“No man is an island entire of itself . . .” John Donne’s famous words provide a powerful prompt heading into Thanksgiving. The past six months flew by as I consumed myself with planning and executing the launch of Wolfe Law, and then represented the firm’s first clients in a slew of matters ranging from pre-litigation negotiations over restrictive covenants, to business litigation, to outside general counsel services. If no man is an island, certainly no law firm is an island.
Here are some of my reflections on the people who have enriched my life and contributed to my success. To respect the privacy of friends and clients, I used only the names of immediate family members in this post. As Wolfe Law grows in the years to come, an annual Thanksgiving inventory of all who helped me and the firm grow will keep the firm committed to serving with integrity, exceptional quality, and maximized client value.
- I am grateful to my wife Britt, who devoted countless hours analyzing, evaluating, and critiquing my plan for Wolfe Law. Now that my efforts directly benefit Wolfe Law, Britt is more understanding of the famous Justice Story quote about law: “it is a jealous mistress, and requires a long and constant courtship.” Reflecting on my wife’s critical role forces me to consider how my clients’ families are impacted by whatever brought them to my office.
- I am grateful to my parents Barbara and Stanley, who raised me with a moral compass and taught by example to always take the high road. My formative years in their mom-and-pop locksmith business lit my entrepreneurial bug and taught me to value small business and the sacrifices required to make a business succeed. Wanting to provide trusted legal representation to family businesses like my parents’, which lacked the ability to hire traditional top-flight firms, led directly to my decision to start Wolfe Law.
- I am grateful to my former Georgetown Law classmates and former colleagues from Herrick in New York and Nelson Mullins in Atlanta for helping crowdsource the Wolfe Law Philosophy. I count my former classmates and colleagues as friends and mentors. They also provide the greatest compliment an attorney could seek: referring their friends and clients to me to resolve their legal issues. I would not be the attorney I am today, if not for the attorneys that I studied with or the attorneys and paraprofessionals that I worked with.
- Finally, I am grateful to the clients who I have had the pleasure and privilege of representing. Over the years, clients have given me their perspective on the inherently stressful litigation process and how to improve the ways legal services are delivered. Former clients have shown they appreciated my work by referring their friends and by inviting me to speak at their functions. And some clients volunteered to provide me testimonials for the Wolfe Law website that attracted new clients to the firm and inspired me.
Heading into Thanksgiving 2017, I am more grateful than ever. Thank you to all who played a role in Wolfe Law during these past six months.
