This is the final version of the Prolouge to my new novel titled, The Prisoner's Dilemma.
Prologue
Washington, DC
May 5, 1886
Midnight
It was done. J. C. Bancroft Davis sat back with a satisfied sigh. For several thousand dollars he’d entered a two-sentence statement into his document. Davis, a flour-faced, short, fat man with the pallor of desk work, looked around his flat. The flickering light from the fireplace and a dimly-lit kerosene lamp revealed a dusty, gray carpet designed to hide dirt and a worn oak table. The splintered wooden stairway creaked in the hallway outside his door. His expected guest was here. “Come in,” he said.
A short man with rounded shoulders, bent back and protruding potbelly entered. “Is it done?” he asked. His dark eyes glittered.
“Yes. It was a lot of work. It required rewriting several times to get it right. But no one will notice the insertion.”
Davis’s wrist, accustomed to writing long documents without cramping, had begun to lock. But it was worth it. The two sentences had to be woven into the document so that they would not stand out, especially to eight of the nine Justices of the Supreme Court.
Associate Justice Stephen Fields, his visitor and the ninth Supreme Court Justice, took the document and read the insertion. He smiled. “It looks good. Your second payment will be delivered tomorrow.”
This two-sentence insertion into the headnotes of the lawsuit, Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad, would radically change American history. Ordinary Americans looking to the courts for justice would find that this insertion would deny them equal access to the law.
Boston, MA
January, 1992
“Mr. Schlichtmann, two years ago you headed up one of Boston’s most prestigious law firms. You were Boston’s most eligible bachelor. What happened?” the bankruptcy Judge asked.
Jan Schlichtmann told the court his story. His firm had fought on behalf of eight Woburn, Massachusetts families whose children had died of leukemia. The children had been drinking the city waters of Woburn, waters that were allegedly polluted by Beatrice Foods and W. R. Grace. Schlichtmann had devoted years pursuing a liability lawsuit filed against these corporations. Although the evidence demonstrated the defendents’ guilt, the two corporations had managed to stall legal proceedings through the use of frivolous motions and appeals. As expenses began to mount, his firm ran short of money. Eventually with his law practice collapsing, and his car being repossessed, Mr. Schlichtmann found himself in bankruptcy court.
WR Grace and Beatrice Foods won the case and profited over the next few years. With unlimited corporate funds, they eventually drove Jan Schlichtmann’s firm and its partners into personal bankruptcy. Schlichtmann ultimately won 8 million dollars, but personal and legal expenses took most of the award.
Schlichtmann concluded his statement by saying, “As you know, your Honor, the purpose of a lawsuit is not to go to court but to settle. You settle by spending more money than you should, which forces your opponent to spend more money then he should. The side that comes to its senses first loses.”
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