Settlement Conference - Paperback

by Derek Fermin (Author)

They didn't kidnap her for ransom.

They kidnapped her for a verdict.

Alexandra "Alex" Cortez wins cases for a living-high-stakes, high-dollar, and ruthless when she has to be. But when a late-night drive turns into a black-bag abduction, she wakes up in a place that looks like a courtroom... built by people who have been crushed by the real one.

A judge's bench. A jury box. Evidence boards. Rules.

And one nonnegotiable condition: Alex is the defense.

The plaintiffs are medical-malpractice victims who believe the system buried their truth. They've staged a "settlement conference" the way they wish the courts actually worked-raw testimony, sealed files, and a trial-by-fire designed to break the attorney they blame for protecting the machine.

But the deeper Alex digs, the more the narrative fractures. Witness statements don't align. The exhibits feel curated. Someone is directing the room. And the case they're forcing her to argue isn't about justice at all-it's a pressure test for something bigger.

Now Alex has one chance to survive: out-argue her captors, expose the unseen architect pulling the strings, and turn their courtroom against them... before the final motion is heard and the sentence is carried out.

SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE is a propulsive, claustrophobic legal thriller packed with razor-edged twists, moral traps, and a vigilante courtroom you won't forget.