The judge had spent the great majority of the past three months painstakingly reviewing all of the documentation that had been presented for this pivotal case. Judicial protocol, of course, varies in its small details across the world, but in essence is the same. She had wrestled internally with strong misgivings over how to conduct this trial; indeed, she had wondered if it was even worth trying the case at all. Unfortunately, though, the plaintiffs were far too powerful to even seriously consider that option, despite her awareness of the potential chaos that this case would wreak. Though she accepted the inevitability of it with as much grace as she could muster, the judge was painfully aware that it would take a miracle to keep this trial on course. The time for reflections was passed,
