The Street Lawyer

Michael is working late at the legal clinic alone, save for his colleague Abraham Lebow. He calls the three numbers he found for Hector, one of which is right. From the phone book, he jots down Hector’s address and makes a plan to visit. Then Abraham enters Michael’s office to welcome him.

Abraham is as passionate about public interest law as Mordecai, but he lacks Mordecai’s aplomb or social ability. Abraham and Michael have a brief conversation in which Abraham explains what he does for the clinic, which is largely policy work and occasionally seeing some clients. He returns to work quickly, and Michael observes that “the law [is] his life,” much as it is for himself (183).

At around 1:00 a.m., the police show up at Claire’s apartment looking for Michael and the file. She calls him, and he immediately rushes to the apartment. The police have a search warrant, but since Michael no longer lives there, the warrant is null and the search is illegal. Michael threatens them with a lawsuit, and they finally leave. He stays for a minute to comfort and reassure Claire, then leaves without ceremony after promising the police cannot come back.

Michael and Mordecai have another intake day, this time at Community for Creative Non-Violence (CCNV), which is the largest shelter in DC. On the way, Michael decides to be honest with Mordecai about the file and the burgeoning situation with Drake & Sweeney, as he realizes that they will not let the issue drop. While Mordecai listens intently, Michael relates the entire story of the previous few weeks, including his separation with Claire, the stealing of the file, and everything he knows about the River Oaks eviction case.

They arrive at CCNV at around 8:30. Michael is again nervous because he is one of the only white people in the room. They work through the line of clients like they did at Samaritan, and again they are sad but straightforward. Toward the end of the session, Michael meets a client named Paul Pelham, a fairly clean-looking white man who is facing a drug charge. Paul relays his entire life story to Michael, which includes a malpractice suit that bankrupted him, his wife’s adultery, a possible murder (of his wife’s lover), and his belief that the FBI is chasing him. Michael is captivated with his story, until Mordecai informs him that Paul “makes the rounds,” always with different stories and different names (201).

After telling Mordecai he is taking the afternoon off, Michael settles his insurance claim for the Lexus, visits the doctor for a checkup, meets with Claire and her lawyer to confirm the divorce agreement, and finally meets with Polly in the parking lot of the firm to retrieve his last office belongings. Then he calls Barry Nuzzo and asks him to meet at a coffee shop to talk.

Michael tries to get an explanation for the search warrant incident, and Barry tries to find out where Michael lives; neither succeed. Barry clarifies that, although they are friends, he still works at the firm and therefore must support them. He implores Michael to give the file back; Michael finally admits that he has the file but that he plans to “embarrass the firm with the file” unless they stop harassing him. Barry counters that he does not have any knowledge or power, and they part ways on a sour note.

At the Palmas’ apartment building in Bethesda, the security guard informs Michael that they have moved. Posing as a potential applicant for the space, Michael bribes the guard to give him the key to their apartment so he can “preview” it. Once inside, he discovers that the place has been gutted, cleaned, remodeled, and painted, and that “a team of fingerprinters could not [find] a trace of the Palma clan” (209). He returns the key, thanks the guard, and leaves.

On Wednesday morning, Michael arrives for work at the clinic, and he is greeted by Ruby, an unhoused drug addict who has lost visitation rights to her 16-year-old son, Terrence. He offers her coffee and doughnuts, and she relays her story to him. After a number of years struggling on the streets when Terrence was young, Ruby asked the Rowlands, a family for whom she had once been a maid, to take him in; she agreed to pay them $50 a month. She maintained the payment and was allowed to visit Terrence every night. She has a substance-abuse disorder, though, and participates in sex work to make a living, so social services dictated that the Rowlands would be Terrence’s new parents and that Ruby would have no visitation until she had maintained sobriety for 60 days.

While Michael tries to piece through Ruby’s story and figure out how he can help her, Lieutenant Gasko, the cop who invaded Claire’s apartment, busts into the legal clinic with three other policemen. Gasko and company speak loudly and harshly and make sharp movements, intimidating everyone in the clinic and one potential client who enters unaware. They present a legitimate search warrant for the eviction file to Mordecai, but Michael assures him that the file is not in the clinic. Mordecai takes over, telling Gasko they can look at all the files in the office, but they cannot open them because of confidentiality. Of course, the cops do not find the file, and they leave with no comment.

Mordecai and Michael visit DC Central Kitchen in search of Kevin Lam, another River Oaks evictee. Lam is gruff and somewhat tight-lipped, but he does confirm some important information: He lived at the warehouse for four months, paid $100 rent in cash to a guy named Johnny, and got abruptly evicted without any paperwork or notification. He also shares that the apartments had electricity, doors that locked, and a community bathroom. Michael gives Lam his card, and they leave.

Later, back at the clinic, Michael and Mordecai strategize about how best to build their case against River Oaks, Drake & Sweeney, and TAG. They decide their case is not complicated, but there are some significant obstacles. The details of the illegal eviction are clear, but they will have to manage getting testimony from several unhoused people, who will be hard to find and may have been threatened by Tillman Gantry. They would also have to locate Hector and convince him to talk. They brainstorm until midnight, writing and revising multiple arguments. Michael observes that Mordecai sees the case as “a watershed,” but Michael views it less dramatically, as “simply a way to correct a wrong” (230).

Daily morning visits from Ruby have become a habit, and Michael always makes sure to have coffee and something to eat. She is still using drugs, and Michael makes a mental note to begin helping her find treatment.

Mordecai, Sofia, Abraham, and Michael participate in a rally for Lontae Burton, the “largest homeless march in the past ten years” (233). Thousands of others attend, including unhoused people, “foot soldiers” from CCNV, busses of people from various churches, volunteers from shelters and kitchens throughout the city, some politicians, and many others. Several speakers engage the crowd on topics such as inadequate funding for people without homes, lack of compassion from the middle and upper classes, the court system’s rapid move toward conservative views, and others. Mordecai, who speaks last, does not present an argument on any of those topics; instead, he captivates the crowd with the gut-wrenching story of the Burtons’ last days. Everyone, including Michael, is mesmerized by his skillful storytelling. Michael muses that Mordecai will be incredibly persuasive to a jury, but then quickly realizes that their case will probably never reach trial because “[n]o defense team in its right mind would allow Mordecai Green to preach to a black jury in this city” (235).

Michael at first feels out of place in the march, but he gets used to it, and feels proud to be protesting for a cause he believes in. After a few hours, Michael leaves to continue work on his cases.

Returning to the Palmas’ old apartment building, Michael knocks on several neighbors’ doors and inquires about the family. Mostly through closed or barely open doors, he asks if any of them know where the Palmas went; they all claim they know nothing. He does not get very far with this approach, however, as someone complains and he is chased away by a security guard.

Michael admits that he is lonely. His previous workaholic lifestyle did not leave much time for friends, and now he has no companionship. After some tacos, he drives around the city, avoiding going back to his apartment. He does not want to face its emptiness, but he also suspects the police might be waiting there to arrest him. After staking out his apartment from a couple of blocks away, he determines it is safe to return. He has received a voice mail from his parents, who say they want to come visit, and Michael imagines they will try to “talk some sense” into him (241). He watches television for a while, then calls Claire just to talk. A man answers and says she is in the shower, which sends Michael into a whirlwind of self-hatred.

Michael has taken to reading Ruby stories from the newspaper because she is mostly illiterate. In conversation, he learns that Ruby usually sleeps in her car, which does not have a heater, and this worries him. He tells her that in order to see Terrence, she must live in a detox center for a while and that he has arranged for her to stay at Naomi’s Women’s Center, the place where she usually spends her days, as long as she attends two AA/NA meetings a day. She reluctantly agrees, and he drives her to Naomi’s.

Sofia informs Michael that the Palmas have moved to Chicago and gives him their new address.