Original subtitles

- Well, well, if that isn't an altocumulus

undulatus that I see.

- Aaron.

- I'm referring to the clouds currently visible

from your office window.

- Aaron, we have got to discuss whether or not

you want to proceed to trial.

- Of course, I want to proceed to trial.

I was defrauded by these people.

- There's a settlement offer on the table.

- Ann, I want to be a television weatherman.

I've devoted myself to the study of meteorology.

I'm possessed of the expertise.

I had the job.

I want the job back.

- Understand though that even if we prove

that the station dealt with you in bad faith, all we can get

is money.

We can't compel them to rehire you.

- If we win, and I have every faith that we will,

it may be too expensive for them not to rehire me.

- Oh, I'm sorry.

I put Manny Hellman's file in my briefcase by mistake.

I thought you might want to look at it.

- You were expecting precipitation?

- Yeah.

They said so in the 11 o'clock news.

- Stuart, thanks for the file.

- Did you happen to check the barometric pressure?

- No, actually I didn't.

- The dew point?

- No.

- Either of those indicators would have told you

all you needed to know.

There was no lower atmosphere depression.

The air mass currently over Los Angeles is completely stable.

Where exactly was the precipitation

going to come from?

- I don't know.

I just listened to the weather report.

- Aaron, we've really got to get going.

- He just listened to the weather report.

See, that's what most people do.

They just listen to the weather report.

They don't analyze the data.

They don't corroborate the data by an empirical examination

of atmospheric conditions.

They don't stick their heads out the window--

- Aaron, we've got to go to court.

- OK. - Nice to meet you.

- Yes, nice to have met you.

- You know, it never fails.

You carry an umbrella and it doesn't rain.

- You were expecting precipitation?

- Aaron, got to go.

- OK.

[music playing]

- Ross versus KTLW and Kelsey.

- We represent Aaron Voss.

He's suing the management of KTLW

for dismissing him as their on-air weatherman.

- What was the cause of action? - Fraud.

He claims that when they hired him,

they said they wanted a real weatherman.

Then they fired him and brought in a stand-up comedian.

- No chance of settling this one, is there?

- I brought him the settlement offer.

He turned it down.

- All right.

Aguilar versus Laraby.

- I've got a settlement conference rescheduled.

If that doesn't do it, we go to trial.

- Wait a minute.

Why would we go to trial over a $2,700 debt?

- That's how much our client is owed.

- Wait a minute.

Why are we even talking about going to trial over $2,700?

- Because we can't impose a settlement on a client,

Douglas. What's he's supposed to do?

- Not take the case to begin with, how about.

Or take the case, but let him know from the onset

that you're not going to court over an insignificant amount

of money.

- Did it ever occur to you that it might not

be insignificant to our client?

- It's insignificant in terms of how

much revenue it will generate.

- Consider it pro bono, Douglas.

We've got the case.

Let it go at that.

- If it's all right, I'd like to follow this one.

- You're welcome to. - Great.

Anyone else?

I mean, I think we should try and take as much of a loss

on this case as possible. - Yeah.

I'm certainly available if you need me, Daniel.

- Well I have an idea.

Why don't I just write a personal check

for the full amount and be done with it?

- My client wouldn't take it.

That's why.

- I see.

OK.

- Move along, Douglas.

- I need to say something else.

Every morning on my way to work, I drive past a lumberyard.

I see all these Latino men standing around, chomping

at the bit to go to work.

A while back, I wanted to have my yard cleared out.

I hired this one guy who I saw on that corner

every morning to do it.

I got to like him.

I got to trust him.

When he told me what happened to him,

I offered to represent him.

$2,700 might seem like nothing to us.

But to this man, it means the difference

between being able to feed his family and seeing them starve.

I intend to see to it that he gets what he's owed.

- Schein versus Schein.

- That's mine.

Mitchell Schein is an agent whose wife is divorcing him.

The only issue is money.

- That makes it simple, Arnie, doesn't it?

- Why would that make it simple?

- Community property, split it down the middle.

- When they hire me, Melina, it's never simple.

- And even if it were, he'd never let them know that.

- See?

That's what I call smart lawyering.

- OK.

We've prepared a cashier's check for $1,350.

- You owe me $2,700.

- I don't owe you anything.

I'm willing to pay you something.

- He's actually willing to pay you quite a bit.

- Just to put this thing to rest.

- No.

- Does he understand what's going on here?

- He understands perfectly.

- I'm not sure that he does.

Let me spell this out for you, Mr. Aguilar.

I am an attorney.

Mr. Greenhut here works in my law firm.

I pay him a salary, whether he handles his case or not.

In other words, it doesn't cost me a thing to litigate this.

You, on the other hand, lose money every day

you spend sitting in a courtroom.

- Not to mention the $1,350 you can have right now.

- I give you fair price, my work.

That's all I want.

- Not much of a business man, is he?

- Maybe not.

On the other hand, maybe he just doesn't like your condescending

tone of voice.

- I wasn't condescending, counselor.

- First, you cheat him, then you talk down to him?

You don't have a whole lot of goodwill

to trade on in this room, Mr. Laraby.

- I find you offensive, Mr. Morales,

offensive and insulting.

And I don't believe you're acting

in your client's best interest.

I'll see you in court, my friend.

- What do we do now?

- Trial set for 2 o'clock.

- You want to go get some lunch?

- No, gracias.

I bring something from home.

I see you 2 o'clock. - Bueno.

- OK.

- What.

- Nothing.

- I just think that there was a deal to be made here.

- If what?

I'd been a little more respectful?

- Is it really necessary to go on the attack?

- The guy is a racist, Gwen.

- Is it really that he's racist? Isn't it just that he's a jerk?

- He's a racist.

- I'd like for you to describe for us, if you will,

what took place during your first meeting

with Mr. Rechtschaefer.

- He asked me to do the weather.

And I said I would consider the job if and only

if the station were willing to commit itself

to approaching weather forecasting with

some seriousness of purpose.

- Did he appear willing to make that commitment?

- Yes, he did.

- Would you tell the court what you did as a result?

- I left the teaching position at Cal State.

I designed an entire array of graphics

to better explain meteorological phenomena to a lay public.

And I told my family and friends that I had finally

found the job that I dreamed about having

since I was a little boy.

- How did it go?

- First week, it went very well.

There were a number of interesting climatic events.

There was a low pressure center in the Rockies.

There was a cluster of thunderstorms over the Midwest,

and I reported on them.

And I reported on the local area,

and I was 100% accurate in my forecast.

- What happened on the second week?

- Everything changed.

I was given these ridiculous new clothes to wear.

I was given different colored eyeglasses.

I was given jokes to tell during the weather

segment of the news.

- And how did you respond?

- I went along.

I tried to do my best.

I tried to maintain as much dignity

as the new clothes and the new glasses

and the new jokes would allow.

- How was week number three?

- There was no week number three.

I came in for work on Monday and Mr. Rechtschaefer

told me that I had been replaced by somebody named Kyle Thunder.

- What reason was given, Mr. Voss?

- I was informed by Mr. Rechtschaefer

that I didn't pop.

- Thank you, Mr. Voss.

I have no further questions, Your Honor.

- Did your contract with the station call for you

to be put on the air more than two weeks?

- My conversations with Mel Rechtschaefer

called for more than that.

- Oh, are you saying Mr. Rechtschaefer agreed

to jeopardize the commercial viability of a major market

television station in order to fulfill

a childhood fantasy of yours?

- Objection. - Fantasy?

- Sustained.

- It was a fantasy.

Mr. Voss, you don't look like a weatherman.

You don't sound like a weatherman.

- Objection.

- I am what a weatherman looks like.

- Mr. Voss.

- Not Kyle Thunder or Drizzle McManus or Cloud Stevens.

Me, Aaron Voss.

Do you know what the weather is going to be like on Thursday?

I do.

There is a low pressure center forming off

the coast of Baja that's going to create a major thunderstorm

by Friday morning.

- Your Honor, I would ask that the witness's response

in its entirety be stricken.

- So ordered.

The witness' response is stricken.

The jury will disregard it.

- Why.

- Because your ability to forecast

the weather has nothing whatever to do with this trial.

- Forgive me, Your Honor. But why?

- Ms. Kelsey, please advise your client

as to both the issues of this trial

and the proper protocol of this courtroom.

- Yes, Your Honor.

- Does Mr. McCafferty, you have any further questions

for this witness?

- No, Your Honor.

- In that case, we'll take our noon recess.

Court will reconvene at 2:00 PM.

- OK.

- I see you brought your umbrella.

Did Kyle Thunder tell you it was going to rain?

- Aaron.

- Mr. Aguilar, would you tell us, please, where

you first met Andrew Laraby?

- The corner of Pico and Sawtelle I'm looking for work.

He drive up and hire me.

- What did he hire you to do?

- He asked me if I could lay bricks.

I said, yes, I could do this.

He asked how much it cost built a patio.

I say I can do for $2,000.

- Did he accept that offer?

- Yes.

- Tell us what happened next.

- I bought bricks.

I showed them to Miss Laraby.

She said they're OK.

I built the patio.

- Were you paid?

- No.

When she saw it finished, Miss Laraby

said bricks I use too orange.

She say tear down what I do and start over.

- What did you say?

- I say you have to pay for that.

- What price did you give them for the additional work?

- Price of bricks, need to pay helper,

time to tear down patio, put in new one,

plus the $500 they owe me.

I give them price $3,200.

- And how did Miss Laraby respond?

- She said they're going to have a party.

She wants it done by the end of the month.

- Did you finish it by the end of the month?

- Yes.

- What happened at that point?

- Mr Laraby give me $500 and six-pack beer.

- I have nothing further.

- Had Mrs. Laraby seen all the bricks at the time

you claim she approved them?

- I have a pile.

She see ones on top.

- So she hadn't seen them all?

- Why didn't she say she needed to see them all?

- Wasn't it incumbent upon you, as the brick mason,

to inform her that she did need to see them all?

Weren't you the only one in a position

to know that the color wasn't uniform?

- Objection, assuming facts not in evidence.

- Sustained.

- They were bricks, sir.

They looked like bricks.

- Isn't it the case, Mr. Aguilar,

that you had this woman over a barrel?

- No.

- She wasn't privy to the original agreement.

She wasn't happy with the work.

She was desperate that the job be finished.

You decided to take advantage of the situation, didn't you?

You figured you'd stick them for more money.

- Objection, counsel is badgering this man.

- I'm cross-examining him, your honor.

That's all I'm doing.

- That's not all you're doing, Mr. Greenhut.

You are badgering him, and I'm instructing you to stop it.

Objection sustained.

- Mr Aguilar, you testified that Mr. Laraby paid you

$500 when you finished the job.

Is this the check?

- Yes.

- I ask that this be received into evidence

and marked defense exhibit 1.

- So ordered.

- Is that your signature on the back?

- Yes.

- What does the notation on the front of the check read?

- Full final payment.

- So in other words, by accepting this check,

you agree that $500 was all that you were owed?

- Sir, I take a check because I need to make money.

I need to pay rent.

I need to buy food.

- Mr. Aguilar, did Andrew Laraby ever

say that he would pay you a dime more than the price

you initially agreed upon?

- No.

- I have no further questions.

- Yes, but I understand you walked

away with all the marbles in the McAnnally case.

- We did very well in McAnnally.

- Oh, you've got a lawyer that takes no prisoners,

you know that?

- Why would you take prisoners?

You got to feed prisoners.

- You're no slouch yourself, Horty.

You do remember the woman with the oxygen tank.

- Well, let's not get into that right now.

- She's cross-examining this 78-year-old woman with such

bad emphysema, she had an oxygen tank next to the witness stand.

Well, by the time Horty got done with her,

they took her out of the courtroom on a stretcher.

- She was concealing assets.

- That she was.

- Hey, if physical infirmities gave us a license to steal,

the richest people in the world would all be cripples.

- I am very uncomfortable with this discussion.

Can we get back to our matter, please?

- Absolutely, the house in Pacific Palisades.

- Sell it and split the proceeds.

- Beautiful.

The partnership interest in the agency.

- What's the matter, Horty?

There isn't enough to divide up here?

You have to go after the business too?

- I've got to go after everything, Arnie.

If I didn't, you'd take it as a sign of weakness.

- Oh, I'm going to have a problem with this one,

you know that?

- Let's put the agency interests aside for the time being.

- All right, let's put it on the side.

The house in Martha's Vineyard.

- He owned it before they got married.

- It was a shack before they were married.

- When we moved in together, you had

a cedar hope chest, that's it.

Now all of a sudden, you want a piece of everything?

What have you been doing, Alison?

Taking greed injections?

- I was married to you for 12 years, Mitchell.

- Right, during which time, I was the breadwinner.

- I know you were the breadwinner.

I know you were the world beater.

But I was the one who was desperately unhappy,

and I think I should be compensated for that.

- This is the Jonah factor at work, isn't it?

- Since you brought up the subject of Jonah,

there is one more thing I need from you.

- Oh, yeah? What's that?

- A get.

- What's a get?

- It's a document that makes the divorce official

in the Jewish religion.

- What, are you reclaiming your faith, Allison?

- That's exactly what I'm doing.

Jonah is a spiritual man.

He's a devout Jew, and I intend to share his devotion.

- How nice.

- And what's this get going to cost me?

- It's not going to cost you anything.

You just have to come with me to a rabbi

and participate in a ceremony.

- Ugh, what, is this going to consume, like, an entire day?

- No, it's not going to consume an entire day.

- Can I suggest that we wrap this up for today,

and both of us go back and figure what

we need in order to settle?

- All right, but I'm not letting Alison sign anything

that doesn't represent a full split

of all the marital property.

And all means all.

[door opens]

- I'm so glad you're here.

- Are you OK?

- Call me tomorrow morning?

- Uh-huh.

- Mitchell.

- I'm Mitchell, Alison's husband.

You must be the Baal Shem Tov.

- How do you do?

- I'm curious.

I wonder what the Talmud says about stealing

another man's wife.

- Mitchell, don't do this.

- I met Alison long after the two of you had separated.

- Hmm, we were still married at the time, were we not?

She was still my wife, was she not?

- Yes, she was.

- Jonah, you don't have to listen to this.

- I wonder what the big man's going to say, huh?

- Mitchell, come on.

- I don't know what the big man's going to say.

I know that we all have to answer for what we do.

- That's right, my friend.

And he's not going to cut you any slack because you're

wearing a yarmulke.

- Mr. Schein, if I were in your position,

I'd feel everything that you're feeling right now.

I know that my presence here is hurtful to you.

I came because Alison asked me to.

- And I'm not going to apologize for that.

I need all the emotional support I can get.

- Can we go, folks?

- It was nice to have met you.

- Mrs. Laraby, did Mr. Aguilar show you the bricks

before he built the patio?

- Well, he showed me some of the bricks.

He didn't show me all of the bricks.

- Did you ask to see all of the bricks?

Well, no, I didn't, but only because I assumed

that Mr. Aguilar would be as sensitive to uniformity

and color as I was.

I assumed that he was more of an artisan than he was.

- What did you say to Mr. Aguilar

when you saw the finished patio?

- Well, I said, I was unhappy.

I said the color of the brick was garish, that rather than

evoking the stately somewhat worn quality such as you're

apt to see in Virginia or Massachusetts,

that this called to mind the worst, most povernous

sections of New Jersey.

I couldn't live with it.

I didn't care what it entailed, I wanted it replaced.

- You said that to Mr. Aguilar?

- Well, not exactly in those words, obviously,

but I told him that I wanted it done over.

- Did he tell you how much that would cost?

- Yes, he did.

- And did you agree to pay that amount?

- Well, what I agreed to was that I would

take it up with my husband.

That's all I agreed to.

- But you did tell him, did you not, to start work?

- I asked him to get started because I

needed to get it done.

- But by telling him to get started,

weren't you tacitly agreeing to the financial terms

Mr. Aguilar presented?

- Well, not at all.

I told him that we'd be fair.

- Were you fair?

- I think we were.

- How long was he working at your house?

- Six weeks, which, by the way I endured without complaining.

- You endured?

- Yes, I endured.

It's not easy having workmen at your house six days a week.

- Do you know how much Mr. Aguilar's wages ended

up being for this job, ma'am?

- All I know is that we made four payments of $500 each.

- Would it surprise you to learn that after deducting

the cost of materials and the helper,

he would be making just under $26 a day?

For a 10-hour day, that comes out to $2.60 an hour.

- Well, I never really thought about what his hourly wage was.

- I'm sure you didn't.

- God, I can't believe I'm being put through this.

You know, Andrew, it isn't worth it.

It just isn't worth it.

- What's your occupation, Mr. Thunder?

- I'm the guy who tells you whether or not

you can afford to let your smile be your umbrella.

I'm the weatherman at KTLW.

And by the way, is today a beautiful day or what?

- Would you tell the court how you came

to be the weatherman on KTLW?

- I was appearing at the Comedy Store right

here in West Hollywood.

And one night, Mel Rechtschaefer approached me

and asked me to screen test.

When he saw the results, he offered me the job.

- And what was your response?

- My response was yes, as indefinitely, as

in where do I sign?

- Were you able to start immediately?

- Actually no, no.

I was booked on a cruise ship and we couldn't get out of it,

so we agreed that I would start as soon as I got back.

- To the best of your knowledge, who did Mr. Rechtschaefer

hire in the interim?

- I guess he hired Mr. Voss.

- What did Mr. Rechtschaefer indicate

to you were the requirements for a weatherman?

- Timing, personality, the right look,

you know, that certain ba-bing.

- Did you know anything about meteorology?

- I know that if you see a guy named Noah with a tape measure

and a skill saw, a pretty good chance it's going to rain.

[laughter]

- This is the way he does his weather report.

- That's enough, Mr. Voss.

- Uh, Mr. Thunder, did you have any science

background of any kind?

- I have no science background.

- Did Mr Rechtschaefer ever express any concern about that?

- No, he didn't.

I told him I was a quick study.

I told him that I would pick up the ins and outs

of forecasting as we went along, and that seemed

to satisfy him just fine.

- Have you managed to do that?

- Mr. Voss.

- Been at it for a year, you must have it down pat by now.

- Mr. Voss, that's enough.

- Wow, are we bitter.

- Tell us, was Kyle Thunder your name at the time

that Mr Rechtschaefer first approached you?

- [scoffs] No.

- What was your name?

- Bobby Rappaport.

- So Kyle Thunder was, in effect, a creation of Mr.

Rechtschaefer, wasn't he?

- No, he wasn't.

Mr. Rechtschaefer and I sat down together in a room

and came up with who Kyle Thunder would be.

- When was it that the two of you did that?

- Um, right before I went on the cruise.

- In other words, before Aaron Voss was ever approached

to do the weather, you and Mel Rechtschaefer

had already worked out who the weatherman would be?

- You know, I never wanted to get dragged into this, OK?

I have nothing against Mr. Voss.

I bring my own brand of high energy and happiness

to a world that's woefully in need of both.

I make people laugh.

What is wrong with that?

- What's wrong is you're not supposed to make people laugh.

Weather isn't funny.

Weather is serious.

- Mr. Voss, I'm going to hold you in contempt if you can't

manage to control yourself.

- Your honor, I have no further questions.

- You may step down.

- Aaron, the sunny side of the street, life

can be so sweet on the sunny side of the street.

[chuckles]

- It's never painless, Mitchell.

- It's never painless.

I have to tell you that, legally,

she can claim a piece of his agency share

as a marital asset.

- Which doesn't mean I've agreed to give it to her.

- It just means we've got a problem.

- A potential problem.

- Now, we could all tell her what we think it's worth,

make her an offer.

Maybe she'll accept it.

- But the likelihood is that she won't.

- In which case, she'll want to examine our books

and make her own appraisal of what

Mitchell's shares are worth.

- Evan's been through this.

- Did your wife ever ask to see the books?

- Oh, yes, she did.

Fortunately, I had leverage.

- What kind of leverage?

- I threatened to sue for custody of the children.

Given that she'd just come out of the Betty Ford Center,

she had a little exposure on that flank.

- Wow.

- We'll do our damnedest to keep the agency out of it.

I just can't guarantee that we'll be successful.

- [clears throat]

Permit me to share an anecdote with you, Mitchell.

Some years ago, there was a very significant agency.

And at that agency, there was a very significant young agent.

He was bringing in lots of commissions.

He was attracting a lot of attention.

He was showing every indication of being

a major player in the industry.

Then he got divorced.

He allowed that to intrude on his work.

He allowed his wife access to areas

of the business that, by their very nature,

require confidentiality.

Depositions were conducted.

Bank records were examined.

Clients felt compromised.

They felt ill used.

They felt the agent could have handled it in a better way

than he did.

As a result, a great many of the clients left them.

Momentum was lost.

Perception was lost.

That young agent never became major,

and he's no longer young.

He is now working in an office in Van Nuys.

And all the people that he represents are below the line.

[chuckles mildly]

[exhales sharply]

Think about it.

[music playing]

- You did hire Aaron Voss, did you not?

- Yes, I did.

- What were you thinking at the time?

- I needed a weatherman.

And I thought going in a somewhat offbeat direction

might actually work.

- Mr. Rechtschaefer, would you tell us

why it is that you fired him?

- Because it became obvious that I had made a mistake.

His physical appearance wasn't right.

His delivery was stiff.

He lacked communication skills.

The fact that he knows about weather

doesn't make him a weather man.

TV needs TV personalities, and whatever else Aaron

Voss might be, he ain't that.

I made a mistake when I hired him.

And as soon as I recognized it as such,

I took steps to correct it.

- I have nothing further.

- You said that Aaron Voss lacked communication skills.

What exactly does that mean?

- It's an intangible quality.

It's very hard to describe.

- Did you ever encounter any difficulty

understanding him yourself?

- The issue isn't whether or not he was coherent.

It's whether or not he was right for my newscast.

I thought that going with a weatherman who actually

understood what he was talking about

would make an interesting departure.

I was wrong.

- Come on, Mr. Rechtschaefer, you

knew who you wanted for your weatherman

before you ever even approached Aaron Voss.

You wanted Kyle Thunder.

- That's not true.

- You needed somebody to fill the spot until Kyle

Thunder became available.

You found someone desperate for the job, someone who could be

summarily dismissed just as soon as it

became convenient for you-- - Objection.

- Sustained.

Plaintiff's counsel will refrain from making speeches.

- Look, I run a television show.

I got all kinds of people wanting all kinds of things.

I got a 60-year-old guy with a bad rug that wants to keep

doing the news till he's 90.

I got a secretary that wants to be a producer, a producer who

wants to be a director, a director who wants

to be Francis Ford Coppola.

And I, I want to go to Palm Springs

and sit on my ass for the next two years.

This guy wants to be a weatherman.

I gave him a shot That's more than anyone

else would have done.

- And now you can't understand why

it is he's not grateful, right?

- That's right.

- I have nothing further for this witness.

[chatter]

- All right, here's what we're offering--

half the sale of the proceeds from the sale of the house

in Pacific Palisades, half the savings,

half the stock portfolio.

She keeps her jewelry.

We value her share of Martha's Vineyard at $100,000.

- And?

- And she gets a Jewish divorce.

- And what about her share of the agency?

- Off the table.

- How is it off the table?

- It just is.

It's something you don't get.

- All right, let me get this straight,

on the house in Pacific Palisades, the savings account,

and the stock, what you're offering us

is what we're entitled to by law.

On the house in Martha's Vineyard, what you're offering

us is probably 20% of what we're entitled to by law.

And on the agency share, what you're offering us is nothing.

Now, why should we accept an offer like that?

- Because we're agreeing to a Jewish divorce.

- You're making that part of this negotiation?

- Yes, I am.

Does that offend you?

- It offends me.

- The fact remains, no one can force a husband

to give his wife a get.

And according to Jewish law, she can't marry without one.

- That shouldn't enter into this discussion, Arnie.

It's not a financial issue.

- Leverage is leverage, my dear.

- Alison, at this point, I think we should pack up our things

and leave.

No court in this state would allow him to deny you a piece

of his interest in the agency.

- No court in the state is going to grant her a Jewish divorce.

- I'm not going to let him use that against her.

- I'm going to let him. - Alison.

- I'm not going to drag this out.

I love Jonah and I want to marry him.

And however much I feel entitled to the things we're asking for,

I'm not going to let them stand in the way.

- Alison, this is a colossally bad deal.

- You can't understand what I see in him, can you, Mitchell?

- Well, I never quite pictured you with a guy

that drives a Taurus.

But other than that, he seems like a nice guy.

- I accept your offer.

I expect to see you in the rabbi's office

tomorrow morning at 10:00.

- I'll be there.

- You should be ashamed of yourself.

Well, it seems like Robert Duvall said,

Arnie, I love the smell of napalm in the morning.

- This case asks a very simple question,

at what point do we hold someone accountable for lying?

There can be little doubt that Mel Rechtschaefer lied.

As a result, Aaron Voss changed his life,

only to find himself unemployed and humiliated

some scant two weeks later.

Now, if the defendant hadn't lied, none of that

would have happened.

If he had told the truth, he would

have said that he didn't want a real weatherman for the job.

He would have said that he wanted to stand-up comedian.

He would have said, not only that he wanted

to stand-up comedian, but that he'd already

taken steps toward getting one.

He would have told Mr. Voss that the job would never be his,

that the best he could hope for would be to fill in temporarily

until someone handsome and funny, someone who popped

came along.

He would have told him that, and then Aaron Voss

would have acted accordingly.

But he didn't do that.

As a result, Aaron Voss was lied to.

He was used.

And in the end, he was dismissed.

At what point do we hold someone accountable for lying?

At the point that someone else is hurt.

Accordingly, I ask you to award Aaron

Voss the sum of $1 million.

[chatter]

- One thing I'm sure of after sitting through this trial,

I wouldn't want Mel Rechtschaefer's job.

I wouldn't want to have to be in the position

to guarantee that every decision I made was the right decision.

I wouldn't want to have to think that, once I hired someone,

I was foreclosed from firing them.

I wouldn't want to have to factor into the way

that I did my job, whether or not

someone would be sufficiently disappointed to sue me.

Mel Rechtschaefer's job is to be a news

director for a TV station.

LA is a very competitive market.

Everybody lives or dies by ratings.

Part of what he does is to experiment.

He tries things.

Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't.

The fact that he hired Aaron Voss

signifies that he was willing to take a chance.

Now, in his best judgment, it proved to be a mistake.

And that's a subjective call.

There are those of us who would differ with it,

but no one can deny that it was his call to make.

Mel Rechtschaefer was well within his rights

to fire Aaron Voss.

There was no written agreement to forbid it.

There was no guarantee in any way that it wouldn't happen.

The fact that Aaron Voss was disappointed

doesn't allow him to punish my client for doing his job.

[chatter]

- Did you advise Mr. Aguilar as to your wife's

involvement with the job?

- Yes, I did, and I was as clear as I could be on the subject

of his getting her approval.

The fact that he didn't do that was nobody's fault but his own.

- Did he ever indicate to you that the monetary terms

of your agreement weren't unacceptable to him?

- No, he did not.

- Did you ever have a discussion with him regarding

payment for additional work?

- There was nothing to discuss.

I did exactly what I said, I would do.

I paid him what I owed him.

- I have nothing further.

- How is the patio you ended up with, Mr. Laraby?

Is it satisfactory?

- It's just fine.

- You're happy with it?

Your friends come over and sit on it?

You have dinner on it once in a while?

- Well, as I said, it's just fine.

- And according to you, the fact that it

took six weeks to build rather than two weeks should

have no bearing on the cost?

- It wasn't my fault that it took six weeks.

- Is it common practice in the building industry for a client

to examine each and every brick prior to giving their approval?

- I don't know whether it is or it isn't.

- You did know that brick color was

an issue of enormous importance to your wife though,

didn't you?

- Yes, I did, and I told that to Mr. Aguilar.

- Did your wife ever communicate to you how much Mr.

Aguilar expected to be paid?

- [scoffs] To be honest, I really don't remember.

Now, if she said something about somebody wanting more money,

it's entirely possible that I didn't hear it.

She sometimes says that I'm selectively deaf.

- [chuckles] And does she ever say that

you're selectively dishonest?

- No, she does not.

- In other words, you didn't stiff Mr. Aguilar because he

stands on a street corner?

You stiffed him because it's what you do.

- Objection.

- Larry, sit down.

I want to answer this question.

I go down to that street corner for two reasons.

One is I've had my fill of high-priced contractors.

And two, I want to put people to work, your people.

I will not sit here and be abused

by you because I do that.

- And who exactly are my people?

- I am a fifth generation Californian, Mr. Morales,

and my family has always gone out of its way to help the poor

and the underprivileged.

I go down to Pico and Sawtelle, and I hire Mexican workers.

I have them in my house.

I have them in my yard.

But there's one thing I won't do,

I will not let them take advantage of me.

- I have nothing further for this witness.

[music playing]

- You may step down, Mr.

Laraby [chatter]

- That guy is in there writing the whole thing

with a quill pen.

- You know, I've been thinking, we may be

missing a big opportunity here.

- What do you mean?

- Well, we leaned on her vis-a-vis the agency share,

she folded like a deck chair so I would

participate in this ceremony.

Why are we not seeking to better our end of the deal yet again?

- Mitchell, the deal is already in place.

- The structure of the deal is in place.

The specifics of the deal remain,

I think, somewhat fluid.

- What are you doing, Mitchell?

- I think we need to find out just what a Jewish divorce is

worth to her.

- She's already agreed to everything you've asked for.

- Which is exactly when the real negotiating begins.

- Look, driving a hard bargain is one thing.

Going back on your word is something else.

Again, I've never done it before.

I'm not going to do it now.

- Hey, hey, hey, relax.

The meter's running.

All you got to do is just sit there.

- Will the husband and wife who seek to part please draw near?

Moshe Ben Avram, [speaking hebrew]

The sofer has prepared get.

The witnesses have signed.

Moshe Ben Avram, do you give this get of your own free will?

- Rabbi, rabbi, rabbi, you know, I really don't.

- You son of a bitch.

[chatter]

- What is it that burdens you, Moshe Ben Avram?

- It's a lot of things.

- Like what?

- Like feeling abandoned [speaking hebrew],,

like feeling betrayed, like feeling

another man comes along, you turn your back on me.

What is that?

- You drove me away, Mitchell.

- How?

By working too hard?

- Mitchell--

- Excuse me for providing you with a beautiful home.

Excuse me for buying you a Mercedes 500 SL.

Did you not want me to do that?

Sorry, I must have been mistaken.

- What do you want, Mitchell? - The house.

- The house? - That's right.

- I can't believe you want the house.

- Horty, I knew nothing about this, I promise you.

- Withholding a get for material gain is a shanda.

Do you know this?

- It's a shanda?

I can live with it being a shanda.

- Permit me to tell you a story.

There were two brothers.

One day, a stranger offered them food.

Before the younger one could eat,

the older one took his food away from him and ate both portions.

- Uh-huh.

- The story doesn't have a happy ending, Moshe.

[speaking hebrew]

- Rabbi.

- If you grab too much, you'll wind up with nothing.

- Rabbi, with all due respect, spare me the mumbo jumbo.

You work your side of the street.

I'll work mine. - You want the house, Mitchell?

- Yes, sweetheart, I want the house.

- You want the house? You can have the house.

- [speaking hebrew],, you should not be coerced like this.

- Mitchell doesn't care about the almighty, rabbi.

I pity you, Mitchell.

If you want the house, you can have it.

- Sounds to me like we got a deal.

Come on, rabbi, let's do it.

- [sighs] Please remove all jewelry from your hands,

and you'll repeat after me, please.

This be your get.

- This be your get.

- And with it, be you divorced.

- From this time forth.

- Mr. Aguilar's mistake in all of this, your honor,

wasn't one of workmanship or business acumen.

It was in assuming that when Miss Laraby said

his compensation would be fair, she meant paying him

a wage commensurate with the additional work

she was asking him to do.

He didn't realize that in the Larabys' world,

fairness is an adjustable concept, that it fluctuates

based on a person's skin color, his nationality, and his degree

of powerlessness.

He didn't realize he was bargaining with people who

believe the haves should have and the have

nots are lucky to get anything.

He didn't understand that part of the deal

was he be passive and accommodating,

grateful even that his very presence was endured.

This is a case, your honor, of quantum meruit.

When Miss Laraby asked Mr. Aguilar to relay the patio,

his original contract with Mr. Laraby became invalid.

Without a contract, his compensation

should be based on the value of his work, $2,700

for four extra weeks' labor.

That's why we're here, your honor,

to ask you to tell the Larabys to hold up

their end of the bargain and be fair,

pay this man what they owe him.

- This is not a civil rights case, your honor.

It is a contract dispute, pure and simple.

Mr Aguilar was hired to build a patio

to the Larabys' specifications and satisfaction.

Mr. Aguilar said that he could accomplish that in two weeks,

and the two parties agreed to a price.

That it ultimately took Mr. Aguilar three times longer

to complete the patio to my client's satisfaction

is unfortunate for both parties.

It does not, however, represent a breach of contract

on the part of my client.

Mrs. Laraby did not change her mind about the patio.

She simply insisted that it be done as originally agreed.

We ask this court to uphold the basic tenets of contract law

and find for the defendants.

- The issues in this case seem clear cut to me,

so I'm going to render my decision now.

While I admire your passion and sympathize with your concerns,

Mr. Morales, I believe that Mr. Greenhut

is right in saying that, legally, what we have here

is a simple contract dispute.

Notwithstanding the ethnic prejudice of the defendant

and notwithstanding my revulsion at hearing that expressed,

I find there was a pre-existing contract between Mr. Aguilar

and Mr. Laraby and that Mrs. Laraby's demands did nothing

to invalidate or change that.

Consequently, regardless of my personal feelings

about Mr. Laraby's conduct, legally,

I must find for the defendant.

Case dismissed.

- Yes.

Congratulations.

- He win?

- I'm sorry.

- He won't pay me for my work?

- We got to go.

- [speaking spanish]

- Has the jury reached a verdict?

- We have, your honor.

- What say you?

- We find for the plaintiff Aaron Voss.

We award compensatory damages in the sum

of $100,000 and punitive damages in the sum of $500,000.

- The jury is dismissed with the thanks of the court.

We stand adjourned.

[chatter]

- Mr. Rechtschaefer. - What do you want, Aaron?

- I have a proposition to make to you,

and I want you to hear it.

- Aaron, why don't you and I talk first

and then we can schedule a conference?

- I want to do this now, Anne.

- What's the proposition?

- Keep Kyle as your regular weatherman.

On rare occasions when climatic conditions in Los Angeles

are extreme, bring me in.

- What's extreme?

- The highest recorded temperature in September

is 108 degrees.

If it goes to 109, I come in.

If rainfall exceeds more than 3/10 of an inch in an hour,

I come in.

If the barometric pressure drops below 28 inches, I come in.

- Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, in other words,

you want to play to a full house?

You come in when the weather leads the news, right?

- I come in when the full forces of nature have been unleashed

and snappy patter is simply inadequate to explain to people

exactly what's going on.

- I hate that.

- I will forego the judgment in its entirety

if you will put me back on the air.

- Aaron, you're talking about a lot of money.

- I don't care about the money, Ann,

not if I get to be a weatherman again.

- Let me be as clear and succinct

about this as possible, Aaron.

Let me also save us all the trouble

of scheduling another meeting.

There could be tornadoes in downtown Los Angeles,

there could be complete darkness in the middle of the afternoon,

and I still wouldn't put you on the evening news.

Brandon, Kyle, let's go.

- Is Kyle Thunder going to be able to expound

on the conditions we can expect here in the next two days?

4 to 6 inches of rainfall, massive flooding,

mudslides, homes washed away.

Is he going to have any comprehension of the magnitude

of the storm that's coming?

- What storm?

[thunder cracks]

[intriguing music]

- That storm.

[knocking on door]

- Yeah? - Daniel--

- Yeah?

- Francisco's here.

- Oh, uh, bring him in.

Francisco.

- Buenas tardes, Señor Morales.

- Como estas, bueno. - Bien, bien.

- I have some tremendous news for you.

Mrs. Laraby called me.

She felt badly about what happened today in court.

- Why?

Why does she feel bad?

She win.

- She must have discovered she has a conscience.

She sent over your whole $2,700.

- No.

- Yeah.

- But she says she's not going to tell her husband about it,

so don't say anything, OK?

- OK. - OK.

- OK. Thank you.

- Thank you.

- Thank you, thank you.

- [speaking spanish]

- Gracias, Morales.

Gracias.

Thank you.

[thunder cracks]

- So Mrs. Laraby felt badly?

- Yeah, she did.

- You know, you didn't have to give him the money, Daniel.

- Mrs. Laraby gave him the money.

[thunder cracks]

- How did you get to be such a good man, Morales?

- What are you talking about?

- What are you doing for dinner?

- As a matter of fact, I'm free.

- I'll pick you up at 7:00.

- OK.

- Um, and, uh, since you're out almost $3,000, I'm buying.

[thunder cracks]

[door closes]

- This is ridiculous.

What the hell is going on out there?

Wow.

- Arnie, I have to tell you, this

is absolutely unconscionable.

- Hey, hey, hey, nobody put a gun to her head.

She could have gone without a Jewish divorce.

She could have taken her chances invoking

the wrath of the Almighty.

- Enough, Mitchell.

Don't make this any worse than it is.

- Well, what is it?

Am I not sufficiently humble?

Are we offended because I've been heard to mock

the tenets of someone's faith?

Am I in trouble with the man upstairs?

What?

[thunder cracks]

- Arnie, turn on the news, Channel 3.

- Now with a live update on some of the havoc

the storm is causing here in the Southland,

our weatherman Kyle Thunder.

- Hi, honey, I'm home.

What's for dinner?

Hey, not much if you live here, folks.

Torrential rains have swept through Los Angeles,

causing mucho tie-ups on area freeways

and a major headache for Mitchell and Alison Schein,

who's home at 1544 El Yunque drive

in the ultra ritzy Pacific Palisades

was utterly destroyed by mudslides.

Fortunately, theirs was the only home

to have suffered major damage.

So far, the crews on the site have recovered a cedar hope

chest, and that's about all.

- [chuckles]

- Kyle Thunder, KTLW News.

- Thank you, Kyle, and for goodness sakes,

get in out of the rain.

The Southland is also experiencing--

[music intensifies]

[theme music]

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