"The mayor's schedule is extremely tight." "Loosen it." "What's so importt?" "I'm handing out Medal of Valor citations." "You told the press that we're bringing charges on behalf of the victims in the Hong Fabrics fire?" "No, but that's great news." "Yeah, for you, maybe." "And the reports say I'm handing the se?" "There has never been a successful felony prosecution in L.A." "for an incident like this." "And I don't do lost causes." "Working conditions in the garment dtrict are deplorable." "Four women died in that fire." "And that's a tragedy, but it doesn't make it a crime." "These were innocent victims.Innocent" "Latina victims." "Every crime has its constituency." "And this one just happens to vote for you." "FYI, Manny, it's not our job to get you reelected." "You need to get yourself reelected." "So I'd stop worrying about how the story got out there and start focusing on your job." "Nail someone." "Fast." "He's using us for political cover." "We win, he wins;" "we lose, he blames us." "He is good." "Relax, I'll find some shnook, plead him out to a building code violation, Manny announces he struck major blow for workers' rights, and boom, life goes back to normal." "The point is, floating false stories in the press crosses the line." "You really think it was Manny?" "As a matter of fact," "I do." "Do you recognize her?" "No, and I'm sure I'd remember." "Laura Montez, KCEI." "She's also practically on the mayor's staff." "Laura Montez?" "Don't play dumb-- you're overqualified." "I heard you talking about this reporter last week." "Laura and I went to school together-- I may have mentioned..." "Please, okay, you've been yapping about this fire for weeks!" "Those women deserve justice." "It's a sad situation, but it was ruled an accident." "Now, we don't shop for business, and we don't use the press to advance our agenda." "You do it all the time." "Michael Jordan rule." "What?" "!" "On the court Jordan did whatever he wanted 'cause he was Jordan." "Everyone else did what they were told." "All right, leaking the story was wrong, but this is a huge issue." "It's all yours now, pal." "Best of luck." "I thought Delgado wanted you on the case." "Ah, he wanted the HPCU." "Last I checked, you're still part of this crime unit-- barely." "Don't walk away." "All right, Martin... you give me one good reason" "I should lift a finger to help you." "I'll give you four." "Estrella Martinez," "Maria Pinera," "Luce Castillo..." "Alejandra Villa." "Capture:aihua" "Honey?" "The neighbors just called to complain." "Could you kind of ease up on the gum?" "Sorry, I chew gum when I'm stressed." "And why are you stressed?" "Are you seriously asking me that?" "Yeah." "I might get expelled!" "You're not getting expelled." "Dad, everyone knows" "I've cheated-- they all look at me different, like I'm an outcast." "You didn't cheat." "Do you not remember the conversation the other night where I told you I cheated?" "I compared your paper to the one you downloaded." "It does not rise to the standard oplagiarism under school policy." "But I still..." "And once I get you cleared by the review board, everyone will forget this ever happened." "Thanks to your esteemed colleague, the High-Profile Crime it has been assigned a case that is neither high-profile, nor, according to the LAPD, a crime." "Mr. Allende... the floor is yours." "You want me to run this?" "You got us in;" "you get us out." "This case comes down to two central questions:" "how did that fire start, and why couldn't those women get out once it did?" "The arson report says that it was faulty electrical wiring, no criminal intent." "But why was it faulty?" "We're looking for criminal negligence." "Happy hunting." "Who's the target?" "Benny Hong-- he owns three shops in Los Angeles, each of which has been repeatedly cited for health and safety violations." "Now, I've contacted an OSHA inspector named Ellis." "He's gonna meet you and Casey down at the scene." "We need to talk to survivors." "I've tracked down Claudia and Victoria Reyes, mother and daughter who escaped the fire." "Got it." "You'll go to court, handle the warrant affidavits in front of Judge Garrison." "Judge Garrison?" "And by the way, that, uh, reporter that you leaked the story to," "Laura what's her name, you sleeping with her?" "Excuse me?" "You dragged usnto a no-win case-- it's a fair question." "It was a one-time thing." "Yes!" "Told you he was straight." "Ha-ha!" "I'm surprised that you and your mom went back to work so soon." "We don't work, we don't eat." "Of course." "I appreciate your time." "None of the other survivors will talk to me." "They're afraid." "Tell me about the fire." "Uh, we were working on a really big order." "There was a lot of material in the shop." "Do you remember if the doors were blocked that night?" "We have to go back to work now." "No, no." "Just a couple more minutes." "There was too much smoke." "We couldn't see." "So how did you get out of there?" "I took my mother by the hand, and we went towards the window." "People were on fire." "Their hair was burning." "Their clothes..." "We got to the window, but it was painted shut." "So we broke the glass with our bare hands." "Glad you could make it, Inspector, a month after the fire." "The police signed off-- no sign of arson;" "electrical fire." "There was no reason for further investigation." "How about four dead women?" "Save the morality lesson-- that suit you're wearing was made in a shop, just like this one." "How many people worked here?" "Depending on the workload... between 80 and a hundred a shift." "This place should hold 50 max." "L.A.'s the sweatshop capital of the world." "5,000 a 20-mile area, and eight inspectors like me to monitor all of them." "Why don't you just shut 'em down?" "We do." "Then they relocate." "That suit would've cost you twice as much if it was made in a union shop." "Combine high demand with an endless supply of cheap labor, this is what you get." "This burn pattern suggests that this was the hottest point on the floor." "Any idea why?" "My guess..." "is there was fabric here." "Could've been stacked against the door when the fire started." "Which means there was no way out." "That's criminal negligence." "Manslaughter's a joke." "Reckless endangerment-- five years." "Even without manslaughter, 117 code violations, each carrying 90 days, that's 30 years." "Try getting a judge to sign off on that." "Can you give us a second?" "Did you see my head nod up and down vertically when he offered five years?" "That means take it." "Because of him, four women are dead." "Maybe, but you'll never convince a jury." "The mayor wants a scalp." "There's your scalp." "Whip out your tomahawk and make a deal." "20 years." "Why are you doing this to me?" "I'm an honest businessman." "No, you exploit innocent people." "20 years or I'll see you in court." "Why don't you go after the others?" "What others?" "We're done." "No." "Why do you think the electrical system broke down?" "It was a rush order." "Big." "They said if I didn't come through, they weren't gonna use me anymore." "They're my number one customer." "All right, if you want any shot at getting out from under this, you'd better tell me everything you know." "You want my client's help, wee talking full immunity." "No way." "Five years for reckless endangerment is a gift!" "This goes higher than Benny Hong." "All of a sudden he's Oliver Stone." "It always goes higher-- the question is, who can you get?" "Case closed." "Martin's right-- people are suffering." "Unless you nail the big money, it's just gonna happen again." "Taking Benny Hong off the street is a pretty good start." "Till someone takes his place next week." "By the grace of God and a lazy ambulance chaser, you could actually win this case." "And in the process, screw smiles on the faces of the mayor, the D.A., and your humble lord and master." "Five years, no immunity." "It's a smart move." "It feels like a sellout." "You want to tilt at windmills, rent a donkey." "That wasn't so bad, was it?" "See?" "Not at all." "I gave Hong immunity." "You what?" "He gave up the company he was working for when the fire broke out-- Pruitt Fashions." "Pruitt?" "That's the hottest designer in the country-- every teenage girl on the planet wears their stuff." "Well, they made Hong double the number of machines in his shop." "That's what caused the electrical fire." "So Hong's gonna testify that they threatened to pull their business if he didn't meet their deadline." "And that's illegal how?" "Companies like Pruitt make billions off workers they treat like animals." "Somebody's got to take a stand." "The immunity agreement." "Want to change the world?" "Knock yourself out." "'Cause when you lose, you're gone." "You got cojones, man, I'll give you that." "Going behind Starks' back twice, torpedoing the mayor-- it's not cojones, it's suicide." "We need evidence that Pruitt knew about the conditions in Hong's shop." "Or reasonably should have-- constructive knowledge will get us there as well as actual knowledge." "We've got the extra sewing machines that he brought in that night." "Now, he couldn't afford them on his own." "A big retailer could." "Is there anything linking those machines to Pruitt Fashions?" "Everything was done in cash." "No receipts, no written orders, no paper trail." "This is going really well so far." "Do you really want to lose your job over this, Martin?" "If it weren't for people like the women that died in that fire, I wouldn't have this job." "You said to nail someone." "You did-- the sweatshop owner." "He's the middleman." "Pruitt's the real bad guy." "Hey, Manny, what about all this talk of yours you know, about justice for these poor, poor women?" "It wasn't all talk, but why go after a giant corporation you have no chance of nailing?" "What can I tell you?" "The kid's a true believer." "Sure as hell doesn't get it from me." "You know, you really screwed me here." "The CEO of Pruitt Fashion is Z Pruitt." "His first name is Z?" "The guy on the billboards." "White fur coats, leather pants." "His mother must be proud." "He underwrites my school uform programs in East L.A." "You're gonna put school kids in fur and leather?" "Sebastian." "Thought that was you.Mr. Mayor." "Elliot." "How's life in the slow lane?" "Uh... speeding up." "Oh." "I've been retained by Pruitt Fashions in connection with last month's fire." "It's a preliminary investigation, Elliot." "No one's been charged yet." "Well, that's what I told Mr. Pruitt, but he's aware of your reputation." "He wants someone tough enough to take you on." "Who's he getting for the tough stuff?" "I put my firm's best people on this." "I'm sure they'll be touching base wityour, uh, team very soon." "Z asked me to tell you he's looking forward to expanding your school uniform program," "Mr. Mayor." "Nothing's too good for the kids." "I want you guys at Elliot Dasher's firm in one hour." "Why?" "Because it represents" "Pruitt Fashions and it's time to rattle his cage." "It's a pretty big cage." "300 lawyers." "350-- and we're still gonna kick their asses." "What is it with you and Dasher?" "You mean, besides the fact that I trained him for four long years, only to have him throw a major case to get a partnership at a rival firm?" "Say no more." "I thought you were going to sit this one out." "Don't you worry about when I'm out." "Worry about when you're out." "Get me Hong's files." "Bring them back here." "Which they'll give us why?" "Because they're forced to under the grand jury subpoena.What grand jury subpoena?" "Leave that to me." "Get moving." "Man, something really pissed him off." "More like someone." "Stark mentioned he had lunch with the mayor." "Pruitt used Dasher's firm in the past." "I happen to know the mayor's secretary from the campaign so I asked her to send them to the Peninsula, where Elliot Dasher has a standing reservation." "Figured Dasher couldn't resist a little trash talk." "That's impressive." "It's always the quiet ones." "Pruitt Fashions?" "What happened to "Get someone and get out"?" "That was before." "Before what?" "Before Elliot Dasher ruined my veal scaloppini." "So this is about a professional rivalry." "If Pruitt's got nothing to hide, why did he need a hired gun like Dasher?" "What do we have linking Pruitt to that fire?" "Not much." "And you can't subpoena Pruitt's private records without violating his Fifth Amendment rights." "Not unless, of course, you convene a grand jury." "If you don't ID Pruitt as a target, they can't refuse a subpoena, can they?" "This is an incredible long shot." "So why should I risk it?" "Because, Jess, it's the right thing to do." "Oh, and as an added bonus for you, oubeloved mayor is publicly linked to Pruitt Fashions." "This could embarrass him..." "big time." "Hmm.Note to self:" "Don't subpoena Elliot Dasher." "Anyone remember what we're looking for?" "Anything that ties Pruitt Fashions to dangerous working conditions at Hong's Fabrics." "How do we know that what we're looking for is in these boxes?" "Because they can't risk violating the subpoena, so they swamp us, hoping that we'll give up or miss it." "They have Accounts Receivable mixed in with employment records." "Yeah, the years will be mixed up, too, then they'll file every motion that they can think of, grind us down-- that's how they win." "So how do we fight back?" "Dirty." "I just talked to Stark." "Did he have any brilliant suggestions?" "Actually, a question." "He wants to know how the sex was with that reporter." "What?" "Were there violins, fireworks, choirs of angels?" "His words." "Hot?" "Not so hot?" "Uh..." "Yeah..." "Hot." "So you won't mind giving her a call?" "Give her a little update?" "A source inside the DA's office informs us that Mr. Hong has identified an employee at Pruitt Fashions, a client of Mr. Hong's, as a person of interest in this case." "Earlier today, Z Pruitt, founder and CEO of Pruitt Fashions, called a press conference to respond to the allegations." "Pruitt Fashions would never knowingly do business with contractors that operate unsafe workplaces." "If any of our employees were involved in this tragedy..." "Look at that ridiculous fur patch his chin." "...it will be exposed." "Expose this, you pompous ass." "You really think Z Pruitt's guilty?" "I thought you said that sweatshop guy wasn't talking." "What can I do to shade the truth on that one?" "You know, just shake up the rat hole, wait for a head to pop out, and then chop it off." "You're kind of scary." "." "Now, Let's talk about your disciplinary hearing." "You need to prepare for tomorrow." "They'll compare ur essay to the one you're accused of using." "I've submitted an affidavit from a plagiarism expert who will say it's inconclusive." "So, we're good there." "You hired a plagiarism expert?" "Oh, the best." "The guy will say anything." "Uh, I've looked at your honor code." "The definition of "plagiarism" is extremely vague." ""One may not get information" ""from another in an intentional attempt to mislead a teacher" ""or to make that teacher believe the work one is presenting is one's own."" "Well..." "It sounds pretty clear to me." "Very hard to prove intent." "And how do you define one's own work when your job is to research and utilize the work of others?" "I guess I never thought about it like that." "I mean, just because you go to an overpriced private school doesn't mean you're not entitled to due process." "You say what I tell you." "We'll n." "Are you asking me to lie?" "It's like I tell the kids at work." "Truth... it's relative." "Sometimes you have to..." "Shade the truth?" "Good morning." "Ooh, why so gl?" "Because it is 16 hours later and we still have no idea who authorized those extra sewing machines." "Well, a cappuccino should help." "There are 1,200" "Pruitt employees in L.A. alone." "Well, let me see if I can help you narrow it down." "Uh..." "Brian Clark." "He's in Procurement, South Gate office.He's off the books." "Independent contractor.How do you know that?" "Because o Pruitt employees were transferred out of L.A. after the news report ran last night-- thank you, Martin." "How do you know that?" "First thing these corporate tools do when they move someone-- they change the locks on their offices." "Locksmiths." "Aha." "I knew 'em all from my previous life." "They come in handy when you need to know what's going on behind closed doors." "Regal Security changed two Pruitt locks last night." "Uh, Katherine Elliot, 62, sent to Santa Fe for her asthma and Brian Clark, transferred to..." "Malaysia." "Hmm." "No extradition." "And plenty of sweatshops." "Okay!" "Here it is!" "I knew I'd seen that name." "Clark's e-mails." ""Hong's Fabrics warns" ""that referenced order cannot be met." "Bringing in extra machines will overtax building capacity."" "But is there a response?" ""Order must be met in order to deliver line on schedule." "No excuses."There's your constructive knowledge." "Thank you." "It's from" "Z Pruitt himself." "Sebastian." "Hey, there." "You don't remember me.Give me a hint." "Did I date you or defend you?" "Both." "Not at the same time." "Huh!" "This is a private party.These guys... are definitely on the list." "Move it." "Thank you." "Pamela, thank you so much for coming.You look gorgeous." "Oh, nice jammies." "Have we met?" "We don't run in the same circles, but we can get acquainted downtown." "You're under arrest." "You've got to be kidding." "What the hell's going on?" "Z and I are having a little pajama party, Elliot, and you're invited." "Is it necessary to do this here?" "There's press everywhere." "Necessary?" "No, I don't think so, but I gotta tell you, it is kind of fun." "Maybe I failed to make myself clear." "I don't want you going after Z Pruitt." "He killed those women, Manny." "He might as well have torched the place himself." "I hope you know what the hell you're doing.Don't I always?" "No comment." "This is a PR battle." "Pruitt's been all over the talk shows since the story broke." "Doing his Mother Theresa imitation." "You know who watches talk shows?" "Juries." "But that perp walk, rich guy, fancy party, those ridiculous pajamas." "That plays for us." "It's as good as gold." "Besides, you're the one that told me," ""Hey, nail somebody." Well, there's your guy." "You know how many jobs Pruitt brings to the city?" "If Pruitt folds, so do dozens of other ancillary businesses." "Who does that help?" "Those are sweatshop jobs." "And if they go away, do you think these people are gonna stop coming here?" "They won't." "Destroy these jobs, crime and homelessness is gonna go through the roof." "Wait a minute." "All of a sudden you're pro sweatshop?" "I've been working r immigrant rights for 20 years.What have you done?" "There are ways to improve things.Bringing down businesses like Pruitt isn't one of them.Manny, I'm sorry." "You let the genie out of the bottle." "I'm stuck with the voodoo." "I can't turn back now." "Benson has made a motion to have Mr. Clark's e-mail ruled inadmissible." "I'm not surprised." "Mr. Dasher has a sweatshop full of lawyers turning out frivolous motions 24 hours a day.Mr. Stark." "There's nothing funny about the violation of attorney-client privilege." "Every e-mail written or received by Mr. Pruitt is CC'd to Gordon Samuels, in-house counsel for Pruitt Fashions." "We checked everyone CC'd on those e-mails," "Your Honor." "Gordon Samuels wasn't among them." "Well, his name wouldn't be on your copies." "As you'll notice, they were blind CC'd to Mr. Samuels." "Your Honor, this is a half-baked attempt to undermine our case." "Actually, Mr. stark, it's a fully-baked attempt." "The attorney-client privilege applies." "E-mails are out." "Come up with something for the grand jury by tomorrow, or I'm dismissing the se." "Thank you, Your Honor." "Hey." "There you are." "I had to get out of there." "My brain's fried." "Did you find anything?" "I've been playing around with some kind of misdemeanor- manslaughter theory based on code violations." "Lowest standard of proof." "That's smart." "No." "It's just going to get thrown out." "We should get back." "So what's the deal?" "Did your family work in sweatshops?" "Nice try." "My mother owned a grocery store near the Forum." "I practically lived there." "She was always so busy," "I just hung out with the employees." "They worked their asses off every day, and it didn't matter." "No matter how hard they worked, it was never going to make their lives better." "When I interviewed Claudia Reyes, her mother offered to pay for the window she broke to save her life." "Slave mentality." "Yeah." "Slavery." "Please tell me you're kidding." "You're not kidding." "It's worth a shot." "The judge will laugh a slavery charge out of court." "Those workers were systematically brutalized." "They were still paid for their work." "They were free to quit." "And do what?" "Starve?" "You know, it might almost be worth doing just to see the look on Elliot Dasher's face." "Slavery.If anybody can sell this, you can." "No." "Maybe you can." "Me?" "Why?" "Because you're the best young lawyer in this office.Really?" "Of course not." "You're Hispanic, genius." "I look more like Z Pruitt than like someone who understands the plight of these dead workers." "Your colleagues would sellheir mothers for a shot at this, Martin." "What's the problem?" "No problem." "It's..." "it's a tricky argument." "Dasher is really good." "You're afraid of going to court." "No." "I wouldn't say afraid." "Okay." "Terrified." "And you should be." "But there's only one way to get better." "Public speaking makes me nervous." "I can't concentrate." "Oh." "So, naturally,you became a trial attorney." "I'm working on it." "But this case is too importa." "You're right." "It is." "So stop your whining, step up and do your job." "ur Honor, we'd like to dismiss the manslaughter charges and we seek to add a new count: slavery." "Do we seriously have to listen to this nonsense?" "The county pays me to listen to nonsense all day." "You might as well join me." "Thank you." "We, uh... we intend to prove that the workers employed by the defendant had their free will intentionally and systematically broken." "This is patently absurd." "There were no shackles, Your Honor." "No armed guards." "Um..." "The penal code section on slavery doesn't require physical restraint." "The section was passed after World War II, Mr. Allende, in response to Japanese internment camps." "Yes." "With all due respect, Your Honor, whatever it was designed for, it's still on the books." "Mr. Stark, would you like to be a part of this discussion?" "He can't make this argument with a straight face." "Like Mr. Dasher, I used to be a criminal defense attorney." "I can say anything with a straight face." "Mr. Allende speaks for the people." "Slavery." "Thin." "But it's interesting." "The issue's never been litigated, Your Honor." "The court has an opportunity to define a critical area the law." "You can't seriously be considering this." "Actually, I can." "The complaint is amended." "Manslaughter is out, slavery is in." "Trial will begin at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow morning." "You should dismiss," "Sebastian, though I'm happy to embarrass you in open court." "m sorry." "Were we just at the same hearing?" "This is a vendetta." "You know, Z, I think you'd be a lot less tense if you added a few vowels to your first name." "Hmm?" "We need you to describe a normal day at Hong Fabrics." "The jury has to hear it from you." "I won't go to court." "They're trying to help us, Mama." "We usually work seven days a week." "And how many hours a day?" "Depending on when Mr. Hong needed the order, 15 hours." "18 on a rush ord." "It was good work." "Mr. Hong was fair to us." "No, he wasn't." "No breaks, not even for the bathroom." "He paid us by the piece, not by the hour, and that usually came out to two dollars an hour, sometimes less." "We worked fast, we made more money." "Don't defend him, Mama." "You remember M. Cruz?" "She had a fever." "Hong made her work anyway." "She almost died." "Ladies, could you excuse us for a moment, please?" "Should we cut the mother loose?" "She's been through a lot." "She wants no part of this." "You've got to put your feelings aside." "She's a human being." "And you're a lawyer." "You want to help these people?" "Think like one." "She's a perfect witness to prove slavery." "The daughter still has free will." "The mother is gone." "We do a before and after thing." "Mom's a cautionary tale for the daughter." "Sad to see someone like that." "Let's hope the jury agrees." "So..." "Dad, they let me off with a warning." "I never doubted you for a minute." "Was it tough-- the questioning?" "They didn't ask me any questions." "They just let me talk." "Did you use the stuff about being confused by the code?" "Not knowing where your research ended and your own ideas began?" "Uh-huh." "Outstanding." "You did a great job." "How do you feel?" "Okay." "Relieved." "I'm proud of you." "Really?" "I'm not." "Look, honey..." "Dad..." "Hold on a second." "Dad, it's fine." "Sweetie, wait." "We were..." "Sweetie, look..." "We were talking." "They're gone." "Who?" "The witnesses." "Victoria and Claudia Reyes." "What?" "I'm sorry." "What are you talking about?" "Word got out that they were going to testify." "They couldn't get work." "It had to be Pruitt." "He got their names off our witness list." "And it wasn't just shops controlled by Pruitt." "No one would hire them or their family or their friends." "That Dasher really outdid himself this time." "Good night." "There's got to be something we can do." "You come up with a way to win a slavery trial without producing any slaves, let me know, 'cause our entire case just headed south of the border." "I had no knowledge of the working conditions at Hong Fabrics." "Once I found o out, I severed ties with any manufacturer with a questionable safety record." "And what other steps have you taken?" "We set up a fund to benefit workers we may have indirectly wronged." "Didn't your lawyers tell you this was a bad idea?" "That it might look like an admission of guilt?" "I didn't get in this business to cause anyone harm." "If I thought we had done so," "I'd close our doors tomorrow.Thank you." "Professor Chambers, you've written several bookson the working poor." "That's correct." "And, in your book Trapped, you likened the working conditions in the clothing factories of Los Angeles to slave labor?" "Workers are forced to work up to 20 hours in unsanitary conditions, with poor ventilation." "They can't leave the work floor without encountering management, which is often threatening and confrontational." "Did you speak to survivors of the Hong Fabrics fire?" "Yes." "They exhibited symptoms of what I call "slave psychosis."" "What are those symptoms?" "Limited self-awareness, subservience, absence of free will." "The defense will argue that it's impossible to be a slave if you're allowed to come and go freely." "In some ways, slavery without actual physical restraint is more insidious." "It negates any sense of autonomy." "Are you familiar with California penal code 181, Professor?" "Yes." "It's an antislavery law." "Have you ever heard of anyone being prosecuted under this law?" "No." "Well, you're not alone there." "Did you ever visit Hong Fabrics?" "No." "Then your knowledge of the working conditions upon which you base your conclusion that workers were enslaved comes solely from the workers themselves?" "Yes." "But they all described similar patterns of abuse." "By "all," you mean two workers." "Out of the hundreds employed by Pruitt Fashions in Southern California, only two came forward." "Objection!" "Is there a question coming anytime soon?" "Were workers at Hong Fabrics paid for their labor?" "Yes, but hardly..." "To your knowledge, were workers bought and sold?" "No." "In fact, with the exception of earning less than many of us in this room, and choosing to work longer hours, these workers were treated very much like the rest of us." "Their lives are much harder." "You're right, but that's because they're poor, and not because they're slaves." "Their poverty, while unfortunate, is not a cri for which my client can be prosecuted." "Mr. Pruitt, this, um, fund you started, how big is it?" "$3 million." "And that came out of your pocket?" "Well, the corporation, but I'm a significant shareholder." "The number of people making your clothes nationally is in excess of 10,000 workers, is that right?" "I'd have to look it up." "I already did." "That comes out to $300 per worker, including the four women who lost their lives at Hong Fabrics." "As I said, I had no knowledge of the working..." "You're a smart guyMr." "Pruitt." "Certainly, you're aware that the illegal immigrant labor issue is a big one in your industry." "I have people whose job it is to make sure that our manufacturers comply with the law." "Well, they're certainly doing a bang-up job.Objection." "Withdrawn." "How much did you earn last year, Mr. Pruitt?" "I have no idea." "Must be nice." "I bet if those four women were still alive, they'd what know their income was to the penny." "What do you think?" "Your Honor?" "30 million bucks, not including stock options." "And Pruitt stock hit an all-time high, did it not?" "Should I apologize for running a successful company?" "No." "But if you had taken $25 million instead of $30 million, you could have improved worker conditions." "and doubled the salary of every single man and woman who slaved day and night to make you rich." "Maybe you could apologize for that." "No more questions, Your Honor." "You didn't hear from the victims." "Why not?" "The ones who lived were too scared to come forward." "That's flat as a pancake." "It is an emotional plea, genius." "The ones who lived didn't dare accuse the people they depend upon for their very survival..." "Man, why don't you just move in upstairs?" "Sorry." "Julie let me in." "Look, I know the closing's going to be tough, so I prepared some charts, labor statistics, income disparities, you name it." "You can't buy my forgiveness with visual aids." "You scored some points on your cross of Pruitt." "Martin, if it were a crime to be rich and hypocritical, they would have locked me up years o." "No one's better in front of a jury than you are." "Yeah, true, but having a case would help." "I want to get out of here." "I'm beat and I want to get a burger." "I tell you what." "I know the best burgers in town." "You're not invited." "Okay, seriously, that was the best burger" "I've ever had in my entire life." "I told you." "Too bad it's in a war zone." "How'd you find this place?" "I grew up three blocks from here." "Oh." "You know, when I said "war zone"..." "You meant it in the best way." "Right." "What's going on over there?" "Night shift." "Garment workers?" "Legal pad now." "I used to be a defense attorney and I loved it." "Especially closing because all I had to do was roll out some semi-plausible argument, sow a little reasonable doubt, and my guy would walk away a free man." "Now, Mr. Dasher is an excellent defense attorney." "He is sitting there just chomping at the bit to tell you all about the holes in my case." "So we said, "Okay, we'll fix him."" "We put together these visual aids, charts, graphs, the whole nine yards." "I was going to dazzle you with numbers and statistics." "And then it hit me." "Mr. Dasher almost got me to fall into his trap." "Because, you see, that's what they want to make this about." "It's what they make everything about." "But this isn't about numbers." "This is about people." "People, uh, that we're not supposed to see." "People who spend their entire lives mang things that we take for granted-- jeans, pictu frames, baseball gloves-- objects that we treat with more respect than the human beings who make them." "Have we proven that the workers at Hong Fabrics were slaves?" "That's for you to decide." "But when you go into that jury room and you sit down at that table, remember this." "The women who died in that fire at Hong Fabrics no longer have a voice." "They need someone to make sure that what happened to them doesn't happen to anyone else." "Estrella Martinez, Maria Pinera, Luce Castillo and Alejandra Villa." "All we're asking is that you speak for them." "Hey." "Hey, since when do you drink coffee?" "Aren't you going to be late for school?" "Wait a second." "Are you okay?" "Sure." "You know, ever since the hearing..." "No, I'm, I'm fine." "We won, right?" "Yeah." "You don't seem particularly thrilled." "Well, there's really no point in talking about it now, is there?" "Stop!" "Come back here." "What?" "What do you want me to say, that I'm a liar and a cheat and I hate myself right now?" "Do you?" "To a large extent, this is my fault." "No..." "I treated this like one of my cases, and the problem is you're not a client." "No, it's all on me, this whole stupid mess." "I was afraid to disappoint you." "I mean, you're always talking about how proud you areof your genius daughter..." "I am." "And people make mistakes, even you." "Look." "I've been a lousy father." "I ignored you and I've let you down." "as fast and loose as I may have played it in court," "I never lied to you, ever." "And lieve me, there were times when it would have been easier." "But if we don't have the truth, then we don't have a prayer of making this thingork." "As the jury continues to deliberate in the trial of Z Pruitt for his role in last month's sweatshop fire, protests are scheduled to take place throughout the city." "Estimates for the size of these rallies ranges anywhere from a few thousand to a hundred-thousand people." "Did we cause this?" "You caus this." "Any word?" "No, and it's been a full day." "Complicated case." "The jury could be out for a week, maybe longer." "Can we talk?" "Where's your client?" "This is my client, Greg Alderson." "He is Pruitt Fashions;" "chairman of the board and majority shareholder." "You guys are about to witness the birth of a sacrificial lamb." "Let me guess, you're less than thrilled about what this trial is doing to your share price, right, huh?" "And this is where you step in and sell out Z Pruitt to save the company?" "Pruitt pleads guilty, no jail time, no admission of guilt by the company." "No, Pruitt and the company plead guilty." "You take out an apology ad in major newspaper in America." "The families get a million and wages go up 50% within the year." "Pruitt gs 18 months in prison." "He'll be out in six." "You have no case." "When the jury puts down their handkerchiefs, they'll figure that out." "You're probably right, but I guarantee you this, Elliot, win or lose, I am going to set up a labor-violation enforcement unit." "and the first hundred cases I file, they're gonna be against Pruitt." "You'll be on the front page all year long." "See what that does to your stock price." "Take the deal." "I'll draw up the papers." "That was amazing." "I can't believe they tossed Pruitt over the side like that." "I was just surprised it took 'em so long." "You are the best." "You're right." "So does this mean I'm not fired?" "Not today." "Okay, burgers on me." "Let's go." "Not you, no." "You have cleanup detail." "I got to clean up this mess all by myself?" "Oh, you're kidding?" "Like I could ever find that place without you."