My Love (Autobiography) 214

After finding two other lawyers, Billy Martin rented a conference room at the modest Washington Court Hotel for Monday, June 1. He arranged a full-day "beauty contest" in which Monica could reach out to her possible future lawyers to see who she liked and then make a decision.

The newly rebuilt Lewinsky team also faces a big problem: how to sneak Monica, who is still in Los Angeles, to Washington, without being discovered by the media or, more importantly, Bill Ginsburg. Excuses are needed. Monica and Judy Smith rushed to Washington overnight, and Walter Eller picked them up directly from the airport to the hotel. And so, just as Ginsburg, Los Angeles, thought Monica and her brother were on a beach in California, she, Judy Smith, and Billy Martin were listening to Jack Steyn, Prato Kacheris, and two other lawyers present their legal strategy.

The understated, elegant, silver-haired Steyn was the first person on the list. He told Monica he believed he could help her get her immunity despite setbacks in the Court of Appeal. Next up was Prato Kacheris, a kind but clever lawyer who made it clear that if what they wanted was to haggle for some degree of exemption, he wasn't the one they wanted. He is not prepared to enter the case unless their goal is to fight for full immunity or to make a fierce defense at trial. He felt that this was the best and only approach that could be taken, and it was not without reason that he had helped secure immunity for another prominent defender, Foon Hull, the secretary of Oliver North, during the investigation of the Iranian opposition scandal in the 1980s.

Both impressed Monica, but one day, after reaching out and considering other lawyers, she was dazzled by their various plans to deal with Starr. She had called that morning to tell her father that she felt Steyn and Kacheris were the people she wanted, and he advised her to stick to her first feelings. So, at 11 p.m., Martin called the two lawyers and asked if they were ready to work together on Monica's case. In fact, they have informally discussed the idea, thinking it would be more efficient for them to work side by side.