Charles Kramer, The Levison Group
Easter Sunday. Ten p.m. I was in a medium-sized brick room, inside an only slightly larger building, located in the City of St. Louis, and nestled in the shadow of a now-Belgian brewery, which used to be the pride of the American beer business. I was surrounded by more than two hundred people and a thirty something tattooed man who served drinks from the corner. A guitar playing musician and his band danced across a makeshift stage that spanned one end of the venue. It was not the place most would expect to find themselves on Easter Sunday night. Moreover, even if one were to end up in such a circumstance, it is unlikely they would ever expect that, in the midst of such an unlikely environment, they would end up discussing “the Law”.
Yet, on March 31, 2013, on a sixty degree evening following a span of ridiculously unseasonably cold weather, in a place located a block off of the Gateway City’s Broadway avenue (called, imaginatively, “Off Broadway”), I found myself in just such a place, having just such a discussion. Call it fate.
The band had just begun its first set and the singer/leader/guitar player had grabbed the microphone, when I overheard a woman in front of me say above the music, “I hear his real name is Sean Scolnick”
“No wonder he goes by Langhorne Slim,” the guy she was with had laughed.
And then, for no apparent reason, he had turned, looked at me and asked,
“What do you know about the Law?”
I was dressed in black denim jeans, an olive shirt, and four year old puma cross trainers. We hadn’t spoken a word up to that point. Under the circumstances, you couldn’t say anything about me somehow screamed “lawyer.”
Yet, something apparently did. I didn’t dawdle to determine whether this was a good thing, or a bad thing. Potential business being potential business, I simply rose to the challenge.
“Quite a bit, actually, “ I answered. “Why?”
“We drove in from Chicago” was all I heard of his response.
I glanced at his date. She didn’t appear to be even close to underage, a professional, or raise any other issues. Neither she nor he had a drink in their hand. They did not appear to be indulging in illegal recreational substances. I couldn’t figure out what legal issue they were concerned with. So, I asked again.
“Sorry, didn’t hear you. Is there any particular aspect of the Law that you’re asking about?”
“Well,” he said, dropping his voice suddenly as the song came to an end, “I don’t really know much at all. What have you heard?”
Suddenly it dawned on me that perhaps the woman he was with wasn’t his girlfriend at all. Perhaps he was asking about the recent Supreme Court argument on gay marriage issues.
“If you’re asking about the arguments a few days ago, there won’t be an answer for quite a while,” I explained.
“Hadn’t heard there’d been an argument,” the woman piped in. “Did you, Joey?”
The man just shook his head negatively. Obviously, that wasn’t their concern.
Over the next seven minutes, I raised every current legal issue that I thought could possibly be of interest to the Illinois couple, but with little result. It seemed like we were simply talking past each other, perhaps due to the volume of the music with which we were all enraptured, despite our ongoing conversation. Finally, my friend and client Michael handed me a Jack and Diet Coke, and I turned away from the couple.
“What was all that about?” he asked.
“I’m not really sure,” I said. “They asked me what I knew about the law, but then I couldn’t figure out why they’d asked...”
“What did you tell them?”
I explained our stilted conversation and the more I talked, the more Michael just laughed. Finally, seeing the confusion on my face, he simply pointed to the poster by the door.
Special Easter Concert, March 31, 2013. Special Guest Appearance by the Old Lights and featuring Langhorne Slim and the Law
“I think,” Michael opined, “he was talking about the band.”
—————
Under Analysis is a nationally syndicated column. Charles Kramer is a principal of the St. Louis, Missouri law firm Riezman, Berger, P.C. You may direct comments or criticisms about this column to the Levison Group c/o this newspaper, or direct to the Levison Group via e-mail, at comments@levisongroup.com.
© 2013 Under Analysis L.L.C.
