Better Call Saul

Sorry about the hiccup, folks.

Won't be long.

You got five minutes.

Howdy, folks!

Can someone tell me if Mrs. Alma May Urbano is on board?

Alma May Urbano?

There you are!

Hello, dear.

Very good to meet you.

My name's Jimmy.

I tried to visit you at Sandpiper,

but they wouldn't allow me to.

Hey, you know what? It doesn't matter.

I saw your bus broken down. Here you are! Lucky me!

Do you prefer to be called.

Mrs. Urbano or Alma May or just plain Alma?

My last name is McGill, but you can call me Jimmy.

Hey, everyone. My name's Jimmy McGill,

I'm an attorney at law. But...

Don't mind me.

Just talk amongst yourselves.

Now, Alma May, do you recall responding to a mailer from my law firm,

Davis & Main of Santa Fe, New Mexico?

I... I don't know.

We were looking to help any Sandpiper residents

who may have been overcharged for basic goods and services.

Now, does that ring a bell?

Oh! Maybe. Was it yellow?

It's canary yellow. I picked that color myself!

Well, ma'am, I'm here to make sure you get your money back.

What're you talking about? Who took Alma May's money?

Uh, well, that's a very good question.

And thank you for asking, Mister...

Amos. Amos Lydecker.

Mr. Lydecker, Jimmy McGill.

Now, nobody took anybody's money, exactly.

Okay? It's not like the Sandpiper people, you know,

put on a ski mask and mugged Alma May here at gunpoint.

So, I want you to put that mental image right out of your head.

See, what we're talking about here

is more of a... It's just a discrepancy.

It's just a little thing. It's fairly innocent.

But, we need to fix it.

You follow me?

Well, put it this way.

Alma May, let's say you're out on a date with your boyfriend.

You do have a boyfriend, right?

Ah! You don't? Come on!

Alma May's holding out on me.

Do you have a nephew?

Nephew? Oh, yes. Steve.

Okay, Steve, is he a good guy?

Yes, very good.

Okay. So let's say you and Steve go out to dinner at,

well, Birdie's.

That's where you're all headed today, right?

All right.

So, both of you have a great meal.

Chicken fried steak and green beans, and it's all perfect.

Here comes the check...

"Hey, wait a dog-gone, 24 bucks for a side of buttermilk biscuits?"

That doesn't sound right now, does it? No.

No, it does not. It sounds like something got added up wrong.

Well naturally, you send your nephew, Steve, to talk to the manager.

And naturally, the manager corrects the mistake.

And what's more, he gives you a coupon

for a free meal next time you come in. How about that!

Well, that same kind of thing is what happened at Sandpiper Crossing.

And nothing makes me sadder

than to see people of the Greatest Generation,

people like my own Nana and Bobo,

getting overcharged by some great big company.

Even if it was an accident.

Now, I know that the good people

at Sandpiper want to make this right.

Sooner or later.

But you know what? Well, sometimes,

it's just easier

if you get your nephew, Steve, to go take care of it for you.

And that's how I want you to think of me.

Georgiana. Hey there, Georgie Girl. Thank you.

Oh! It's all there, everything I need.

Thank you so much. Enjoy your lunch.

Alma May. You did it. Thank you so much. Thank you.

Thank you, Henry.

All right. Hey, Sue...

Okay.

Beautiful penmanship! A lost art...

Schweikart and Cokely are pursuing an aggressive strategy,

but looking at the relevant case law,

I don't think it's going to play with this magistrate judge.

I've read over a dozen of her rulings, all of which

have sided with the plaintiff on cases like this.

I've included a memo to that effect in today's materials,

which you can peruse at your leisure.

Thanks, Erin. How about we move on to client outreach?

Jimmy?

You still with us?

Uh...

I'm going to save you from having to brag.

Over 200 new Sandpiper clients signed over the past three weeks.

Well done, Jimmy. Thank you.

Thanks, Cliff.

Uh, right now, we're in the process

of mapping out the entire Southwest,

targeting the largest Sandpiper facilities first.

Phoenix, Colorado Springs, Fort Worth, Provo.

That's just for starters.

Ideally, my goal, another 200 by the end of the month.

With this many folks, we have an excellent shot at a solid batch

of plaintiffs for the classes in each district.

Excellent. Look forward to the next report.

On to a stickier wicket, coordinating actions.

Um, sorry. Before we move on.

I'd like to go back to client outreach, just for a moment.

Looking over these numbers, here.

Really astonishing results, Jimmy. Incredible.

Your last trip to Amarillo,

you came back with 22 new clients?

Twenty-four. Twenty-four.

I'm confused.

Um, how many people out there actually

responded to our direct mailer?

One.

Hmm. Oh, right, yeah.

A Mars Alma May Urbano.

But you got 24 new clients from this one response?

That is... (CHUCKLES)

Wow!

Well, you're welcome. I mean, what, is there a problem?

Well, might not some parties, the opposing counsel for example,

see this differential and conclude that

there may have been some solicitation involved?

I did not solicit.

I'm just wondering how you account for your success.

Because it will definitely raise eyebrows over at Schweikart and Cokely.

I'm sorry, but it will.

Particularly in a case involving seniors

for whom the ethical guidelines

on solicitation were virtually created by the ABA.

Chuck, I'm sure that...

Jimmy, if you could clear this up that would be helpful.

I went to Amarillo to confer with the client

and to make sure that we had a solid good-faith basis

for our case there. Overall.

As many of you are aware,

I've visited more than my share of retirement homes.

These are close-knit communities. Let me tell you,

word gets around real fast.

Dorothy in Phase 2 gets a new Rascal Scooter, well, it's big news.

So these other 23 residents, they approached you?

Cliff, they heard the scuttlebutt before I crossed state lines.

And I certainly didn't have to go knockin' on any doors.

And is it any surprise that they wanna

speak with the guy who was there

to show them they may have money coming their way?

I gotta tell ya, with all that in mind, I should've done better.

Makes sense. Howard?

Chuck?

We good to move on?

And, Chuck, not incidentally,

it is absolutely vital that we dot our I's

and cross our T's here.

Invaluable. So, thank you.

The price of excellence is eternal vigilance.

Indeed.

Coordination. I believe that's where we left off.

That's right. Brian, this is your thing, so why don't you take this?

Sure. (CLEARS THROAT)

Considering the dimensions of these cases,

taken together and individually,

it makes sense to designate someone to handle the scheduling.

What I'm proposing is that we create a small team at D&M

dedicated specifically to coordinating

all elements of the individual actions.

We'll loop in HHM when anything...

Brian. I'm sorry. Excuse me for interrupting.

I just want to say that I take Chuck's point.

I do.

I mean, this is like a "wife of Caesar" type thing.

There can't even be a hint of solicitation, so I'm gonna pull back.

No more meet-and-greets at Sandpiper facilities.

I'll find another way to proceed.

Well, Jimmy, we'll leave that up to you.

You know, client outreach is your department.

Uh, where was I? Okay, right.

If we have a more consolidated nerve center

here in New Mexico, where the...

Hey, Kim, where can I get a copy of that Neiderman deposition?

I've got an extra Neiderman, Jimmy. You can have one of mine.

Oh, wow, thanks, Erin.

No worries.

Shoot. Where did I put that?

Thanks that's...

Man, can you believe Chuck in there?

I mean, Jesus. Solicitation?

Let me tell you, when we were building this case,

I was chasing down eighty-year-old mall walkers.

That was solicitation! But did he say "boo"?

Bullshit, he did!