This man was sitting across from me on the subway, holding what...

This man was sitting across from me on the subway, holding what appeared to be a spine. I asked if he was a chiropractor. “I’m a lawyer,” he said. “I’m coming back from court.”
"How’d it go?" I asked.
"Not too good," he answered, laughing. "My client lied to me. She told me she didn’t go back to work after her injury. Turned out that wasn’t true."

Then another man who was sitting nearby joined our conversation. He began to tell the lawyer about his own legal problems. He was apparently involved in a personal injury lawsuit of his own, stemming from a fall he took from the top of a bunk bed, during a stint at a rehab facility. 
As the man unloaded the details of his case, the lawyer heard him out, giving sympathetic nods and doling out vague expressions of support. The man left thinking that the lawyer agreed with him 100%.

The lawyer and I got off at the same stop. After we left the train, I asked: “So what did you think about that man’s case?”
"It’s awful," he said. "But I didn’t want to break his heart."