Alicia once again faces off against Canning in court when they seek damages from the AHPL, while back at what’s now only Lockhart, the equity partners vie for Will’s seat.
Recap:
Someone went to the disciplinary board and ratted out Will on his sharing of legal strategy on current cases. Everyone’s pointing fingers and wants Will’s place as partner – especially Julius. Also up for debate, Alicia’s request for a raise, thus raising the tension in the office.
Jump with me to read more.
Diane has to go to court today – not as a lawyer, but as a witness. She was an eyewitness to the attempted assault on the handsome process server, Jack Copeland.
In court, Grant Duverney, Alicia’s client, is on the stand. He narrates the video that’s shown of him and his wife on a snowmobile; the steering locked, they crashed, she went into a coma and then died. He’s suing Snow Plain, the company responsible for manufacturing the snowmobile. The judge interrupts the proceedings; they are to settle in chambers. Lockhart is asking for $5 million for pain and suffering. Snow Plain, however, claims that Grant contributed to the accident. He’s a former professional hockey player; his motor function became impaired after a vicious fight on the ice.
Will, NOT offering legal advice, advises Diane to take this claim and seek damages from the APHL. If it’s proven that hockey was partly responsible, they’ll get a larger payout.
As per her earlier request, Diane offers Alicia a 10% raise, but it’s not as high as she expected.
After turned down by Will for drinks, Kalinda attempts to mend fences with Alicia over a beer; Alicia says they can only work together.
Louis Canning (Michael J. Fox) is representing APHL. Alicia argues that the team doctors mishandled Grant. She shows footage of several fights on the ice between players.
Tammy Linnata (Elizabeth Reaser) is back! She pays Will a visit, but only as a reporter; she’s working on the hockey case. He tells her about the suspension and directs her toward Julius and Alicia.
The beginnings of a criminal battery investigation began in 2009 after Grant’s last game; the opposing team’s player, Raker, attacked him. Alicia seeks out Cary to get more information on the case and notices that he is back in the closet-sized office. Raker and the rest of the team targeted Grant after he took out one of their star players. Raker was suspended for the rest of the season, so the State’s Attorney decided not to press charges.
Raker, now on the stand, tells of the earlier events on the ice. Alicia shows an interview with his coach vowing revenge on Grant in February, which just happened to be the month of his last game.
Kalinda and Will suspect that Dr. Wood, a neurologist and friend of Will’s, was paid off by Canning.
Canning approaches Alicia once again to join his firm, but she refuses to be poached.
Dr. Rubich, the team doctor, let Grant back on the ice after only 15 minutes. The doctor said he seemed fine, but he ended up in the hospital 3 days later.
During cross, Canning asks Dr. Rubich about the baseline test he gave Grant; it’s a test to determine whether or not a player has suffered any severe head trauma. Grant passed the test.
Kalinda follows Dr. Wood and finds him with Frank Michael Thomas, the actor and lawyer, at a bar. Diane is at the same bar waiting for Copeland, but he’s canceled their date. Feeling lonely, she goes to see Kurt, the conservative ballistics expert.
Alicia and Will meet with Thomas; he’s involved in a class action suit against the APHL, representing 7 players. Alicia suggests that they pool their resources and combine cases, but Thomas is worried that Canning will use their case as legal precedent, and he’s sure they’ll lose.
As Diane enters Kurt’s home, a younger woman meets her, but Kurt is only helping her with school work. When the young lady leaves, Kurt and Diane share a kiss. Aww.
Grant takes the stand again; he knew the team would come after him. During cross, Grant confesses to faking the baseline test for fear of losing his job.
Alicia approaches Canning, looking for an offer to join his firm because of her money troubles. Canning says he’ll put together an offer, and Alicia quickly changes her mind.
In court, a montage of fights is shown. As chief administrative officer, he handles handling APHL copyrights. The league hasn’t granted permission for the site to use video of the broadcasts, but they haven’t bothered forcing the site to take down the video.
After watching Alicia tear apart the administrator on the stand, Thomas decides to help their case.
Tammy interviews Alicia, at first only asking about the case and whether she thinks they’ll hurt the sport of hockey. She then goes for the jugular, asking if Alicia slept with Will, and then blames her for the end of their of their relationship. Did she just call Alicia the other woman?!
Thomas hands over the neurologist, Dr. Wood. The league dismissed his new protocol for examining head injuries that would help to avoid players faking their baseline tests. Alicia informs Canning of their new witness, and he gives her 24 hours to accept his company’s offer.
Diane’s making plans to see Jack on Friday night and then to go away with Kurt the following morning.
Eli tells Will that he is not the leak in the firm, but he thinks that David Lee is the culprit. Apparently they think alike, because Lee told Will the same thing earlier.
Alicia shows Diane the job offer from Canning and says in order for her to stay, Lockhart needs to meet or exceed that offer within 24 hours. Diane’s killer response – give her a week or leave now.
When Alicia and Julius show up for court, they are met by Snow Plain’s representation; they’re now offering $5 million to Grant, ending the case against the APHL.
Diane takes Alicia’s raise to the equity partners once again. David Lee wants to let her go, but Julius, Eli, and of course, Will are all on Alicia’s side. Diane decides in favor of her raise.
Alicia approaches Kalinda, apologizing for her earlier attitude and says she wants to try to repair their relationship, but they both must be honest, leaving Kalinda with a worried look.
Review:
I liked this episode, but the huge change I was awaiting (re: Will’s removal from the law office) isn’t really a huge change at all. The only thing he’s not doing is appearing in court. Maybe I was wrong to expect a larger change, but there’s still much time left to his suspension, so we’ll see.
I loved Alicia playing Canning for a higher raise at Lockhart and loved Diane’s response to being backed into a corner. She’s fierce! And a complicated, personal story for Diane? More, please!
Can’t wait for next week’s ep! (Matthew Perry guest-stars!!!)
– Lindsay
