I was representing a legal client in a courtroom which somewhat reminded me of an auditorium. I only vaguely knew the judge (perhaps 50 years old) sitting on the bench. As I stood in front of him and I concluded my case, he asked me whether I had considered working in the area of family law. Although I had previously told him I had decided to work exclusively with criminal law, he proceeded to tell me about a position working for the county government in the family law department.

I had earlier told the judge I had previously worked in the area of oil law. He seemed to think that was impressive and that I would have little difficulty obtaining the family law job. Although I was more interested in criminal law than family law, the idea of having a secure, well-paying job working for the government had some appeal to me. While I listened, I noted someone else wanted to talk with the judge and I said, "I'll talk to you about it later," and I walked away.

I stepped away from the bench and continued pondering the family law proposal. Actually the more I thought of it the less appealing it became. The job would probably involve child support and child custody matters. The area of family law itself didn't appeal to me. If I worked for a county agency, I would probably have to do work I really didn't believe in. Criminal law seemed much more appropriate for me.

As I thought of family law, I envisioned what appeared to be a large junkyard. People were in the junkyard and seemed to represent people with problems with family law. One woman in particular attracted my attention. She was lying on a mattress being held in the air by a crane. Suddenly the crane released its hold and the woman slid off the bed into the back of a dump truck. It seemed rather dangerous to me.

The image faded and as I continued walking through halls of the building, I encountered a woman who was my sister (not my actual sister). Probably in her early 20s, she was thin and had long brown hair.

I hugged her and began talking with her. She was also a lawyer. I hoped someday we might practice law together, but it appeared more and more that I was going to leave the area. I hoped someday I would return and then we could work together.