Which offer is now revoked for life.
She was, um, extremely private about her private life.
Both to friends and family alike.
Hannah was very Did you ever discuss her sexual orientation? Not directly, um She would sometimes refer to boys who she thought were cute at schools, so we just assumed she was heterosexual.
But since her death um, there were some writings in her diary which would indicate otherwise.
Can you describe a bit the person Hannah was? As I said, she was very private.
I would go so far as to say she was withdrawn somewhat.
Sensitive.
The night she died I went upstairs to check on her, to find out again if I c Her door was open and the clothes were kinda strewn.
I thought maybe that she'd gone out to the garage to actually do her laundry for a change.
So I went out there.
And that's where I found her.
I'm so sorry, but could you tell us what you discovered? She was sitting in her car, her head back.
I first thought that she was listening to her music, but then the smell hit me.
The, um, the gasoline.
And I I saw the hose attached.
Next to her on the car seat were these printed-out copies of that blog.
Things written about her that Your Honor, that's all I have.
Miss Korn? Mrs.
Wells I cannot begin to imagine the depth of your pain.
And I'm always horrified that grieving mothers would be subject to a cruel process such as this one.
Regarding your daughter's sexual orientation, you said she never talked to you about it.
She talk to anybody? Her friends? Not to my knowledge.
How about a therapist? Clergy? I'm told you're a pretty religious family.
Anybody at church? We're catholic.
So she was really alone with this.
Could Hannah have been suffering from depression or something else that you just couldn't see? In hindsight, I I I guess depression.
But being tormented by your classmates, I suppose, could do that.
Was there ever a cry for help from Hannah? Or any indication to you that she might need to get professional help? Again in hindsight I just couldn't see it.
I imagine if her own mother couldn't foresee something like this nobody could have.
First of all, talk about your conflict of interest, basically he gets paid if his client dies.
How is that a conflict? Second, this completely shocks the conscience and sensibilities Not mine.
Look, Judge can I call you "Judge"? life insurance policies get assigned all the time.
It's done, sometimes a repayment of debt, sometimes as collateral for a loan, winnings in a poker game, it's done.
Insurance policies are a transferable asset.
Certainly when one party is dying of a terminal disease.
There's been no suggestion of undue influence or mental incapacity.
Can I finish, please? No.
Time is money, in this case, mine.
This is a waste of my money and the court's time.
I'd like to move for sanctions, move for costs, move for treble damages, move for abuse of process.
All right, Mr.
Jefferson, stop all your moving, would you, please? The fact is I do have a bit of a problem with this.
- Why? - Why? Well, think about it.
You've been incentivized to lose.
Should your client have received the experimental treatment, it might've prolonged his life, delaying your compensation.
You come into the money faster by his dying, which means you financially benefit by losing the case.
- There you go.
- There she goes where? Judge, almost every lawyer financially benefits by losing.
Why? Because with losing come appeals, more litigation, more money.
The attorneys I know smile in defeat because they know - they just got richer.
- That wouldn't be true in contingency cases, which this is.
Oh, really, his death was a contingency, was it? Not everybody dies? Not the ones with cancer? Move for costs, Judge, on grounds of stupid.
Mr.
Jefferson, look, these are the kinds of things that give lawyers a bad name.
It feels sleazy, it smells bad, and I don't like it one bit.
But, Mr.
Branch, there's nothing illegal or legally unethical about this arrangement.
We have a valid contract.
Promise, consideration, performance.
Your motion is denied.
Hey, smile.
Now you can appeal take more of his money.
She was just really beyond upset over the blog.
And who wouldn't be? Comments like "dyke, box fairy".
There were others which I don't want to repeat.
It was beyond offensive.
So these things were written - about Hannah? - Yes.
By her.
- And then - And then what? Well, in the Wednesday blog, three days before, she wrote that maybe Hannah just needed some help coming out.
She suggested that people start giving Hannah a knowing nod, which basically, everybody started doing.
That's what sent her over the edge.
So the defendant basically solicited the student body to participate in this harassment? Yes.
You testified you were Hannah's best friend? - Yes.
- Jennie, did you know Hannah was gay? Well, I suspected.
It's not something we ever really talked about.
She was very deep in the closet, kind of.
And as Hannah's best friend, did you ever confront Sela? I confronted Sela many times.
She went after me last year after I made a poor decision on a prom dress.
As I understand it, she goes after everybody teachers, students, class presidents.
Her blog is the only way she can get attention.
So how we doing, Sela? Is this enough attention for you? Your Honor, move to strike that.
Ms.
Dean! The jury will disregard those remarks.
Ms.
Dean, you are only to answer the questions asked of you, please.
First of all, congratulations in court.
I thought you did a first-rate job.
Clearly, you're a gifted attorney.
Tommy, you own five cars.
You have two swimming pools.
You have sex with the most expensive girls in town.
Though you're entitled to that insurance policy, the fact is, you don't really need it.
And Jason Barrows does.
I'm going to ask you to give him the proceeds of the policy, not because you're legally obligated to, but because it's the right thing to do.
And I think you know, there is great reward in charity, too, often something richer than you can get from a car or pool.
Or hooker.
Please.
You have given me some inspiring words to chew on.
- Hmm.
- Hmm.
I'd like to reciprocate with some words of wisdom.
The business of law can be summed up in three words.
It's a business.
Rule number one get your fee.
Rule number two through ten get your fee.
The second you start to waver on that, the minute you begin to engage in analysis "well, do I do this one for free?" "Should I cut my price here?" "Have a heart there" the second you start to do that, you are done.
What you have to offer are your skills, whether it be for Jason Barrows or a man fighting the death penalty, whoever.
If you're not in the position to provide those skills, then all of your clients, every one of them, suffer.
How do you lose the opportunity to provide those skills, Adam? By forgetting it's a business.
Never, ever, ever do that.
That is my advice to you for which you will be billed.
It began, uh, a little out of anger, a little out of jealousy, I guess.
How so? Well there were a lot of popular girls, the pretty girls.
A clique that they would just make comments on my looks, or clothes, my complexion during sophomore year.
When I started blogging, it was mainly about sniping back at them a little.
And people started reading it.
Suddenly, I well, I was being noticed.
For the first time, I actually existed at school.
And this all started when? The beginning of junior year.
And as the blog got more popular, I expanded my target base, I guess.
Everybody was fair game.
And at some point, Hannah became fair game? Yes.
You went after her for being gay.
Well, I went after her for denying it.
We have plenty of gay people at Winwood.
Two of my friends are gay.
I targeted Hannah because well, my reason, flawed as it was, is that she wasn't promoting gay equality by living in the closet.
Did you think for a second how your words might make Hannah feel? Not enough.
I pride myself on being a journalist, but I wish I had been more of a human being.
Did you know Hannah Wells personally? Some.
Did she strike you as psychologically vulnerable? If anything, I thought she was thick-skinned.
A few times, after some of the blogs, she threatened to beat me up.
She threatened to beat you up? Which made me if anything, I amped it up some to show I don't know.
I really thought she was tough.
But she wasn't that tough.
No.
I am so sorry.
If I could fix this, or take it all back, I I'm so, so sorry.
Your honor, perhaps we could take a short break? It was very popular, this particular blog about Hannah, wasn't it? Got some good traction, more and more hits.
Gay bashing was good for business.
I'm not proud of that, but I wouldn't be the first journalist to To what, pander to indecent levels of - Objection.
- Sustained.
You're the snark queen.
You became the It Girl by being mean to others, - isn't that right, Sela? - Yes.
And you refer to yourself as a journalist.
- Are you a big fan of journalism? - Yes.
You read newspapers, blogs, that sort of thing? - Yes.
- And did you ever have an occasion to read any articles about the proliferation of teen suicides as a result of cyber-bullying? Yes.
And did that give you any pause before calling Hannah Wells a box fairy? About soliciting the entire student body to torment her? Did the articles on teen suicide give you pause, Sela? Not enough.
You stated that Hannah once threatened to assault you, and then, after that, you amped up the cruelty, am I right? A little, yes.
A little? You actually stopped calling her by her name altogether.
Instead, you call well, why don't you tell us? What did you start calling Hannah in your blog? Twat bandit.
And on the Wednesday before she took her life, when you started calling on her classmates to help her come out, what was the title of that blog, do you remember? "Tuna helpers".
Yeah.
Could you please read the last two lines of the Wednesday blog for us? "Let's all be tuna helpers".
"Give twat bandit a nod as you pass her in the hall".
"Let her know we know".
I guess she got the message.
- Objection.
- Sustained.
I'm sorry, Sela.
I know this is a really tough day for you.
Do you see the people sitting over there? Imagine the day they had.
- Objection! - Sustained.
She got pretty clobbered.
Mendelsohn is like the quiet assassin.
So, what, you have closing arguments left? Yeah.
That's all.
Harry, can I steal you away for a second? Jenna if you really want to go, of course you can go.
And if this shoe thing is what speaks to you, of course you should go.
- Really? - I was just a little mad, that's all.
I mean you bugged me for so long, now that I got attached to you really attached Harry, that's that's one of the nicest things that you've ever said to me.
When? Just now.
You said it just now.
When would you be leaving? Oh, um soon.
Just do me a favor and say good-bye before you walk out the door, okay? Why wouldn't I? 'Cause it's what you do.
You told me.
You get all weepy with good-byes, and so you just avoid them.
I just want my chance to well tell you what you've meant to this place and to me.
That was even nicer than the last - See? - First Malcolm going off to school, now Jenna Too much change for me.
Well, actually, there's a little more of it.
What do you mean? I've been talking to Ollie.
He's going to be joining.
- Ollie Richard?! - Oh, great.
He won't try to sleep with you.
He gave me his word.
Ollie Richard is joining this firm? Take it outside? I'll talk to him.
Thrilled? Beyond.
Hey.
You remember the big sell you gave me when you talked me into coming here? How this firm was gonna grow and expand? Oliver Richard gets us there a lot faster.
He's a pretty big litigator and a serious rainmaker.
This is probably a good thing.
It's just this place.
Jenna and Malcolm leaving, now him coming I'm afraid we're gonna lose what I really don't like him.
I know you don't.
Together we'll handle him.
Oh! - My bad, sorry - No worries.
Hey, Tommy for what it's worth, you know that thing you said about us having a duty of good faith to each other? I think that's a noble principle.
- You do? - Yeah.
Probably includes an obligation to act in a way that doesn't reflect poorly or unethically on each other, right? The question I keep asking myself is, how does a seemingly sweet kid from a good home, no disciplinary problem, a fine student, turn into the type of person who would write the vicious things that were said about Hannah? Is there something going on in the world today? Is there something in the water that teenagers are? We are seeing such an increase in bullying, especially toward our gay and lesbian students.
In Ohio, one in four sexual minority students reports being physically assaulted punched, kicked, attacked with a weapon.
One in three is physically harassed.
A full 70% is otherwise sexually harassed.
And this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Most incidents go unreported.
The torment that Hannah Wells was subjected to either by or at the direction of the defendant was unrelentingly mean And what I, I find especially disturbing and frankly a little difficult to fathom is that the defendant knew she knew about the proliferation of teen suicide as a result of this very type of cyber-bullying.
This tragedy was utterly foreseeable.
The question becomes, how long do we, as a society, just let it go on? Well, you 12 people, you represent society today.
It's your call.
As a citizenry, you either react responsibly to this madness or you don't.
You either accept it or you don't.
I don't think anybody in this room, including Sela, would dispute that she was out of line and perhaps even bears some responsibility for this tragedy.
But to charge her with a homicide? Ms.
Mendelsohn asked the question, how does a decent kid like Sela become a vicious snark queen? It didn't happen in a vacuum, you can be sure of that.
Consider the world she's been raised in.
Cruelty sells, and it sells big.
The most successful blogs flaunt their snark badges.
The Huffington Post, The Daily Beast, Perez Hilton have you read these things? And newspapers, too.
Page six of the New York whatever.
And how about television? Cable news shows trade on mean.
Some of these media darlings Ann Coulter called Al Gore a fag.
Glenn Beck, Keith Olbermann, Bill Maher, Rush Limbaugh they don't get sanctioned for being cruel, they get book deals.
This is our media, folks.
Sela didn't invent mean.
As for insensitivity toward gays, again, consider the society Sela's grown up in "don't ask, don't tell" in the military what was that? Up until a few months ago, it was okay for a kid to fight and die for his country, perhaps even get his legs blown off by an I.
E.
D.
, but God forbid he admit to anyone he was gay.
Same-sex marriage Americans sure hate that one, don't we? Even the liberal Californians reared up and said, "uh-uh, not in my backyard".
Under federal law, it's still legal to discriminate against gays in the workplace.
Did you know that? This is who and what we are as a nation, so, please, let's not lay all this on Sela's doorstep.
Now let's turn to the real question.
Did Sela cause Hannah's death? This was a suicide, not a homicide.
Hannah committed suicide.
As to why, well, one reason could be, she had to grow up keeping who she was a secret.
Can you imagine the sense of shame? She didn't feel she could tell her own parents.
For that matter, not even her best friend.
Clergy? Forget it.
Being raised catholic, she'd be damned for eternity.
The deep-rooted biases, the slights, the looks of disgust.
This was the world Hannah Wells grew up in.
And she couldn't even take offense for fear of being revealed as gay.
This was Hannah's life.
And it wasn't Sela Vinson's doing.
Ms.
Mendelsohn asks you to react responsibly to this.
I agree.
But the least responsible thing you could possibly do, by far, would be to trivialize this deep-seated problem by blaming one high school kid with a snark blog.
Adam.
Hey.
I'm sure it's just an oversight, my friend, but I haven't received your check for services rendered.
You know, when I advised you how to correctly practice law.
I'm not paying you, Tommy.
That would make you a deadbeat.
You don't want to get the rep of being - both a loser and a deadbeat.
- You know what? I'm okay.
I was just having a little fun.
Plus, to show good faith, I gave the policy proceeds to your guy.
You did? No, but nice try.
Adam.
What the hell was that about? He just aggravates me that's all.
That's not all, and you know it.
It's been a bad week.
Tell me.
It used to be you and me, essentially.
I I was part of the nucleus.
- You still are.
- No, I'm not.
Not even remotely.
With Ollie Richard coming in, he'll I feel marginalized, Harry.
Plus, the reason I came, if you remember, was you.
To work side by side, to I feel I've barely seen you since we moved in here.
I'm just an associate.
That's all.
The night before we moved in here, I got taken by ambulance to a hospital.
I thought I was having a heart attack.
Turned out to be angina caused by some kind of stress.
And what I was stressing about is this place.
I mean, it's a real law firm now.
We got obligations and overhead.
And, Adam, I am 62 years old.
I'm a little past my playing prime.
I mean, what would happen to you and Jenna and Cassie if I Well, I guess I don't have to worry about Jenna.
Are you sick? No, but it's Bringing Ollie in, this place will go on with or without me now.
It brings me peace of mind I think this will be a good thing for everybody.
And he agreed to come here as an associate? Well no.
So he's a partner.
I want to be made a partner, too.
- No, you don't.
- Yes, I do.
You don't, Adam, because you know as well as I do you're not there yet.
It wouldn't feel earned.
I have no doubt you will get there.
You got a ton of talent.
And when you do make partner, it will feel earned.
Your jury's back.
Listen, um it turns out that Louboutin would like me sooner rather than later, so You're just going to slip out, aren't you, leave a note on my desk? I promise I won't do that.
Oh, for God's sake.
Will the defendant please rise? Madam foreperson, the jury has reached a unanimous verdict? We have, Your Honor.
What say you? In the matter of the state of Ohio v.
Sela Vinson, on the charge of third degree negligent homicide, we the jury find the defendant, Sela Vinson, not guilty.
Good job, Harry.
Is is it over? You better get out of here.
Does she need to be processed out or No, we can go.
Nice job, Harry.
Again.
What's with the music? We feel it goes well with that.
It actually does go well with that.
Yeah, well let's not get too carried away.
This case is nothing to celebrate.
A girl is That little coward! Could you turn off the music, please? What are you looking at? Don't you have jobs to do? If not, I can start laying people off.
That was backup.
I've been to my therapist, cried myself out, so I'm ready to This is not good-bye.
I'm I'm gonna be in New York, and it's a short flight.
Cincinnati will always be Um Cassie, I I know that I don't know you that well, but I can already sense that might be my biggest sacrifice, not getting to know you.
Not getting to know you might be a plus.
But you're obviously very talented, so you look after these people around here, got it? I do.
Good.
Um, don't forget that I was the first one to know, and to say, that you are really sweet.
And sentimental.
Serious, serious therapy.
Don't wait.
And maybe you most of all, Scarecrow.
Forget it.
I don't do good-byes, either.
Just take this and beat it.
You should have a memento of what you built.
Thank you.
- Bye.
- Bye.