Early Monday morning, an attorney who was working for me accompanied me to a building which looked as if it housed a large gymnasium. Instead of a ballgame, however, a bankruptcy court was going to be held in building. Judge Abramson was going to be conducting the court, which was supposed to begin at 9 o'clock.

As the other attorney and I stood outside the building, I reflected on why I was here: I was supposed to be representing a man, his wife, and another person in the court. In each case I had prepared Chapter 13 bankruptcy plans of debt adjustment which were scheduled to be confirmed this morning. Since I had undertaken some extra work in each case, I wanted to add an extra $300 attorney fees to each plan to be paid to me through the bankruptcy plans; this money would be in addition to the regular fees which I had already charged.

I, however, had a bit of a problem: I was only wearing a white tee shirt. Although I was wearing a tie with the tee shirt, the tee shirt would be inappropriate in court. I finally decided it would be best if I waited outside and sent the other attorney into the courtroom to handle my cases. I began explaining to the other attorney what needed to be done in court. Finally the other attorney went inside, while I stood outside, peering in through one of the small, pane glass windows which covered this side of the building.

The judge wasn't supposed to begin hearing cases until 9 o'clock; however, when he walked into the courtroom and took his seat on the bench (a bench to the left of the window through which I was looking), I looked at my watch and saw that it was twenty-two until nine. It appeared unfair to me that Abramson had begun his court before the proper time. He appeared to be in a surly mood. Probably 200 people were sitting in folding chairs to my right in the gymnasium.

By this time I wasn't so concerned about getting the extra $300 for each case; I just wanted to make sure my bankruptcy plans were confirmed. I thought if the attorney simply brought the changes in the plans to judge Abramson's attention, Abramson would realize why the changes were being made and would have no problem authorizing the extra payments; my clients would simply have to pay a small additional amount each month under their plans.

Other people, including many bankruptcy debtors, were still arriving. Most didn't go inside; instead they gathered around where I was to watch what was taking place inside. Some debtors even pressed up close to me; I finally had to move to get away from them.

Finally the man and wife who were my clients showed up and wanted to know what to do. I told them not to worry, to just be patient and that everything would work out. I also told them not to leave yet, because I was unsure whether any objections have been filed to their bankruptcy plan. I thought everything would work out, but I wasn't completely sure yet; it was possible that an objection had been filed which hadn't yet reached me. I didn't want them to leave until I was sure. The woman mentioned something about an objection being filed by the creditor who was owed for a student loan which she had. I told her not to worry about it; I knew that I usually received objections at least five days before the confirmation hearing, and I hadn't received any in this case.

Finally I walked around and looked inside the building from another window. I was searching for the attorney who was working for me to make sure he was inside taking care of everything. I couldn't see him, but I did see Alcorn (a Dallas attorney), dressed in a suit and tie and wearing glasses, sitting on the other side of the room, talking with some people. I knew Alcorn also worked for me; but he couldn't see me and I didn't know if he knew what was going on this morning. Finally I saw a man walk outside not far from me; I thought the man was Alcorn, but when I hollered and he turned to look at me, I saw that he wasn't Alcorn.

As the judge talked for a while, I thought I didn't want him to see me out here dressed in my tee shirt. Suddenly the judge stood and it looked as if he were headed in my direction. I was quite startled and I thought he was coming to ask me about something. Instead, he walked to the back of the room, circled around and came outside about 20 meters from me to my right. He stopped in front of an elevator and put on some headphones; he was apparently waiting for an elevator. Finally he boarded the elevator and left.

A moment later I looked again, and saw another younger fellow (probably in his late 20s) dressed in a rather striking blue suit, white shirt and tie standing in front of the elevator. He was also wearing headphones. I decided to leave and I walked toward the fellow; when I reached him, I realized he was Paul Gannon (an acquaintance whom I met in Portsmouth, Ohio around 1970). He was slender and had black hair. He seemed to have a cheerful disposition and as I passed, I said jokingly, "I thought you were somebody important." He spoke up and said he had traded in his boots for the shoes which he was wearing; he said the shoes made him look better.

I continued on my way toward some steps which I needed to walk down. Sitting at the top of the steps, in front of me, was a large green bicycle which belonged to me, as well as a second bicycle which belonged to me. I thought I needed to carry the bicycles to the bottom of the steps and leave them there until I was ready to leave. I didn't want to carry them down at the moment, but I was afraid if I didn't, the bicycles might be stolen. At the moment I was more concerned with ascertaining that everything had gone all right with my cases, rather than worrying about bicycles.

Abramson was also still on my mind: what could be done about him? It seemed as if he were becoming ever more unfair. Perhaps some bankruptcy attorneys should get together and report him to the judicial grievance committee.

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