America 1982-Chapter 137 - 46: Pleasant Cooperation
Delia walked out of the boardroom and towards the partners’ exclusive private meeting room. Through the bright glass, Kane saw Delia approaching the room, stood up first, and said to Tommy and Sophia sitting next to him:
"Ms. Case is here."
Both of them also stood up humbly, waiting for the other party to come in. Sophia’s face couldn’t hide the excitement, even squeezing Tommy’s little finger forcefully to express her excitement about meeting her idol and having Tommy Hawk, the bastard, finally keeping his word to her.
In the United States, although there are many practicing female lawyers, most of them work in firms established after World War II. Those old, prestigious white-shoe firms might recruit some female lawyers, but these women often have little opportunity for promotion within these firms.
It’s not a matter of gender discrimination or inequality, on the contrary, the legal profession in the United States is very equal. It is precisely because of this equality that it’s harder for female lawyers to stand out.
Male lawyers could vacation with their clients, politicians, indulge together in lavish entertainment, even visit high-end clubs to consort with prostitutes, fostering close relationships, but what can female lawyers do? Even if she doesn’t mind, the others will.
So, aside from working together, whether it be clients, politicians, or bosses, they fundamentally cut ties with female lawyers, unable to break into those male-dominated circles, not getting their hands on truly influential cases, only to see the gap with male lawyers widen, ultimately resorting to leveraging their experience at white-shoe firms to move to ordinary firms with high salaries, forever losing any connection with the term ’elite’.
This also explains why each time a female partner emerges at a white-shoe elite law firm, it becomes major news within the industry. After all, among the top twenty law firms bearing the white-shoe title in America, the last time a female partner was made dates back to over twenty years ago in 1959 when a lady named Elizabeth Mig did it at the second-ranked law firm in America that year.
The second one, now approaching the meeting room, with neatly cut silver hair, dressed in a black ladies’ suit, is Delia Case, who joined Davis Polk in 1971 and within eleven years, became the second female partner at a white-shoe elite law firm.
These two women are the idols of all female law students in America, and Sophia is no exception. Not every girl gets the chance to meet these two; a Stanford University Law School student like Sophia wouldn’t even get the chance to intern at a firm like Davis Polk without a significant client’s recommendation.
For law students, if you did not graduate from Harvard Law School or Yale Law School or the University of Chicago Law School, there’s a 95% chance that you will never cross paths with such white-shoe firms in your career, unless you become their client.
"Tommy, Sophia?" Delia walked in, confidently stating their names: "Good morning, I’m sorry I’m late, this morning’s meeting ran a bit long." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦
Tommy reached out first: "Pleased to meet you, Ms. Case."
"Ms. Case, after we talk about business, can I take a photo with you? I even bought a Polaroid camera especially to meet you," said Sophia, her face full of reverence, after Tommy finished shaking hands with Delia.
Delia smiled and nodded: "Of course, no problem, seeing you is like seeing myself twenty years ago. That’s exactly what I said the first time I met Mrs. Elizabeth Mig."
After letting go of Sophia’s hand, Delia sat down at her place, her hands flicking on the desktop as she spoke rapidly:
"OK, the meeting ran a few minutes over, so we’d better recoup the lost time. Small talk is over, let’s talk about the main issue, Kane, get us some coffee, the Actor Corporation, right? The software company founded by Mr. Tommy Hawk, I took a look at the data we have, according to American maritime law and considering previous similar or related cases, what Actor Corporation did is undoubtedly a violation of copyright law. You copied Lotus Corporation’s interface, function, and even hold a special edition hand-in-hand where you kindly inserted code written by the rival company’s boss, as a tribute and conveniently leave real evidence for them, right?"
Tommy nodded, offering no rebuttal: "But if it was just copying, I don’t think you, Ms. Case, would be interested."
"Indeed, when Ms. Holly Kina from Actor Corporation contacted me, she brought up some public opinion points, like female employment and equal rights in the discussion, and then mentioned that your income seems to be used for charity, not for personal gain. That’s mainly why I’m interested to hear the full story," Delia said, eyes fixed on the calmly seated Tommy Hawk.
"I’d like to hear what kind of contributions Actor Corporation has made to female employment and equal rights, so we can stand on moral high ground. If the other party also doesn’t want their image tarnished by this, we might settle before the trial starts," she said.
Tommy placed his hand to his mouth, gently nibbling his knuckles for about five or six seconds before letting go and speaking to Delia: "Based on what you’ve just said, Ms. Case, I’ve thought about your approach. You believe that Actor Corporation is infringing, so you want to understand its influence in charitable activities and ensure that the revenue Actor Corporation has made does not end up in my own pocket but continues to support public welfare. This way, even if it goes to court, when it is realized that all of Actor’s actions are for public welfare activities and not merely for profit, it may still be argued to persuade the jury to reach the most favorable decision for us, or to say, reach a settlement with the counterpart concerned about their reputation."
