He Mocked His Wife’s Lack of a Lawyer… Until Her Mother Entered the Courtroom

The woman reached the defense table. She didn’t look at Grace, and she didn’t look at the judge.

She turned slowly and looked directly at Keith Simmons. She smiled, but it wasn’t a nice smile.

It was the smile a shark gives before it drags a seal into the depths.

“Sorry I’m late.” She said, her voice smooth, cultured, and projecting to every corner of the room without a microphone.

“I had to file a few motions with the Supreme Court regarding your finances, Mr. Simmons.” She continued.

“It took longer than expected to list all your offshore accounts.” She stated.

Keith froze. Judge Henderson leaned forward, his eyes wide.

“Counselor, state your name for the record.” The judge requested.

The woman placed a gold-embossed business card on the stenographer’s desk. She turned to the judge.

“Katherine Bennett.” She said.

“Senior Managing Partner at Bennett, Crown, and Sterling of Washington, D.C.” She introduced herself.

“I am entering my appearance as counsel for the defendant.” Katherine stated.

She paused, then looked at Keith again.

“I am also her mother.” She added.

The silence that followed Katherine Bennett’s introduction was absolute. It was the kind of silence that usually follows a bomb blast.

Keith Simmons blinked, his brain trying to process the information.

“Mother?” He stammered, looking from the imposing woman in white to his trembling wife.

“Grace, you said your mother was—you said she was gone.” Keith said.

Grace finally looked up, her eyes wet but her chin high.

“I said she was gone from my life, Keith. I didn’t say she was dead.” Grace replied.

“We were estranged until yesterday.” She clarified.

“Estranged.” Katherine Bennett repeated the word, rolling it off her tongue like a verdict.

She moved around the defense table, taking the chair beside Grace. She didn’t hug her daughter.

Not yet. This was business.

She placed a heavy briefcase on the table and snapped the latches open.

“Grace left home twenty years ago to escape the pressure of my world.” Katherine stated.

“She wanted a simple life. She wanted to be loved for who she was, not the Bennett name.” She added.

Katherine turned her gaze to Garrison Ford. The opposing lawyer was currently trying to make himself look smaller in his chair.

“Hello, Garrison.” Katherine said pleasantly.

“I haven’t seen you since the Oracle Tech merger litigation in 2015. You were barely an associate then, weren’t you? Fetching coffee for the real lawyers?” She asked.

Garrison Ford cleared his throat, his face flushing a deep red.

“Ms. Bennett, it is an honor. I didn’t know you were admitted to the bar in New York.” Garrison said.

“I am admitted to the bar in New York, California, D.C., and before the International Court of Justice in The Hague.” She replied, not breaking eye contact.

“I generally handle constitutional law and multibillion-dollar corporate mergers.” Katherine explained.

“But when my daughter called me weeping, telling me that a mid-level marketing executive with a Napoleon complex was bullying her—” She began.

Katherine paused, letting the insult land.

“I decided to make an exception.” She finished.

“Objection!” Keith yelled, standing up.

Panic was starting to set in.

“Personal attack! Who does she think she is?” He screamed.

“Sit down, Mr. Simmons!” Judge Henderson barked.

The judge looked at Katherine with a mix of reverence and fear. Everyone in the legal world knew the name Katherine Bennett.

She was known as the “Iron Gavel.” She had argued fourteen cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and won twelve. She was a myth.

“Ms. Bennett,” Judge Henderson said, his tone respectful.

“While your reputation precedes you, we are in the middle of a hearing regarding asset division. Mr. Ford has filed a motion for default judgment.” The judge noted.

“Yes, I saw that motion.” Katherine said, pulling a file from her briefcase.

“It was cute. Sloppy, but cute.” She remarked.

She stood up and walked toward the bench, handing a thick stack of documents to the bailiff to give to the judge.

She dropped a duplicate stack onto Garrison Ford’s desk with a heavy thud.

“Mr. Ford claims my client has no assets and no representation. That is now moot.” Katherine declared.

“Furthermore, Mr. Simmons claims that the assets in question—the penthouse on Fifth Avenue, the house in the Hamptons, and the portfolio at Goldman Sachs—are his sole property, protected by a prenuptial agreement signed seven years ago.” Katherine continued.

“That prenup is ironclad!” Keith shouted.

“She gets nothing! She signed it!” He yelled.

Katherine turned to Keith. She took off her glasses again.

“Mr. Simmons, do you know who wrote the standard template for the spousal coercion clause used in the state of New York?” Katherine asked.

Keith blinked.

“What?” He asked.

“I did.” Katherine said softly.

“In 1998, I drafted the legislation that defines exactly what constitutes coercion when signing a marital contract.” She explained.

She tapped the document on Garrison’s table.

“And according to the sworn affidavit my daughter provided this morning, you threatened to kill her cat and cut off her access to her sick grandmother’s nursing home funds if she didn’t sign that paper the night before the wedding.” Katherine stated.

The courtroom gasped.

“That’s a lie!” Keith screamed, his face turning purple.

“She’s a liar!” He shouted.

“We also have the text messages from that night.” Katherine continued, her voice rising just enough to cut through his shouting.

“Recovered from the cloud server you thought you wiped. Exhibit C, your honor.” She announced.

Judge Henderson flipped to Exhibit C. His eyebrows shot up.

Garrison Ford was flipping through the pages frantically. Sweat was beading on his forehead.

“Your honor, we—we haven’t had time to review this evidence. This is an ambush!” Garrison cried.

“An ambush?” Katherine laughed.

It was a terrifying sound.

“Mr. Ford, you tried to default judgment a woman with no lawyer while your client mocked her to her face.” Katherine said.

“You don’t get to complain about fairness now. Let’s talk about the finances.” She added.

Katherine turned back to the gallery, addressing the room as if she were lecturing a class of law students.

“Mr. Simmons claims his net worth is roughly $8 million. A respectable sum for a man of his limited talents.” She said.

Keith looked like he was about to have a stroke.

“However,” Katherine said, pulling out a second, thicker binder.

“My team of forensic accountants—who, by the way, usually track terrorist financing for the Pentagon—spent the last twelve hours tracing the intricate web of shell companies Mr. Simmons set up in the Cayman Islands and Cyprus.” She revealed.

She dropped the second binder. Thud.

“It appears, your honor, that Mr. Simmons has been funneling marital assets into a holding company called Apex Ventures for five years.” Katherine stated.

“The total amount hidden is not $8 million.” She continued.

Katherine leaned in close to Keith, her face inches from his.

“It’s $24 million.” She whispered.

“And since you failed to disclose it on your financial affidavit signed under penalty of perjury this morning—” Katherine began.

She smiled at the judge.

“That constitutes felony fraud.” Katherine concluded.

Keith slumped back into his chair. He looked at Garrison.

“Do something!” He hissed.

Garrison Ford looked at the documents. He looked at the judge, who was glaring at Keith with burning intensity.

Then he looked at Katherine Bennett, who was checking her manicured nails.

“I need a recess.” Garrison croaked.

“Request denied.” Judge Henderson said instantly.

“I want to hear more about these Cayman accounts. Ms. Bennett, please proceed.” The judge commanded.

Katherine smoothed her skirt.

“Thank you, your honor. But before we get to the fraud, I’d like to address the matter of the mockery my client endured regarding her lack of a lawyer.” Katherine said.

She walked back to Grace and placed a hand on her shoulder. For the first time, Grace looked up at her mother and smiled—a genuine, hopeful smile.

“Keith,” Katherine said, her voice dropping to a conversational, almost intimate tone.

“You mocked my daughter because you thought she was weak.” She stated.

“You thought that because she is kind, she is defenseless. You mistook her silence for surrender.” Katherine continued.

She turned to the court reporter.

“Let the record show she stated clearly that Grace Simmons is now represented by Katherine Bennett.” She announced.

“And I am not here to negotiate a settlement, Mr. Ford.” Katherine added.

She looked at Keith, her eyes flashing with a cold, hard light.

“I am here to take everything. The house, the cars, the hidden money, the reputation.” She declared.

“I am going to peel your life apart, layer by layer, until you are left with exactly what you tried to leave my daughter with: nothing.” Katherine vowed.

“Mr. Ford,” Katherine said, gesturing to the podium.

“Your witness.” She invited.