Chapter 12: The Victory That Changed Everything
The conference room felt smaller when we reconvened.
Everyone had returned—associates whispering speculation, partners watching with increased attention, Harvey standing in the exact same spot but with tension in his shoulders that hadn't been there before.
Brooks gestured to Mike.
"Closing arguments. Mr. Ross."
Mike stood, and this time his strategy had shifted.
Less emotion. More precedent. Clearly Harvey had coached him during the break to match my technical approach.
"Your Honors, constitutional law isn't static. It evolves. When the Fourth Amendment was written, surveillance meant physical searches. But Carpenter v. United States recognized that digital data requires new analysis. Riley v. California acknowledged cell phones are different from physical objects."
He was citing my cases back at me, trying to use constitutional evolution as an argument for expanded school authority rather than expanded student protection.
"Schools must adapt to digital threats. The surveillance program here is narrowly tailored—it only monitors public social media posts, only flags keywords related to safety concerns, only intervenes when necessary. That's reasonable. That's constitutional."
It was better than his opening. More structured. Less emotional.
But he was uncomfortable with pure technical argument, and it showed. He kept trying to weave in narrative elements—the human cost of cyberbullying, the responsibility schools bear—and each time it disrupted his logical flow.
Harvey taught him one way to fight. Now he's trying to fight differently, and it's not working.
Brooks nodded when Mike finished.
"Mr. Roden. Your closing."
I stood and delivered what I'd prepared.
"Your Honors, Mr. Ross is correct that constitutional law evolves. But it evolves to apply existing principles to new contexts—it doesn't abandon those principles when they become inconvenient."
I cited six Supreme Court cases in rapid succession, showing a consistent thread.
"Katz v. United States established the reasonable expectation of privacy test. Carpenter applied it to digital location data. Riley applied it to cell phones. In each case, the Court reaffirmed that Fourth Amendment protections grow stronger as government surveillance capabilities expand—not weaker."
I paused, let that sink in.
"The school district's program fails every test established in digital privacy precedent. It lacks particularized suspicion. It lacks warrants or equivalent procedural safeguards. It conducts mass surveillance rather than targeted intervention. And it monitors private communications that have no connection to school functions or campus disruption."
I turned to face the judges directly.
"Mr. Ross asked: isn't protecting children worth some privacy limitations? But that's not the question. The question is: if we allow mass surveillance of children's private communications without suspicion, without warrants, without limits—what principled boundary exists? Where does school authority end and constitutional protection begin?"
Silence.
"The Fourth Amendment provides that boundary. Good intentions don't override constitutional protections. They never have. Plaintiff's motion should be granted."
I sat down.
The judges conferred quietly for three minutes that felt like three hours.
Finally, Brooks looked up.
"This was a difficult decision. Both advocates presented compelling arguments."
Here it comes.
"Mr. Ross, your policy arguments about real-world safety needs were persuasive and well-articulated. You demonstrated strong advocacy skills and genuine concern for student welfare."
Mike nodded, professional despite the disappointment already showing in his expression.
"However, Mr. Roden's constitutional analysis was more legally sound. His systematic application of Fourth Amendment precedent, his recognition of the distinction between targeted intervention and mass surveillance, and his clear articulation of constitutional boundaries were more persuasive as a matter of law."
Brooks closed his tablet.
"Decision for plaintiff. Mr. Roden wins this round."
The room erupted in whispers.
I won. I actually—
[WIN RATE CALCULATOR: FINAL ASSESSMENT]
[PREDICTED PROBABILITY: 63%]
[ACTUAL OUTCOME: VICTORY]
[SYSTEM ACCURACY: VALIDATED]
[MENTAL FATIGUE: 24%]
Mike stood and walked over immediately, hand extended.
"You were really good. I couldn't get momentum going."
I shook his hand.
"You're good at reading people. I'm good at reading cases. Different strengths."
He nodded, but something in his expression looked shaken—like he'd just discovered that Harvey's teaching wasn't the only way to win.
"Yeah. Different strengths."
He walked back to collect his materials, and I caught Harvey's expression.
Not anger. Calculation.
His golden boy just lost to someone he dismissed weeks ago.
Louis caught my eye from across the room and gave a small, satisfied nod.
Then the conference room door opened.
Jessica Pearson walked in.
The whispers died immediately.
She shouldn't have been here—the prize was supposed to be a scheduled meeting later, not an immediate appearance. But here she was, walking directly toward me with an expression that was evaluating and slightly amused.
"Mr. Roden. Impressive work."
I stood, managed to keep my voice steady.
"Thank you, Ms. Pearson."
"You didn't try to out-Harvey Harvey's protégé. You found your own approach and executed it perfectly."
She was watching. The whole time.
"Constitutional law rewards structure over style."
Her smile was small and sharp.
"Walk with me."
She turned and headed for the door without waiting for a response.
I grabbed my briefcase and followed.
As we passed through the bullpen, I caught fragments of the scene behind me—Harvey standing outside his office, arms crossed, watching with an expression I couldn't quite read. Mike at his desk, unusually quiet, staring at his notes. Louis giving me that subtle nod again, something like pride in his expression.
Donna watched from her desk as we passed, and her expression was... thoughtful. Evaluating.
The hierarchy just shifted.
Jessica led me to the elevator, pressed the button for the executive floor.
"You've been here five weeks," she said as the doors closed. "In that time, you've established yourself as Louis Litt's primary associate, won a pro bono case everyone expected you to lose, and just beat Harvey's personally selected hire in open competition."
I stayed quiet, unsure if this was praise or warning.
"That's either exceptional competence or exceptional ambition. Which is it?"
Honesty or strategy?
I chose honesty.
"Both. I want partnership, and I'm willing to work for it. But I want to earn it through merit, not politics."
Jessica studied me as the elevator climbed.
"Merit and politics aren't separate in this firm. They never are in any firm."
"Then I'll play the politics well enough to let the merit speak for itself."
The elevator doors opened to the executive floor—bigger offices, better views, the kind of space that reminded you exactly where power lived in this building.
Jessica's office was at the corner, overlooking Manhattan in two directions.
She gestured me to a chair across from her desk but didn't sit behind it—took the adjacent chair instead, removing the power dynamic barrier.
Testing me. Seeing how I handle authority when it's not wielded as a weapon.
"Tell me what you want from this firm, Mr. Roden."
"Partnership. Built on my own merit, not proximity to the right mentor."
"You know Harvey doesn't take associates under his wing easily."
"I know he's already chosen his project. I'm not interested in being someone's second choice."
Jessica's expression shifted—approval, maybe, or recognition of someone who understood how the game actually worked.
"Louis speaks highly of you. That's unusual. Louis doesn't praise easily."
"Louis is brilliant at financial law and systematically undervalued. I recognized opportunity where others saw burden."
"Opportunism or wisdom?"
"Both. The best opportunities come from seeing value others miss."
She leaned back, reassessing.
"You're not like the other associates. They're competing to be Harvey. You're building something different."
Truth time.
"I can't be Harvey. No one can. But I can be excellent in my own way—systematic, thorough, prepared. That's worth something."
Jessica stood, walked to her window, looked out at the city.
"I'm going to give you advice most managing partners wouldn't. You're smart, prepared, and ambitious—those are assets. But you're also calculating everything. I see it in how you move, how you choose words."
She turned back to face me.
"That calculated quality makes you excellent at law and potentially dangerous to this firm."
I kept my voice level.
"Dangerous how?"
"Because people who calculate three moves ahead are either exceptional partners or catastrophic enemies. There's no middle ground. So choose which you'll be carefully."
She walked back to her desk, picked up her tablet.
"Partnership track typically takes seven years. Impress me, and we'll discuss five. Now go bill some hours."
Dismissed.
I stood, thanked her, and left.
The elevator ride back down felt longer than the ride up.
[RELATIONSHIP UPDATE: JESSICA PEARSON]
[STATUS: EVALUATING - BOTH OPPORTUNITY AND THREAT]
[PARTNERSHIP PROBABILITY: INCREASED TO 61%]
[WARNING: UNDER ACTIVE SCRUTINY]
I stepped back into the bullpen to find Donna waiting by the elevator.
"Jessica doesn't give personal meetings to associates who impress her. She gives them to associates she's deciding about. That was a test."
"Did I pass?"
"You're still here, aren't you?"
The elevator doors opened. I stepped in.
Donna's voice followed me.
"Congratulations on the win, by the way. You earned it."
The doors closed before I could respond.
And as I rode down to my floor, exhaustion finally catching up to me, I realized something.
I just beat Harvey's golden boy, impressed Jessica Pearson, and announced myself as more than just another eager associate.
In a firm built on power dynamics, that announcement had consequences.
Good ones and bad ones.
Time to find out which.
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