Roth—Daniel—joined us at the door. “Let’s go say hi to Weston, and then I’ll introduce you to everyone else.”
Coming from a small, four-partner, twenty-person attorney firm, I’d expected to be a bit overwhelmed, but I passed more people in the one floor of the office here than I normally saw in a week at my old firm. I’d have to adjust, but I’d deal with it. The bump in my partnership draw and the prestige of working at the firm would make that easy. Even with the prospect of working with Weston, I was feeling pretty good about all of it.
“West. It’s official,” Daniel announced. “Grady is a partner, and here’s Brenner Fleming. We’re about to sign off on his partnership, so it made sense to bring them on together.”
I braced myself, and with a grin on my face, stepped forward. “Hello, Weston. Good to see you again.”
“I’m glad to see you too.” His hand clasped mine, and it was as if we were back in that room at the Marriott. My throat dried, and sweat broke out over my body. But it wasn’t only me affected. I could see West’s green-gold eyes widen and his lips press tight. He jerked away and stuffed his hands into the pockets of his slacks.
Daniel said, “Obviously Grady knows his way around, but he stopped by when I was talking to Brenner, so he’s tagging along for the unofficial meet and greet. I’m going to finish introducingBrenner, then show him his office and let him read through the mountain of material.”
“All the fun stuff,” Weston teased, but his face was strained. I caught Grady’s odd look but chose to ignore it and nodded at Weston. I followed Daniel to meet the other attorneys, then he brought me to an office two doors down from Weston’s. Guess I couldn’t request to sit on the opposite side of the floor.
“Here it is. We’ve had our IT department prioritize you, so I don’t anticipate it should take longer than a week for you to be fully on board. Your attorney has sent the partnership agreement for us to review. We’ll get that done and have you part of the family.” Daniel put a hand on my arm. “I’m serious when I say that we might be a large firm, but we’re not that big that we treat everyone like numbers, easily replaced. Walden, Booth, and Roth works because we are collaborative. Anyone in your division is available for you to bounce ideas off of should you need it. Though it often seems that all we deal with is the wreckage of families, I chose family law because we have the ability to fit the broken pieces together. I’ll leave you to get the lay of the land.”
For someone who didn’t like change, this was all happening pretty damn fast. A bit overcome, I nodded, walked into the office, and sat behind the desk. I had a nice view of midtown, and the space was painted in a soothing pale green. The gleaming black conference table was surrounded by gray padded chairs. Bookcases filled with the New York State CPLR as well as McKinney’s, and legal treatises lined the wall. It was twice the size of my office at Roman and White, and I snapped a few pictures and sent them to Bill, with the tag “movin’ on up.” A call from my attorney popped up on my phone.
“Laz? How the hell are you?”
“Not as good as you, I’m thinking.” He chuckled. “I cc’d you a copy of the partnership agreement I returned to them. Big shot.”
“Very funny. And you should talk. How’s your client, Madden Steele? I see he’s got another complex going up, this time in Long Island City.”
“He’s good, and I’m not involved with the company, only his personal business. Seriously, though, from the agreement, this looks like a great move for you.”
“Yeah. I think it could be. Still can’t believe it. It happened so fast.” I ran a hand over the clean, smooth surface of my desk, as if touching it made it more real. “Not too bad for a foster kid.”
“You did good. And you deserve good things.”
When I’d first been admitted to the bar, Laz and I had met handling 18b criminal court cases—assigned counsel for people who couldn’t afford a lawyer and for which Legal Aid representation would be a conflict. I was intrigued by the attorney who came to court in jeans and sneakers, tattoos up and down his arms. I’d found myself involved in pro bono immigration cases involving separating children from their parents, and Laz and I had worked together and become friends. I admired his dedication and passion.
“Thanks, Laz. I’m not sure anyone deserves anything, but I’ll take it.”
“Heard Grady Allen is joining with you.”
The legal grapevine ran as hot and fast as any Hollywood gossip. “Yeah, my first time meeting him in person, but I’ve heard his reputation. I just met him for a hot second when Daniel was bringing me around.”
“He’s good people.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“You should,” Laz stated, and his insistence had me laughing.
“Someone’s got opinions.”
“Look, Brenner. We’ve known each other for close to fifteen years. You can lose yourself in a case, giving your all to your clients.”
“Someone has to look out for the kids. Too often the parents are more interested in hurting each other and using their children as pawns than doing what’s right. I have to make sure they’re taken care of.”
“You’ve got a soul, Brenner. You’re climbing higher on the ladder of success with clients who don’t have to worry about how to pay your fee, but I know you won’t lose track of the people who can’t.”
I winced, knowing that lately I’d neglected the pro bono side of the profession, and I vowed to become more active once I’d settled into the partnership.
After the call ended, I sat staring off into space, until fingers snapping in front of my face brought me around.
“Slacking off already, and you’re not even on board yet.” Weston’s laughing face drove away all my good vibes.
“What do you want?” I pushed his hand out of my line of vision.
