America 1982-Chapter 163 - 60 Who is Daddy

"They’re feeling guilty and hope to use those words to drive a wedge between us, hoping I’ll feel you might bring unnecessary trouble to the case. Don’t worry, Jim, we won’t fall for it; those investigations have nothing to do with this case."

Mitch Kapor’s eyes were fixed on the chessboard in front of him, pondering how to defeat another version of himself while talking to comfort Jim Manzi, who sat beside him holding a cup of coffee, his complexion somewhat ugly.

Jim Manzi drank his coffee, not bothering to consider whether the other party had really gone to those country folk in Montana to learn about him. Even if they brought those farmers to his face, he didn’t care. When playing a grifter, the most important thing is, the other side can curse you all they like, but they’ll never leave themselves with a weapon that can take you down.

Even standing in court, all they could do was spout irrelevant filth—they couldn’t come up with any damn evidence, of that he was certain.

What he was worried about now was that, after the first simple encounter, whether it was Tommy Hawk or the several others from Actor Corporation, they seemed to him and Robert to have never considered reconciliation. It seemed as though they were even looking forward to settling the issue with a final court hearing.

Provoked by Mitch, the loopholes left in the others’ words all pointed to this. Though such meetings between both parties would continue for a few times, the tone set during the first encounter was easy to define and unlikely to change.

Robert Molley and his legal team were currently dissecting the materials obtained from the opposition, letter by letter, to discern just what their courage and determination to respond to the suit really amounted to.

Precedents are not to be taken lightly, and the precise entry point of the precedent Delia wanted was key. As long as they identified the series of issues, it didn’t matter whether they laid out a trap before the hearing to seal the opponent’s last card, or used it to push for a settlement where both parties could collude to swindle another company—it would be a graceful advance or retreat. It all depended on whether Robert and his pack could find the truth within the mountain of information supplied by Delia and her legal team.

Just looking at those testimonies, evidentiary items, and investigation reports provided by the opposition would give an ordinary person an immediate headache. Lawyers from white-shoe firms on both sides knew exactly what to reveal to avoid giving away their actual intentions—a battle of wits unique to professional lawyers. Jim Manzi wouldn’t interfere with Robert’s decisions in this matter; one must trust the professionals.

"I agree with you, they are indeed feeling guilty, Mitch," Jim let out a sigh and looked at Mitch, who was playing chess, "So, I think it wouldn’t hurt to authorize Robert to discuss the possibility of settlement with their lawyers."

Mitch shifted his attention from the chessboard to Jim’s face and asked with some uncertainty, "They’re feeling guilty, and then we propose a settlement proactively? Sounds more like we’re the ones who’re feeling guilty."

"We’re different in scale from Actor Corporation, Mitch. They’re not the little company they used to be, or rather, they’re still small, but not like those small companies we’ve dealt with before. They’re a bit more bastardly." Jim tried to explain the difference between Actor Corporation and those previous small companies without setting off Mitch:

"Like, when we dealt with those small companies before, did you ever need to be in a situation like this? Right? That’s the difference between them and our previous adversaries."

He couldn’t just tell Mitch Kapor that the founders of those small companies were all goddamn nerds, possessing no skills beyond computer technology, while he, Jim, was like a bad guy in the high school who could easily intimidate them into handing over their lunch money with a little scare.

But with Actor Corporation now, the one at the helm was as much of a bastard as Jim, a tough character who bullied others in school. And in their eyes, Lotus Corporation was still the nerd, only richer than the high school one.

The best method was to win over a scoundrel like Tommy Hawk and let him continue being a scoundrel, helping to protect Lotus Corporation while causing trouble for other companies on their behalf.

"Jim, Jonathan has some dissatisfaction with you, but I don’t. I’ve always believed in your affection for Lotus. You are an excellent manager who has taken on many tasks not suited for us, dealing with software vendors, investors, media, and even government agencies. You’ve also provided many constructive suggestions for the company’s development," Mitch said, a little helplessly fiddling with a chess piece in his hand:

"But... I’ve always been puzzled as to why you went from a hard stance against Actor to now quickly becoming a dove for Lotus Corporation, a pacifist. What brought about this change? Is it just because they’re not afraid of you and dare to face the intimidation you’ve started?"

"Isn’t that enough, Mitch? The money of those other small companies wasn’t even enough to last until court, Mitch. You became a billionaire right out of college thanks to Lotus 1-2-3, never encountering struggles that other entrepreneurs or, shall I say, the poor would face. And that struggle is, in this country, if you want justice, you first have to pave your way to the judge with cash. Most people can’t do this simple thing you take for granted, because even if they emptied their pockets it wouldn’t be enough," Jim explained:

"My initial hard stance was because I thought Actor was no different from the other small companies and studios—simply hiring a legal team to gather evidence and reveal it was enough to bankrupt them. But now, the information I’ve received shows they have at least a million lying in their accounts, which means they can drag this out with us for at least a year. Meanwhile, they keep selling software and making money. This means we could get stuck in a long and ineffective drag with them. If we lose in the state court, they’ll appeal to the circuit court; if they lose in the circuit court, they could still arrange their lawyers to involve the Supreme Court. Just going through these three levels of court, even at the fastest speed, would take two years, because it’s the same process every time: legal notices, responses, evidence collection, jury selection, jury PR, trial, motions, adjournments, more PR and lobbying, and then back to trial..."