A bit of “Goshawk:” David Garvey’s suit in Federal court against his fund’s lender has a make-or-break hearing before a new and inexperienced judge after the first judge was killed in the courtroom.
“Our witness will testify that customers of the Fund in both Russia and Belarus informed her that representatives of NeuBank told them to stop making payments on their loans. It is beyond argument that a lender will suffer irreparable injury if its customers stop making loan payments—far beyond the obvious monetary injury. Thank you, Your Honor.”
Milagros Garcia looked up from her video display of Garvey, Stahl’s papers to consider the parties appearing in only her third hearing as a United States District Judge. Already the new judge had noticed an indicator of her separation from lawyers on the other side of the bar: she no longer had a first name.
Frank hadn’t even finished his final sentence when a tense, plainly dressed woman leaped to her feet. Before she could begin speaking, a graying, bespectacled man in a wrinkled dark brown suit seated beside her tugged at her sleeve and began whispering loudly in her ear. A flustered young woman on the German bank executive’s right listened intently to his staccato instructions.
“Ve VILL haf an end to zis foolishness!” Herr Doktor Diether Kreuz demanded in a voice easily audible to others nearby. “Ve pay you much good money. Make zis nonsense stop! Der Peoples, er, State government vill not be meddled vith by zis Amerikan judge!” The angry branch manager’s tirade at Margaret Wilbur continued unabated.
“I will do my best, Herr Kreuz.”
Margaret Wilbur scowled deeply. It’s bad enough my illustrious partner, Gunther Takimoto, in his infinite wisdom, had negotiated an arrangement with David’s company where NeuBank wouldn’t get reimbursed for any of this, she thought to herself. More likely than not, that likely means my colleagues and I are probably working for free.”
