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tHree firM DeCisions
for my interviews in August 1969, about eighteen years before. Joe had gone on to become a very well-thought-of corporate partner, a close colleague of mine, and the partner at Rosenman to whom I had turned when I had retained the firm for the RTC. Not only had he and I worked together on the Land Fund, we had what I believed to be a good deal of respect for each other. Joe was a person who would go directly to the point, and he wasted no time before he told me that the Rosenman firm wanted me to come back and work on the real estate aspects of complex financing and securities transactions that were about to inundate the firm. I was, he said, the only one whom he could trust to do the job. I was totally unprepared for the conversation, so I thanked him and told him that I would get back to him after the weekend.
That night Kathy and I dined at Eastchester Fish Gourmet, a res- taurant that we had come to like (healthful food and all that), even though we thought that “Gourmet” was a bit of a stretch. I could tell that the idea of returning to Rosenman had (unexpectedly) created a certain amount of excitement in me, and Kathy, wise woman that she was (and is), had apparently seen that, probably before I did. It was also true that she felt that going back into the old environment (and being well com- pensated for doing so) was probably good for my sanity, not to mention hers. So: a complete reversal. Writing books would wait. Even the fish tasted good.
I called Joe back after the weekend, and we ironed out the “details.” As far as I was concerned, there was only one promise that I wished to extract: I wanted never to be compelled to attend a law firm meeting again or to have any real administrative responsibilities. I just wanted to “do deals.” No problem. I would be “of counsel” at Rosenman rather than a partner. Fine with me. I was willing to start after the Memorial Day weekend, during which Kathy and I were going to Martha’s Vineyard. Fine with Joe. I was excited and, I admit it, probably relieved. Kathy was pleased and, she would admit it, very relieved.
My reimmersion started a lot sooner than I was prepared for, how- ever. On Wednesday, as we were about to leave for the Vineyard, I received a call from my old friend Bob Fisher, a corporate partner who
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