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Do a JoB—Harvey tHe litiGator
personality of many of those who were drawn to the litigation side of the profession.
I liked Arnold Roth a lot. I loved Asa Sokolow. Even if I switched departments, I would remain friends with them. And with Joel Walter Sternman, who was one year my senior in litigation (and, naturally, Yale Law Journal), notwithstanding our first words together: to make intro- ductory small talk, I had said that my middle name was Joel, and he replied, with a straight face, that his was Harvey—and I stupidly believed him. I’ve said enough about Gerry Walpin. I didn’t really know Larry Eno, but I did know that Stuie Rabinowitz said that he would hide under his desk if he heard Eno coming. And, although I felt Max to be tena- cious and imaginative, I felt that, because of his power, I’d be tied into him for years, and working with him was not what I would have called pleasant.
I liked the idea of being in a transactional practice and learning substantive, rather than procedural, law. And I liked George Gordon. Further, I learned that a talented associate in his department, William Friedman, had just been dismissed (for ethical transgressions) and that a large gap now existed. (Friedman’s would be big shoes to fill: in addition to carrying somewhat of a full load, he was doing questionable tax shelter work for his own account and, obviously, without supervi- sion. Years later, when I was working at the Resolution Trust Corporation in Washington, I learned that Friedman had become vice chairman of the San Jacinto Savings and Loan in Texas and had been indicted after the RTC took over the institution, which was about $200 million under water.)
Thus, summoning up the courage that I would not have been able to summon up if I fully understood how truly powerful Max Freund was, I went to his office at some point while I was analyzing damage claims for him and told him that although I really loved his firm and wanted to remain, I felt that I wished to pursue a career in real estate and that, as it turned out, the firm needed a new lawyer in that area.
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