America 1982-Chapter 149 - 52: A Little Scare_2

"I..." Robert wanted to shout a reminder to Jim not to talk recklessly before he arrived, that he had the right to wait for his lawyer to be present.

But before he could finish speaking, Delia Case hung up the phone.

"F*ck!" Robert didn’t bother to ponder why an old New York white-shoe law firm would take on a case from a small company in California; he cursed and quickly redialed the phone. It connected again quickly, Jim answered, his voice calm, but Robert detected the anger hidden beneath, "I’m under the tender gaze of Lawyer Kase, listening to you."

Robert turned on the speakerphone and, while organizing his briefcase, spoke loudly, "You have the right to wait for a lawyer to be present before being questioned. I’m on my way."

"If you can’t make it within ten minutes, I promise it’ll be the most costly ten minutes of your life," Jim said before hanging up. He looked at the white-haired female lawyer sitting leisurely across from him and smiled, "Ms. Case, what have I done to deserve your personal interrogation?"

"I noticed you..." Delia began with a smile, ready to pose her question.

"Give me one minute." Jim suddenly stood up, interrupting Delia’s question, and quickly walked out of the office. He first glanced at the lobby, then immediately rushed into Mitch’s office. Indeed, two polished lawyers were sitting inside, conversing with Mitch Kapor. Jim shouted loudly, "Mitch! Don’t say anything! Wait for a lawyer to arrive!"

Then, like a madman, he ran through the company, shouting loudly, "All of you, shut the hell up! Wait for the company’s lawyer to get here! You have the right to delay questioning! If I find out anyone is talking recklessly, I swear I’ll show them how the term ’hard life’ can become very literal!"

"You’re quick to react." Delia sighed with a hint of regret, watching Jim run a lap outside and then come back in, "But I’ll record everything you just said. You’re trying to incite the deponents to refuse cooperation with the court’s investigation."

"It doesn’t matter. You can tell the court I’m being uncooperative with the deposition. It’s just a fine," Jim said as he sat back down at his desk, revealing a relieved smile. "So this is the lawyer from Actor Corporation, huh? Like to give people a little scare as a greeting? By the way, beauty, love the hairdo. Want something to drink?"

Thank goodness he reacted quickly. When his secretary told him that this lawyer named Delia was visiting alone, Jim really thought she was by herself. But as soon as she revealed her identity, Jim immediately sensed a problem, namely, that this white-haired chick was the lead attorney for Actor Corporation in this case. She hadn’t visited Mitch Kapor first, but came straight to see him?

He was merely a vice president in the company—there were four vice presidents at Lotus Corporation, which meant he couldn’t possibly be the only one receiving unique treatment, unless this woman was deliberately setting a trap.

That’s why Jim chose to run out. Sure enough, this woman had brought enough people with her. She just wanted to tie him up while her other lawyers easily extracted words from those nerds.

Those nerds lacked emotional intelligence, didn’t know how to choose their words carefully. You see, when you think you’ve said something that seems completely fine, to those lawyers who are always ready to pick you apart, it could be a multitude of reasons to question you.

"I guess until the lawyers arrive, I can only chat with you about the weather or maybe recommend places to visit in Boston?" Delia looked at Jim, her expression not seemingly disheartened by Jim’s quick response.

"Before the lawyer arrives, I can’t even talk about the weather with you, as I just happen to have a few very, very important documents that urgently need reviewing, so... Ms. Delia Case, please give me a moment." Jim showed a radiant smile to Delia before opening the documents on the desk and seriously started to flip through them.

Delia Case’s eyes brimmed with mirth: "The article in National Review was very well written; there should be many politicians who are recently quite interested in the term ’patent’."

"Thank you." Jim responded succinctly.

The office fell into an awkward silence until three minutes later, when Mitch Kapor, the founder and CEO of Lotus Corporation, briskly walked into Jim’s office, breaking the quiet.

Jim looked at his boss: "Is it the lawyer, Mitch?"

"I got a call from my friend at Software Arts Company, saying that a team of lawyers from Davis Polk Law Firm, with a court-issued permit, went to Software Arts Company to request that certain employees cooperate with questioning." Mitch Kapor looked at Jim somewhat nervously: "What exactly happened? Jim, aren’t we the ones who initiated the lawsuit?"

Jim Manzi turned to Delia, who sat elegantly smiling at him: "I heard that Mr. Mitch Kapor has a good relationship with some of the engineers at Software Arts Company, the developers of the world’s first spreadsheet software VisiCalc, and considering some rumors out there, I stopped by to get a better understanding to see if this can help our case. Don’t worry; it’s just a routine inquiry."

Software Arts Company, having developed VisiCalc, the world’s first spreadsheet software, for the Apple system, is headquartered in Newton City, Massachusetts. When Lotus 1-2-3 software hit the market, a story circulated in the industry that Mitch Kapor got an insider tip that Software Arts Company was planning to try to develop a MS-DOS version of VisiCalc, but the executives were split into factions trying to convince each other. It was during this infighting that Mitch, with Jonathan in the garage, quickly completed the initial version of Lotus 1-2-3. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

"I have never asked a friend to leak information, just that my classmate works at Software Arts, and we’re good friends who often exchange computer technology know-how." Hearing that Delia actually went to Software Arts to investigate whether he had plagiarized Software Arts Company’s idea years ago, Mitch angrily looked at Delia and explained: "I disdain stealing others’ ideas!"

"No! Mitch, calm down. She is provoking you. Don’t speak, wait for the lawyer." Jim stood up, persuaded Mitch, whose face was reddening from anger, as he spoke.

After calming Mitch down and sending him out of his office, Jim turned to Delia: "That was quick, and you cleverly divided your forces, choosing a topic that successfully angered my boss."

"Just a little scare as a greeting gift, so Actor Corporation doesn’t look too petty," Delia said to Jim with a smile.

"F*ck..." Jim tossed the documents back onto the desk, looked down at his hands propped up on top of it, and swore softly, "It looks like we’re about to start another dragging conflict that’ll last at least three years."

"My view is the exact opposite of yours, Jim Manzi," Delia spoke to Jim with conviction, "I think this could all be over much sooner than you think."