"Teaching students to become exceptional attorneys dedicated to the public good" -Michael M

A Bar Story

My best bar story (I don’t have very many) happened in the spring of 1989. It unfolded at an iconic Manhattan bar situated within the historic Algonquin Hotel, in the heart of New York City on 44th Street - just across from the temple-like headquarters of the New York City Bar Association. I was there to meet Vanessa Merton. Why we had chosen that place that day to meet I do not recall. What I do remember is sitting at the bar waiting for Vanessa to arrive. At the time I was a relatively new member of the Pace Law School faculty. I was anxious. Our school was actively recruiting Vanessa, a renowned clinical scholar in legal academia. I was one part of a well-orchestrated campaign to convince her to come. Vanessa even by that time, over three and a half decades ago, had a national reputation as a law professor. I also knew of her pioneering work as a legal aid attorney. Attracting Vanessa to our school was something that we all wanted. We were a young school struggling for recognition. Landing Vanessa would be a coup for our students not to mention our reputation; if we could convince her to come we would have on our faculty a brilliant person whose passion for teaching and for justice is unmatched. So this bar story isn’t about Vanessa impressing me; it is about me on a mission to persuade her that Pace Law School should be her professional home.

The memory of that day remains vivid in my mind. Vanessa’s focus was unwavering, like a laser, as she assessed whether the school was genuinely committed to creating an environment that aligned with her vision for realizing her potential and practicing her craft. Not once did she mention the mundane or self-centered benefits of being a faculty member: office space, workload, or compensation. Her sole concern was whether we could provide her with the platform to excel in teaching students to become exceptional attorneys dedicated to the public good. I did what I could at the bar in the Algonquin Hotel that day to convince her that we were a place whose goals aligned with hers and she could do her thing here with us. I have no way of knowing whether or not our conversation contributed, in any way, to Vanessa’s decision - which has enriched this institution immeasurably - to join our faculty. But I consider that my effort that day in the bar just off the lobby of the Algonquin Hotel the best thing I ever did for our school and its students.

Michael M