I'm going to take a brief "proud father" moment

[DFW]

My younger daughter, all of 31, works at the Frankfurt am Main office of an international law firm. She was thinking of putting in for partner although she has only been there for about 3 years, and they usually require 7 years to make partner. But she has done a great job for them. She knows it, and they know it. So she broke with tradition and this past April, she told them she wanted it and thought she had earned it.

We just got the news today. Youngest partner ever in that firm. She puts in her time, earns it every day. She was the one who, in her first summer of law school, did NOT clerk for some judge somewhere, but instead went to work with the U.N. War Crimes Tribunal in Sierra Leone. Fearless AND with a social conscience. It was rather far removed from some comfortable law office in Manhattan or on K Street. She did go to law school in the USA, but was not accepted at any of the prestigious law schools. At the time she took the LSATs, her English was good, but not good enough to get all of the complicated words she encountered in the LSAT. So she went to a "second tier" law school. Now, less than ten years later, she has to discipline arrogant newly arrived Harvard Law grads for doing shabby work and thinking their Harvard degree means they have acquired papal infallibility. Looking younger than her age, she has gotten directed to the "applicants entrance" at events where she was the featured speaker to potential recruits.

I though how appropriate it was that Michelle Obama's memorable speech in New Hampshire came right before we got the news out of Frankfurt. I haven't yet gotten hold of my wife on the phone. She is home in Düsseldorf, while I am in Baltimore for the commissioning of a ship named after the father of one of our best friends. We'll be in touch later on.

But for now, I'm just smiling and high-fiving the world.

[Lochloosa]

1. Congrats to you and your daughter.

[DFW]

2. Thanks! But she deserves all the credit.

All I did was pay the tuition. She used to joke that if she ever made partner, that she would pay me back. Maybe I should take her up on that!

[MicaelS]

3. I would say let her buy you

A new car.

[DFW]

6. The math doesn't add up

First off, I just bought a new car 3 years ago, and still don't have 10,000 KM on it.

Second, after 4 years of George Washington U in DC and 3 years of Pace Law, that's enough for five new cars!

[MicaelS]

12. Ouch!

Well no one needs 5 new cars. Maybe you can talk her into buying you and her mother a nice cruise. Of course as much as you travel that may be blase by now.

[DFW]

15. Right you are

I'd just end up distributing it among the other daughter, the American Cancer society, Greenpeace, and a few other causes like that. I guess I would do just as well letting her figure out on her own what she'll do with all that money. She's a bright girl, I'm sure she'll think of something.

[rug]

4. What law school did she go to?

[DFW]

5. Pace Law

It's in White Plains, NY. Bobby Kennedy, Jr. teaches environmental law there. They were very considerate of her German native language, and she ended up doing very well there as a result. Now, when she speaks English, you don't even hear a hint of a German accent, and her written English is grammatically better than that of any of the Americans the firm sends over.

[rug]

7. Vanessa Merton is also a Professor there.

Her father was Robert Merton, the sociologist. A very good faculty.

I can't imagine studying law, medicine, or even a recipe in a second language.

[DFW]

21. She said she liked and was impressed by her professors

And at graduation, they said the same about her

I took a year of high school in Spain. It can be done, but it takes some getting used to.

[benld74]

8. Congrats to your daughter and you

Tell her, but I feel she already knows,

Never slow down
Do what is more than expected

[DFW]

10. She hasn't slowed down since birth

Her sister took 6 or 7 hours. She took less than 3. At age 2, one of our neighbors called her "Madame 10,000 Volts."

Her secret is that she also knows when (and how) to shut down, and take it slow and easy every now and then. When told in Law School she could make summa cum laude, she said who wants that? Life would pass her by if she burned herself out doing that. So she graduated Magna and is now riding on top of the world--and doing more than was ever expected.

[panader0]

9. Congratulations to you and your daughter!

[DFW]

11. Thanks! She earned it

All on her own. One sharp young woman.

[hamsterjill]

13. Proud you should be, Dad!!!!

Last edited Fri Oct 14, 2016, 03:20 PM - Edit history (1)

What an awesome accomplishment!

And as a mother of a 33-year old up and coming business woman myself, may I say "thank you" for not only raising a wonderful daughter, but for reveling in her success. It is an awesome thing when men understand and acknowledge women's successes.

[DFW]

16. I was always the only man in the house

My wife and I had two daughters. I have had three women's successes to try to encourage, support, and finally acknowledge.

Not particularly awesome--just natural.

(But I AM proud as hell!!)

[DFW]

19. By the way, I checked her firms publc announcement

Of the 21 new partners across Europe 8 were women! Getting there!

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

14. Good for you, seems she's doing great

I wouldn't worry about that "second tier" thing. Joe Story never went at all. Taught at Harvard but didn't go there to school.

IMHO human rights, war crimes and constitutional law tend to get less attention than they should.
Bravo to her for her work.

[DFW]

17. We never worried about her school's "status"

Harvard had W and Ted Cruz. Pace has Bobby Kennedy and my daughter. Harvard never stood a chance.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

22. Wow, my dear DFW!

Congratulations! This is just wonderful news!

I am so happy for you, her, your wife, hell even your other daughter!