America's Road to Wealth

2000,

September 14th.

New York, sunny.

It was the same day as usual for Robert Morgenthau.

Arriving at his office in upper Manhattan at nine o'clock in the morning on time.

As soon as he arrived at the office, he saw his granddaughter walking over with a few newspapers in her hand, with a somewhat unhappy look on her face.

"Greatpapa."

"You should read these newspapers," she said softly.

"Okay." Robert looked calm and took the newspaper handed over by his granddaughter.

"Honey, go make me a cup of coffee. You know what I like."

Paige nodded.

Robert continued to walk briskly, not letting his granddaughter's sudden behavior affect his mood.

He came to the third floor and was in his own private office.

After sitting in his seat, Robert spread out the newspapers that Peggy had brought to him so eagerly just now.

On top is a copy of the Los Angeles Times.

In the United States, cities with relatively serious oppositional sentiments.

There's New York and Los Angeles.

There are two cities, one on the east coast and one on the west coast.

They have the same developed economies and the same large populations.

They are equally attractive to Americans and people from all over the world.

Among them, Los Angeles is an upstart city that has only developed in recent decades.

New York is Old Money, which has been around even longer than this country.

New Yorkers have never looked down on Americans from other places.

"The New Yorker" magazine once published a cartoon "America through the eyes of New Yorkers"——

To the west of the Hudson River in Manhattan, New York, there is a narrow strip of New Jersey, and then all the way to the west coast of the United States is a blurred "large countryside".

The arrogant and narcissistic ambitions of New Yorkers are clearly visible.

Hmm. It feels a bit like an old Shanghainese.

This is the inherent bad nature of human beings.

Later, Los Angeles relied on high technology, Hollywood, and industrial strength to rise rapidly in the 20th century.

By this century, the Los Angeles urban area is no longer inferior to the New York urban area.

Then the residents of the two cities began to look at each other's displeasure.

New Yorkers call Angelenos "rednecks" and Los Angeles is a large rural area.

Neil Simon, a playwright who was born in the Bronx, New York, once said:

“It’s 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37°C) in New York and 72 degrees Fahrenheit (22°C) in Los Angeles.

When it's 30 degrees Fahrenheit (-1°C) in New York, it's still 72 degrees Fahrenheit (22°C) in Los Angeles.

However, while there are 6 million interesting people in New York, you can only find 72 interesting people in Los Angeles. "

If New Yorkers are like this, people in Los Angeles will certainly not be polite.

People in Los Angeles say New York is rude and uncivilized and a big pigsty.

It is for this reason that New York newspapers such as the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal report on Los Angeles and California.

I often like to add fuel to the fire, and there is some discrimination in it.

In turn, the Los Angeles Times, the local Los Angeles newspaper.

When reporting scandals or bad news here in New York, I also prefer to add insult to injury and take pleasure in others' misfortunes.

Open the Los Angeles Times, Robert, and it's on the front page.

I saw a sensational title - "On the Injustice and Darkness of New York Judicial System."

"FXXK! A countryman's newspaper, what nonsense!"

Robert Morgenthau, an old East Coaster and old New Yorker, was a little overwhelmed just by seeing this title.

Robert now understood why Paige looked so bad just now.

Robert held back his nausea and anger as he flipped through the article that was used as a front-page headline by the Los Angeles Times.

". As we all know, New Yorkers are impatient, rude, and uncivilized. But they are still Americans and our compatriots."

"And now unfortunately, our fellow New Yorkers. They've endured years of miscarriage of justice."

"Why do you say that? The author has data. Readers, please read the following content."

"."

Robert frowned. The following content was all about unjust cases and tangled criminal cases in New York in the past ten years.

The prosecutor system in the United States is very different from that in China. The details can be determined.

In American criminal proceedings, prosecutors play a leading role, mainly in the two systems of "selective prosecution" and "plea bargaining."

The "selective prosecution" system means that the prosecutor is the only one with great personal discretion.

This leads to the fact that prosecutors here in the United States have great power.

Many cases don't even need to go to court.

They can then resolve the case early through a plea bargain.

Plea bargaining means that after being indicted, the defendant can reach a deal with the assistant prosecutor through his lawyer, and voluntarily confess to the crime or confess his accomplices in order to obtain a reduced sentence.

According to statistics, about 90% of criminal cases in the United States are settled through plea bargaining.

One can imagine how many gray areas there will be in order to reduce the penalty.

Most of these unjust cases and tangled cases like those reported by the Los Angeles Times were resolved at the plea bargaining stage.

A "selective prosecution," and a "plea bargain."

Coupled with the unique federal system and separation of powers, prosecutors like Robert have great power in their own fields.

It is said that the greater the power, the deeper the corruption.

With such great power, no one can remain innocent forever.

So does Robert.

The data and cases presented by the Los Angeles Times this time were basically the result of Robert's misjudgment or some unspeakable transactions.

It’s not like there weren’t some media or defendants suing Robert before.

But this time, it was the Los Angeles Times that came to the end.

While Robert was angry, he also started to feel worried.

He immediately put the Los Angeles Times aside and picked up the paper below.

He wished it wasn't a name like "The Washington Post" or "The Chicago Tribune."

Fortunately, under the Los Angeles Times, there is the Boston Journal.

Although it is also a big newspaper, its impact is obviously much lower than the first two.

Robert took one look at the front page headline of the Boston Daily News and lost interest.

"A shooting broke out in Quincy Market yesterday, one person was killed and four were injured, and the suspect is still on the run."

Fuss and fuss, just everyday.

Robert flipped through it and searched for a while in a remote corner of the newspaper.

Found a report titled "Manhattan District Attorney Suspected of Miscarriage of Justice."

Compared with the "Los Angeles Times"'s adding insult to injury and its gloating tone.

The Boston Journal's report was much milder.

The title is more sensational, but the content is relatively peaceful and very neutral.

Robert put down the Boston Journal and flipped through the newspapers below.

He found that newspapers at the bottom were smaller in size.

Paige had obviously done some sorting.

Most of the reports were mild, and although there were accusations, they were still to an acceptable level.

The main reason is that there are a lot of them. There are almost a dozen newspapers in this stack.

Among them, the "Los Angeles Times" was relatively fierce, pointing at New York's prosecutorial system and scolding it.

Just call him Robert Morgenthau, the chief culprit of New York's miscarriage of justice.

Robert put down all the newspapers, and just at this moment there was a knock on the door.

"Come in." Robert said calmly.

In came his granddaughter Peggy, carrying a tray with coffee on it.

She came in.

"Have you read it all?" Peggy said softly as she placed the coffee on her grandfather's table.

Robert nodded and said a name, "Abel Smith."

Paige nodded repeatedly and said, "I'm also guessing, it should be him."

"Grandpa, what should we do now?"

At this time, the door of Robert's private office was knocked again.

"Come in." Robert's voice was as steady as ever.

The door was pushed open again, and this time it was Cyrus, the leader of the financial crime investigation team, who came in.

Cyrus came in with a bad expression and an envelope in his hand.

Peggy's eyes were very good, and she could tell immediately that it was an encapsulation of a lawyer's letter.

"Cyrus, what's the matter?" Robert said pleasantly.

"Sir, please take a look at this letter first. This is the letter that has just arrived, just delivered." Cyrus handed the envelope to Robert.

Robert took it and glanced at the envelope.

It was found to be an envelope from a lawyer's letter from Caroline's law firm.

"Caroline suing us? That's normal, that's her job."

As he spoke, Robert opened the envelope.

As Robert thought, this is Caroline acting as legal counsel for Smith Capital on behalf of Smith Capital

No, Robert noticed, although it was a letter from Caroline's lawyer.

But in the lawyer's letter, the client Caroline claimed to represent was not Smith Capital.

It was a man named Reddy Jeffes, a name Robert had never heard of before.

Robert frowned, who is this Reddy Jeffes?

Can you please Caroline, the female satan in the New York legal world?

At least he should be a rich man, right?

"Go and check the identity of Reddy Jeffes." Robert said calmly as he put down the envelope.

Cyrus and Paige nodded, and Cyrus left the room first.

After Cyrus left, Peggy said: "What on earth does this Abel Smith want to do?

Let the newspaper publish these news again, and this Reddy Jeffes, it should be related to him, right? "

Robert replied: "Most likely. I didn't expect this young man to be so narrow-minded. I have already stated that I will not continue to attack him."

Paige nodded repeatedly, obviously thinking that her grandfather was right.

What made the grandfather and grandson troublesome at first was the many letters from lawyers that followed.

It’s time for lunch.

There are exactly 30 letters from lawyers on Robert's desk.

In the office, Robert, Peggy and Cyrus were all looking at these lawyer's letters.

"Huh~"

Robert felt carefree and at ease in the morning.

Looking at these lawyer letters now, I have a headache.

What troubled Robert was not the number of lawyers involved.

The Manhattan District Attorney's Office receives at least hundreds of letters from lawyers every month.

There were a lot of them, but nothing to give Robert a headache.

What troubles Robert is what his granddaughter Peggy said just now.

Each of these thirty lawyer letters was written by a different law firm.

And their names happen to be among the top thirty in the latest Vault rankings released this year.

The Vault list is a ranking of U.S. law firms and is one of the most authoritative lists in the industry.

The Vault rankings are derived from an annual survey of thousands of attorneys practicing in U.S. law firms.

It can be said that it is selected by the American lawyer group itself, so it more accurately reflects the recognition of a law firm in the legal industry.

In other words, the top 30 law firms recognized by American lawyers.

They all sent legal letters to the Manhattan District Attorney's Office.

Cyrus said: "I have called to confirm that the thirty letters from lawyers are genuine."

"And none of the clients they represent have the same name. I also found out the identity of Reddy Jeffes."

"Who is Reddy Jeffers?" Paige asked.

"Mr. Morgenthau, you may still have some memories." Cyrus said to Robert:

"In the New York subway shooting case the year before last, the name of the person charged was Reddy Jeffes."

Robert would like to say that there are at least 20 shootings on the New York subway every year.

How could I remember everything?

No matter how energetic he is, Robert is already over eighty this year.

Memory loss is inevitable, but Robert still nodded:

"Some impressions, tell me what is going on."

“Now this Reddy Jeffes wants to sue us.

Suing the Manhattan District Attorney's Office for miscarriage of justice, alleged perjury, violation of the suspect's will, etc. "

"The lawyer prosecuting is Caroline."

Cyrus said helplessly:

"It's also obvious. The other 29 lawyer's letters and the prosecutors and lawyers are in similar situations to this one."

"In other words." Paige's voice was low, "It's probably Abe Smith who spent so many lawyers and found so many people to sue us?"

"What's he doing for this? What's in it for him?"

"You have to know that the appearance fees of these people will definitely be an astronomical figure."

"What on earth was he thinking?"

Facing Paige's confusion, Cyrus couldn't understand it either.

"Maybe it's just to vent your anger? To take revenge on us?" Cyrus said uncertainly.

"This unrealistic answer may actually be the real answer."

Robert said with a headache: "Who knows what we have provoked."

Just like Cyrus and Robert guessed.

Abel's purpose really involves venting his anger.

When Robert felt helpless, it was in the office of Smith Capital.

David Mellon is also helpless.

"Thirty of the best law firms in the United States. Their appearance fees currently average about US$200,000 each."

David Mellon held up a bill that Caroline had presented to him.

"But if we really want them to go to court with Robert."

“This number will increase at least ten times.

Multiplied by thirty, this is at least tens of millions of dollars. "

"Is this really necessary? Abel, this will bring our relationship with Robert to an extreme."

Also very expensive.

David thought so.