I hung this thank you note from 1972 on the wall of my office at my new firm.
My dad, who died 20 years ago, was a lawyer. In the early 70s, he worked for the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law in Cairo, Illinois. He framed this note from a client who wrote, “[H]ere is a $1.00 bill from my heart. I wish I was able to work and pay you for the good deed you done me a great favor and I never will stop thanking you for it.”
Although this obviously meant something to my dad, he never discussed this with me. I’ve hung onto it because it speaks to what I want to achieve as a lawyer: to be useful to people. Of course I need to make money, but when I get to the end of my practice, I hope there are a lot of people out there, who, like this client from more than 50 years ago, will “never stop thanking” me for being a help to them.