by Ken Renshaw
I worked for a while and then Zaza came in and announced,
"Bob Bennet who is working on that big new drug patent case wants you to join him in the conference room. He wants to introduce you to someone from his clients' company. You are supposed to brag about the settlement of Genstem."
I walked into the conference room, and Bob introduced me to Sam Perris, the Chief Scientist at ChralMed, his new client. Sam was about six-feet six, weighed over two hundred fifty pounds, with silver hair, and had piercing stern grey eyes. He was dressed in a well-tailored blue suit. I was intimidated as he towered over me, shook my hand with threatening eye contact and a grip worthy of a dockworker. He said with a stern deep voice, "Pleased to meet you."
As we sat down on at the conference table, Bob said, "Dave, outline your Gensten case, the one where we won the client a huge settlement."
"I already know about that one," interrupted Sam before I could open my mouth. "We encourage you to do as well or better for us. Our case should be worth many times the Gensten settlement."
Bob started to say, "Bracken and Stevens has every confidence..."
Sam interrupted in a big voice, "We expect nothing but the best. The scientific issues of our case are complicated but clearly in our favor. We want your best minds. Are you going to be helping Bob? Dave was it?"
I replied, "Bob will have whatever resources he wishes to call on at Bracken and Stevens. Temporarily, I am assigned to another case that will be over in about ..."
Sam interrupted. "What kind of case is more important than ChralMed's?
"None! This is a prior commitment. The trial will be over in about a month."
Sam inserted with an angry voice, "What kind of trial is over in a month?"
It is a liability case involving...."
Sam put his hands palm down on the table. "You are not working on ChralMed's case because you are on some slip and fall liability case?"
"It involves a child's death and a former CIA psychic spy."
Sam stood erect, as if called to attention.
"Well, then, more power to you. Go after this so-called psychic. I am a member of a skeptics' organization dedicated to exposing fraud by all claimed psychic practitioners. There has not been one instance where we could not expose trickery or faulty data analysis of any claimed demonstration. Get the bastards. They're the scourges of our age"
Bob was looking chagrined. His eyes were saying, 'Help me out here.'
Sam's face got redder and his eyes glared. He spoke in a louder voice, "All these claims about ESP are a bunch of crap. ESP is against all laws of physics and reason." He was shouting.
"It's a good thing we have skeptical scientists dedicated to disproving all bullshit claims of ESP and other paranormal activities."
I could tell he was starting on an even longer tirade. I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket, pretended to read a text message and said, "Pleased to meet you Sam. I am afraid I have to excuse myself for another meeting."
As I left, Sam continued his rant at Bob. I thought to myself, "He's your grizzly bear. You get the collar on him."