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tial portion of what he told me was his very large “book of business,” something in which Sutherland was clearly interested. He had arranged for a meeting with some Sutherland managing partners and the heads of its real estate department. The meeting would be in Atlanta in two weeks. Would I join him and some of his other lawyers to explore the marriage(s)? Of course, I would. (Sutherland was underwriting the cost of the trip.)
As you would imagine, I had a real soft spot for the economic capi- tal of the South. After all, not only was it here that I had gotten to work with my favorite client, John Portman, on the transaction that was the most formative in my early career, but it was also here that I had been presented with my first pair of boxer shorts. (If you are mystified by this reference, please return to the section in Chapter Twenty-Five called “Give My Regards . . . [One].”)
You could not help but be impressed by your introduction to the Southern office of Sutherland Asbill & Brennan. To enter Sutherland’s Atlanta reception area was to enter one of the most beautiful and well- appointed offices that I had ever seen; it had been featured in Architectural Digest. So there I was, seated at a sparkling mahogany conference table, this one with a view of the new downtown Atlanta, centering on Port- man’s large cluster of office buildings and hotels known as Peachtree Center. After the pleasantries, I nursed a cup of coffee, served on china, for what seemed like a full half hour, while Charles enumerated clients and transactions, current and prospective, on three continents. I was impressed. I was also impressed by the attorneys who had traveled to Georgia with Charles. And I was impressed by the Sutherland represen- tatives. After each of us had reviewed his or her working experience for our interviewers, and questions were asked and answered by one and all, the senior Sutherland partner at the table told us that he would contact his counterpart in Washington to set up a similar meeting. Thus, it was on to the D.C. office for a repeat performance.
The D.C. office, which was decorated in an impressive and dignified style, was well located (in a modern building on Pennsylvania Avenue, near the White House), although it was too close to the extremely ugly
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