The Rainmaker

Rudy finally gets 748 pages of documents from Great Benefit. They take up a lot of room in his small office. It appears there is a scheme somewhere in all the paperwork. They just need to unravel it.

Rudy first deposes CEO M. Wilfred Keeley. Rudy questions him for two hours before they get into the financials of Great Benefit. Keeley doesn’t know much. His expertise is in investments. The next day, Rudy deposes Kermit Aldy, the vice president of underwriting and Bradford Barnes, the vice president of administration. Neither have much to offer Rudy. The following day, Rudy talks with claims examiner Richard Pellrod, who testifies that bone marrow transplants are too experimental to be accepted as viable treatment of leukemia. Rudy finishes with Pellrod late that night.

The corporate depositions are over. Drummond compliments Rudy for doing a good job and talks to him about Dr. Kord. Rudy tells Drummond that Dr. Kord will testify in court and will argue that bone marrow transplants are effective. Drummond wants Rudy to come by the office. Rudy agrees to meet him there shortly.

Keeley is there with Drummond, and Drummond informs Rudy that Great Benefit is willing to offer $150,000 as a settlement. Rudy is incensed by the offer, but he tells Drummond he will run it by the Blacks, who Rudy knows will not settle, which he tells Drummond. Keeley wants to know what Dot wants. Rudy tells him, “She wants to expose you, then she wants to break you” (410).

Although Deck and work hard, they barely make ends meet. Their best client is Dogan. They hope they can get the case settled by Christmas.

Rudy finds Kelly at a jewelry store in the mall, where she works. Kelly tells Rudy to meet her in the cinema in 30 minutes, to buy a movie ticket, and to sit in a specific spot. Rudy is excited.

Kelly meets him just like she said she would. They ask one another about their lives, but Rudy doesn’t want to talk about law and Kelly doesn’t want to talk about Cliff. They watch the movie for a few moments. Rudy asks Kelly if she’s happy. It’s a tough question, but Kelly admits she isn’t happy. Rudy tells her she needs to get a divorce. Kelly kisses him on the cheek and leaves.

Back at work, Rudy has an idea about how to uncover who’s tapped their phones. Deck leaves and calls Rudy from a payphone; they have a fake conversation about how Dot is willing to settle for $160,000. The next day, Drummond calls Rudy to tell him that Great Benefit is ready to settle at $175,000. Rudy considers going to Kipler with the news that Tinley Britt has bugged his phones, but Deck’s against the idea. They agree to wait for an opportunity to use the information to their advantage.

Rudy waits two days before he calls Drummond and tells him that Dot won’t settle. Rudy tells Drummond that he’s sorry, but Dot is volatile: One day she’s ready to quit, and another day she sees only red. Drummond believes the lie. In reality, Dot still won’t settle for anything less than “an official record somewhere of what Great Benefit did to her son” (422).

Rudy spends Thanksgiving with Booker and his family.

The check for the settlement involving Derrick Dogan arrives in the mail right before Christmas: $8,333 in much-needed funds. With some of the money, Rudy purchases a car phone.

The last thing Rudy wants to do is spend Christmas in Memphis. He also doesn’t want to spend it with his mother and her boyfriend, so he goes on a road trip by himself. Rudy’s first stop is in Madison, Wisconsin, to visit Max Leuberg. He brings Max up to speed on the Blacks’ case, and Max offers some more sound advice about how to attack Great Benefit.

Rudy’s next destination, after leaving Max, is Spartanburg, South Carolina. Rudy spoke with four lawyers who either have sued or are suing Great Benefit. One of these lawyers, Cooper Jackson, has two manuals from Great Benefit—one for claims and one for underwriting—that reveal the company’s scheme of not paying for claims. Rudy received copies of the manuals from Great Benefit earlier, but the copies given to him have Section U missing. This section demonstrates Great Benefit’s fraudulent scheme: All claims are denied upon receipt, and medical documents are requested. The claim then goes to underwriting, which then tells claims to deny again until underwriting says otherwise. Paperwork ensues, and nothing gets done. Most people give up after getting denials from both claims and underwriting. Jackson gives Rudy access to his documents and offers whatever other help he might need.

Jackson takes Rudy out for a drink and to meet some other lawyers. Jackson tells Rudy that there are many lawyers with clients who are having problems with Great Benefit. They are putting together a class-action lawsuit. If Rudy can defeat Great Benefit in court, then he will open the floodgates for many people.

Rudy and the Tinley Britt team are in Judge Kipler’s courtroom for the pretrial conference. It’s mid-January. Rudy has already shown Kipler the differing manuals; the judge was only half surprised. Rudy still wants to talk to Jackie, but no one knows where she is. Also, Great Benefit still hasn’t supplied all the documents Rudy has requested and Drummond is frustrated. He tells Kipler that they have been trying to get the papers, but it hasn’t been easy. Kipler does not accept the excuse. Great Benefit offers $200,000 to settle, but once again Dot and Rudy refuse. Jury selection is set for February 1.

Rudy knows that Drummond and Tinley Britt will do whatever it takes to screen the people chosen to appear for jury selection. He believes they will do everything except personally contact them, which would be illegal. Tinley Britt will most likely even hire jury consultants, many of whom are psychiatrists or psychologists, to analyze every single person. Rudy, on the other hand, will do his best, but it will be much harder for him to get information on the jurors.