Our meet and confer is a formality. A requirement before a demurrer to our first amended cross-complaint. A demurrer is an attempt to cancel our complaint altogether. Like an objection. And it can have that effect. It can wipe my complaint out entirely. A demurrer keeps my complaint in limbo where it technically is not ‘at issue’ in the court.
I’m a bit unsuspecting at 5 foot and fairly petite. I’m sharp, but litigation is another level. Legal terms are not all intuitive. The work is grueling, technical and tedious. The law seems insurmountable to comprehend in any crash course. A lot is at stake and this is more reading and writing than I have ever experienced in my life. I don’t intimidate Kris or his clients.
It’s 2:30 in the morning and I’m still scrolling through 100+ pages of moving papers. "Uncertainty” … “Lack of standing” …. “Sham pleading” …. Kris told us he is unleashing his dogs of war. But dogs don’t exactly fight with their intellect. So I feel I can overcome this dime store demurrer. I take a deep breath and get up from my computer to walk through my quiet house. My son Quest sleeping soundly with his dad upstairs.
I walk into the cold dark garage where a fourth of it has been converted into a makeshift office from the previous tenant. I push open the lightweight door to brown berber carpet and a corner desk made out of a mish mosh of different furniture parts. I touch the exposed drywall. This will be my war room.