An Early Decision Sign honoring the passing of Augustine Bowe (1892-1966) on the Unity Building, site of the Bowe & Bowe law offices from the 1910s to the 1950s At about the age of 14 or so, I decided that I would become a lawyer. I would follow in the path of my namesake father and [...]

Roan & Grossman Robert Grossman & Frank Roanopening the Chicago law firm's Sarasota, Florida office 1977 The newly organized Roan & Grossman offices were on the 16th floor of 120 South LaSalle Street in the Loop. My office in the firm’s space had a large window with a perfectly nice view of similar windows on the [...]

The Nature of the Law Practice I had traded the apparent security of the large Ross, Hardies law firm for what I thought would be a faster development as a lawyer in the more entrepreneurial environment of a small firm. Whereas Ross, Hardies at the time had large business clients such as a major automobile company and large natural [...]

Fabsteel Fletcher Thorne-Thomsen, Saudi Arabia 1977 The Fabsteel Company was a steel fabricating business with operations in Waskom, Texas. My law firm had initially represented its general manager Fletcher Thorne-Thomsen. A Shreveport resident, the concern he headed was a subsidiary of Universal Oil Products. UOP (now Honeywell UOP) at the time was a leading international licensor of [...]

The Chicago Reader The Chicago Reader was an alternative newspaper that sprang up in Chicago in the 1970s and recently celebrated its 50th anniversary. I worked on some of their corporate issues from time to time and the firm regularly reviewed its content for possible libel exposures. These First Amendment issues were frequent year in and [...]