Wishful Thinking (a journey that will change lives forever) (28 page)

“All rise.”

Louise stood up along with everyone else, as Judge Corcoran appeared and took his seat before the court.

It was all a bit exciting really, she thought, and although it was hardly glamorous with only one judge and not a jury in sight, it still felt like something out of a John Grisham film.  Unfortunately, the barrister defending her side didn’t look remotely like that dishy Matthew McConnaughey – no, this fella was a middle-aged, tubby bloke who was sporting one of those grey curly old-style wigs they all seemed to get such a kick out of wearing.  Didn’t those things itch like crazy? And how could grown men possibly think they looked anything other than downright idiotic – especially with that little rat’s tail sticking out at the back?

Still, the barrister and his opposite number obviously weren’t just play-acting here.  The two of them had faces on them that would stop a jackass – as did the presiding judge.  So Louise supposed she really should be concentrating on the importance of what was happening here today, rather than poking fun at the costumes, or imagining she was an extra in an episode of
LA Law
. 

“We were lucky to get Judge Corcoran – he’s generally sympathetic to cases like this,” she heard James Cahill whisper in her ear. 

Louise’s heart hammered.  She wished she felt as optimistic as her solicitor sounded.  She’d hardly slept last night, she was so worried about having to go up there in front of all these people to talk about her injuries – especially when she felt absolutely fine.  God, would they all think she was one of these chancers that Fiona had been giving out about, looking for free money if someone looked at them sideways?  She’d die of embarrassment!

But no, these guys were used to this sort of thing, weren’t they? Although in fairness, they must be pretty sick of seeing all these people getting big payouts for the tiniest little thing.  Maybe they’d go really hard on her and try and make an example of her, try and prove that there was nothing at all wrong with her.

“Well, of course,” James Cahill informed her, at their prep-session the other day.  “That’s the job of the opposition, to try and defend their own client’s interests.  But Louise, there
is
no opposition.  The guy admitted liability, so there’s no case to be answered in that regard.  It’s merely a matter of how much we’ll get from Corcoran. Now don’t worry,” he argued, when Louise went white, “they’ll try and maintain that the insurance company covered everything at the time, but once the judge reads Dr Cunningham’s medical report …”

And so Louise was feeling confident, but not too confident.  She wanted to get her part over with, and as quickly as possible, so she could just sit back and watch the rest of it at leisure.

She stole a quick look at the man who’d caused the accident, the man who’d run her down all that time ago. Leo Gardner’s legal team seemed huge in comparison to her small gathering of Cahill, his assistant and the barrister.  Once again, she felt uneasy.  For a man who was being sued for a large amount of money, Gardner seemed incredibly relaxed and more than a little smug-looking as he conversed with one of his solicitors, an attractive, immaculately dressed woman who looked to be in her mid-thirties.  Louise envied the other woman’s obvious confidence, a confidence borne easily when you looked like that, she thought sighing.  And she was obviously one of those hard-nosed career women types too, Louise decided.  How else would anyone end up working for Gardner, who by all accounts seemed quite hard-nosed himself?  He never apologised, had never even sent a get-well card to the hospital at the time, Louise remembered, feeling wounded anew now that she thought about it.  All those weeks she’d spent in agony at the hospital, simply because this oh-so-busy TV producer was in a hurry, and couldn’t be bothered to stop at a red light.  And he had never even sent a card.  

Now Gardner looked as though he hadn’t a care in the world – in fact, he looked as if he was enjoying the whole scenario. Yet,
he
was the guilty party, so why did Louise all of a sudden feel as though the opposite were true? Why did she now feel as though she were the one on trial here?

Probably because of what Cahill had said the other day. 

“They’ll try to maintain that you were suitably compensated the first time round.  They’ll ask about your job, your lifestyle, and will definitely try to downplay your injuries.  So, Louise, when you get up there, please, don’t do the job for them! I know you feel that perhaps your injuries weren’t as severe as we’re claiming, but don’t even
think
about putting that across in court.  As far as you’re concerned, there isn’t a day when you don’t feel that back pain – it affects you constantly, and as Dr Cunningham will verify, it will affect you for the rest of your life.”

“OK.” Louise tried to take it all in.

“I’m going to focus in on your career, about how as a result of your injuries, you were forced to abandon your dreams of becoming a professional athlete – ”

“Mr Cahill, there was never any question of my …” But she trailed off when Cahill silenced her with a look.   Shit, she must remember not to argue back like that in court – otherwise they hadn’t a hope.  But she didn’t like all this exaggeration.  It was totally unnecessary.  She’d been reasonably decent at the shot-put in college and had won a few regional competitions, but it was very unlikely that she’d have gone professional!  Yes, she had long-lasting injuries and, yes, she’d had to settle for a different career.  But all this talk of ‘dreams being abandoned’ was totally over the top.

Still, Cahill was the expert and Louise would do well to follow his lead, rather than impose her own opinions on the matter.  Otherwise the case would be lost, before it had even begun.

Which incidentally, was now about to happen.  

Louise’s barrister, a man called Conor O’Toole, began his opening statements.  In a tone that was decidedly accusatory, he spoke about the accident itself, painted a very visual account of how Louise was innocently on her way home from a hard day’s work – a part-time job she needed in order to finance her now defunct studies, he added pointedly – and how Leo Gardner had blatantly disregarded both the law and his civil duties by callously running the red light and knocking her over.

He outlined her injuries, namely the shattered pelvis, rib fractures and back injury.  “Injuries that were clearly grievous, and yet, Mr Gardner’s insurers saw fit to barely cover Ms Patterson’s hospital stay at the time.” He paused for what Louise thought was dramatic effect.  “They chose to ignore the severity of her initial injuries – blatantly
caused by negligence on the part of Leo Gardner – let alone consider the appalling emotional injury sustained thereafter . . .”

At this, the judge rolled his eyes slightly, and spotting the gesture, Louise began to panic. What O’Toole was saying was all very true, but did Judge Corcoran’s reaction mean that he sympathised with Louise, or with Gardner?  It was impossible to tell. 

O’Toole was still speaking:  “. . . emotional injuries that clearly affected Ms Patterson’s social abilities and her confidence in day-to-day living and –”

“I’ve seen the physician’s report, Mr O’Toole,” the judge interjected wearily, “and I’m well aware of the nature of Ms Patterson’s physical injuries.  Emotional injuries however, do not come under the remit of the court at this time.  So, Mr O’Toole, please continue, but this time with more fact and considerably less conjecture.”

At this, Gardner’s legal team looked mightily pleased with themselves, and Louise wished the barrister would tone down the drama about her state of mind.  With the way he was talking, you’d swear she was afraid of her own reflection!  Yes, she’d been a bit wobbly about crossing roads for a long time after the accident, but that was only natural, wasn’t it?

O’Toole went on to explain how Louise’s hopes of a much-longed-for career as a Physical Education teacher had been swiftly and prematurely ended by her injuries and the subsequent loss of earnings as a result. 

“Ms Patterson now works in an administrative role – a menial profession which by no means could match the gains her chosen career would have afforded her.”

Menial profession? Hold on there a second, Mister! Louise wanted to say.  There was nothing wrong with the job she had now – in fact if it wasn’t for ACS, Louise wouldn’t be able to work at all!

Which, she remembered just in time, was exactly the point the barrister was trying to get across.  He had to make her job seem inferior, otherwise the claim for loss of earnings wouldn’t stand up.  She mentally reminded herself to focus on the bigger picture, and not take every utterance as some kind of insult. 
Especially
when she herself had to take the stand.

Finally O’Toole completed his monologue, reiterating once more that Louise’s financial circumstances were clearly deficient because of Gardner’s actions and, as a result, he was bound by duty of care to compensate her for such losses. He returned to his seat alongside Louise and her solicitor, whereupon Cahill bestowed an admiring smile on him and she deduced that, in the circumstances, O’Toole must have done very well.

Next up was Gardner’s barrister, Walter Flanagan, a tall, imposing, man with broad shoulders and a harsh, angular-looking face.  But when the man began to speak, his voice was surprisingly soft, yet commanding and articulate.  To her surprise, Louise almost found herself warming to him, despite the fact that he was the opposition.

But when his barrister began to outline the basis of Leo Gardner’s defence, she quickly changed her mind.

“Your Honour, we accept that Ms Patterson has suffered additional injuries as a result of the accident, but not to the overstated lengths the claimant’s legal team purport. Moreover, we will throughout the course of these proceedings prove to the court that she has
not
suffered resultant loss of earnings.  In fact,” he added, a little too cryptically for Louise’s liking, “Ms Patterson’s financial position should be considered more than adequate for a young lady of her age and circumstance.”

What was he talking about? What did ‘more than adequate’ mean?  All he had to do was look at her bank and credit-card statements and then he’d know all about ‘adequate’!  Louise looked at her solicitor for an explanation but James Cahill didn’t seem remotely upset.  She felt momentarily relieved.  Again, this sort of thing must be par for the course, and James did explain that it was the job of the other side to defend themselves, which is exactly what they were doing.  If Gardner’s side didn’t refute the charges, there would be no case to answer, would there? So she really should stop worrying and just let them all get on with it.  She’d stick to her story – no, she reminded herself, it wasn’t a story, it was the
truth
– and the rest of them could argue about it all they liked.  It was cut and dried, wasn’t that what Cahill kept saying?  Cut and dried. 

So Louise might as well just sit and back and let all the fancy talk go over her head. 

“Furthermore,” Flanagan was still speaking, “we will also seek to prove that Mr Gardner’s initial settlement of this case was more than adequate and this fresh suit case against the defendant is not only frivolous, but downright fraudulent.” His voice was beginning to get louder and take on more weight with every utterance, and all of a sudden Louise felt very, very frightened.

Fraudulent?  Why would they say something like that?  Gardner had never disputed that he was at fault – that he was
liable
– as Cahill was always saying.  So what were they playing at, trying to suggest that Louise was chancing her arm?  She had debts that needed to be paid, debts that originated with additional hospital bills and then more physiotherapy bills.  What happened to ‘cut and dried’ all of a sudden?

James Cahill leant across and went to whisper something in her ear.  “Don’t worry,” he reassured.  “It’s only a bluff.  Flanagan’s seen the medical report and the hospital receipts.  He knows the evidence is too strong to ignore and he’s just show-boating.”

Louise nodded blankly.

Shortly afterwards, it was time to hear from the witnesses. 

First up, the court heard evidence from the doctor’s report.  Louise’s consultant physician Dr Cunningham spoke about his assessment of her injuries.  The doctor outlined how additional complications, relating in particular to damaged vertebrae, had necessitated a further stay in hospital and additional physiotherapy.  Louise would likely suffer chronic back pain for the rest of her life, he told them, and her injuries were ‘significant and ongoing’.   The back injury in particular had affected her manual dexterity and effectively ended her participation in most forms of sport.  There was no question of her achieving a PE teacher qualification – in fact there were a number of career choices that were well beyond her capabilities as a result of her injuries, namely anything that involved lifting and carrying, or bending, kneeling or squatting.  The back pain would significantly restrict her lifestyle and, as she got older, there was also the possibility of future complications.

Both sides questioned the doctor on some of the points raised, but as the independent physician had more or less concurred with Cunningham’s findings, there was little to argue.

Shortly afterwards, the court broke for a short recess.

Outside in the corridor, Louise sat quietly amongst her legal team, her legs shaking with nerves, and her heart thudding at the prospect of having to take the stand and answer that scary man’s questions.  Apparently, she was up next.