I was in a room (with pews) which apparently served as a courtroom for juvenile cases. A man who reminded me of Dick Spencer (a Portsmouth businessman) was sitting in one corner. Dressed in an ordinary suit, he was the judge. I awaited my turn as he saw one person after the other. Meanwhile, I noticed a brown-skinned Hispanic boy (about 10 years old) sitting next to me on my left. I realized I had been appointed about a week ago to represent this boy in this court, but his case wasn't scheduled for today. I asked him why he was there today and he handed me his papers. He spoke good English and he told me he had already talked with the judge. The judge had told him to wait and the judge would talk to him again later. The boy also mentioned that the judge had said something about me and the other case in which I was representing the boy.

I looked at the papers. I thought I could probably ask the judge to appoint me to this new case too, but I didn't want to seem as if I were just trying to solicit work. When I looked over the papers, however, I realized I should be appointed to this case. I even realized I should be taking up this boy's cause and "zealously" representing him. I even felt the zeal in my blood.

As I understood this new case, the boy was accused of assaulting a man. But the boy said he had simply been defending himself against the man. I was convinced of the boy's innocence, but when I discussed the matter with the boy, I began to suspect there was more to the story. The boy told me he was living with his parents, but apparently they were hardly ever home. The boy had previously told me he had only been in the U.S. for a year,  but now he let it slip that he had been in the United States longer. When I asked him about the discrepancy in his stories, he asked me what difference it made whether he had been here one year or fifteen years. Clearly he had been lying to me. Now I saw that the boy wasn't as innocent as he had first seemed. But his lying simply made me realize that he did indeed need the assistance of a lawyer. I felt more determined than ever to represent him, even though I was now less sure that he could be helped.

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