Apr. 4, 1966 to Apr. 4, 2013 = 47 Years

Today would be my 47th anniversary at Jones Day if I had not retired on 12/31/2012.

I started at Jones Day as a legal secretary on April 4, 1966.   The Firm had two offices, one in Cleveland and one in Washington, DC and the Firm name was Jones, Day, Cockley and Reavis.  I was 28 years old and my daughter Robin was one month short of being 7.

When I retired I was 75 years old, had enjoyed 3 distinct careers at Jones Day, which then had about 2700 lawyers in 14 domestic and 18 international offices and I had worked under 5 Managing Partners – Jack Reavis, Alan Holmes, Dick Pogue, Pat McCartan and the current Managing Partner, Steve Brogan.

When I left my prior firm to go to Jones Day, I was told, “Those Jones Boys will work you to death.”  They were right.  I worked hard but rather than death, I was rewarded with opportunities to advance.

In 1966 as a legal secretary I was assigned to work for 2 corporate partners, John Sarber and James Courtney.  Mr. Sarber represented clients in corporate governance matters.  Mr. Courtney represented public utilities clients in regulatory issues before the Public Utilities Commission of OH.  He also represented clients in corporate transactional matters.

Mr Courtney was brilliant and enjoyed his work and his life so was fun to work for.  For example, he came home from a business trip and couldn’t wait to tell me that in negotiating a deal for his client, the opposing party had said if they paid cash that day he would take it.  Mr. C had anticipated that and had a Brinks truck waiting with the cash.  He was elated with that victory and it was a joy to see a man so happy in his work.

He loved antique blown glass and had an extensive collection.  During the years I worked for him he purchased a large parcel of glass from another collector for thousands of dollars.  One of my duties was to send the monthly checks in payment.

In his pursuit of antique glass, he stumbled on the remains of an old glass factory in a corn field in Southern Ohio.  He negotiated with the farmer and Western Reserve Historical Society to do an archeological dig of the site and move it to Hale Farm. At the time Hale Farm was a fledgling historical development and an old church was also being reconstructed.  As his secretary I accompanied him to meetings with the Board of the historical society to take notes and prepare minutes.  But, most of those meeting were luncheon meetings at Hale Farm where we reviewed the progress and discussed the status and next steps over a fabulous lunch prepared by the staff from produce and chickens grown on the farm.   And then Ralph and I attended the opening events.  Great fun.

On another occasion I was sent to Washington DC to file documents with the SEC.  I took Robin along so we could spend the day sightseeing.  It was her first plane ride.  I thought she would be looking out the windows but instead she was looking around at all the other passengers, including the man behind us who spilled his coffee on his shirt.  When the plane landed our bundle of papers shot forward and Robin reprimanded me for “losing” them.  After the SEC we went to the Smithsonian and then had dinner with an old friend of mine, Carmen Consolo.

In the late ’60’s the Firm was hired to represent a new client’s appeal in Federal Court.  Our trial team had mere weeks to review 28 file cabinets of pleadings, depositions and exhibits.  They went off site to Princeton, NJ where work began at 7:00 a.m. and broke for dinner at 7:00 p.m. every  day.  Each of the secretaries assigned to those lawyers took turns working there, including me.  Now, while the glass factory assignment was fun, the Princeton assignment was hard work.

Toward the end of working for Messrs. Sarber and Courtney, I was one of 2 secretaries selected to learn to use IBM’s initial memory typewriter and to test its use on standard documents like wills and trust agreements which contained substantial boiler plate language.  This experience resulted in promotions for each of us.

In early summer of 1971 I became the first paralegal at Jones Day.  I will save that experience for the next edition of “My Life at Jones Day.”

Thanks for hanging in there and reading this.