One afternoon many years ago in New York City, a young man sat in an old man’s office high up in a skyscraper close to Wall Street. I was the young man, fresh from my second year of law school and close to the end of a summer internship at Milibank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy. The old man was John J. McCloy. He was the senior partner of the firm and a renowned lawyer. He was also the former United States High Commissioner of Germany following World War II and a former head of the Central Intelligence Agency. And he was a good story teller.
I don’t remember whether I was invited or invited myself, but I was privileged to spend most of the afternoon with Mr. McCloy. I was fascinated by all the things he had seen and done, and he rewarded my interest with his personal recollections and thoughts. Inevitably we came to what should be expected of a lawyer. Mr. McCloy said:
“People will come to you with their problems looking for advice, and they’ll pay you for it. Don’t wishy wash around with, ‘on the one hand and on the other.’ Tell them what they should do. That’s why you’re there.”
In Atlanta, George a year later, a dozen fledgling lawyers who had been fortunate to be hired by Alston, Miller & Gaines, including me, listened to Philip Alston’s welcoming remarks. Mr. Philip, as he was referred to by everyone, was a distinguished lawyer and a Southern gentleman. Mr. Philip said this:
“We practice good law here. We want you to do the same.”
I think all of us knew what he meant. We would know the law, we would be honest, and we would give the firm’s clients sound advice. We would be polite and gracious.
My mission statement rests on those two encounters with two great lawyers. I will know the law. I will be scrupulously honest. I will not leave clients with a list of options and no idea of which one to choose. I will tell them which one is best, and I will tell them what they should do. My advice will be prudent and economical. I will take care of them. And I will behave like a gentleman, to friends and foes alike.