he firm of McCabe, McCabe, Clark and Lewis is unquestionably the largest and most prestigious law firm in Gibson County, Tennessee. Their main office is located at #2 Court Square in Trenton, Tennessee - just yards from the County Courthouse. With satellite offices in most every town in the county, they offer a legal staff of over 50 attorneys, 75 paralegal and 3 private investigators working from 10 offices scattered across West Tennessee. Their client list consists of senators, governors, judges, business executives and prominent citizens from all across the southern United States.

It was snowing and snowing heavily. McCabe, McCabe, Clark and Lewis didn’t plan this and it wasn’t something they could control. However, this is December, and the snow added to the decorations scattered across the outside deck and patio of the Sinclair McCabe home, located just outside Trenton, Tennessee. For emphasis, the servants had placed lights in the trees and even a few ornaments on the evergreen shrubbery around the patio and party area. Sinclair McCabe had turned 66 last month and this was his retirement party; it was going to happen - snow or not. 　 All the important people had been invited and most of them accepted. Present and former governors, senators, congressmen and even a few ‘small people’, who might carry some weight in their respective communities, had received gold engraved invitations to Sinclair McCabe’s official retirement party. This was official, because in reality Sinclair had been distancing himself from the firm for the past few years. He no longer handled regular business and only had a handful of high-profile clients on his ‘active’ list.

This is where our story begins.

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Retirement Party

There are three Senior Partners at ‘M.M.C.& L.’ and three Junior partners:On the surface this was a large, successful and well managed law firm. The real truth is that Sinclair McCabe had no idea what was going on in this law firm of which he was so proud. Underneath the facade that everyone saw as ‘M.M.C.& L.’ were problems that dwarfed the personal and political squabbles that are typically found in a large firm with just a few controlling partners. The managing partners and controlling board were confident that sufficient rules and controls had been implemented to prevent any member straying into areas that didn’t meet the firm’s guidelines and charter. Unfortunately, they were wrong, and the struggles for control of ‘M.M.C.& L.’ made it impossible to see the dangers lying ahead. Events beyond their knowledge and control were about to challenge the dynasty known as McCabe, McCabe, Clark and Lewis.

The firm of ‘M.M.C.& L.’ isn’t just smart, powerful and prestigious; they are also great at marketing their services. It’s illegal for lawyers to advertise in any public forum; however, they somehow convinced Southern Bell (the phone-company) they needed a separate telephone prefix for their many offices around West Tennessee. The standard exchange for Trenton was PEabody 2 (732). ‘M.M.C.& L.’ acquired the exchange of 668, to which they added 4589 for their main switchboard inbound telephone number. The telephone number of 668-4589 (NOT-GLTY) appears on all business cards, stationary, letterheads and any other printed material associated with the firm.

However, having money and needing an attorney did not necessarily guarantee you a place on the McCabe, McCabe, Clark and Lewis client list. They were very selective, and used specific processes and programs to assure their legal staff only took cases that were public, profitable and most importantly good for the growth of the firm. The weight of the case was much more important than winning. Weekly meetings held by the managing partners reviewed each prospective client, and their decisions were firm and final. They weighed the political implications, versus the publicity, versus the client and versus the impacts from a possible loss of decision. They didn’t win every case, but sometimes the loss might bring more to the firm than winning. ‘M.M.C.& L.’ considered all the angles, and made decisions on the long-range impact – not necessarily the ruling handed down by a judge.

For community support, they offered small ‘paralegal services’ that represented the little guy, the small fry who had money and wanted the ‘M.M.C.& L.’ clout behind their problems. This was considered charity, and treated that way by the managing partners. After all, they were a part of the community and wanted to be recognized as such.

Weekly and quarterly meetings by the Senior/Junior Partners rarely discussed these clients and their issues. Mostly they discussed expansion and opening more offices in larger metro areas. Memphis was scheduled next and Nashville would not be far behind.

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Sinclair had transitioned the day-to-day business control to Senior partner, Turner Clark. Turner joined the firm soon after its founding and had proven to be a very capable businessman as well as an outstanding attorney. In the beginning, Sinclair and Turner made a beautiful team. After all, they were both Yale graduates and brought the same high standards to their work. However, other than the Yale graduate logo, they had little else in common. Sinclair was a people person, relying on his personality and friendships to move the business forward and make it successful. Turner Clark certainly had people skills, but he relied on cunning and manipulation as the keys to success.