Michael was in a hurry. He was scrambling up the ladder at Drake &
Sweeney, a giant D.C. firm with eight hundred lawyers. The money was
good and getting better; a partnership was three years away. He was a
rising star with no time to waste, no time to stop, no time to toss a
few coins into the cups of panhandlers. No time for a conscience. But a
violent encounter with a homeless man stopped him cold. Michael sur
vived his assailant did not. who was this man? Michael did some
digging, and learned that he was a mentally ill veteran who'd been in
and out of shelters for many years. Then Michael dug a little deeper,
and found a dirty secret, and the Secret involuted Drake & Sweeney. The
fast track derailed; the ladder col- lapsed. Michael bolted from the
firm and took a top-secret file with him. He landed in the streets, an
advocate for the homeless, a street lawyer.