Brille. The two of them returned a few minutes later, with Brille having
apparently agreed to Tyler’s terms.
The brief interlude had given Tyler time to think, however, and he’d
decided he wasn’t going to sign anything. One of the other documents
Brille had brought that morning was his original Theranos
confidentiality agreement. Tyler pretended to read it over while he
thought about the best way to say he wouldn’t be signing the affidavit.
After a long, awkward silence, he settled on how to couch his refusal.
“A Theranos lawyer has drafted this with Theranos’s best interests
in mind,” he said. “I think I need a lawyer to look at it with my best
interests in mind.”
Both his grandfather and Brille looked exasperated. George asked if
Tyler would sign the document if his estate attorney, Bob Anders,
reviewed it and told him it was OK to do so. Tyler said he would, so
George headed upstairs to fax the modified affidavit to Anders.
Figuring it would take him a while to get up the stairs and work the fax
machine, Tyler went to the kitchen and started going through his
grandfather’s phone book looking for the estate lawyer’s number. He
wanted to get to him first. As he was riffling through the pages,
Charlotte handed him a piece of paper with the number on it. “Call
him,” she said.
Tyler placed the call from the backyard. He quickly explained the
situation to Anders. Still digesting all the information, the lawyer
asked who was representing Theranos. Tyler had the letter threatening
to sue him that Brille had given him the night before in his hand. He
told Anders it was signed by a “David Boy-zee,” mispronouncing the
famous lawyer’s last name.
“Holy shit! Do you know who that is?”
Boies was one of the most powerful and prominent lawyers in
America, Anders explained. This was a serious situation, he said. He
recommended that Tyler come see him at his office in San Francisco
that afternoon.
Tyler followed his advice and drove to the city. He met with Anders
and one of his partners on the seventeenth floor of the Russ Building,