No one trusts this black lawyer until he proves his worth and wins a million-dollar case

the story Begins by introducing a 75-year-old man named Jeremiah O'Keefe a successful businessman and the father of 13 children he owns 8 funeral homes and one funeral insurance company in baloy his family has been in this business for 100 years but now it's facing financial trouble because Jeremiah suffered losses in a fraudulent investment scheme with one of his associates due to this fraud in the Ponzi scheme investment jeremia had to deal with the state insurance commission using the bank collateral of his funeral insurance company without this collateral his business was in danger of closing down his longtime friend and personal attorney Mike alen suggested that Jeremiah sell a part of his business to cover the losses and keep the business going Jeremiah agreed with Mike's advice but didn't know where to find a buyer for his business Mike then told him about a businessman named Ray loen who owned the loen group a big company buying Independent Funeral businesses in various countries eventually jerema agreed to consider this option as they were getting ready to go to Canada to meet Ray loen Jeremiah introduced Mike to a young lawyer named Halbert Dawan who was a friend of his son and a bright individual at first jeremia seemed a bit uneasy about halbert's presence possibly because of his skin color however he eventually welcomed him when they arrived in Canada on Ray Len's luxurious Cruise they were greeted warmly with the Seafood menu during their conversation Ray loen explained his strategy of acquiring many funeral homes he knew that 51 million Americans were currently 65 years old and America was entering a period where more people would pass away therefore he expected to make a lot of money seeing Jery's surprised and uncomfortable reaction Ray quickly changed changed the topic and focused on why they were there Rey suspecting that Jeremiah was having issues with State Regulators offered to buy three of Jeremiah's funeral homes this way jeremia could keep some assets and have fresh funds to deal with his problems finally Jeremiah agreed but had one condition that Ray loen would no longer operate a funeral Insurance business in Southern Mississippi jerema also had an insurance company there which was his biggest source of income four months went by and Jeremiah growing increasingly desperate and Confused noticed that the loan group continued to alter the terms and delay payments Halbert believed that the loan group was deliberately doing this and had no intention of honoring the agreement he thought that the longer the delay the more pressure jeremia would face possibly leading to the revocation of his business license by the insurance commission in the end jeremia had to declare bankruptcy which automatically allowed the loan group not only to acquire three funeral homes but also jia's entire business at a very low cost Mike who had been somewhat skeptical of Halbert from the beginning mainly because he was a recent black graduate initially dismissed halbert's conspiracy theory and argued against the unfounded accusations but feeling constantly underestimated Halbert stood his ground he pointed out that the agreement had only been signed by jeremia without any verification attached and furthermore loen was still selling funeral Insurance in Mississippi hearing this convincing argument Jeremiah finally decided to Sue loen that night Jeremiah sought permission from his wife Anette to file a lawsuit against the loan group in the Hines County Mississippi High Court although he didn't receive full support from Anette the next day Jeremiah proceeded to file a lawsuit against the loan group in the evening Halbert visited Jer man's house and played a recording of a skilled lawyer named Willie Gary Willie was a famous and Incredibly successful lawyer specializing in personal injury and accident cases he had not lost a single case in the past 12 years including a case where a black man won a $75 million lawsuit after being hit by a company's container while intoxicated Halbert suggested that Jeremiah should hire Willie as their lawyer for a specific reason he explained that since their case was filed in Hines County where there were three black residents for every white resident and there was a 70% chance that the judge would also be black it wouldn't be appropriate for Jeremiah to appoint Mike as his representative according to Halbert Mike gave off an air of an arrogant white man and this was a concern because in 1965 when the case occurred racism between black and white people was still deeply ingrained in America however after reviewing their case Willie declined to take it on he explained to reggy Douglas his colleague that jerem's case was challenging to win and had many uncertainties Willie also mentioned that he had never handled contract cases and a claim of $6 million was relatively small for him additionally he had never represented a white male client before after leaving the office a determined Halbert returned to Wily's office and managed to convince him that this case had the potential to result in more than $6 million in Damages he pointed out that the loan group was a massive multinational company with an annual revenue of $20 billion and what they did to Jeremiah might be just a small part of their wrongdoing halbert's persuasive arguments eventually changed Willie's mind and he agreed to take on Jeremiah's case the next day at Mike's office Jeremiah informed them that he had hired Willie to handle his case although initially reluctant Mike eventually agreed to cooperate as long as he remained the lead attorney shortly after Willie and several Partners from his all black Law Firm joined Mike's office there was a disagreement between Mike and Willie Mike as the lead attorney wanted to settle with the opposing group and accept an $8 million settlement however Willie full of confidence saw it as a weak decision and refused to settle for such a small amount seeing Wily's optimism Jeremiah eventually persuaded Mike to let Willie Take the Lead after Mike accepted Jeremiah's decision Willie drafted a new demand letter he rejected Mike's $8 million offer and increased their demand to $100 million hearing this incredible demand of $100 million many people on Mike's side including Jeremiah became pessimistic about the loan group agreeing to it however Willie emphasized that they should all believe in him because he was confident they would win the case meanwhile at the loan group Ray's Associates laughed at the $100 million demand however Ry himself was curious about the new lawyer Jeremiah had appointed as his representative after learning about Wily's background and the reason behind his appointment which was because he was black Ry decided to hire a black female lawyer named main DS she was a Harvard graduate with numerous achievements and was known by the nickname pitton due to her unique style of questioning and her tendency for surprising opponents back at home Jeremiah informed Annette that they no longer had income because their funeral business license had been temporarily revoked by Regulators he had also mortgaged their house to pay Willie he desperately hoped that winning the lawsuit would fix everything Anette suggested that Jeremiah dropped the lawsuit and find another buyer quickly to get their family out of the crisis however jerema refused because he couldn't let Ray get away with what he had done since Hines County didn't have adequate courtroom facilities the trial was moved to Jackson Mississippi on the plane jeremia asked Willie about how he became a lawyer Willie shared a personal story about his determination to become a lawyer after facing discrimination when a company refused to sell Apartments to him and his family just because they were black this experience fueled his passion for fighting against discrimination and Injustice Jeremiah felt a connection with Willie as both of them were battling to preserve their family legacies and pass their businesses down to their descendants to celebrate their new found friendship Willie played his favorite song and they all sang along during the flight upon arriving in Jackson and checking into their hotel they discovered that the loan group's legal team was also staying there in addition to MIM there were other highly experienced lawyers including a former State Deputy an expert in anti-monopoly laww and a former Chief Justice of Mississippi this team comprised some of the most prominent black lawyers in America at the time Willie paid particular attention to MIM and introduced himself by sending over drinks during a meeting with Mike and their legal team they grew pessimistic about their chances because the contract they had was signed only by jeremia proving the loan group's deliberate delay tactics without concrete evidence or Witnesses was proving to be a challenge meanwhile looking for a break met Maine at the hotel bar at first Maine was distant and reserved but Willie managed to engage her in conversation by subtly suggesting that she might be on the wrong side of the case as they got to know each other Mame provocatively questioned whether Willie would be destroyed once the trial began on September 12th 1995 during the initial trial Willie made efforts to persuade the jury and judges that there had indeed been a valid agreement between both both parties he presented meetings and contracts provided by the loan Group which bore jerem's signature as evidence of this agreement Willie exposed the loan group's greed and their deliberate efforts to delay approval which ultimately led to his client's financial troubles however all of Wily's arguments were countered by MIM she argued that the agreement became legally binding when both parties signed the contract according to MIM jerema had simply grown impatient and anxious because his entire life depended on the agreement despite Will's efforts the expert Witnesses he presented failed to capture the jury and judge's attention they discussed theoretical contract law without substantial evidence to support Willie's case feeling defeated after the first trial Willie who was unsure about his next steps decided to put jeremia on the stand in the upcoming trial the whole legal team strongly disagreed with this decision Willie was convinced that J Ria's background as a veteran and his contributions to the black community would gain sympathy from the jury and judges however Mike opposed this stating that Jeran should have been thoroughly prepared before taking the stand Halbert shared Mike's concerns worried about the rigorous cross-examination that the Lo inside would conduct on jeremia in the courtroom the next day Willie did his best and effectively drew the jury's attention by highlighting jerem's impressive profile as an Air Force veteran and a two-term mayor of booy jeremia had bravely opposed the extremist group known as the Klux Clan KKK which had a history of white supremacy and violence against black people and other minorities in the United States now it was M's turn to question jeremia and present her inquiries she shattered jerem's image as a respected figure with strong moral values by accusing him of irresponsible actions she claims that Jer eria had used clients money for an illegal loan business with a friend who was now in prison this business failure had led Jeremiah into debt ultimately forcing him to sell the funeral homes to Ry it appeared as though Jeremiah was trying to extort money from loen due to his failure to preserve his family's Funeral Home Legacy main surprising statements left Jeremiah stunned breaking his spirit and prompting him to leave the courtroom Willie followed Jeremiah and apologized for his Hast decision to make him a witness in the trial Jeremiah expressed that he had expected Willie to protect him during the trial as a result of this incident Jeremiah returned the leadership role to Mike feeling guilty for his decision Willie reached out to Jeremiah's wife to share his frustrations about how he had disrupted Jeremiah's case after examining various documents Halbert discovered a witness named Lorraine who had worked for 13 years at the darbin ansen funeral home home later acquired by the loan group Lauren testified that since the loan group took over darbin ansen they had raised prices on certain items in the area with no competition they were even selling coffins at three times the price in impoverished areas Lauren's testimony gave a slight advantage to Jeremiah's side as it indicated that loan may have engaged in fraudulent practices in their business in the evening feeling pressured by Mike during the trial the loan group plan to retaliate by tarnishing the characters of Jeremiah's team just as they had done to jeremia Meanwhile Willie still feeling guilty for his actions a few days ago apologized and Jeremiah accepted his apology during a meeting in Jeremiah's team room one of the staff members came across an agreement between the loan group and the NBC Church the largest black church subdivision in America intrigued by this discovery Halbert instructed his staff to gather more information about it which might become a valuable tool in the trial in the subsequent trial Douglas called Mike to testify since he was with Jeremiah in Canada when the agreement was made after answering a few questions from Douglas it was mim's turn to cross-examine him Maine believed that throughout the trial Mike had been trying to gain the sympathy of the jury and judges by sharing jia's heroic stories and his stand against the KKK in booy portraying him as a hero in the eyes of the black community then M trapped Mike with a family statement Mike had claimed that he and jeremia both cherished their families and believed family was everything however M skillfully questioned Mike about his grandfather's affiliation with the KKK this Revelation caused a stir in the courtroom mostly filled with black people it seemed to suggest that the image of caring and heroism built throughout the trial was hypocritical as it was now revealed that one of jeremia lawyers had a family history linked to a racist group that had deprived black people of their rights following a trial that once again disadvantaged jeremia side an internal conflict arose this led to willly subordinates resigning after learning about Mike's family history and his connection to the KKK who had harmed their own Community Willie tried to reassure his subordinates that the sins of one's grandfather shouldn't be blamed on their grandchildren however they still chose to withdraw from The Trial unable to Bear the stigma of being associated with the KKK Mike decided to resign and handed over the task of Defending Jeremiah to Willie facing a trial that wasn't going in their favor and losing his team Jeremiah contemplated whether to continue the trial or not he planned to inform Willie directly of his decision meanwhile in Jeremiah's team meeting room Halbert and some staff members began packing up documents believing it was imposs possible to win the trial Mike asked them to leave the documents and started reviewing them himself meanwhile Jeremiah traveled to Florida to meet with Willie when he arrived at Wily's parents' house he was warmly greeted by Gloria Wily's mother Willie wasn't there at the moment but Gloria happily escorted Jeremiah to his location within the house while they chatted Gloria shared that Willie was one of 11 siblings and had always been close to her paying great attention to her even as he grew up she believed that his strong bond with her had contributed to his success in the backyard Jeremiah finally expressed his intention to withdraw the lawsuit to Willie with no remaining evidence or Witnesses for the trial Willie reluctantly accepted this decision however a call from Halbert interrupted them urging Willie to prevent jumia from withdrawing the lawsuit because Halbert seemed to have discovered something important excited by this unexpected news from Halbert they immediately headed to south Mississippi to meet with the majority of black residents affiliated with the NBC Church during the meeting Community Representatives revealed that a year ago the loan group had proposed a deal to the NBC which represented over 33,000 black churches with 8 million members the loan group had been chosen as the primary provider of funeral services for the NBC they offered various products including headstone funerals underground burials and funeral Insurance the loan group had recruited economically disadvantaged black individuals to sell their products to others in the community earning Commissions in return however the loan group had set exorbitant prices for their services those with financial means received proper burials with headstones while those without were buried in unmarked Graves on top of their ancestors resting places making it seemed like an expansive field it became clear that the loan group had taken advantage of the black Community for significant financial gain they were known to misuse Cemetery Land by constructing monuments large statues and even buildings on land that had been paid for by black individuals Willie brought several residents as witnesses to court to expose loan's deceit in recruiting pastors to sell religion as a means to boost their product sales some witnesses revealed that due to a lack of funds to pay for funeral packages their family members bodies were kept Frozen until they could afford it and some were provided with plywood caskets loan's practices were exploitative when it came to their funeral services One loan group analyst who had been instrumental in the deal with the NBC admitted that by contributing just $200,000 the loan group had made a staggering profit of $1.2 billion from their collaboration with the NBC following the trial the loan group was understandably alarmed by the Danning evidence presented by Willie to to prevent the situation from escalating further Maine decided to have Ray loen himself appear in court to address the accusations against the loan group however instead of improving the loan group's image Ray's presence was dismantled by Willie during cross-examination depicting him as a wealthy man who cunningly exploited the Sorrows of the poor for massive profits it was revealed that loen had intentionally harmed honest small business owners like Jeremiah to expand his business Network Willie successfully demonstrated the loan group's motives before the jury the judge and everyone in the courtroom this humiliation in court infuriated loen and he exploded with anger during a meeting at the loen group's lawyer office he asked MIM to negotiate with Jeremiah and stop the trial before it got even worse on the other hand a meeting took place between Jeremiah and loen in a hotel room to discuss compensation in exchange for dropping the case loen presented three offers but Jeremiah rejected each one the trial the following day didn't seem much presented by either Jeremiah or the loan group The proceedings moved to the stage where the judge would make decisions based on the jury's considerations during the trial on November 1 1995 the jury ruled in favor of jeremia as the plaintiff agreeing to the demand of 00 million against the loan group they also imposed a punitive damages verdict of 400 $ million that the Lan group had to pay to jeremia it was an unexpected victory for jeremia who had initially been pessimistic about losing the trial this was a significant setback for loen in his career the judge and jury were furious with the giant company's greed which had exploited the victims of Len's partnership package clients drain their wealth they were determined not to let the company escape with the enormous profits they had gained from taking advantage of the disadvantaged Willie and and MIM became friends during and after Jeremiah and loan's trial following an appeal the loen group's sentence was eventually reduced and they had to pay a settlement offer of $175 million 2 years later Ray loen was forced to resign as president of his own company less than a year after that the loan group went bankrupt Jeremiah and Anette established a charitable Foundation to help the less fortunate with over 40% of the aid going through the OK Foundation they founded specifically to support black people schools and churches their Funeral Home continued to operate as the largest family-owned funeral business in south Mississippi Willie became a renowned lawyer winning major cases against some of the largest companies in America and earning the nickname giant killer Willie and Jeremiah remained close friends until Jeremiah's passing in August 2016 more or lesson from the story just like Jeremiah turned a giant lawsuit into a victory always believe in yourself because who knows even a squirrel can outsmart an elephant in the [Music] courtroom

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Id: DZgYile62fY

Length: 22min 28sec (1348 seconds)

Published: Tue Feb 27 2024