‘ Paul Cravath (Cravath Swaine & Moore)

‘ John Sterling (S&S)

‘ John W. Davis (Davis Polk)

‘ Alexander Morrison (Morrison & Foerster)

‘ Robert R. McCormick (Kirkland & Ellis)

‘ Leonard Janofsky (Paul Hastings)

‘ Peter Gray (Baker & Botts)

We would of structure a brilliant panel discussion about the evolution of the great law firms of America.  But what I would like to do is make them the students for two or three days about technology and the way deals are done and cases are litigated today. 

I’d bet a pair of tickets to a Michigan game that by the end of the seminar they would “get it.” They’d be using their Blackberry, working their cell phones, deploying teams of lawyers to acquire the planet Mars. 

But I am also certain that they would tell us about the fundamentals of ❏ face to face communication with colleagues and clients ❏ the importance of doing it once and doing it right ❏ the culture of excellence and service ❏ the importance of valuing a client’s time as much you value your own.  The greatest generation of the legal profession could teach all of us a bit about the truly important parts of practicing law.  Would Cravath be on Twitter? Not likely. Would all of the be on LinkedIn.  You bet. Did you know Sullivan & Cromwell was the first firm to have telephones?  Shearman & Sterling was the second.  Chuckle if you will but that was cutting edge in 1893.

 Boomer Bashing - I make no judgment about the contributions of my generation - the Boomers. I’ll leave that to outsiders and historians. We’ve accomplished a lot but we’ve hit the wall on a bunch of issues. The fundamental greatness of the nation remains as strong as ever - but we also more than any other generation succumbed to materialism, wallowed in self adoration and pity, and were willing to drive over our competitors, colleagues, and family to accomplish some objectives which are frankly as stupid as they are selfish

Our generation was idealistic, impatient, and restless. We pushed institutions to change and refined the art of non-violent protest in the streets and on the  campuses. We were creative and brilliant and determined. The technologies introduced in the last  30 years are nothing short of remarkable.

But along the way we drifted back to the center, focused on materialism, lost our passion and succumbed to many of the other bad habits of our elders. We weren’t close to perfect but I’d say we did well in many ways. I’d give us a B with room for improvement.