The Prepping of my testimony continues.

That weekend I departed for New Orleans to attend the ACS meeting , but before I left
Darth informed me that Carl would be joining me to help me recruit the new scientist. Although I had no objection to Carl's presence at the meeting, I did not see what he could contribute in terms of recruiting a scientist. More importantly, I had been looking forwardto spending a few days away from any Gamma influence. I was also looking forward to see-ing some old friends and socializing with them. With Carl there, I would have to modify some of my plans.

The recruiting at the ACS meeting was laborious and exhausting. Most of the
candidates came to the interview thinking that Gamma Supplies, must be located in the New Orleans area and they became quickly disinterested when they learned the job was in Chicago, IL.

Carl showed up for the second and third day of recruiting a demonstrated a distinct lack of enthusiasm for the job at hand. By the end of the third day, I had found three good candidates that I thought were worth actively pursuing. Carl seemed satisfied and he would be leaving on business on the next day. That meant I would get a couple of days to relax and enjoy the professional meeting.

The weekend prior to my scheduled deposition I flew back to Chicago feeling somewhat relieved and freshened. The following Monday when I reported back to work, I was informed by Darth that the Better Supplies' attorneys were going to take a deposition of a Tenneland person located at the Summerfield plant. Darth informed me that he, Dan Gane and I were going to be present during the testimony.

The next morning I was on a plane to Summerfield, Ohio. We met with the Better Supplies attorneys for lunch and then proceeded to an office to await the arrival of the yet unidentified Tenneland witness. My feeling was that Paul Jones, the plant chemist was the man Better Supplies should be talking to, but I knew the witness could not be him because he had been transferred to Atlanta, GA a couple of months earlier. At the time when I was told that Paul had been transferred, I thought that at least in part the reason for the transfer was to make the process of obtaining his testimony difficult.

Robert Graham, the plant manager at the Tenneland Summerfield facility finally showed up to give his deposition. His testimony only lasted a couple of hours and it revealed nothing. He expressed ignorance of everything of real interest to Better Supplies' case, and gave only superficial answers to the questions that he did know something about. The day concluded with Better Supplies' attorneys learning nothing new, and I left thinking Gamma Supplies and Tenneland had pulled another fast one in the legal battle.

Darth and Dan decided I should fly back to Chicago with Dan Gane and then we would drive from the airport together. The time together would give us a chance to discuss our strategy and Dan could prep me for some of the more difficult questions.

During our discussion on the drive from the airport I brought up an example from another Better Supplies' patent that was not directly involved in the litigation. I told Dan thatthe material was very similar to that in Example 12, about which we were concerned, and that due to some differences, maybe that example would work whereas I had not been able to make Example 12 work. No one had ever mentioned this other example, and if Better Supplies' attorneys inquired about that example, it could potentially greatly weaken Gamma Supplies' position which was more and more becoming based on the fact that Example 12 did not work. I was very concerned that Cruz Little would question me on that example, and I wanted some advice as to how to handle that kind of attack. Dan did not answer my questions. If fact, he just ignored me as if he knew that subject would not be brought up. Since Dan had coached me on other subjects, his failure to respond in this instance told me not to worry about it. But I couldn't help wonder why he was not concerned about that example. This was a technical issue at stake and not some legal maneuvering. Since I was
Gamma Supplies' one and only expert technical witness, I had a lot of concern over this second example. But, I could not get Dan to say anything.

One comment that Dan did make bothered me even more. He said he was Gamma Supplies attorney and did not represent me. That sounded strange to me since I was a Gamma Supplies' employee, and he seemed to be saying I was on my own or that I could get my own attorney. Of course, I couldn't afford to do that.