your honor, since rockwell corp. began construction, the surrounding residential neighborhood has been enshrouded in a cloud of foul-smelling, germ-carrying, pestilent dust. my client is being forced to breathe known carcinogens daily! other residents are coming forth on a daily basis to add their voices of outrage!
innocuous?
i know what it means. your honor, imagine how the children in this neighborhood have been made to feel. the pounding of construction ringing in their ears as this skyscraper, a tribute to mankind's greed, grows daily, casting an ominous shadow over their lives, filling them with dread even as they are surrounded in a black, toxic fog, blocking out the sun while poisoning their lungs! and counselor calls it harmless?!
right. miller.
funny.
excuse me? sir? yo!
".  has been injured through the fault of others, you may be entitled to legal remedy.
oh my god.  a girl.  oh my god.  lisa.  oh my god.
you load the film.  ? no, on this side.  or this side? don't move the baby!
thanks, hon. oh my god.
oh my god.  oh my god, look at her.  oh my god.
go to famous fourth street and buy a pound of nova. no! she likes scotch salmon better. ah heck, get a pound of both! get a dozen onion rolls. get some bagels. get a dozen. get a bottle of champagne. dom peringon.  a hundred bucks a bottle?! better get a good california.
give me a call. get everything over here as soon as you can, she's starved. no, not the baby! lisa! .  iris, listen: any calls i should know about? .  uh huh.  uh huh.  beckett? who's andrew beckett?
how big was this hole you fell into?
and this hole was right in the middle of the street?
why didn't you cross at the crosswalk?
explain this to me like i'm a six year old, okay? the entire street is clear except for one small area under construction, with a huge hole that is clearly marked and blocked off, and you decide you must cross the street at this spot. you fall into the hole and you want to sue the city for negligence? .
of course you have a case! now, i want you to go with my assistant, iris, and fill out some forms. she'll tell you about our fee arrangement. mrs. finley? any back pain since the accident? dizziness? nightmares?
tell iris all about it. take good care of mrs. finley, iris. beckett, come in.
jesus christ, what happened to you?
whoa-oh! sorry, i.
uh, yeah.
go ahead.
one week old.
little baby girl.
thanks, beckett. i'm real excited about it. what can i do for you?
you want to sue wyant wheeler hellerman tetlow and brown?
continue.
how many lawyers did you go to, before you called me?
continue.
we?
your.  lover?
continue.
hell, they are staring. what's that shit on your face?
you're in trouble.
big trouble.
in a word, yes.
but he's got lots of other people's lives to ruin.
i buy that.
okay. explain to me like i'm a two year old, because there's an element to this i can't get through my thick head: didn't you have an obligation to inform your employer you had this dreaded, deadly, infectious disease?
okay, okay.  they discover you have this horrible, disgusting, terminal illness, and they panic, for any number of perfectly valid reasons. they're frightened for themselves, their families.  maybe it's the homo angle. maybe they don't want to rub elbows with someone who's just popped out of the closet with a terminal case of acne. and how do they explain your status to the client for chrissake?
okay.  they want you out. it's against the law to fire you for having aids, so they make you look like a fuck up. which leads us to the mysterious, lost file.
i knew you were going to say that. i don't buy it, and i don't see a case.
correct. i don't.
beckett? i'm sorry about.  what's happened to you. it's a fucking kick in the head.
find out if armbruster can see me this afternoon.
i'm not worried. what are you doing?
i didn't have contact. what do you consider "contact?" we were sitting in the same room, three, four feet.  what if you shake hands? wait. i know the answer. only sex, or sharing needles. i know that. we didn't shake hands, anyway.
right.
yeah, but doc, isn't it true they keep finding out new things about this disease? so you tell me, today, there's no danger, and i go home, and i hold my baby, and six months from now i hear on the news: "whoops! we were wrong.' you can carry it on your clothes, your skin, and now i've got to worry about my kid. what are you doing?
why are we going to do that?
you want to give me an aids test?!
the guy sat in my office! you can't get aids that way, right?
it doesn't travel through the air, by breathing, or touching, right?
thanks, doc, but i don't need an aids test. are you crazy? but thanks for the information. really.
in my past?
get real.
uh.  no. not really.
not especially.
how many do you know?
who?
your aunt teresa is gay? that beautiful, sensuous woman is a.  lesbian?
since when?
allright. i admit it: i'm prejudiced. i don't want to work with a homosexual. you got me.
i mean, two guys, doing the horizontal thing? i don't get it. don't they get confused? "is that mine? i thought it was yours." hey, call me old fashioned, call me conservative.  i think maybe you have to be a man to get just how nauseating the whole basic idea really is.
and the way they work out, pumping up, so they can be macho and faggot at the same time.  i can't stand that shit. now i'm being totally honest with you.
would you take a client if you were constantly thinking: "i hope this guy doesn't touch me. i don't even want him to breathe on me?"
shit.
oh, beckett. how's it goin'?
who'd you get?
find a lawyer?
huh? oh. great. she's great.
rayisha.
how did they find out?
uh huh.
how do you get from one lawyer spotting a lesion, which could have been a bruise, to the partners deducing you had aids and basing a decision to terminate you on that conclusion?
they didn't fire her?
so kenton connected the.  lesion, and whatever suspicions he had about your personal life.  to this woman, maria.  and blew the whistle on you. suddenly you're losing files, and it's time to let you go. but, up to this point, you've been their golden boy, their rising star.  their behavior is.  inconsistent.
there is no relevant precedent.
arline?
"the federal vocational rehabilitation act of 1973 prohibits discrimination"
".  against otherwise qualified handicapped persons who are able to perform the duties required by their employment"
"although the ruling did not address the specific issue of hiv and aids discrimination"
"this is the essence of discrimination: formulating opinions about others not based on their individual merits but, rather, on their membership in a group with assumed characteristics.
excuse me. charles wheeler?
summons. for you.
morning, filko.
how many toilet stalls are there in the women's restroom on this floor, filko?
two. how many toilet stalls are there in the men's room? two, plus four urinals. how many wheelchair accessible toilets in either of those restrooms? zero. in this entire building? zero. get the picture, filko? discrimination! you find yourself a female, paraplegic, legal assistant who is qualified to work here, except she can't take a leak.  and you've got yourself a sex discrimination suit and a handicapped discrimination suit. not handicapped. what do you call someone who can't use a normal restroom? "gastro-intestinally challenged!"
low-life, sleazy scumbags. of course they want a postponement, i've got a client with a terminal disease. they're going to drag their heels every step of the way, the rotten bastards. (tapping on the window, to the
hey, beckett. this is miller.
i just wanted to tell you.
 we're trying to set a date for the prelim. hang in there.
joseph miller, your honor. macready and shilts legal services.
i'll take that under consideration, your honor.
if it please your honor, we hope to settle this matter.
reinstatement at full salary. back pay covering the period of unemployment and.
your generosity overwhelms me, belinda, considering my client was earning over a hundred thou when he was terminated almost six months ago.
based on what my client would have earned over the next three years, including benefits and projected raises, and the extraordinary cost of medical care for someone with acquired immune deficiency syndrome.  we would settle today for the very fair amount of one million five hundred thousand dollars.
one more thing, your honor.
why haven't you produced these letters?
whoa, whoa.  what do you expect them to say, you're alan dershowitz?
with all due respect, your honor, my client chooses to pursue his constitutionally guaranteed right to a trial.
forget everything you've seen on tv, and in the movies.
there won't be any last minute, surprise witnesses.
no one will break down on the stand with a tearful confession.
you are presented with a simple fact: andrew beckett was fired. you will hear two explanations for why he was fired. ours. and theirs.
it's up to you, to sift through layer and layer of truth, and determine for yourselves the version that sounds the most true.
there are certain points in our version, that i must prove to you.  point number one: andrew beckett was.  is a brilliant lawyer. a great lawyer. point number two. andrew beckett, afflicted with a debilitating disease, made the legal, understandable, personal choice to keep the fact of his illness to himself.  point number three: his employers discovered his illness. and ladies and gentlemen, the illness i'm referring to, is
point number four. they panicked. and, in their panic, they did what most of us would like to do with aids.  get it, and the people who have it, as far away from us as possible.
the behavior of andrew beckett's employers may seem reasonable to you. it does to me. after all, aids is a deadly, incurable, disease.
but however you come to judge the behavior of charles wheeler and his partners in moral, ethical, human terms.  when they fired andrew beckett because he had aids, they broke the law.
and, when lawyers break the law, when this society loses respect for the law, when that day comes, our cherished institutions will be burned to the ground, and our children and grandchildren will live like savages.
andrew beckett represented your company in a lawsuit in 1990, is that correct?
but, andrew beckett was in charge of litigation for the suit.
were you pleased with his work?
were you satisfied, or were you pleased?
mr. laird, when i approached you about being a witness at this trial, and you agreed, you gave sworn testimony in a deposition. is that correct?
according to the deposition, you said you were "thrilled, impressed, overwhelmed" by the quality of andrew beckett's work. do you remember saying that?
okay, mr. laird. explain this to me like i'm a four year old: did andrew beckett win your lawsuit for you or not?
did that thrill, impress and overwhelm you?
it's a long way between being overwhelmed and being satisfied. a cheeseburger may be satisfying whereas caviar and champagne and roast duck and baked alaska for dessert might be considered overwhelming. do you agree?
five months ago you characterized andrew beckett as caviar and now you're calling him a cheeseburger. your standards have shifted a great deal, and i'd like to know why you've changed your mind.
yeah, filko. i am. i'm on the prowl, filko. i need a man. not just any man. i need a hunk. a hunk like you. how about it, filko? want to play sailor? this time, i'll be first mate and you can be columbus.
those people make me sick, filko! but a law's been broken, okay? the law. remember the law?
and walter kenton knew the lesions on your face and arms were caused by aids?
how did walter kenton treat you, after you told him you had aids?
ms. torres? have your employers fired you for having aids?
thank you. no more questions.
beyond noticing the marks on his face, were there other things about his appearance that made you suspect he had aids?
ms. burton. you're black.
no. have you ever felt discriminated against, at wyant wheeler?
in what way?
your earrings?
what did you say?
thank you. no more questions.
good school. what year?
great.
whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.  do you think.  ? you think i'm.  .  gay?
what's the matter with you? do i look gay to you?
relax? i ought to kick your faggoty little ass for you!
don't you know this is exactly the kind of bullshit that makes people hate you guys?
you're the asshole, buddy.
but what was it?! what was this guy thinking.  ?!
is there some kind of expression i've picked up from beckett?! some kind of fairy attitude i've unconsciously adopted?! am i walking different?! some kind of vocal thing?! have i picked up some kind of homo vibe?!
very funny. i had a box of pampers under my arm for chrissake!
yeah.  ?
lisa, c'mon. one guy sticking his dick in another guy's mouth? it's disgusting.
great, lisa. thank you.
"but, ultimately, the complaint was found, wasn't it?
has a file ever disappeared like that before? vanished into thin air, all of a sudden, only to reappear in the nick of time?
did you have something to do with this file being lost accidentally-on-purpose?
i'll rephrase. did you have anything to do with this file being.  misplaced?
are you a homosexual?
c'mon, mr. collins. are you homosexual? you know, gay?
your honor, everyone in this courtroom is thinking about sexual preference, sexual orientation, whatever you want to call it. they're looking at me, and wondering about it.  they're looking at mr. beckett, and wondering about it. they're looking at mr. wheeler and wondering about it. they might even be looking at you and wondering about it. so, let's get it out in the open. let's talk about what this case is really about: the general public's hatred.  our loathing, our fear of homosexuals.
with all due respect, your honor.  we don't live in this courtroom, do we?
and how many weeks at a time would you be out to sea, without stopping at port?
any women on board?
so during those long voyages, months at a time, out to sea, no women in sight, a hundred, hardworking, robust, young men, in the prime of their life, at the peak of their natural appetites, desires, their god- given, hormonal instincts.  anything going on?
like.  two sailors playing hide the salami.
you had one guy "like that?"
how did you do that?
you taught him a lesson.
like firing andrew beckett taught him a lesson?
i'll withdraw. you were aware, when you worked with maria torres, that she had aids, correct?
so you are aware of the difference between a lesion and a bruise, is that correct?
but didn't you avoid contact with ms. torres, after you found out she had aids? she says you acted repulsed by her and you avoided her, is that correct?
did i ever tell you, i hate costume parties?
we're friends of beckett's.
beckett. you seem.  better. energized, more alive.
i'm a law suit.
get it?
beer. we need to go over your q and a.
sure. it's fine.
thank you.
you think i'm uncomfortable.
you're right.
i'm a lawyer. that's my wife!
thanks, sarah. nice costume.
that's my wife. want to see a picture of my baby?
i'll see you in an hour, max.
let me tell you something, okay? when you're brought up, like the rest of us, in a place like where i was brought up, there's not a whole lot of discussion about.  homosexuals. as a kid, you're taught right away that queers are weird, queers are funny, they're a danger to kids, they're afraid to fight, and they all want to cop your joint. and that pretty much sums up the general thinking out there, if you want to know the truth.
let's review these notes for your testimony. we have a big day on monday.
when you refer to wheeler, call him charles, to show how you'd been admitted to the inner circle, you were considered one of them.
beckett?
what?
yeah. sure.
then we establish how wheeler's boys recruited you after law school.
for a healthy baby. for lisa to make it through the delivery. for the phillies to get into the playoffs.
i've considered that.
we proceed, representing your estate.
i know a good probate lawyer.
opera?
opera?
i think i'll.  i told lisa.
you're ready, don't worry.
jesus.
fucking guy.
including charles wheeler?
what impressed you about him?
what kind of person is that?
obviously, at this time, you weren't sick.
you didn't look then, the way you look now?
a regular all-american guy?
except.  you were gay?
in the years you worked at wyant wheeler, did you ever tell charles wheeler you were gay?
can you explain why you didn't?
how did that make you feel?
are you a good lawyer?
what makes you an excellent lawyer?
what do you love about it?
objection!
your honor? may i have ten minutes in re-direct?
i only need five! may i?
do you have any lesions on any part of your body, at this time, that resemble the lesions that were on your face at the time you were fired?
if it please the court, i'd like to ask mr. beckett to remove his shirt, so that the jury can have an accurate idea of what we're talking about.
your honor, if mr. beckett was forced by his illness to use a wheelchair, would the defense ask him to park it outside? we're talking about aids, we're talking about lesions. let's see what we're talking about.
can you see the lesions on your chest in this mirror?
thank you.
explain to me, if you can, mr. wheeler, explain this to me like i'm a ten year-old. this trial is not about a disease, is that what you're saying? not about your understandable, if unfounded, fear of catching aids through casual contact with someone who has it? you're saying, this trial is about andrew beckett's character. am i getting this right?
what kind of people?
who makes the rules, mr. wheeler? you?
what?
it was good working with you, andrew. you're welcome. hey. shouldn't you put that thing back on?
i better get home. lisa and i are having some friends over.
i'll see you, beckett.
you bet. we'll see you later.
he's looking good. i wouldn't be surprised if he gets out of here soon.
night.
what do you call a thousand lawyers chained together at the bottom of the ocean?
Miguel?