Bearing Witness Read Online Free PDF Page A

been obvious from the start: wage a war of attrition. I was outgunned and outmanned. We both knew that I couldn’t risk a full-scale battle out in the open, and she exploited that knowledge by objecting to all of my requests for information, swamping me with her own discovery requests, contesting virtually every action I took in the case, and generally doing whatever could be done to make my pretrial preparations unpleasant, arduous, and demoralizing.
    We sat in silence across from each other until Judge Wagner’s secretary announced that Her Honor was ready for us. With Kimberly in the lead, we filed into the chambers of the Honorable Catherine L. Wagner.
    Like their courtrooms, the chambers of U.S. District Court judges are built on a scale for pharaohs. This one had high ceilings and dark paneling. Her Honor was seated in a high-back leather chair behind an imposing desk. She stood as we approached.
    â€œGreetings, Counsel.”
    Catherine Wagner was in her mid-forties, a tall, willowy blonde, with long hair, piercing blue eyes, and a ski-slope nose. She had been a renowned beauty in her early twenties, and she still cut quite a figure when striding into the courtroom with that long blond hair cascading down her black judicial robe. In her chambers, the black robe hung on the brass rack in the corner. She was wearing a cream-colored silk blouse and a maroon wool skirt. Up close you could see the bags under her eyes and the worry lines on her forehead—the wear and tear of a hectic career squeezed on top of life as a divorced mother of two adolescent boys, whose framed portraits hung on the wall above her credenza.
    â€œGood afternoon, Your Honor,” Kimberly answered cheerfully.
    â€œHello, Kimberly. Good to see you.” Judge Wagner nodded at me with somewhat less enthusiasm. “Ms. Gold.”
    I returned the nod at the same level of zeal. “Hello, Judge.”
    Although Catherine Wagner was known as a tough but fair judge, the playing field never felt quite level with Kimberly Howard present. The two were active members of the St. Louis University Law School alumni association. They also shared another important bond: the Republican Party. Catherine Wagner’s GOP bona fides had been impeccable when she was appointed to the bench eight years ago, and Kimberly Howard was an increasingly visible member of the Missouri Republican Party. Indeed, her name had started popping up when political pundits talked of the next round of elections; some picked her to challenge the incumbent Missouri Attorney General.
    â€œWell, well,” Judge Wagner said in a voice laced with sarcasm after we’d taken our seats, “my favorite case.” She looked at Kimberly and then at me. “To what do I owe the pleasure today, ladies?”
    â€œJudge,” Kimberly began solemnly, “we have grave concerns about Miss Gold’s conduct.”
    Judge Wagner nodded as she lifted a copy of the letter Kimberly had faxed to me earlier in the day. “You’re referring to the ex-employees and their nondisclosure agreements.”
    â€œThat’s certainly one important item on the agenda,” Kimberly said. “However, there are others. For starters, we have Miss Gold’s outrageous attempt to serve Mr. Beckman with a subpoena in the middle of an awards ceremony on Sunday night.”
    We were off and running. Although I hate squabbling with opposing counsel in front of a judge, Kimberly and I were at each other before long. As for my efforts to contact former employees of Beckman Engineering, she wanted an order requiring my investigators to issue a Miranda-like warning to each prospective witness informing him of the nondisclosure agreement and providing the ex-employee with the name and telephone number of a Beckman Engineering attorney with whom he could consult without charge before answering any questions. In addition, Kimberly wanted twenty-four-hour advance written notice