FINDING GOLD. PART 2.

The best thing I found when I cleaned out my desk after 25 years was my friend Irwin Alterman's "Reflections on a Legal Career." He died in 2013, after an almost 60-year legal career as an antitrust trial lawyer in Detroit. We met in 2008 when we worked together defending a $600,000,000 case, the biggest of my career, in South Dakota against the Little Caesars Pizza franchise company, owned by Mike Ilitch who also owned the Tigers and the Red Wings. We ultimately won the case and the 8th Circuit affirmed, much to our (and the client's) relief. For our victory, we each got a framed photograph of Mr. Ilitch -- which I also unearthed as I cleaned out my office. Our Caesars case took about 4 years, and Irwin and I spent many hours together at depositions and over dry Rob Roys at a classic Detroit steakhouse surrounded by metal fences (a remembrance of the 1967 riots) or at Minerva's, a great spot in Sioux Falls.

The best part of Irwin's recollections is his 10 Guiding Principles. There's no doubt to those who knew him that he lived them every day. It's never too late to learn (principle #2), so I am including them for all to read, especially my BU law students.

1.     Perfect your image. In Irwin's ironic words, "image is unrelated to talent, so everyone can achieve this goal."

2.     Learning is lifelong. Read, read, read.

3.     Understand the problem. Stop talking and listen.

4.     Work hard. "If the opposition starts working at 8, you start at 7."

5.     Solve the problem. Don't tell the client he has a problem; the client knows he has a problem. Solve it.

6.     Marketing is 24/7. For someone who never had cable, a CD or tape player, Irwin was a prodigious marketer -- not through brochures or email blasts, but through "good work which speaks for itself."

7.     Lead a full life. Exercise your mind and body. Contribute to the law. Do community service.

8.     Enjoy your career. Have some fun as a lawyer. Opposing counsel once served Irwin, his occasional tennis partner, a brief in tennis ball can. Loosen up.

9.     Feel honored. People trust me, said Irwin. People pay me to learn about them and their problem. Be honored to help.

10.  Your good name. It's your most important asset and it lives on after you're gone.

And, so my friend, hail and farewell. ALP