A lawyer preparing his biggest closing argument can no longer pay his dry-cleaning bill

Evidence

It was Monday morning, July 14, and the plump, good-natured woman at the dry cleaner’s on Charles Street wouldn’t let Schlichtmann have his charcoal-gray suit, his lucky suit. She produced an overdue bill of $294 and shook her head sadly. Gordon, it seemed, had finally given up. He’d let Schlichtmann down. He had stopped paying the dry-cleaning bill. — , Harr Jonathan - A Civil Action, 2268

Categorization

• CANDY: The defendant corporations’ lawyers are in court; the plaintiff’s lawyer can’t redeem his lucky suit for $294.
• XREF: Connects to the ledger of contingency-case economics — parallel to the slow-motion insolvency of a personal-injury practice.