Thank you, Richard Lapidus

If you're lucky, there comes into your life at least one person who touches your heart and etches themselves into your soul.   My first boss, Richard Lapidus, was that person in my life.  He was irascible  and volatile to some:  to me, he was passionate and exacting.  From him, I learned how to practice law.  I learned how to research and write compelling arguments. I learned to never stop working on a case until the judge makes their decision or the ink is dry on the agreement.  I learned to never take "it can't be done" as an answer.  That's not why I loved him.
He was a man passionate about his clients.  He gave them his all.  He never gave them his life, however.  Dick knew that his family came first, his Wife and two daughters.   They were the light of his life.  He knew that life without friends and humor is not a life worth living, even when the joke was on him.  He indulged himself with the things he loved - running, scuba diving and environmentalism.  He was secure enough to see legal talent and nurture it, to hope that one day it would surpass his.  He took an insecure young lawyer and helped her see what she could do and be.   Richard died on February 19, 2012.  His loss leaves a gaping hole in my life.  Thank you Dick, for shaping my life and my work.  You made the Trenches possible and I love you for it.