Saturday, August 13, 2016

Story Fragment #6: Kindergarten Lawyer

Amanda King walked confidently into the conference room to meet her opposing counsel. The paperwork she had read about this case had convinced her that a mutually agreeable compromise could be reached in no time.

The scene that created her inside the conference room stopped her dead in her tracks, however. Her client, the owner of a local convenience store, sat on one side of the table, looking less than thrilled to be spending his Friday morning in a lawyer's office. Directly across from him, dressed impeccably in a shirt and tie, sat a young man of no more than six. In a chair against the wall sat a twenty-something female, to whom Amanda directed her conversation.

"Good morning. I'm Amanda King, counsel for the plaintiff. Are you representing the defendant?"

The other woman laughed. "No, I'm the mother of the defendant, Katie Hamilton. Miles here is defending himself."

Amanda was speechless. The six-year-old child who was accused of vandalizing her client's store intended to defend himself--and his mother was willing to allow it? This was definitely not something they had covered in law school!