On a fall Sunday afternoon reclusive businessman, Seth
Hubbard, hangs himself from a Sycamore tree after leaving meticulous
instructions for his burial.
The next day Brigance, while opening the mail, finds a letter
posted the previous Saturday. Inside are a letter and a will. The letter to Brigance from
Hubbard advises that by the time Brigance reads the letter he will have taken his own life as he is dying from lung cancer.
Hubbard continues that the will is a holograph will that he has written that
Saturday. (A holograph will is a will made totally in the handwriting of the
testator and does not need witnesses.) He assures Brigance that it meets the
requirements for such a will and he directs Brigance to defend his will at all
costs as it “is likely to start some trouble”. Hubbard, who has never met
Brigance and who despises Clanton lawyers, admires Brigance for his defence in
the Hailey murder.
The will is a model of simplicity and clarity. Hubbard gives
5% to his brother, Ancil Hubbard, and 5% to the Irish Road Christian Church and
90% to his housekeeper, Lettie Lang, as “thanks for her dedicated service and
friendship to me during these past few years”. In harsh language he excludes
his son and daughter and directs they only be advised of the will after the
funeral because:
I want my family to be forced to go through all the rituals of mourning
before they realize they get nothing. Watch them fake it – they’re very good at
it. They have no love for me.
Bitter is too tender a word to describe the relationships
between the Hubbards.
When Brigance learns that Hubbard is white and Lang is black
a shiver runs through him as he knows a bitter will fight is ahead of him.
Prior to the funeral Herschel Hubbard and his sister, Ramona
Dafoe, and his brother-in-law, Ian Dafoe, gather at their father’s home. While
they can barely stand each other they unite to summarily dismiss Lang grouching
about her being paid $5.00 an hour to be housekeeper.
A prominent law firm from Tupelo advises them that Seth
Hubbard has made them his primary beneficiaries in a will prepared several
months earlier. With both children barely making a go of it financially they
eagerly anticipate what they will do with the money.
Stunned is a mild description of the reaction of Lang
and the Hubbard children when they learn the next day of the terms of the holograph
will.
When Brigance learns that Hubbard’s estate is worth $24
million with about $12 million left after estate taxes the last ingredient for
a vicious will contest is in place.
It is a shocking amount for Ford County is poor. Making a
living is hard. Few people do better than get by.
With millions at stake, lawyers flock to Clanton. Within
days a dozen lawyers are involved, eager to contest the will for Hubbard’s
children and grandchildren.
Early in the case Brigance struggles with the decision on
whether to proceed to a judge alone trial or a jury trial. It is a choice
with which I am well familiar. It can be pivotal to the success of a case yet
it is a call that involves as much feel for the case as analysis. It is the
type of decision that sorts out good lawyers from average lawyers.
The court action proceeds as I would expect for a major will
challenge. Did Hubbard have testamentary capacity, the ability to make a will?
Did Lang unduly influence him?
The twists and turns are fascinating and that is before the
trial even starts.
Having been involved in several disputed wills cases I can
relate to the emotions such actions cause as lifetimes of family grievances
and good times influence decisions.
Grisham shows that a civil court case can be as exciting,
even more exciting, than a murder trial.
Can Jake Brigance win a second trial for a black
Mississippian? Race relations are gradually improving though blacks know their
place in Clanton society.
Grisham provides such succinct and useful instructions for
being a witness in a deposition that I expect to steal the advice when I next
prepare witnesses:
Be polite.
Be concise. Don’t volunteer. If you don’t know,
then you don’t know.
Last year I found The
Racketeer a clever book but hoped Grisham would go back to the Deep South
in his next book. He has returned brilliantly with Sycamore Row. It is as good as The
Confession.
Set aside a day if you pick up the book. You will need the
time.