The Emerald Rose: A Courtroom Novel

Author’s Preface

I had the same objectives with this book as I’ve had with my earlier books. I wanted to write a story that would be fun to read, and also to show the practice of law the way it really is.

Most courtroom dramas don’t do this. One bestselling book featured a law firm where the partners would kill you if you tried to quit. I’ve never heard of a firm where they’d kill you if you got out, although I’ve known some where the work would all but kill you if you stayed in.

I want my novels to show what lawyers really do. They construct documents, battle puzzles with no answers, and get scared of losing. They file suit papers, and they spend a lot of time in discovery, which is pretrial questioning. Discovery produces a lot of interesting situations, but writers don’t cover it much.

Well, you’ll follow these activities in this book. You’ll see something real.

But now, it’s time to get into our story. Imagine that you’re a new attorney at the law firm of Robert Herrick and Associates. You’re about to participate in a lawsuit that will rattle one of America’s greatest industries from top to bottom. And all you have to do is turn the page.

The Emerald Rose

1

There is an offshore oil platform called Thunder Horse. There is another one called Petronius. And then, there are Mad Dog, Bullwinkle, and Baldpate.

And among the floating platforms, there are Magnolia and Mars, which use tension leg designs. They’re tethered to the ocean floor, but they float, with pontoons on their legs. And beyond those, there are hundreds of platform designs. In fact, every offshore installation is unique. There are jackup rigs, compliant towers, semisubmersibles, and all kinds of other weird contraptions, manufactured in places like Korea and Finland.

All of these unnatural devices share a dangerous characteristic, which is that fires and leaks can occur. They usually are containable, because oil-production platforms bristle with safety mechanisms, and they have backups, sometimes with triple redundancies. But ultimately, they all depend on human operators, and as a result, offshore platforms are accidents waiting to happen.

And that means that these platforms are also lawsuits waiting to happen.

For example, there was that big, big litigation about one of the most unlucky offshore oil rigs of all . . .

. . . the litigation over the platform called the Emerald Rose, also known as the Deepwater Rose.

The Case of the Deepwater Rose was a battle that took years. It was unusual. And during the trial, the unusual happenings started soon after the jury panel entered the courtroom.

2

Sit here, please. The deputy pointed, and the first eight citizens took their places in the jury array.

The potential jurors whispered to each other. It’s the Deepwater Rose case! But these were stage whispers, loud enough to be heard across the courtroom. This must be about the Emerald Rose! . . .

Robert Herrick craned his six-foot-two frame upward to see all of the potential jurors as they filed into the courtroom. His hand began to shake, and he stuffed it into the jacket pocket of his suit.

It doesn’t look like a good jury panel for our side, he whispered to Tom Kennedy, his closest partner. The one he worked with most often.

No, it doesn’t, Tom agreed. Too many managers and professionals. The kinds of folks who aren’t sympathetic to plaintiffs’ cases.

Across the courtroom, Jimmy Coleman stared at the panel too. He had been Robert’s rival in too many courtroom collisions of the past. He sported a tan suit that stretched tightly across his short, flabby frame. Jimmy wore a picture of unrelenting combat on his face, with eyes so cold and dead that witnesses turned away when he cross-examined them.

This first potential juror is a grocery store manager. Robert’s blue eyes squinted at the man’s juror information form. I bet he’s seen a thousand slip-and-fall cases, and to him, they’re all bogus. He’s not likely to be sympathetic to people killed in an offshore platform accident.

Second one’s a high school teacher, Tom added. She’s heard all the excuses from her students, and she’s probably figured out she can’t believe anybody’s sob stories.

Meanwhile, Jimmy Coleman was nodding and beaming, because this was the kind of panel he liked. The third potential juror happened to be a black man, but he was an orthopedic doctor. A natural defendant’s juror. Fourth was an insurance adjuster. Best type of all for the defense, and worst for the plaintiff. A ghoulish grin spread all over Jimmy’s cigar-stained teeth.

Judge Pamela Preston smiled at the jury panel. Every judge is a politician, because you have to be political to get to be a judge. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. The case now on trial involves a group of plaintiffs who are suing the Emerald Petroleum Company and other defendants, allegedly for wrongful death and personal injuries.

Again, the jury panel buzzed. See, I told you. It’s the case of the Emerald Rose. . . . It’s about the Deepwater Rose disaster.

Robert fiddled with the knot on his tie. A nervous habit. He had selected one with red and blue stripes, because experience had shown that jurors disliked anything that grabbed attention. The stripes were woven into the fabric, because he had also learned that high quality conveyed an impression of competence. Maybe jurors figured that quality meant success, and from that, perhaps they inferred that the lawyer had a good case. A dark chalk-striped suit and a plain white shirt completed his lawyer’s uniform.

The judge continued her monotone. Reading words she had said many times. This is a civil case that will be tried before a jury. . . .

Robert kept scanning the jury panel, hoping for something friendly.

The defense lawyers sometimes called Robert Herrick The Baby-Faced Assassin for his youthful appearance and his ability to beat them in the courtroom. The women jurors usually loved him, with his boyish looks and the shock of dark hair over his forehead. The men usually admired his ability to speak forcefully without notes at the end of a long trial, as well as his capacity to admit weaknesses in his cases without showing weakness.

But this jury panel probably wasn’t going to show that kind of admiration. For every potential juror who might favor the plaintiff, Tom whispered, there are four who look like they’ll side with the defense.

Now, the judge was telling jurors not to discuss this case with anyone, including their wives and husbands.

Suddenly, a man in torn overalls stood up on the fourth row. The fix is in! He shouted. It’s all a fraud. These people aren’t hurt at all.

The judge froze, and so did everyone else.

Lawyers! the man screamed. Both sides are in cahoots. They’ve got the President and a bunch of crooked senators behind them. Whatever these lawyers say happened, you can be sure it didn’t happen!

Now, Judge Preston reacted. Bailiff, please remove that individual.

The prospective jurors parted like the Red Sea. The bailiff and a courtroom deputy took the deranged man’s arms and led him out, twisting and shouting. He was yelling something about all lawyers being Foreigners, and they kneel down on those toe-sacks they call prayer rugs.

Robert stood. I move for a mistrial. Probably the jurors weren’t persuaded by this crazy man, but there was no sense in taking the risk.

The judge wasn’t buying it. Is there anyone on the jury panel who will be influenced, even in the slightest, by anything said by this man whom the bailiff has removed?

She paused. I didn’t see or hear anybody. That’s what I expected. You are instructed to disregard anything said by the man who was removed, and I’m sure you can all see why.

The judge turned to the plaintiff’s lawyers. I understand your motion, Mr. Herrick. She smiled, just to signal that nothing unusual was going on. But no, a mistrial is not needed. Let’s proceed.

It’s an omen. Tom shook his head. This crazy, deranged man is an omen. A bad one. And the jury panel is still terrible. Maybe we should have taken the settlement offer Jimmy Coleman made us, as lousy as it was.

We couldn’t, of course, with our clients so opposed to it. Robert snapped his attention away from the screaming man, back to the present. And now it’s too late. We could try to revive that settlement possibility, but Jimmy’s not likely to keep that same amount open—now that he’s seen this jury panel.

Why is it that we always run into this kind of luck?

This one started out with bad luck four years ago.

And for an instant, while the judge was continuing her opening instructions to the jurors, Robert Herrick thought back four years. To a time long before this jury panel had formed, and long before the crazy man had shouted.

He though back to the day when survivors of the burning, exploding Emerald Rose Disaster had become his clients. When this crazy man wasn’t even a thought.

To the day when he had taken on the Case of the Emerald Rose.

3

Four years earlier . . .

The newspaper headline was two inches high, above the fold. TWENTY-SEVEN DEAD. A full-color photograph taken from a helicopter showed the Emerald Rose blazing spectacularly, with a red-and-yellow methane flame enveloping its broken cranes, while the structure listed at almost a thirty-degree angle.

This has got to be one of the worst oil patch accidents in America. Robert Herrick sat on a tan leather sofa across from his wife in the living room of their home in River Oaks. The sun curled through the thick plantation shutters and onto the oriental carpet.

It may not be the worst, but it’s bad enough. His wife, Maria Melendes, was an assistant district attorney. You and I both tend to look at these things in terms of legalisms, like negligence, proximate cause, and damages. But when I look at this incident, it’s just the sheer tragedy that I see.

The television screen suddenly showed file footage of the burning platform. Maria turned the sound up.

Good evening, friends, said the anchor, with a toothpaste-ad smile. I’m John Moreno, and . . . this . . . is . . . Action News! He was silhouetted in what television producers call chroma key, with the burning platform behind him. The picture was eerie. It made him look as though his shoulders were on fire.

The Emerald Rose platform isn’t burning anymore. John Moreno’s face was somber, now. But this well has spilled oil by the thousands of barrels into the Gulf of Mexico. Luckily, that oil flow was stopped early on. The dead number twenty-seven, but we are told ominously that there may be more, because the injured include several who are burned critically.

How did this happen? was what Robert wanted to know. The television set was about to give him a version of an answer.

Action News’s Andrea Martin is live right now. John Moreno’s voice rose expectantly. She has an expert standing by in Port Arthur, where this rig was serviced. Andrea?

That’s right, John. The picture shifted to a newswoman who stood beside a man in heavy work clothes gleaming with the blackness of oil, soaking into twill that was John Deere green. This is Joe Don Emerson here with me, and he’s been a safety officer on offshore rigs for more than twenty years.

She pivoted. Mr. Emerson, what do you think caused this accident? She pointed the microphone toward him.

A blowout of some kind. Sudden pressure that throws the drilling mud out and spews natural gas along with the oil.

Why did it catch on fire?

You’re not going to like the answer. It usually catches on fire. Almost always. Or it explodes, just the way it did here. In the middle of all of that rushing gas, and with all of that incredible pressure, there’s going to be a spark. There’s bound to be a little bitty spark. And that’s all it takes.

It’s not supposed to happen.

No. It sure isn’t.

Why did it happen here, Mr. Emerson?

That’s one of the things we don’t know yet. The well includes a stack of mechanisms, really big valves, called ‘Blowout Preventers.’ In this case, on the sea bed. And obviously, there was a blowout, so the Blowout Preventers didn’t prevent the blowout like they were supposed prevent it.

Well, yes, was Andrea Martin’s sage reply.

And in fact there are several redundancies, and they didn’t work either, apparently.

What kind of redundancies?

That means there were several of the same types of things. Annular Blowout Preventers, circling the wellbore to shut it if needed. And Shear Rams, which are supposed to close the pipe. But they didn’t.

Emerson-the-expert waved his arms. Sometimes that happens. Sometimes the conditions are just right and the pressure builds up and nothing can hold it.

There you have it. She nodded knowingly. Andrea Martin, Action News, in Port Arthur, where the Emerald Rose platform was serviced.

Robert and Maria stared at the screen. Finally, Robert spoke up. Well, we don’t know much more than we knew before.

Well, at least now I’ve heard of a ‘Blowout Preventer.’ She shook her head.

And now you know that it’s designed to prevent blowouts. And usually it does.

So. Somebody was negligent, here.

Well . . . , I guess. Probably. But we’ll have to wait and see what develops.

*   *   *

It took only three days before the families of the dead and injured came to see Robert Herrick. They came, the first four families, with children in tow and accompanied by the lawyers they had gone to see first.

The office that housed Robert Herrick and Associates was at the top of the Chase Tower. Tallest building in the city. The families and their lawyers gathered in the big conference room, where the greenhouse-style windows gave a spectacular view to the west. The meanders of Buffalo Bayou were bordered by green, which merged with the oaks and pines of Memorial Park in the far west, just before they blended into the misty horizon.

I’m proud to become acquainted with you ladies and gentlemen. And your little ones. Robert smiled as he saw children running to slap their hands against the paneled wall and other little ones picking up telephones. What can I do for you? How can I help?

Well, you know a little about it already. Francel Williams was a longtime friend. It’s about the Emerald Rose Disaster. You sounded skeptical on the telephone, Robert, and we hope you won’t be, when we ask for that help you just offered.

Robert smiled again, because Francel Williams always made him smile. Francel was a tall black lawyer who always wore his trademark: a charcoal pinstripe suit with a silver tie. He had been the first black man to become a court of appeals judge many years ago, but he had chafed against the role of a judge because he wanted to be more active. He didn’t like sitting and listening. Near the end of his term, he had gone back to practicing law.

Robert shook his head. Francel, there are plenty of lawyers in this city who know offshore accidents. Who’ve learned how platforms work and what goes wrong. Honestly, I’m not one of them.

But this is a big case, Robert, and it needs you. Francel smiled a big smile. You’re the man for it. You’re Mister Big Case! And you don’t want to miss out on this one.

You’re touching a nerve, Francel. You know I like an adventure. But a big case means big problems if you don’t know what you’re doing.

Francel laughed. Back in the old neighborhood—ah, excuse me, let me say ‘back in the ‘hood,’ and Francel laughed harder at that, because he had said it just for fun, —we used to say, ‘Protestin ain’t no good, if it goes against what you already done wanted.’ And I know you, my friend. You already done wanted to take on this case.

I’ve got more to carry than I can lift with both arms. We’ve got twenty-six lawyers now, and they’re all too busy to pull any of them away from what they’re doing. But the biggest problem is, I just don’t know the industry. This calls for someone who’s really into oil and gas and offshore production.

Francel just smiled a bigger smile.

Another trademark of Francel was his optimism. Robert recalled an occasion when, during trial, the bailiff had to inform Francel that his Uncle George had died. For a moment, the pinstriped lawyer was thunderstruck. Uncle George was the one who raised me when my daddy passed away! Then, the bailiff said quietly, Your Uncle George had a heart attack while he was teaching his calculus class at Huston-Tillotson College, doing what he loved.

And Francel, after swallowing hard, had beamed and said, What a wonderful thing to happen to Uncle George!

That was Francel Williams.

And now, with a voice full of enthusiasm, Francel showed his optimism again. Robert, it’s a straight negligence case. You’re the best guy in the world for that! Look at these kids. They’re kids without daddies. Because of big shots’ greed, in a greedy, big-shot industry. Look at these kids!

At that, Robert just stared at Francel. Tugging at the buttersoft part of his heart, this way, was a low blow.

And this is a case that needs the best guy in the world, Francel repeated. You, Robert.

*   *   *

Twenty minutes later, the crowd moved to the elevators, with Robert wishing them good luck and repeating the names of several lawyers with expertise in the area.

Francel hung back. Still optimistic. Still with a big smile. Just think about it, Robert. The right thing to do will come to you.

4

And you said No? Maria Melendes was surprised.

Well, yes.

Why?

I’m too busy already, he told his wife. And it’s not my area of expertise.

But it involved your friend Francel. And a lot of orphan kids.

But those kids can be better represented by a lawyer who does offshore stuff. It’s really complicated, you know. Do you suppose they do directional drilling out there? And can you frack the well if it’s way under the ocean? I have no idea. I would start that race from ten yards back.

But you’ve done complicated cases with lots of plaintiffs before, about things you didn’t already know well. Against banks. And terrorists. And all kinds of people.

I know.

I’m just surprised, is all. Maria smiled.

He stared at her red-auburn Hispanic hair, in pretty ringlets. At her perfect Cuban skin and the rows of teeth she showed in her smile. She was beautiful, and he liked to look at her. Too often, he thought, she disagrees with me.

And many times, he thought . . . she’s right.

*   *   *

When you turned down that Deepwater Rose Case, said Tom Kennedy, I almost fell out of my chair.

Tom sat in front of Robert’s big mahogany desk on one of the matching chairs. The day was cloudy and full of heavy mist, but through the floor-to-ceiling windows, the greensward of Buffalo Bayou glistened. The city spires sprouted up to the south and west in colors of brown, gray, and white, while the tiny cars, so many floors below, crept along the spaghetti bowl of freeways.

Why do you say that, Tom?

This Emerald Rose case, or Deepwater Rose, it’s a case worthy of our best attention. It’s big. And you can help a lot of widows and orphans. This was hard for Tom Kennedy to say, because he wanted the firm to represent more banks and insurance companies. The kind of clients who could pay staggering fees in advance. And it would really help to build this law firm.

You know why I didn’t take the case, Tom. Offshore litigation requires a lot of technical knowledge that we don’t have. And everybody here is working on cases where we do have the knowledge.

Timing, Robert. It’s a matter of timing. If we file suit now, the busy times will be in the future, months from now, with the heaviest load coming something after a year. Or more likely, several years. By then, we’ll have settled a lot of the inventory of litigation we have now.

Well, I guess. Robert sounded doubtful.

*   *   *

Donna deCarlo rang him. It’s Francel Williams, on the phone.

Even though he knew Francel was going to rag him around again about taking the Emerald Rose case, Robert smiled. Because Francel always made him smile.

Hello, Francel.

Hi, Robert! I’m looking forward to working with you on this Deepwater Rose case. It’ll be fun. I mean, fun like we’ve had in cases like that propane truck case, or the one against that holding company in New York.

Robert laughed. Why is it that personal injury lawyers talk about every case as giving them a lot of ‘fun’? Whenever someone wants me to get into a hornet’s nest that I’m trying to avoid, they always tell me how much fun it’s going to be.

Haaa haaa! That’s funny! Francel had a laugh that filled a room, and Robert could visualize him grinning, now, even through the telephone. What I mean is, I’ll be there with you. And Robert, we’ve always come out with great results together.

Hmmmmmm.

"I’ll tell you what. I’ll study up on offshore platforms myself. I’ll