We Duane...

as in Duane Morris. (a 100 yr old firm... just like our 100 yr old house, the 100 yr anniversary of the Titanic, and 100 yr old Dewey... there are some things that are cosmic...)

This is the answer to my previous post, Dewey or Don't We?   There is still lots of attention in press (see one of yesterday's articles here), but the bottom line is that Dewey & LeBoeuf is over.

When one doors closes. you need to open another one...

As I said in the previous post, Jocelyn and I have a very intense and special history with Dewey & LeBoeuf.  We shared an emotional, professional and personal "arc" with the firm and more importantly, its people.

I usually write about what we do (me and the kids), what we eat (me and the kids) and crafts that we make (me and the kids).  Today I want to share with you something that Jocelyn wrote.  Below is her departure memo to those of her colleagues still left at Dewey & LeBoeuf.

***

From:    Bramble, Jocelyn
To:        Undisclosed Recipients
Date:     Tuesday, May 15, 2012 3:24 PM
Re:        Good Bye

Today is my last day at Dewey & LeBoeuf.  I leave with tears in my eyes, intense and often conflicting emotions, but with a single, desperate hope: that everyone lands safely.

I cannot say that my time at D&L was perfect.  Long before the recent "excitement" (as one of my former partners likes to describe it), I questioned whether D&L was still the right place for me.  Today, I am a stronger, tougher and more nimble lawyer because I stayed.  More importantly, I am a better person because of the many lessons I have learned with, from and because of my colleagues—at all levels—of D&L.   Nor will I ever for forget how much fun we often managed to have along the way.

My parents raised me to believe that "pressure on coal makes diamond or dust."  Having worked shoulder to shoulder with so many people at D&L, I have no doubt as to the ultimate effects the pressure of the last few months will have on us. 

Later this week, I will join the Washington DC office of Duane Morris.  

Godspeed to all and please keep in touch.
Jocelyn

Jocelyn C Bramble
Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP
1101 New York Avenue, N.W., Suite 1100
Washington, D.C. 20005
Direct: +1 202 346 8104
General: +1 202 986 8000
Fax: +1 202 956 3260
jbramble@dl.com
www.dl.com

***

Today, I also want to write about how proud I am of Jocelyn.  The past few weeks and months have not been easy for us.  When your career and professional livelihood is threatened it hurts in many ways.  Confidence can get shattered.  Optimism can get lost.  Security seems out of reach.  Add to that buying and moving into a new house.  Add to that some other minor but significant crises (stuff that just happens) combined with the everyday struggles of a family with two small children under age 3 and you could have a recipe for depression and disaster. 

I (we) get it.  We are thankfully healthy. We are very lucky.  Unlike many others who have faced job losses or are facing them now, we have many resources and extremely large support network.  But it is still hard.

What I want to say is that I am proud of Jocelyn.  She acted gracefully under extreme pressure.  She acted with enormous class often when others did not.  She was a true professional at work even when she may have been sad or heartbroken at home.  Life is full of big storms and rocky roads, and I know I picked the right person with whom to travel through the storms and down the roads. 

I am also terribly excited for her.  Before her awaits a fantastically open door of her own making (the best kind) and a world of new and wonderful opportunities that she deserves.  However, it is all a little bit strange.  For even though I had stopped working at the firm over 4 years ago, it was as if I still had this direct line to the working world.  Her colleagues were my old colleagues.  Her office was my old office.  Even some her cases and clients were my old cases and clients.  This is now over.  She is going with a small group of former Dewey attorneys, none that I have ever worked with to a completely new firm, Duane Morris.  This is her adventure.  I will no longer know every IT guy, receptionist, associate, partner or legal assistant when she tells me the story of her day.  It will be different.

But different to me, also means the possibility of amazing.  There was plenty that needed changing about the old place and many of the issues were just plain "tired" - she needed a new place to go.  So that she could grow, learn, lead and be fabulous without all of the old baggage.

Thank you Jocelyn for being a wonderful partner to me as my spouse.  You are also an amazing law firm partner and Duane Morris is so very lucky to get you.  I am sure that the recent "pressure" has just perfected the diamond that I know that you are.

I also recently explained that Jocelyn made partner at Dewey & Lebouef in January and this was supposed to be her celebratory time of accomplishment, excitement and new beginnings.  Well, Joc, you did get lots of "excitement" and now you have a real and new beginning - go you!

We have a favorite book in our house for life's watershed moments (or just when you want something really good to read after breakfast).  And some of our favorite lines are below:

You have brains in your head
You have feet in your shoes
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.

...

be your name Buxbaum or Bixby [or BRAMBLE] or Bray
or Mordechai Ali Van Allen O'Shea,
you're off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So . . . get on your way!

(From the second and the last page of "Oh, The Places You'll Go" by Dr. Seuss with a little editorial in the [ ] )
 
So Mama, this blog post is for you.  From me, Jonah & Vera (we had a meeting about it this afternoon).  We love you and we are so very proud of you!  Now when can we schedule our field trip to visit your new offices?  Jonah says he has a lot of work to do (he needs to make some money - his words) and Vera has some conference calls she needs to make!