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SKADDEN

POWER, MONEY, AND THE RISE OF A LEGAL EMPIRE

Illuminating, extraordinarily candid history of the mega-law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom—one of a handful of firms that, within the last 20 years, have fundamentally changed the American law business. Relying heavily on interviews with past and present Skadden associates and partners, Caplan (An Open Adoption, 1990, etc.) presents an all-around picture of this unique firm: its post-WW II genesis on ``April Fools' Day in 1948'' by three lawyers who hadn't achieved partnership at established firms; its dominance in the 70's and 80's of the heady world of corporate takeovers; its frenetic and workaholic character; its rapid accumulation of capital from its takeover business; and its growth into a high- quality, full-service firm. Joseph Flom, Skadden's first associate (and the only surviving name-partner) emerges here as the architect of the mergers and acquisitions business that made Skadden the force it is today; and in telling how he and other aggressive partners developed a distinctive niche in corporate law, Caplan also tells the tale of how American law practice in general has grown and altered. As he points out, many other large law firms have mirrored Skadden's growth over the decades: its attempts, with little early success, to become a profitable international firm with offices in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Frankfurt, Paris, and London; its formal pro bono program, offering fellowships to lawyers to practice in the area of ``public interest'' law; its acquisition of smaller firms in order to expand practice areas; its arbitrary decisions to make new partners; and its painful downsizing in the early 1990's, as the flood tide of corporate takeovers ebbed and then dried up. A convincing portrait in microcosm of the transformation of a once-sleepy profession into a giant, though troubled, global industry.

Pub Date: Nov. 24, 1993

ISBN: 0-374-26566-6

Page Count: 356

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1993

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THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS

FROM MEAN STREETS TO WALL STREET

Well-told and admonitory.

Young-rags-to-mature-riches memoir by broker and motivational speaker Gardner.

Born and raised in the Milwaukee ghetto, the author pulled himself up from considerable disadvantage. He was fatherless, and his adored mother wasn’t always around; once, as a child, he spied her at a family funeral accompanied by a prison guard. When beautiful, evanescent Moms was there, Chris also had to deal with Freddie “I ain’t your goddamn daddy!” Triplett, one of the meanest stepfathers in recent literature. Chris did “the dozens” with the homies, boosted a bit and in the course of youthful adventure was raped. His heroes were Miles Davis, James Brown and Muhammad Ali. Meanwhile, at the behest of Moms, he developed a fondness for reading. He joined the Navy and became a medic (preparing badass Marines for proctology), and a proficient lab technician. Moving up in San Francisco, married and then divorced, he sold medical supplies. He was recruited as a trainee at Dean Witter just around the time he became a homeless single father. All his belongings in a shopping cart, Gardner sometimes slept with his young son at the office (apparently undiscovered by the night cleaning crew). The two also frequently bedded down in a public restroom. After Gardner’s talents were finally appreciated by the firm of Bear Stearns, his American Dream became real. He got the cool duds, hot car and fine ladies so coveted from afar back in the day. He even had a meeting with Nelson Mandela. Through it all, he remained a prideful parent. His own no-daddy blues are gone now.

Well-told and admonitory.

Pub Date: June 1, 2006

ISBN: 0-06-074486-3

Page Count: 320

Publisher: Amistad/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2006

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BLACK BOY

A RECORD OF CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH

This autobiography might almost be said to supply the roots to Wright's famous novel, Native Son.

It is a grim record, disturbing, the story of how — in one boy's life — the seeds of hate and distrust and race riots were planted. Wright was born to poverty and hardship in the deep south; his father deserted his mother, and circumstances and illness drove the little family from place to place, from degradation to degradation. And always, there was the thread of fear and hate and suspicion and discrimination — of white set against black — of black set against Jew — of intolerance. Driven to deceit, to dishonesty, ambition thwarted, motives impugned, Wright struggled against the tide, put by a tiny sum to move on, finally got to Chicago, and there — still against odds — pulled himself up, acquired some education through reading, allied himself with the Communists — only to be thrust out for non-conformity — and wrote continually. The whole tragedy of a race seems dramatized in this record; it is virtually unrelieved by any vestige of human tenderness, or humor; there are no bright spots. And yet it rings true. It is an unfinished story of a problem that has still to be met.

Perhaps this will force home unpalatable facts of a submerged minority, a problem far from being faced.

Pub Date: Feb. 28, 1945

ISBN: 0061130249

Page Count: 450

Publisher: N/A

Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1945

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