Remembrance of Things Past

[captainsblog]

I ran into L. in court this morning.

L. was admitted to the Bar the year I was born. Until the recent marketing trend of shortening Bigass Law Firm Names down to those of two senior partners at most, his name was part of one of the midsized shops in town, and he is still the seniormost among those still practicing with that firm on a daily basis.

I have no business being friends with him. He was a major league lawyer when I barely qualified to be a Batavia Muckdog in A-ball, 22 years ago. But then my mentor, and one of his best friends, died at the age of 47 (I'm 48, those of you keeping score at home), and I needed to call in every chip to save what was left of our practice in that area.

Must be, I impressed him a little. He impressed me a lot. In time, I got to know him a little better through our common connections of cases, and in off-hour efforts sponsored by our common law school and community center, and I found, among other things, that he was a damned good photographer.

He has every right to send some green-horn kid to court in his stead, but this morning, as with many mornings over the past decades, he waived that right and sent himself. He never fails to tell a good war story, he always asks about how things are back here in Buffalo (he went to high school and law school here), and I will be sad when the day comes, hopefully in 2047, when I no longer get to shoot the shit with him.

I only vaguely remember when this profession was the home of gentlemen. L. is one of the reasons I don't completely forget.

Comments

[luckycee.livejournal.com]

It's a rare gift indeed to have a true role model.