Happy Anniversary to Us

November 15, 1994 was a big date for me. That's the day my partner Paul and I founded our law firm: Paul & Dave, P.A. I wrote to Paul, reminding him of our 17th anniversary. Did I get a box of candy, or flowers? Not at all, though a bottle of Ketel One would have been the more appropriate gift.

The years truly have a way of flying by. All the good times and riches and son of a bitches (to steal from Jimmy Buffet) we've encountered are starting to mesh in my memory.

And yet, I clearly recall the beginning. We left our old firm after the Big Man told Paul he would no longer pay him the same percentage of the fees he generated. I think the Big Man and his partner figured that I, 11 years younger than Paul, and already on a lower shared fee scale, would bring in enough business, and could handle the associate duties. They didn't know Paul and I had already planned to leave...

The plan, such as it was, was that Paul would find us space, get situated, while I stayed behind to watch over our interests. I couldn't do it. A few hours after Paul resigned, I went in to the Big Man and told him I was leaving, too.

I met Paul at our satellite office, Tobacco Road. He was expecting to hear the buzz about his departure --instead I told him I was now unemployed like he was. He laughed --he already knew that, despite my calm, agreeable demeanor, no one gets to tell me what to do!

I passed a bum on the way to my car, and he asked for money. I gave him a dollar, but told him that our salaries were the same --actually, he was earning more than I was.

Paul and I started searching for space --North Miami, Coral Gables, Lincoln Road (in retrospect, Lincoln Road would have been the most fun choice, and probably would have put us out of business fastest, although Wifey might have been replaced by a struggling young model from the Midwest...)

We ended up moving into an office suite in the former Centrust Building --Miami's signature tower, which was lit at night with multicolor floods... It still is.

We assembled our staff, with the ensuing dramas there, and worked day and night. Failure was not, to use the cliche, an option.

We gave charity. We were absurdly blessed with good luck. I did a freebie case for a woman, who cried in gratitude when I told her I wasn't going to charge her the $1000 fee she owed, and that woman ended up referring us close a HUGE amount of business...

We were totally on the make. Everyone we met got our pitch, and a firm brochure, and, probably, a gourmet dinner.

We played, royally. We traveled the world. We sported our friends and families on the greatest trips thay would ever take in their lives --always top of the line.

And, fortunately, we saved and saved, and, lived below our means...

It was a heady time...