(Cole)
Gerald's counter filing was sitting on my desk when I got in.
I had read it the night before when it came through and I had formed my initial assessment quickly because that was how I worked. First read was always fast. Get the shape of it, understand what they were trying to do, identify where the argument was strongest and where it fell apart. Then sleep on it. Come back in the morning and read it again with fresh eyes before putting anything on paper.
I read it again now.
It was competent work. Gerald had structured it cleanly and the language was precise enough to sound convincing to someone who didn't know property law well. The marital contribution argument was the right call for his side because it was the only ground he had to stand on. He had built it as well as it coul
