Gordon R. Gross ’55 (2010)

Partial Transcript: I have two daughters, 55 and 51. One is married with three children, each of whom are in their twenties, and the other doesn't have children. We grew up on Winston Road. My father was a millinery manufacturer and my mother was a housewife. Both my parents have passed away. Going to college in my family was a given. I went to Park School and then Oberlin College. During the first semester of my Sophomore year my father had a heart attack and my parents persuaded me to come home for a semester to help out in the business. I didn't but I did come back to Buffalo. I went to UB, majoring in History and Government; I loved the History Department. During my Junior year my father, and a good friend, thought they paid too much in legal fees. They thought I should go to Law School for one year. I didn't have any particular expectation of Law School but once I got there I really enjoyed it. I thought it was a good profession; you could relate to business people. Phil Halpern, who had been my father's attorney, at that time was in the Appellate Division, and he told my father that if I was going to practice law in Buffalo, their school would be as good as any, though I did want to go to Yale. I would have had to go four years instead of three, so that pushed me over to go to UB Law. I started in 1952 and graduated in '55. At that time the Law School was on Eagle Street in downtown Buffalo. I lived in North Buffalo. I got married about halfway through, in my Junior year. We lived on a bus line; I took a bus. There were 144 students in my class when I started. There was very good camaraderie and Eagle Street was a great place after that intensive first semester when you figure out you're going to make it all the way through. We'd play cards in the basement and talk about the homework assignments; talking law while we played cards. Jacob Hyman was Dean; he taught Constitutional Law. We had a close relationship with most all the professors. It was small quarters. Close to half the class didn't make it to the second year. We graduated maybe 75; a few were from the class ahead. I really was playing cards. It was when everybody sat around talking and discussing matters. Frankly we learned a lot back and forth. Clyde Summers dynamic, the way he moved around. He taught Torts. Laidlaw was very good; he taught Contracts. All the full time teachers were very effective. It was harder to learn from the part time professors because they weren't around after classes. It's hard to fully correlate success as a Law student with success in Law practice. There's a certain amount but some people in our class had to work long hours to earn their way through, so while they finished way down, they turned out to be successful lawyers. But there's definitely a correlation!

Segment Synopsis: I have two daughters, 55 and 51. One is married with three children, each of whom are in their twenties, and the other doesn't have children. We grew up on Winston Road. My father was a millinery manufacturer and my mother was a housewife. Both my parents have passed away. Going to college in my family was a given. I went to Park School and then Oberlin College. During the first semester of my Sophomore year my father had a heart attack and my parents persuaded me to come home for a semester to help out in the business. I didn't but I did come back to Buffalo. I went to UB, majoring in History and Government; I loved the History Department. During my Junior year my father, and a good friend, thought they paid too much in legal fees. They thought I should go to Law School for one year. I didn't have any particular expectation of Law School but once I got there I really enjoyed it. I thought it was a good profession; you could relate to business people. Phil Halpern, who had been my father's attorney, at that time was in the Appellate Division, and he told my father that if I was going to practice law in Buffalo, their school would be as good as any, though I did want to go to Yale. I would have had to go four years instead of three, so that pushed me over to go to UB Law. I started in 1952 and graduated in '55. At that time the Law School was on Eagle Street in downtown Buffalo. I lived in North Buffalo. I got married about halfway through, in my Junior year. We lived on a bus line; I took a bus. There were 144 students in my class when I started. There was very good camaraderie and Eagle Street was a great place after that intensive first semester when you figure out you're going to make it all the way through. We'd play cards in the basement and talk about the homework assignments; talking law while we played cards. Jacob Hyman was Dean; he taught Constitutional Law. We had a close relationship with most all the professors. It was small quarters. Close to half the class didn't make it to the second year. We graduated maybe 75; a few were from the class ahead. I really was playing cards. It was when everybody sat around talking and discussing matters. Frankly we learned a lot back and forth. Clyde Summers dynamic, the way he moved around. He taught Torts. Laidlaw was very good; he taught Contracts. All the full time teachers were very effective. It was harder to learn from the part time professors because they weren't around after classes. It's hard to fully correlate success as a Law student with success in Law practice. There's a certain amount but some people in our class had to work long hours to earn their way through, so while they finished way down, they turned out to be successful lawyers. But there's definitely a correlation!

Keywords: Academic vs. Career Success; Attrition; Children / Grandchildren; Choosing UB Law School; Class Composition; Deans; Eagle Street Campus; Family; Father; Hyman, Jacob; Laidlaw, William; Law Faculty; Summers, Clyde

Subjects: FAMILY HISTORY; UB LAW AS STUDENT

Partial Transcript: The Law School prepared me well for the challenges I faced when I left. During the summers in Law School I sold incinerators, pots and pans, and Cutco knives. In retrospect it was a good thing to do. I had gone into Military Service right after I took the Bar Exam and with six months left I got a letter from a law firm offering me a job at $75 a week; big money then! The firm was Borins & Snitzer. My greatest professional achievement was surviving. [laughter] I would have to say that it was building the practice which today has 19 lawyers and a lot of paralegals. And all that time there's been great camaraderie among everyone; no cliques. Everybody goes to lunch with each other. The only hassle is the one time a year we sit around and try to figure out what your percentage should be. I feel the full-time professors we had at UB were good: they communicated well. I could have stuck it out another year and gone to Yale but it worked out very well for me. I have enjoyed, very much, the jobs I've had. For those who can find a firm, who've done well in school, the job market hasn't changed much over the years. In our firm we expose them to various areas, trying to broaden the experience so they're not just "Johnny One-Note". The big thing today is that the practice is so overcrowded that I feel badly because a lot of people don't get much opportunity, and it's the cause of a good percentage of the ethical problems that have arisen. When I started there were few attorneys who were cautioned, let alone disbarred. I look back and think I've been very fortunate. I was business oriented but that fit well into my corporate practice and I had the fun, and challenge, of the client's issues and problems. I'd do it all over again.

Segment Synopsis: The Law School prepared me well for the challenges I faced when I left. During the summers in Law School I sold incinerators, pots and pans, and Cutco knives. In retrospect it was a good thing to do. I had gone into Military Service right after I took the Bar Exam and with six months left I got a letter from a law firm offering me a job at $75 a week; big money then! The firm was Borins & Snitzer. My greatest professional achievement was surviving. [laughter] I would have to say that it was building the practice which today has 19 lawyers and a lot of paralegals. And all that time there's been great camaraderie among everyone; no cliques. Everybody goes to lunch with each other. The only hassle is the one time a year we sit around and try to figure out what your percentage should be. I feel the full-time professors we had at UB were good: they communicated well. I could have stuck it out another year and gone to Yale but it worked out very well for me. I have enjoyed, very much, the jobs I've had. For those who can find a firm, who've done well in school, the job market hasn't changed much over the years. In our firm we expose them to various areas, trying to broaden the experience so they're not just "Johnny One-Note". The big thing today is that the practice is so overcrowded that I feel badly because a lot of people don't get much opportunity, and it's the cause of a good percentage of the ethical problems that have arisen. When I started there were few attorneys who were cautioned, let alone disbarred. I look back and think I've been very fortunate. I was business oriented but that fit well into my corporate practice and I had the fun, and challenge, of the client's issues and problems. I'd do it all over again.

Keywords: Career / Military Service; Employment / Jobs / Wages; Faculty / Professors; Greatest Achievement; Law Firms; Law Professor; Legal Ethics; Satisfaction; UB Preparation

Subjects: CAREER: LEGAL; PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Partial Transcript: The practice of Law affected me from a personal standpoint by pushing me out into the community in general. The impact was all positive. I can't look back and say I wish this or that had happened. There were some triumphs and some failures. I did not encourage my grandchildren to go into Law. One is a ballerina and both twins graduated Berkeley College of Music. One is a composer and the other designs websites with music. My oldest daughter was in retailing and decided she wanted to be the best mother in the world which was wonderful for me because I got three great grandchildren. The other daughter sold cars for a long time, quit in 2008. I'm close with her husband; he manages an apartment complex that we own. I did encourage other family members and friends to attend Law School. The other day I was introduced to the son of a friend. One of his options was law, the other was business. I advised him to get his MBA first, then go on for a law degree. Today, the profession is still on the overcrowded side. I would encourage anybody to go into the practice of law if they felt secure in feeling they wouldn't have too much trouble in the starting job. Two things: be prepared to work long hours; there are no short cuts to learning law. If you're in a particular area, take whatever time you need to become an expert in that area. The other thing is to try to build your own clientele. To do that get out into the community. If you do something, care about that organization and really work at it. Otherwise you'll be seen as a phony. I do have some exposure to UB Law students. I get a lot of requests for clerking and for assistance in getting into Law School. I believe the caliber of the School is increasing because the President of the University has strong feeling about lifting the educational stature of the professors all through the system. I remember being turned off back in the '60s; it was a different kind of Law School. But those days are well behind us. What I see, what I hear, what I read -- we've got a good Law School. I don't see how anyone could have rated it the way they have. Mostly as an alumnus helping with fundraising. Gretchen and I pledged money ten years ago for the classroom that's in our name. Really a lot of connection with the University as a whole, though whatever I can do for the Law School will be done. I feel a real desire to give back to the Law School.

Segment Synopsis: The practice of Law affected me from a personal standpoint by pushing me out into the community in general. The impact was all positive. I can't look back and say I wish this or that had happened. There were some triumphs and some failures. I did not encourage my grandchildren to go into Law. One is a ballerina and both twins graduated Berkeley College of Music. One is a composer and the other designs websites with music. My oldest daughter was in retailing and decided she wanted to be the best mother in the world which was wonderful for me because I got three great grandchildren. The other daughter sold cars for a long time, quit in 2008. I'm close with her husband; he manages an apartment complex that we own. I did encourage other family members and friends to attend Law School. The other day I was introduced to the son of a friend. One of his options was law, the other was business. I advised him to get his MBA first, then go on for a law degree. Today, the profession is still on the overcrowded side. I would encourage anybody to go into the practice of law if they felt secure in feeling they wouldn't have too much trouble in the starting job. Two things: be prepared to work long hours; there are no short cuts to learning law. If you're in a particular area, take whatever time you need to become an expert in that area. The other thing is to try to build your own clientele. To do that get out into the community. If you do something, care about that organization and really work at it. Otherwise you'll be seen as a phony. I do have some exposure to UB Law students. I get a lot of requests for clerking and for assistance in getting into Law School. I believe the caliber of the School is increasing because the President of the University has strong feeling about lifting the educational stature of the professors all through the system. I remember being turned off back in the '60s; it was a different kind of Law School. But those days are well behind us. What I see, what I hear, what I read -- we've got a good Law School. I don't see how anyone could have rated it the way they have. Mostly as an alumnus helping with fundraising. Gretchen and I pledged money ten years ago for the classroom that's in our name. Really a lot of connection with the University as a whole, though whatever I can do for the Law School will be done. I feel a real desire to give back to the Law School.

Keywords: Advice; Alumni; Alumni Association; Children / Grandchildren; Community Involvement; Community Service; Contributions; Legal Community; Legal Education; Relationship with UB Law

Subjects: FAMILY HISTORY; PERSONAL ISSUES; UB LAW FACULTY; UB LAW MISCELLANEOUS