J. Craig Smith is an associate at a Bridgeport, Conn., personal injury firm. But this fall, his work took him to Washington, D.C. As luminaries of the legal world walked by, he sat at the counsel table in the U.S. Supreme Court.

And he had a cousin from Georgia to thank for it all.

"When my father called me from Georgia [in 2006] about Norman being fired, I didn't know if I could do anything for him," said Smith. "But my Dad said, 'Remember who you are, and where you're from -- we stick by our own.' I knew I had to do right by Norman ... . When I got that phone call, it was the beginning of a truly wild ride."

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The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled against Calhoun-based Mohawk Industries in Norman Carpenter's case. The case was Mohawk Industries v. Carpenter, and it involved a question of whether a lower court’s decision on attorney-client privilege can be immediately appealed to a higher court.