Original subtitles

- We can't find a way to avoid this trial ?

- I don't see how, your honor.

Ms Heberton adopted this little girl more than two years ago.

Mr Connolly's attempt to assert his parental rights

at this late date we view as both self-serving

and wholly inimical to the best interests of this child.

- Your honor, the fact that we're doing this when we are

isn't because of my client.

It took him a year and a half to find this child.

And having done that, we've met with delay

after delay engineered by Ms Heberton and her attorneys.

- The delays were not engineered, Mr Angeletti.

We want to resolve this every bit as much as you do.

- Is there any possibility for shared custody?

- My client feels that that would only confuse the child.

It's time for the little girl to come home to her father.

That's what we want.

- Ms Kelsey?

- Your honor, Emily is my daughter.

I am not willing to share custody of her.

- Mr Connolly, I assume your lawyer is speaking for you

when he says the same thing.

- Yes, your honor, I'm not willing to share

custody either.

Look, this woman might have named her,

but that doesn't mean that she has the right to raise her.

She's my daughter.

I want to raise her.

- All right, we'll start at 2 o'clock this afternoon.

I would ask both sides to refrain

from making any inflammatory statements to the press.

I don't want this to be any more public

than it absolutely has to be.

- Your honor.

- Mr Kelsey.

- How much of an issue is going to be

made about the respective characters

of Ms Heberton and Mr Connolly?

- We've been specifically admonished

by the judge in this case not to make

any statements that inflame the proceedings,

and I'm going to abide by that.

- I think my adversary is being overly fastidious.

The truth is, before we get down here,

both these people's pants are going

to be down around their ankles. - What do they have to hide?

- You yourself adopted a child, didn't

you, Ms Kelsey, a little girl?

- Thank you.

I don't have anything more to say.

Laura.

- Do you have a personal involvement?

- I'm just wondering if that experience

led you to taking this case.

- I'm not answering any questions from you Ms Farr.

- Why is that? - You're not a journalist.

You're here as a member of the Birth Parents Network,

and I'm not getting into a debate.

- Oh, that was not my intention.

I just wanted to say to you both that people with the Birth

Parents Network are not without compassion for your pain

as well.

I'm sure that having a child taken from you

and returned to her birth parents

was a devastating moment in your life.

And I just wanted to share that with you.

- Dr. Farr, do you feel as a member of the Birth--

[theme music]

[upbeat music]

- I just think we had to show her some fiscal responsibility.

- Haven't you heard, Douglas?

Eat, drink, be merry for tomorrow, you die.

- Wow, what's this about?

- That's the skirmishing preliminary

to the partnership meeting.

- Ah.

- Yeah, we're voting on how to split

up the profits this quarter.

- The renovations took a big chunk out

of our first quarter earnings.

- The renovations are finished, Douglas.

Why do we work like dogs if we can't

enjoy the fruits of our labor?

- We can discuss this later.

Heberton versus Connolly.

- Laura Heberton is a single mother who adopted a baby

girl 2 and 1/2 years ago.

And now the birth father is suing for custody.

- Tough one to win, no?

- If the judge's primary concern is the best

interest of the child, I'm OK.

If it's the rights of the father, we're dead.

- What inspired the father to be doing this?

- Part of it is that he wants to have a daughter and part of it

is that he's got the Birth Parents Network behind him.

- What is that?

- It's an organization dedicated to asserting

the rights of the birth parents over the adoptive parents.

They are urging him on, providing legal counsel,

and covering whatever other expenses are involved.

- So this encompasses more than just the parties of interest?

- You might say that, yeah.

- Churchill versus Bowles.

- Madeleine Churchill works for the main branch

of the La City Library.

She's been repeatedly harassed by a fellow librarian

she's suing.

- How does a librarian harass somebody?

- Very quietly.

[chuckling]

- Yes, this is a rather unusual case.

Madeline faints anytime she hears

vulgarity or sexual innuendo.

Most of the other employees have been quite

considerate in accommodating her situation,

but the defendant has chosen to make sport of her.

- She faints?

- She faints.

- So this is a mental condition?

- I wouldn't call it a mental condition.

I prefer to think of it as a heightened sensitivity.

- How heightened is it?

- What do you mean?

- Well, how vulgar a vulgarity?

How sexual a sexual innuendo does it take?

- I don't know, Arnold.

- Hey, if anybody could make her faint, you could.

- However eccentric Madeline may seem,

the fact remains that someone has

made her workplace intolerable.

I think the basis for the lawsuit is legitimate,

and I expect to win.

- Yeah, OK, I'll see you later.

Conference room is all booked up.

- Where are we going to go?

- To the safe room.

Is it set up?

- All set up.

- What is the safe room?

- It's the place we're supposed to go when we're under attack.

They got a phone in here and they put some lights--

- I've got the documentation, just--

[knocking]

- Come.

- Can I talk to you?

- Sure.

What's up?

- It's about the partners' meeting.

- Ah.

- The first time you passed me over for partnership,

you said it was because of finances.

- Mm-hmm, it was.

- You asked me to be patient, and I was.

Since then, you've taken on two new partners ahead of me.

- Well, they both had been partners at other firms.

- I've been here seven years, Leland.

I've made more than my share of rain.

I've handled more than my share of high stakes cases.

And I don't think I've been found wanting.

- Well, you're right, far from it.

- I think I'm due.

- Well, I can't make you any promises,

but I will bring the matter up.

- Thanks.

- So Ms Halliday, since when does

McKenzie Brackman get involved with nonsense like this?

- Harassment isn't nonsense.

- Did I ever lay a hand on you?

- You repeatedly and deliberately made her workplace

intolerable, Mr Bowles.

Ms Churchill is completely within her rights

to seek damages.

- Let me be a pragmatist for half a minute.

Let's say that you're right.

Let's say that this poor woman was harassed.

What do you think you're going to come away with?

My client has $73 in the bank.

- You're aware of our demands.

If he finds another job, we'll drop the suit.

- Forget it.

These are fascist mind games, and I'm not giving in to them.

- Ever since you came to work at the library, your

every intention has been to debase me--

- Untrue.

- and poison the atmosphere I'd come to love.

- Look, profanity is part of the lingua franca,

you know what I mean?

At this point in history, that is the way people talk.

- It isn't the way I talk, Mr Bowles.

- Well, that may be because you are something of a tight ass.

- Oh, dear.

- Mr Peters, due to the fact that my client has somewhat

of a delicate nature, I would ask that your client

control his language.

- She has a delicate nature.

She wants to rule the world, and if we're

not careful, in the 21st century,

she and women like her will.

- Carver, please, let's try to return to the business at hand.

- We are not androids, Madeline, nor are we pure of thought.

We are, all of us, raging, devouring sexual carnivores.

- Mr Peters, once again, I would ask that you

put a muzzle on your client.

- Put a muzzle on me?

She's suing me and you want to put a muzzle on me?

[bleep] you.

[bleep] the both of you.

- [groans]

- Look at her.

- Great.

- Mr Connolly, would you please tell the court

who Maureen Booker is?

- She's the mother of my little girl.

- Objection.

Ms Booker has waived her parental rights.

- Let the record reflect that the witness's response is taken

to mean biological mother only.

- Had you and Ms Booker made arrangements regarding

the custody of this child?

- After she got pregnant, uh, we agreed to get married.

Then she changed her mind, so we agreed to split up and share

custody when the baby was born.

- And then what happened?

- Well, just before the baby was due, Maureen disappeared.

I tried to find her but nobody knew where she was.

Then six months later, she showed up and told me

that the baby had died.

- Did you believe her?

- Yeah, I believed her.

I couldn't imagine that anyone would

lie about something like that.

- What, if anything, happened to change your belief?

- Well, one night, one of her friends

called me up and told me that the baby

didn't die, that Maureen had put it up for adoption.

- What did you do?

- I hired a private investigator.

He looked for her for about six months.

But when I ran out of the money, he stopped looking.

Then I read about Birth Parents Network.

I made a phone call, went to a meeting,

and suddenly, I had this whole organization

that was willing to help me.

I mean, they paid for good private investigators.

They paid for you, Mr Angeletti.

They're the reason that I found my daughter.

- What steps, if any, have you taken

in anticipation of being awarded the custody of your daughter?

- Well, I enrolled myself in a substance abuse program

and got myself straight.

That's the first thing.

Then I got a job.

I got a decent place to live.

And I made arrangements with my mother

to take care of my daughter while I'm at work.

- Mr Connolly, if two years ago, you'd

been asked to waive your parental rights,

would you have done so?

- No, no, I wouldn't have.

I wouldn't have waived them then and I don't waive them now.

- I have nothing further.

- Mr Connolly, [exhales deeply] is it your desire to act

in what would be considered the best

interests of your daughter?

- Of course, it is.

- You are of the belief, are you not,

that her best interests are served

by being given over to you?

- That's correct.

- But it's safe to assume that the biological mother

of this child felt otherwise.

- Objection.

Speculation.

- Sustained.

- Were you drinking while Ms Booker was pregnant, sir?

- I was then.

I'm not now.

- Were you using amphetamines?

- I was then.

I'm not now.

- Did you ever become physically violent with her

while she was pregnant?

- It happened once.

She might have even had something to do with it.

- In other words, it was justified?

- No, it wasn't.

- You would agree, would you not,

that placing a child in the sole custody of an individual who

has a drinking problem, who has a drug problem, who

is prone toward physical violence in all likelihood

would not be in the best interests of that child?

- Objection. - Yes, I would agree.

- Overruled.

- You're not like that Anymore

- That's right, I'm not.

I'm also that child's father.

- I have no further questions.

- I'm her real father, and I'm the one who should be raising--

- Mr Connolly, I'll have to ask you to step down now.

- Yes, your honor.

[sombre music]

- Ms Booker, would you tell us about your relationship

with Brian Connolly?

- We were together about six months.

It didn't work out.

- Why not?

- A lot of reasons.

He's got a temper.

He drinks.

When I got pregnant, we were going to get married,

but I thought about what my life would be like

and what my kid's life would be like.

And I-- I said, no way.

- Why did you put your baby up for adoption?

- I was just out of high school.

I wasn't ready to be a mother.

I met Ms Heberton and decided to do what was best for my kid.

- Did you know that Mr Connolly wanted custody?

- That's not what he said then.

He wanted me to raise it so he could

come and visit once in a while.

He didn't want the responsibility.

I couldn't even get him to chip in for medical expenses.

- Did you consider having an abortion?

- I don't really believe in abortion.

On the other hand, if I thought the alternative

was to have Brian raise her, I probably

would have considered it.

- Why?

- He wasn't any more ready to raise a kid than I was.

- Thank you.

I have nothing further.

- Ms Booker, at the time of your break up with Mr Connolly,

were you seeing other men?

- I was seeing another man, one man.

- Did he have money? - Objection.

Irrelevant.

- Sustained.

- Laura Heberton has money, doesn't she?

- Objection.

- Sustained.

- How much did Laura Heberton pay you, Ms Booker?

- She paid for my medical expenses, that's it.

- You say that Mr Connolly refused to pay

for your medical expenses?

- That's right.

- You disappeared before the baby was due.

And then you didn't get in touch with him again for six months.

And when you did, you said that the baby was dead.

Did you really give him a chance to pay

for those medical expenses?

- [scoffs] It wouldn't have mattered.

- How do you know?

- I know Brian.

- Isn't what happened was that you wanted to hurt Brian

and you wanted to leave yourself unencumbered?

And what better way to accomplish

both those things than by denying

him the child that was his?

- I care about that child as much as anyone in this room.

I gave her up because I thought it was best for her.

She could be loved.

She could have someone to take care of her.

And as painful as it was, I don't regret it for a second.

I did what was right.

- Have you visited your child, Ms Booker?

- No.

- The truth is you have no idea what kind of a parent

Laura Heberton is, do you?

- I think she's a good parent.

- I'm sure it's comforting for you to think that, isn't it?

- Objection. - Withdrawn.

I have nothing further.

- Before we begin the deposition,

I would like to remind Mr Bowles that certain words and phrases

are extremely discomforting to my client

and I don't propose to subject her to them.

- In the interest of expediting the matter,

my client has agreed to refrain from vulgarity.

- When did you start working at the library, Mr Bowles?

- Last November.

- Would you describe your duties?

- I put the books back on the shelf.

I work at check out desk, bounce the homeless people

if they got too stinky.

General library duties.

- Were you ever told about Ms Churchill's sensitivity

to language?

- I was told she fainted.

- Having been told that she fainted,

did you ever act in such a way as to cause her to faint?

- Well, apparently, I did.

- Did you do so deliberately?

- No, I did not.

- Did you ever use profane language

when speaking to Ms Churchill?

- I'm a human being.

I speak in the colloquial vernacular of the age.

Besides, she is a pain in the ass.

- In other words, you resented her?

- Every day, there was a new rule.

One day, it was no jeans.

The next day, it was no gum.

The next day, it was a memo about the proper forms

of salutation.

- I was seeking a certain minimal level of decorum.

- Is that why you told me I couldn't handle

any 19th century editions?

- I told you that because your fingernails were ill kept.

- More rules.

- Rules of conduct, Mr Bowles, are in the end what

define us as a civilization.

- Let me tell you something, rules and repression

start with the genitalia, and they work their way upwards

until they imprison the mind.

- Could we get back to the deposition, please?

- Read Fahrenheit 451 sometime.

Read Philip K Dick.

- I thought that we had agreed on something.

- It's a name.

That's his name, Philip K Dick.

- Did you not taunt her on a daily basis, Mr Bowles?

Did you not do everything in your power

to make conditions at work utterly intolerable for her?

- I used words.

At first, I used them in the course

of ordinary conversation.

Then when the philosophical ramifications

of her repressive attitude towards language sunk in,

I used them deliberately.

I used words to describe the human excretory function.

I use words to describe human sexual function.

I use words that describe and define human existence.

It was intolerable for her to hear them?

Well, it was intolerable to me to be

prohibited from using them.

So yeah, every now and then, I would come up to her,

I'd lean in and I would whisper--

- Madeleine?

- Well, she beat me too at that time.

[chatter]

- Something has come up we have to discuss

before we can proceed.

- What's that?

- Jonathan Rollins approached me this afternoon.

He thinks it's time we made him a partner.

- Partnership decisions are made in June.

This is February.

- I realize that.

Jonathan would like a decision now.

- That's a little cheeky, isn't it?

- Douglas, we told him two years ago he

was being passed over because the firm

was in financial straits.

Clearly, that's not the case anymore.

- How do you define financial straits?

Do we have more money than we need?

I don't think so.

- He's also young.

He hasn't been an associate for a terribly long time.

- He also took a year off.

- Jonathan is one of the best litigators in the city,

and everybody in this room knows it.

- I don't think anyone's arguing that.

- The truth is that's not an appropriate criteria.

This would have a negative financial impact

on everyone in this room.

- Well, that's true whenever you take on a new partner, Douglas.

Does that mean we should never do it?

- It means we do it as dispassionately as possible.

- Let's put it to a vote.

- Blind ballot.

- Given that I don't feel comfortable

being part of this decision, I'm just going to listen.

- I can't thank you enough for all the trouble you've taken,

Ms Halliday.

I'm truly sorry to be such a burden.

- You're not a burden, Madeline.

You're a client.

- Just the same.

All these scenes, all this fainting,

it's quite embarrassing.

- I'm sorry that you're embarrassed.

You needn't be.

Let's see.

OK, we have mint, apple, Earl Gray--

- Have you any valerian root?

- No, I don't see any.

Um, chamomile.

- Chamomile will be fine.

- Sugar?

- Please.

- Madeleine Churchill?

- Yes.

- Arnold Becker.

How do you do?

- Very well, thank you.

- I've been following your case. - Have you?

- Yes, I have.

We like to afford our clients the benefit at various points

of view here, notwithstanding that Jane is as

capable as any attorney here.

- Yes, Ms Halliday is doing a wonderful job

and under rather difficult circumstances.

As you may or may not know, our opponent is something of a cad.

- He keeps using those upsetting words, doesn't he?

- Yes, he does.

- We should probably get back to work.

- Just one second.

I find you to be a fascinating woman.

I'm sorry, was that too forward?

- No.

- The relations between the sexes

is my bailiwick, so to speak, hence my curiosity.

So I find myself wondering, is it

the word or the implication of the word that gets you upset?

- Arnie, I really need to get Madeleine going here.

- I'm not sure I know the difference, Mr Becker.

- Some words are exclusively sexual.

They either refer to genitalia or various sexual acts.

Whereas, other words acquire their sexual meaning

from the context in which they're used.

- Arnie.

- A restaurant chain is called Hooters.

Now, if you infer that that name refers

to the waitresses' breasts rather than to owls,

would that cause you to faint?

- Contrary to what you may think, Mr Becker,

I am not a knave.

I know to what the name of these restaurants refers.

And while I choose not to patronize

such an establishment, neither would

the name cause me to faint.

- If a man told you that he was going to go

home to polish the bishop--

- OK, Arnie, that's all we have time for.

- One more.

One more.

A woman walks into a room full of men and asks,

which one of you is Eric?

Now, if you were to hear this as which one of you

is erect, thereby conjuring up images of orgiastic behavior,

multiple penetration, and so forth,

would that cause you to faint?

- [moans]

- My God, it works.

- Your honor, once again, I would argue this witness

is not qualified to testify as an expert.

- She's a psychologist , your honor, Board certified.

- She's been associated with the American Birth Parents Network

since its inception, your honor.

She's here as an advocate--

- And I'm sure you'll cross-examine her accordingly.

The witness may testify.

- Dr. Farr, would you please state for the court

your field of specialization?

- I deal with families who have suffered through the trauma

of adoption, either parents who have

lost their children or children who have lost their parents.

- Characterize for us, if you will, the effect of such loss.

- Objection.

Council is dealing in meaningless generalities.

- The issue of adoption per se should be considered here.

- The objection is overruled.

Witness can answer.

- Most children who have been adopted

spend their lives trying to puzzle

out their identity in a way that other people can't understand.

No matter how much their adoptive parents love them,

these children grow up feeling like a part of themselves

is missing.

Adopted children live with a sense of having been

abandoned by their parents.

It's a tremendous burden to carry.

- And how do these children respond?

- Objection.

Excessively broad.

Excessively vague.

- Overruled.

- Adopted children can respond in any number of ways.

Some are more affected than others.

But the range of response includes behavior

that is quite destructive, whether it be eating disorders

or drug abuse or criminality.

The healthiest solution for an adopted child

is to seek out his or her birth parent

and establish a relationship with them.

- In your opinion, doctor, at what age

is it better to let things be?

At what age is it better for a child

not to be taken from its adoptive parents?

- If a birth parent stands ready, willing, and able

to make a home for that child, I believe

that child is better off with their birth parent

at whatever age.

- Thank you, doctor.

- Would you concede, Ms Farr, that at the present time,

Brian Connolly is, in fact, a stranger to this child?

- First off, Ms Kelsey, I would ask

that you refer to me as doctor as I have in fact

earned that credential.

And as to your question, no, I would not concede

that Mr Connolly is a stranger.

He is anything but a stranger.

And yes, I think a two-year-old child would sense that.

- And how would she sense that, Dr. Farr?

- I have seen pictures of little Emily.

She has her father's eyes and her father's chin.

If I can recognize that, so can she.

- Have you ever met little Emily, doctor?

- No, I haven't.

- Have you ever interviewed Laura Heberton?

- No, I haven't done that either.

- And yet, you're up here as an expert witness,

testifying as to what's in the best interest of this child.

Don't you find that a little odd, doctor?

- No, Ms Kelsey, I don't find it in the least bit odd.

You see, I myself was adopted.

I was rejected by my birth parents, not once, but twice.

The first time, when I was born.

The second time, 28 years later when I finally located them.

- Is it ever harmful to the child

when the birth parents make contact?

- I'm 38 years old, Ms Kelsey.

Every year, on my birthday, I wait for a card

from my birth parents.

- Is your expertise based on being a psychologist

or on the fact that you were an adopted child?

- It's based on both.

- I have no further questions.

[knocking]

- Come in.

- I'm afraid the vote did not go as I had expected.

I may have made a mistake by insisting that the vote be

taken at this time.

There were some who thought we should

wait until June when partnership decisions are usually made.

- You think the results would be different in three months?

- I think so, yes.

- Who voted against me?

- It was a secret ballot.

I don't know.

- Then how do you know they'll vote differently in June?

[music playing]

- Hey, Jonathan.

How are you doing?

- OK.

- I spoke to Barry Glassman this morning.

- Oh, yeah?

- Yeah.

He and faith said say hi.

You know, we should all get together sometime.

- Sure. - Have dinner.

- Great. - Yeah?

OK.

[chatter]

- Stuart Markowitz.

- What?

- You voted against him.

- Could we not talk about this here?

- How could you vote against him?

- Because I think, occasionally, we

have to exercise a little fiscal conservatism around here.

- Fiscal conservatism?

- Yeah.

Partnership decisions are made in June.

There's a reason for that.

And we have rules around here for a reason.

- I can't believe I'm hearing this.

What are you all of a sudden?

Douglas MacArthur?

- And the fact is it's better for Jonathan this way.

It's better for his tax situation.

It's better for his buy-in situation.

- I see.

So you're just looking out for his best interests?

- Yeah, your sarcasm notwithstanding,

I feel totally justified.

- He saved your best friend's life

and you feel totally justified?

- Let me tell you what you did yesterday.

You caused a perfectly innocent, rather fragile woman

a tremendous amount of embarrassment.

After your little performance yesterday,

Madeleine spent 20 minutes in the ladies room weeping.

That woman is a client of this firm.

That entitles her to your protection as well as mine.

- You're right.

I'm sorry.

- Whatever sexual games you might play with me,

Arnie, does not give you the right to involve

an innocent bystander.

Do it again and I'll gouge your eyes out.

[door shuts]

- Wow.

- Ms Churchill, how long have you

worked at the public library?

- Four years at the Wilshire branch

and 10 years now at the main branch downtown.

14 years.

- Hmm.

And in that time, have you ever had any trouble getting

along with other employees?

- Not at all.

- [scoffs] Yeah, right.

- Well, there are occasional misunderstandings.

But for the most part, my fellow librarians

are diligent and considerate workmates.

- Isn't it true, Ms Churchill, that you've

had three other employees fired for nothing more than

offending your sensibilities?

- Absolutely not.

- Oh, well, I've got a letter here from Ms Melody Weigle.

- A terrible laggard.

She was routinely late for work.

- Right.

She said it only happened a couple of times.

- Punctuality, Mr Peters, is not an occasional virtue.

- What about Mr Kirk Dolphinese?

- That man was a drunk.

- He'd have a beer at his lunch.

- He stank of liquor.

- Kathy Twill.

- Ms Twill engaged in illicit activity in the library stacks.

- She was kissing her boyfriend.

- They were doing more than kissing, Mr Bowles.

- Isn't it true that you cost these people

their jobs, Ms Churchill?

And I think you're trying to do the same thing to my client.

- Your client is not a gentleman, sir.

- Well that happens not to be a crime, Ms Churchill.

You see, this is not 19th century England.

It's 20th century Los Angeles.

And you may not like it, but this is where you live.

- I beg to differ with you, Mr Peters.

Time and culture are not a place but a state of mind.

In fact, I do not live in the 20th century

nor do I have any intention of ever doing so.

- Fine.

uh, I have no other questions.

Let's go to trial.

With all due respect, Ms Halliday,

your client's a lunatic.

- We'll see you in court.

- Why am I a lunatic, Mr Peters?

- Madeline, we're finished now.

You don't have to talk to him anymore.

- No, Jane, I'm curious.

I go to work every day.

I perform my duties valiantly and well.

I treat my fellow man with kindness.

My standards of behavior are rigorous, I admit,

but I'm never mean spirited about the failure

of my employees to meet those standards.

What is it about my behavior which

suggests mental instability?

- Well, look at you.

Look at the way you're dressed.

- Excuse me, Jane, uh, Jane, they need the room.

- Tell them that we're running a little bit late.

- OK.

- Mr Bowles, I hardly think we are sufficiently

familiar with one another so as to engage in a conversation

about the way in which I dress.

- Ms Churchill, you can't force other people to live like you.

You don't have that right.

- Do you have the right to force me to live like you in a world

where violence is as common as the common cold and common

decency is all but obsolete?

In this world, your world, Mr Peters, the sins of the flesh

have nearly annihilated the life of the mind.

Even the discussion of spirituality

has become an embarrassment.

People's very souls have shrunk.

Am I the lunatic because I will not embrace this world?

Perhaps the Victorians were fragile creatures

whose mistakes were as grand as their achievements,

but they bowed before beauty.

They yearned for grace.

They struggled for intellectual integrity.

And they had manners.

I beg your pardon if I am reluctant to exchange

their values for yours.

[music playing]

- Ms Heberton, could you tell the court

how you met Ms Booker?

- I had placed advertisements with several adoption agencies.

I paid an attorney who specializes in adoptions.

Maureen contacted me when she was seven months pregnant.

I flew to Ohio to meet with her.

- When did you first learn about Mr Connolly?

- About two weeks before Emily's first birthday.

Maureen called me to tell me that she

had heard through friends that he was

actively looking for the baby.

- Did you try to contact Mr Connolly at that time?

- No.

- Why didn't you?

- I was in a complete panic, that's why.

I couldn't imagine what I would say to him.

And as soon as he contacted me, I hired you.

- In contesting Mr Connolly's suit,

do you believe that you're doing what's best for your child?

- To the core of my being.

I was there when Emily started to crawl.

I was there when she learned to walk.

I make her breakfast every morning.

I color with her.

I pat her back at night until she goes to sleep.

I am her whole world.

I'm sorry if Brian Connolly feels that his rights

have been violated.

Quite frankly, he is not my concern.

Emily is.

- Thank you.

I have further questions.

- How much did you pay the lawyer who arranged

this adoption, Ms Heberton? - Objection.

Irrelevant. - Sustained.

- How much did you wind up paying Maureen Booker?

- Objection. Irrelevant.

- Sustained.

- Are you able to have a child of your own?

- Objection.

Irrelevant.

- I'll allow it.

- I have a child of my own, Mr Angeletti.

I have a daughter.

- Are you able to have children by giving birth to them?

- No.

- Is it fair to say, ma'am, that this is a source

of great frustration to you?

- Yes.

- And thanks to your financial resources,

you've been able to overcome this frustration, haven't you?

- I assure you, sir, that regardless

of my financial resources, I would

have found the money to try and stop you people

from taking Emily away from me.

- Does Emily have a nanny?

- Yes, she does.

- How many hours a week does she spend with her?

- I don't keep track week to week.

- 60? 70?

- I try to keep my workweek to 40 hours.

Occasionally, I can't.

- Does Emily call the nanny mommy?

- Not that I know of, no.

- Emily is seeing a child psychiatrist

right now, isn't she?

- Yes.

- Why would a two-year-old need to do that?

- This trial has taken a toll on her.

I'm upset, and she senses that.

- You're upset, so your child sees a psychiatrist?

Emily was taken to the emergency room at Cedars-Sinai

nine weeks ago, was she not?

- Her arm was burned.

She reached up to the stove while I was making dinner

and spilled hot water on herself.

- Do you think you're a good mother, Ms Heberton?

- Yes, I do.

- Would you acknowledge it if you weren't?

Would you acknowledge that it might not

be in the best interests of this child to remain with you

rather than be returned to her real parent?

- Objection.

- I am her real parent.

I'm real because of what I do.

I'm real because I am the only mother

that Emily has ever known.

That, Mr Angeletti, is real.

- I wonder if Emily will agree with you when

she finds out she's adopted.

- Objection.

- Sustained.

- You do intend to tell her, don't you?

- Yes.

When she's older, I intend to tell her everything.

- I have nothing further.

[chatter]

- Laura, I think we should discuss this.

- I don't want to discuss it.

And if we discuss it, you're going

to talk me out of doing it.

- Uh, what is it you want to do, Mr Heberton?

- I want to make an offer.

- Laura--

- [exhales sharply] Until now, I've been unwilling to agree

to any kind of visitation.

I was concerned that Emily was too young, that it

would be upsetting for her.

I'm still concerned.

OK, that said, I'm willing to try it.

I'm willing to see how some sort of structured visitation goes.

- Is that it?

- If it's not upsetting to her, we can increase it.

- Forget it, Ms Heberton. What you're offering is nothing.

- Do you think it's nothing, Brian?

- Don't talk to my client, Ms Kelsey.

Talk to me.

- Well, I was hoping to get custody.

- Do you know what that would do to her, Brian?

You would be taking her away from the only home

that she's ever known.

- Yes, we would, Ms Heberton.

I'm sure the transition period would be somewhat difficult,

but we believe that Emily, assuming that Brian

decides to continue calling her that,

would get to her new home.

We think that, in time, she'd come to barely remember

either you or your home.

Let's go, Brian.

[sombre music]

- [whimpering]

[door closes]

- Leland.

- Yes?

- I want to talk to you about that partnership issue.

- You know, of course, if it was up to me,

you'd be a partner by now.

What I'd like more than anything is just

to do it by executive fiat and be done with it.

But this firm doesn't work that way.

- I realize that.

- There are limits to what I can do unilaterally.

- With all due respect, Leland, I don't care.

I don't care about your limitations.

I don't care about your good intentions anymore, Leland.

This is about business now.

I have to take care of business.

I would like to stay here at McKenzie Brackman,

but I won't if you're not going to make me a partner.

You have until 5 o'clock today to make a decision.

- Jonathan, ultimatums are really not appropriate here.

- I expect to hear from you one way or another, Leland.

- Hey.

How are you doing?

- Fine, thank you.

- I like your hair.

How did you get it to do that?

Pins?

- Yes.

[chuckles mildly]

- It's a great look.

It kind of reminds me of--

what's her name?

Cathy from Wuthering Heights.

- Cathy Earnshaw, I think of her often.

You've read Wuthering Heights?

- Oh, it's a book?

- Yes.

- I was surprised to receive your call, Mr Peters.

I didn't think we had anything more to talk about.

- Neither did I. However, my client seems

to have had a change of heart.

- I was impressed by what you said yesterday, Mr Churchill.

For the first time, I glimpsed the mind and the soul

that lay behind your visage.

I want to apologize for whatever pain

I may have caused you by the grossness of my behavior.

- If this is some kind of ploy, Mr Bowles--

- It's not.

I realize that what Ms Churchill said

was true, that I have not been a gentleman.

And to my surprise, this realization was

extraordinarily painful to me.

I'm willing to accede to your demands, anything you want.

I'll quit.

I'll give you money.

- You don't have any money, Carver.

- Ms Churchill has suffered grave distress at my hands.

I've been a brute.

- Are you on some kind of medication?

- Ms Churchill, last night, I went home

and I read Bleak House.

- Mr Bowles--

- I couldn't put it down.

Joe's death destroyed me.

- Oh, yes, yes of course, it did.

- I had no idea.

- I'll draw up the papers.

- I realize that I have given you great pain.

If you could see into your heart and forgive me,

forgive a wretched foolhardy man like me,

perhaps we could have tea.

- This is quite sudden, Mr Bowles.

- Are we ready to proceed with summations, counsel?

- Ready, your honor.

We start from the premise that children are best

served when they're raised by the people

who brought them into being.

Now, we have here two people, both claiming the right

to be awarded custody of a two-year-old child, her father

and the woman who adopted her.

- Your honor, I'd like to stop this.

- Mr Connolly, your attorney's in the middle of his summation.

- Your honor, I want to withdraw my claim for custody.

- Your honor, I would like a minute to talk to my client.

- I want to see both sides in chambers.

- Your honor, before anything gets

said here, I would like an opportunity to consult

with my client alone.

- Do you want to talk to your attorney, Mr Connolly?

- No, I do not, your honor.

- He doesn't want to talk to you, Mr Angeletti.

Are you formally withdrawing your petition

for custody, Mr Connolly?

- No, he is not.

- Mr Connolly?

- Yes, your honor.

If Ms Heberton is still willing to let

me see her once in a while, I'd appreciate that.

- I'm willing, yes.

- How in the name of God can you be doing this?

- My daughter is not a cause, Mr Angeletti.

She's a two-year-old little girl.

And I think the best thing for her right

now is for her to stay where she is.

I think that.

I know that you and the Birth Parents Network

don't, but I do, and I'm her father.

- Do you understand, Mr Connolly, that if you withdraw

this action, you will in all likelihood

be precluded from reinstituting it?

- Yes, I do.

- Your daughter will never forgive you for this.

- Maybe she will.

Maybe she won't.

- Why are we meeting in here?

- Space shortage.

Business is booming.

Conference room is booked till June.

- We need to build a second conference room.

We could knock out a wall in one of the old offices.

- No more renovations.

- I also think it's appropriate we divvy up the spoils

in a room that was designed to withstand

attack from those outside.

- Arnold.

- Ah, thank you.

- Stuart.

- Thank you very much.

- And this is for Anne.

- She thanks you very much.

- We have some business to take care

of before we distribute checks.

- What kind of business?

- Jonathan Rollins has said that if we don't make him a partner,

he'll leave the firm.

He wants a decision by 5 o'clock today.

- Seriously?

- If the answer is no, he'll be gone by tomorrow morning.

- He's bluffing.

- We must also assume that if he leaves,

a considerable number of his cases will go with him.

- Basically, he's blackmailing us.

- He's not doing anything of the kind, Douglas.

He's just forcing us to make up our minds.

- Yeah, but we did make up our minds.

We said no.

- And now he's telling us the consequences

if we don't change our minds.

- I can't believe he'd stoop to this.

- Why not?

You would.

- Does he want to stay?

- He says he does.

- Then it seems to me we have no choice.

- Frankly, I don't like the fact that we're

being forced into it.

- Neither do I. This is not the way to take on a partner.

- I would very much have preferred

a decision based on mutual respect

and affection among colleagues.

Since that option has passed us by, I suggest we take this one.

[ding]

[chatter]

- You should know that if the day ever

comes when Brian Connolly decides to seek custody again,

our organization will be there in support of him.

- Dr. Farr, neither my client nor I

have anything to say to you.

- We will be there in support of him

if he attempts to make contact with his child.

We will be there in support of him

if he decides to go back into court.

- I don't want to stand here, Anne.

- We will be there in support of the birth mother

if she ever attempts to make contact with her child.

- Let's take the stairs.

- Do you understand that the little girl

that you call your daughter is not your daughter?

That she has a place in this world with people

whose daughter she is?

- Dr. Farr, I think you should stop this.

- Do you understand that I am this little girl?

- No, you are not.

[sombre music]

[chatter]

- Congratulations.

[theme music]

[audio logo]