Page 2 - Robert Fink Interview

ROBERT
Interviewed by Jerald David August
AN EXPERT WITH A NATIONAL REPUTATION AS A TRIAL LAWYER IN FEDERAL AND STATE TAX MATTERS SHARES INSIGHTS ON THE EVOLUTION OF GOVERNMENT PROSECUTION RELATED TO THE INTERNAL REVENUE LAWS.
QLet’s start off Bob with your background information, such as why were you interested in becoming a lawyer?
AMy father, Samuel Miles Fink, was a well-known lawyer specializing in international law. He was the senior partner at Fink & Pavia, now known as Pavia & Harcourt. He died when I was 15 years old. All my life, I wished to emulate my father, and so after college, I went to New York University Law School. After years of watching Perry Mason, I thought the only lawyer to be was a litigator. I wanted to join a small law firm and in the pre-computer age, the first place someone looked was Martindale- Hubbell, a book where all fine law firms were listed. I narrowed my search to five or six firms, one of which was Kostelanetz & Ritholz, which had described its practice as “trials and appeals.” In the spring of 1968, I was interviewed by Boris Kostelanetz and Jules Ritholz. I found them both charming and, unbeknownst to me, they had a particular interest in me. In the summer of 1967 I had worked at the office of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York with an Assistant U.S. Attorney who had another case opposing Kostelanetz & Ritholz. I didn’t know it at the time but evidently they were discussing my possible future employment.
30 BUSINESS ENTITIES
November/December 2015
INTERVIEW