Go Alex!

I've been close for many years to my partner's son, Alex. He's had a very eventful year. He turned 30, got married, and just announced he's leaving his high paying job at Miami's top law firm. I'm extremely proud of him.

Alex has it all. He's model handsome and extremely bright. He finished summa cum laude at Michigan's Business School, and was offered a full scholarship to Miami Law, as well as admission to Northwestern. He thought he'd end up living in Chicago, so chose Northwestern, where he graduated, again, at the top of his class.

Alex is essentially Paul.2. He has all of his father's wonderful qualities, and fewer of his father's not so wonderful ones. He's kinder. He's somewhat less anxious (though still has no SHORTAGE of nervous energy). He has a stable of close, lifelong friends. He's a devoted son, and grandson. He treats his sister like a queen. His nephew thinks he's a god. He had his choice of essentially any young woman he wanted, and he somehow found the best one available, and, as Beyonce advised, "put a ring on (her)." As the brothers say, he got it ALL going on.

He works very hard at whatever he does. After law school, he realized he missed his home, and moved back to Miami. He took the standard track for a top law school graduate --accept a position at a top firm. While he was there, at the beginning, he so impressed his bosses that when a Federal Judge needed a clerk, due to an enexpected pregnancy (the clerk's, not the judge's), the firm asked Alex to take it on.

Now --to folks NOT in the field, clerking doesn't sound like such a big deal. But a FEDERAL judicial clerkship is really the height of recognition for a young lawyer --and Alex acquitted himself with the Judge quite well.

After rejoining his firm, though, he had doubts about hs career path. He shared them with me over the years. His father, my partner, just wanted him to be happy, and never gave a thought to the fact that his son might be giving up an extremely lucrative career.

To my simple observation --the problem was that, at a big firm, until you rise high enough, you remain essentially a "back office guy," --the one who does the boring, tedious legal work. Alex is so clearly a "front office guy," --brimming with charm and personality --the kind who needs to be out with clients, making deals, making things happen.

So --2 weeks ago he gave notice. He's going to focus on building his wife's family business. She, by the way, is a female Alex --beautiful, brilliant, and charming. Danielle and her mother started a business which seems perched on the threshold of much bigger thnigs. Alex is going to take them there.

Alex, his father, and I met at Tobacco Road, our favorite bar and restaurant, to toast Alex's big move. The Road is where PAul and I met when we started OUR firm --15 years ago this November.

Paul, rarely the one to notice symbolism, wanted us to meet there, as his boy embarks upon HIS career adventure.

I see essentially no chance of failure for Alex, with his manifold gifts, and willingness to work very hard. He shares the simple philosophy his father and I employed in building our business: "Whatever it takes."

Who knows -- maybe I'll follow Alex's youthful inspiration and quit chasing ambulances. Maybe Alex will end up missing the law and take over OUR firm. (He has an easy safety net --his firm would take him back in a heartbeat, and if they didn't, his education and work pedigree would get him another law job instantly).

For now, though, I'm just thrilled for him. This is a kid going big places, and I want to hear the tales he'll have to tell.