On Saturday – the day of rest in Israel – I went again through the documents. I was by then certain Fischer was lying between his teeth. Ruth was prepared to stand by him. Still, she had not asked us to throw the towel in.
To look up recent authorities, I went down to the Supreme Court library on Sunday morning. As soon as I entered, I spotted Boaz. He, too, was refreshing his memory. To my delight, he invited me to have morning coffee with him.
“I hear you’ve come back for a visit, Eli.”
“News travel fast in this town, Boaz. Sorry for not calling on Miri and you. Yokneam is a bit out of the way. Actually, I’m told you’ve entered into politics.”
“I’m a Mapam beck-bencher now, Eli. Still, I do appear from time to time when I need the money. But tell me: are you happy in Singapore?”
“Contented is the right word. I fit in without belonging.”
“Here you belonged but, in many ways, you did not fit in.”
“True: but I’ve had really good friends.”
“You still have them,” he assured me.
Before long, we turned to the case. Boaz was aware I had been briefed. Naturally, we had been pitted against one another on previous occasions. We had also appeared together, albeit for different parties, in complex cases. Our professional engagements had never marred the close friendship we had developed during our days at the University. I had been a frequent guest in Boaz’s welcoming home and, both he and his wife, had been to my home. I suspected that, like myself, Boaz looked forward to our forthcoming appearance. Both of us could be tricky. But we had always been fair to one another in our skirmishes.
Like Rachel and I, Boaz had noted the oddities in Fischer’s testimony. Still, he decided not to raise the issues because he, too, realised the case was bound to turn on the fine legal point. Further, Fischer had acquainted him with Ruth’s remarkable instructions. In consequence, Boaz concluded that Fischer would not be subjected to a devastating cross-examination.
“Still, Boaz, Fischer is no fool. He’s a cunning bastard. What made him come up with these stupid assertions? Off the record, do you know what is behind them?”
“I’ve no idea, Eli. I’ve tried to probe. But Fischer has been evasive. I am as much in the dark as Rachel and you!”
Boaz knew that any information he gave me off the record would remain confidential. Quite apart from the bond of friendship, my silence was dictated by the code of conduct of our legal world.
Boaz’s next observations threw light on one point. The excessive amount of the claim was Fischer’s own idea. Boaz had warned him that, even if the Judge accepted that amount as a ‘base 1’, he might have to take into account Fischer’s contributory negligence. If, for instance, he decided that Fischer ought to bear half the loss, the damages would be reduced accordingly. Fischer had listened attentively but, in the event, decided to claim the largest amount feasible.
“He won’t get that, Boaz. Not if the Judge is going to be Ehud Morag.”
“Well Morag has agreed to hear it. Think about it, Eli. He was our teacher. And we used to appear before him in moots, in debates and in court.”
“He is brilliant: best legal mind I know.”
“He is. But you better prepare yourself for a shock, Eli. You must have heard that Morag’s wife left him.”
“Rachel told me about it. I felt sorry for him. He was devoted to his elegant, even if playful, wife.”
“Her desertion affected him. Then, one of Morag’s best friends committed suicide. It hit Morag hard. We’ll have to handle him with extra care. We were his favourite students. And you know: he remembers. When I appeared before him in chambers on another matter, he asked about you. He knows Rachel and you broke off.”
“Did he attend her wedding?”
“I don’t think she invited people. It was a very private occasion. Still, Rachel’s Uzi operated on Morag’s knee.”
“It’s a small world,” I muttered.
“Incestuous. Everybody knows everybody and everything, except the truth.”
In the event, we agreed to ask that the case be heard in two parts. The first, we concluded, ought to deal with the issue of liability. Did a developer owe any duty of care to his consultant? The second stage ought to deal with the issue of damages and contributory negligence.
“Once we get over the ‘liability’ issue, everybody would wish to settle,” grinned Boaz.
“Why haven’t they settled up to now?”
“Rachel offered Fischer a niggardly amount. In his chagrin, he instructed me not to negotiate any further.”
“What a pity,” I muttered.
“Oh, I don’t know about that. It ain’t so bad for our fee notes.”