Burton and Crimstein

Burton and Crimstein is the law firm where Tia resumes her legal career and where Hester Crimstein’s authority shapes both the workplace hierarchy and the work assigned to its attorneys. The firm’s name preserves the partnership’s history, but its present-day center of power is unmistakably Hester.

Leadership and Structure

Burton had died years before the events described, while Hester remained alive, in charge, and the firm’s dominant figure. An internationally known expert on criminal matters, she also hosted the truTV program Crimstein on Crime. Her public stature is matched inside the firm by direct, personal command: she summons subordinates herself rather than delegating the call to an assistant.

The office layout makes the hierarchy visible. Senior partners occupy glass-enclosed offices on the sunny side of the floor, while other employees work in airless cubicles opposite them. The firm has senior partners, but Hester will not let any of them add their names to the masthead. The arrangement resembles a caste system, yet with one ruling authority above the recognized ranks: Hester herself.

Tia’s Place in the Firm

Tia returned to work as an attorney at Burton and Crimstein six months before the events in the office. Her position brings her into Hester’s orbit as a subordinate expected to respond quickly and take on work at Hester’s direction. When summoned, Tia puts away an E-SpyRight report before crossing the office toward Hester’s suite, a small indication that her legal work is already intersecting with computer-based inquiry.

Investigative Work

Hester gives Tia a file concerning a man identified as Beck and instructs her to bring Brett, a computer expert, so they can examine the man’s personal computer. The assignment places the firm’s attorneys alongside technical expertise in an inquiry centered on private digital material. It also shows Hester’s characteristic method in the limited scene available: she identifies the target, selects the personnel, and sets the investigative task without ceremony.