- [first lines]
- Kate Reed: [rushing towards late appointment] Judge! Judge Nicastro! Sir! I am so sorry that I am late, sir. I discovered this defect in my alarm clock. It's called a snooze button.
- [chuckles, but he doesn't see the joke]
- Kate Reed: Anyway, sir, I am so very sorry. I hate being late.
- Judge David Nicastro: But you love the chaos it creates.
- [as they walk along:]
- Judge David Nicastro: Do you know what the most dangerous profession in the world is?
- Kate Reed: Uh, mediating cases for you?
- Judge David Nicastro: [imperious as usual] Case file has been sent to your office. The parties will be there at 9:30 a.m.
- Kate Reed: 9:30? Sir, that's in, that's in 15 minutes.
- Judge David Nicastro: Then I suggest that you hurry. You know how you hate being late.
- Kate Reed: [flustered] Yeah.
- Kate Reed: I'm really sorry, but I got to run.
- [starts rushing off]
- Justin Patrick: [drily] That's what you do best.
- [causing her to halt]
- Kate Reed: [turning around and sailing into him] And what do you do best besides cheating on your wife?
- Justin Patrick: Hey, that's not fair.
- Kate Reed: Oh, don't. Don't you tell me about fair.
- Justin Patrick: I wasn't the only one who screwed up our marriage.
- Kate Reed: [sarcastically] Way to own up there, Justin.
- Justin Patrick: You have any idea what it was like to always be last on your to-do list? And always be getting kicked to the curb?
- Kate Reed: Oh, so it's my fault? I'm the cold bitch that made you sleep with another woman?
- Justin Patrick: That's not what I'm saying. It's not what I'm saying.
- Kate Reed: Then what are you saying?
- Justin Patrick: [flatly] It wasn't like we were happy.
- [which floors her]
- Kate Reed: [taking some time to recover] Screw you.
- Kate Reed: What are you doing?
- Ben Grogan: Collaborating. I happen to have won a multi-million settlement against a popular cruise line a couple years ago. Is this a case we should be litigating?
- Kate Reed: I know it's not,
- [patronizingly:]
- Kate Reed: because this is a case I am mediating.
- Ben Grogan: [waving a finger] Litigation, not mediation, is what keeps the lights on around here.
- Kate Reed: Well then, go sue someone and let me do my job.
- Kate Reed: [as all squabble] Okay, if you... if you don't actually pull fish out of the water, just shut up.
- Kate Reed: [as all squabbling renews] Stop, stop. Please, lawyers, stop. I mean, I get that there is a liability settlement in play here, but just maybe, just maybe, these two people have something to say to each other before you start your little legal cha-cha.