Forty years ago this month I was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar. It therefore seems like a fitting occasion for me to reflect on how law practice has changed during that time, on what remains the same, and on the attributes and values that continue to make law a noble profession. I remember December 1980 as a cold, dark month, made colder and darker by the shocking murder of one of my idols, John Lennon. I was one of 18 new lawyers at the law firm then known as Hale and Dorr (now WilmerHale). Ronald Reagan had just won his first Presidential election, American hostages were being held in Iran, the Cold War was very much alive, and the nation was in the grips of a recession. I became a lawyer just as big law was beginning to think about getting bigger, and some industry practices were just beginning to change. In 1980 our bills to clients were one- or two-line affairs that simply said "For legal services rendered," followed by a dollar amount. Our assistants were still cal
Meditations on Law and Life