MCMILLAN'S MANTRA 
The New York Law Journal details jury selection in the damages case of James McMillan, a victim in the Staten Island Ferry disaster. McMillan, whose vertebrae were shattered by flying debris, is expected to win the largest award among all victims. “On Oct. 15, 2003, James McMillan walked onto the Staten Island Ferry," said McMillan’s attorney, Evan Torgan of Torgan & Cooper. “What he didn’t know at that time, and he had no reason to know, is that those would be his last steps.” Eastern District Judge Jack B. Weinstein presided.

"A BATTLE FROM DAY ONE" 
Separately, the wife of James Healy, an attorney who was killed in the ferry accident, settled with the City yesterday for $8.75 million. “It has been a battle from day one,” said Healy, 46, of Middletown, N.J. “The treatment the victims' families received was never one of sympathy or sorrow. Mayor Bloomberg never gave a public apology about their mistakes. No New York politician ever gave their support to help us. . . . Had they treated us a little differently, maybe my decision [to hold out for the largest settlement possible] would be a little different.”

LAID-BACK AND "A BIT NAIVE" 
And The New York Times reports that the bookkeeper for the escort service that was patronized by former Governor Eliot Spitzer pleaded guilty on Monday to a federal prostitution conspiracy charge. Tanya Hollander told Southern District Judge Deborah A. Batts that even after she realized Emperor’s Club V.I.P. was involved in prostitution, she continued working for them. She faces up to five years in prison. Hollander is “a warm, laid-back person with a live-and-let-live attitude” who was also “a bit naïve,” according to her lawyer, Michael C. Farkas. “Although she knew it was wrong, she probably did not appreciate at the time how serious engaging in this type of enterprise was.”