Michael Clayton Page #2

ANOTHER EMPTY HALLWAY. A BANQUET TABLE LITTERED WITH THE

PICKED-OVER REMNANTS OF AN ALL-NIGHT CATERED FEED.

ARTHUR EDENS (V.O.)

-- and that I have been coated with

this patina of sh*t for the better part

of my life and that the stink and stainmight in all likelihood take the restof my days to undo --

AND NOW -- WIDER TO FIND -- ASSOCIATE #1 WHEELING THE

TROLLEY TOWARD BIG DOORS AT THE END OF THE HALL --

ARTHUR EDEN’S (V.O.)

-- and do you know what I did next?

I took a deep, cleansing breath.

I set that notion aside. I tabled it.

I said to myself, “As clear as this maybe -- as potent as this may feel -- astrue a thing as I believe I havewitnessed here -- I must wait. It must

stand the test of time.”

AN ATTORNEY HUDDLED OVER HIS MOBILE PHONE, SEEING THE KID

COMING, HELPING HIM BY OPENING THE DOORS, as --

ARTHUR EDENS (V.O.)

And, Michael, the time is now.

INT. LAW FIRM CONFERENCE ROOM -- NIGHT

The big room. Bright. Teeming. FORTY PEOPLE jamming anall-night deadline: ATTORNEYS -- PARTNERS AND ASSOCIATES --

PARALEGALS -- ASSISTANTS -- ACCOUNTANTS -- working groupsbunkered around a huge table covered with paperwork andlaptops and coffee mugs. Several document “villages” piledaround the room. The credits have wrapped. Arthur Edens has

stopped talking. And if there’s music, that’s stopped too.

We’re live.

BARRY GRISSOM coming around the table. He’s maybe fifty.

A killer New York lawyer in his prime. Litigator. Senior

partner. Always wrapped a little tight and this moment isno exception -- slowing now and...

BARRY:

(kneeling, whispering)

I’ve got that c*nt from the Wall Street

Journal on line eight. I told her youwere in Bermuda, but I’d try to patchyou in...

MARTY BACH looks up from his papers. He’s seventy. It’s

his name on the door. Big power. Sweet eyes. A thousand

neckties. A velvet switchblade.

MARTY:

(punching up line eight)

Marty Bach. How can I help you?

REPORTER (PHONE/OVER)

“Marty, hi, it’s Bridget Klein. Look,

we’re going with a story tomorrow abouta settlement in the U/North defoliant

case. You want to comment?”

MARTY:

The case you’re referring to, is now,

as it has been for the past six years,

pending and unresolved. Until our

client has their day in court or theplaintiffs come to their senses anddrop the suit, I’ll have nothing ofvalue to tell you.

BARRY kneeling there, hanging on every word --

REPORTER (PHONE/OVER)

“Come on, Marty, Barry’s telling meyou’re off at some conference. I know

for a fact you’re in the office rightnow with like six hundred people tryingto push this thing through.”

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