I grabbed my coat from the back of the chair without ever having sat down. “As of this second, I am withdrawing all my pro bono legal support, and if you want to stay in business, you can find someone else to sign off on your mess.”
I turned my back on the table and walked toward the exit while a heavy stillness settled over the group. Garrett caught up to me near the valet stand and tried to tell me we could talk this through, but I told him I didn’t just hear a joke; I heard the truth of our entire relationship.
On the drive back to my apartment in North Scottsdale, I made three phone calls that effectively dismantled his safety net. I notified my law firm that I was withdrawing from his case, alerted the bank executive that I was no longer involved, and advised his top client to seek an independent review of their new contract.
By the time I reached my front door, my phone was blowing up with missed calls and frantic text messages. At nearly one in the morning, he left a voicemail begging me not to throw everything away over what he called a “stupid mistake.”