May It Please the Court!From Auto Accidents to Agent Orange:
Building a Storefront Law Practice into
America's Largest Suburban Law Firm
Leonard Rivkin
with Jeffrey Silberfeld
Carolina Academic Press
Durham, North Carolina
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Ch. 1 - But Dad, I Don't Want to Be a Doctor!
One cold winter evening in 1946, six months short of my twenty first birthday, three weeks
into my third semester as an undergraduate student at the University of Virginia, I walked briskly
across the campus, hands in my pockets, head down, deep in thought. To me, the University of
Virginia was and still is the most beautiful college campus imaginable. The famous Rotunda, the
school's administration building, with its imposing dome, pillars, and steps, was designed and built
by Thomas Jefferson, as was the "Grounds," the University's original campus, with its tree-lined
walkways crisscrossing an expanse of lawns dotted with classrooms and dormitories. But that night,
I was oblivious to my surroundings, because I was too busy preparing myself for the most difficult
task that I have ever faced in my entire life.
More difficult than dodging bullets in Europe as a combat infantryman during World War II.
More difficult than summing up a hopeless case before a hostile jury.
I was about to telephone my father, the man I most loved, admired, and respected in the
whole world, to tell him that I did not want to go to medical school and become a doctor.
to chapter 2....
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