“Live Aid” and Thoughts on 25 Years Before the Bar

Remember “Live Aid”? I do. The day-long concert to help raise money to reduce famine in Ethiopia took place July 13, 1985. Two concerts were held simultaneously in London and Philadelphia. Two billion people in 60 countries watched it. Legends like Queen, Paul McCartney, Elvis Costello, David Bowie, U2 and a personal favorite, Adam Ant, performed in London. In Philly, you saw Madonna, Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones and Duran Duran. Why do we care? We are coming up on the 25th anniversary of this momentous event and a number of events are scheduled to mark the milestone. It is also the 25th anniversary of my taking (and thankfully passing) the New York State bar exam, which happened a mere two weeks after Live Aid.

I was truly torn. I am a music kid, raised by a child prodigy mother who did not pass any talent but did pass a love of music to her son (Mom performed concerts with Leonard Bernstein when only 8 years old and went on to Julliard while still in high school). In college at the University of Pennsylvania I became Program Director of the school’s student radio station, WQHS. All through law school at Penn I continued to have an air shift as well. While in law school, the guy who ran WQHS with me and I bought an actual radio station, down in Florida. He went to run it while I stayed in law school, raised money to keep it going, etc. But that’s another story.

I really wanted to do nothing on July 13 but watch Live Aid. Rumors that the Beatles (minus the late John Lennon but possibly with his son) might get back together were circulating (it didn’t happen). It was just the biggest thing ever at the time. Ultimately I compromised with myself. I busted my hump the day before and the day after studying, then watched about half the concert live and taped the other half to watch later (not as fun). I guess it was a fair choice, since I managed to pass the bar. Twenty-five years ago.

I have seen much in my 25 years “before the bar.” The market crash of 1987 during which my active investor office-mate couldn’t even get through on the phone to his broker (no computer trading then). The go-go 1990s and the emergence of the Internet and email, changing in many dramatic and (mostly) good ways the practice of law. The desperation of those who committed everything only to see the Internet boom turn to bust in the early 2000s, leading to the demise of virtually every middle sized law firm based in New York. The Great Recession of the last few years testing everything and everyone to the limit, leading to the loss of tens of thousands of lawyer jobs, suddenly whipping the rug out from under the presumption that new lawyers will always have work.

And, well, yes I’ve seen quite a bit in terms of my client experiences. As a young whipper-snapper in my early years in my own firm, I thought I had the knowledge I needed to service my clients. Ultimately the greatest knowledge was knowing what I did not know. If unsure, I checked. And yes, always learning new things. Talent matters a great deal. Attitude in some ways even more so. But experience, well that’s irreplacable. And I’ve got me some now! Here’s to whatever the next 25 years will bring…

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